Disclaimer: Hue sent me this document camera to review. But, I do what I want, so if it was terrible I would have said no way and sent it back. Read on to find out why I loved it enough to write a review.
Hue recently sent me this DARLING red Hue HD Pro document camera. {I know darling is not a qualifier for a great document camera, but it sure doesn't hurt.} We all know that document cameras are great for helping students follow along on worksheets and assignments--raise your hand if you've ever had a student go through a entire lesson while on the wrong page--but don't stop there with your document camera.
1. Writing Feedback
Sharing kids writing this way only works after you've built a classroom writing community. Once you reach that point, your kids understand that revising and feedback are important elements of their writerly lives. You may only get a few top brave souls at first, but eventually more and more kids will jump in when they see this isn't a what you did wrong exercise but instead a how to grow opportunity.I have asked kids permission before and promised not to use names. I'll say something like,
"I'd love to share this with the class. Look how you're working on xyz here. I know a lot of your classmates are working on the same thing. This would be a perfect example to work through together."
2. Capturing Notes and Lesson Details for Absent Students
Oh, those pesky absent students. Hue allows you to capture the work as an image or a video to pass on to students that are out sick or pulled from class (does your classroom ever feel like it has a revolving door?)3. Take a Closer Look at Illustrations
My former teaching partner once read The One and Only Ivan to our classes next to her document camera, so she could share the illustrations with them. Share illustrations or make any book a big book with your document camera. You could also use it to zoom in on text features like graphs, maps, and photos in textbooks.4. Interactive Notebooks
Ever hold up your little composition notebook in front of the class to show them what to do? Yeah. You're wasting your time. Stick that notebook under the document camera to help your students actually see what they're supposed to do. It won't make them stop opening to random pages in their notebooks (Why???????), but it will help that random page have the correct information on it. Absent student? See #2. Print out your example to help absent students catch up easily.5. Save Some Trees
Maybe everyone doesn't need a copy of that worksheet. Maybe just stick it under the document camera and have them talk discuss it in groups or write or white boards or review it with the class and move on.
While you can do these things with any document camera, what I love most about the Hue HD Pro Camera (besides the fact that it's so darn cute) is how reasonably priced it is for such a high quality image. Hue's Intuition software makes it easy to "write" on a document, video what you're doing, or capture an image.
Here are a few screen captures from mine:
Zoom in on Illustrations: So much going on in those Jan Brett illustrations!
Nonfiction Text Features: Stop trying to hold up the book to show them charts and graphs. Take a closer look together with a document camera.
Dive Into Revising with Kids' Work: Make revising instruction more authentic by using your students' work. Once you create a classroom community where revising is a part of the writing culture, it's not too hard to get volunteers to share their work.
Sharing Notes: Review with students' notes or use your document camera to capture a copy of notes for absent students.
If you're ordering 1 or 2 cameras, I recommend ordering from Amazon Prime. They'll cost the same as ordering from Hue's site, but if you're a Prime member, you can't beat two day shipping. For orders of 3 or more, you'll definitely save by buying from Hue's site. Want to know more? Get the techy details on the Hue HD Pro here. Too steep for your blood? Hue also offers a less expensive version. You can compare the two with this comparison chart.
Got any other great tips for using a document camera?