'Popping' into Action

Recently, we’ve been exploring the cognitive approach to literacy instruction and evaluating common cognitive strategies to support the development of reading comprehension. For our final discussion, I decided to use a cognitive mapping strategy to organize our thoughts about this approach to literacy learning.

Enter Popplet
Using the Popplet tool, I set up a brief skeleton of potential topics to cover in reflecting on our understanding of cognitive strategies. Then, students were invited to join the Popplet (and the conversation) by adding their thoughts in the form of branches and bubbles.
The process of collaborating to construct meaning and understand how to use the tool took place through face-to-face discussion with neighbors and through the comments and questions popping up on our page. With little to no instruction on how to use the site, students were able to easily navigate the page, uncover features, and successfully represent our findings.
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Application ideas included using the tool to explore academic vocabulary, organize discussions and interactive support around homework, or brainstorm ideas for a group project, just to name a few. Students also made some insightful suggestions, such as to use the color-coding feature to distinguish the original prompts, integrate multimodal options such as representing through images/videos/drawings in addition to text, and laying out clear expectations for what student contributions should like (establishing norms).
With 27 people simultaneously posting and reviewing on one Popplet, I thought there was potential for an overwhelming mess. It turns out we were far more successful, and now I am far more likely to use this tool in the classroom again!