ePals

ePals is considered to be one of the leading providers for safe collaborative technology for schools to connect and learn in a project based network.  Not only is it a source that teachers can use locally, but it can also be used nationally and internationally, having classrooms set up in 200 countries and territories.  Currently, there are several projects to choose from to get students actively involved in real-life topics that have a purpose.  A few of them are listed below.


                                                            Projects

                                                              

                                       Holidays and festivals around the world

Through this project students can share and learn about how special days are celebrated throughout the world.  Students get the chance to explore celebrations, traditions and symbols from other countries, as well as share some from theirs.  As a final activity, students will  share their information and create a representation from the holiday that they decide to research.

 

                 Digital story telling

With this project, students learn about the history of story-telling and how to use tools from the 21st century to create their own digital story.  This project is not only a great way to practice language skills, but also to encourage cross-cultural understanding, and to build purposeful connections with others.  In addition to developing a story and illustrating it with appropriate images, students will share their work and practice self reflection.

                                           Natural disasters en Espanol

In Spanish, students have the opportunity to explore the natural disasters that repeatedly impact the world that we live in.  With this project, students communicate through email and will learn about specific natural disasters, where they happen, what causes them, and how the disasters have impacted and continue their epals with whom they are communicating.

                                              ** Useful Feature**

One especially useful feature are the forums available on the website.  Not only are there forums for students, there are also forums for families and teachers.  One way that this tool could be used is to aid in finding internet penpales.  As a member, you can simply post what level your students are, what language(s) they speak, and what you are looking to achieve with your communication.  In the future I definitely would like to experiment with this feature.

                 

Go Animate!

Go animate  is a great resource for the modern day language teacher.  As an ESL student teacher for beginner and intermediate level HS students, one of the challenges I have had is getting some of the students to speak.  I know that they can do it, but they are often so shy, making it near impossible to hear them.  Through writing I have learned a lot about them, and they are truly some of the most interesting human beings that I have met.  One way that we can lower their affective filters and encourage participation, is through activities that are engaging and interactive, but at the same time don't put them right out on the spot in front of their classmates.  Using Go Animate, a site where students can make their own  talking comic strips, and even record their own voices, students can experiment and play with the language, in a fun environment where they feel free to take risks.   As far as using the tool for teaching, prompts can be given to students to accompany given pictures, students can be told to focus on specific language structures/tenses, or even to focus on certain learned vocabulary.  This type of activity would be perfect for those days just before a long weekend or vacation when keeping students' interest is a real battle. As far as assessment goes, students could comment and evaluate other students' work, and it could also be graded by the instructor. As far as differentiation goes, the more advanced students could be made to record their own voices for the cartoons to practice speaking, while the less advanced could type out what they wanted the characters to say, making it more of a writing task. For a sample Go Animate video that I made, be sure to click on the link in the first line of this post titled "Go Animate."

Student Voice Threads

                                                     Voice Threads

 1.)         I found Alyssa Pantano’s voice thread for descriptive writing to be especially effective for teaching purposes.  First of all, it had a very clear and focused introduction.  Slow and very clear speech makes it very easy to understand.  Also, when speaking during her introduction, you can tell that she was very thorough and mindful of the students, and the questions that they may have.  With the first slide, she kept the task simple, yet, gave choices to the students- they could either ask a question, state what they hoped to learn, or say why they thought it was important to work with another.  Giving the students options is always a great idea, and can help prevent them from being stuck on a task at hand.

           With the second slide, she provided visual support, listing descriptive words that the students could use in making their descriptive sentences.  What I really liked about this is how she incorporated the draw tool.  Not only did the students practice making descriptive sentences, but they were also able to learn another feature of Voice Thread.

          I really enjoyed the final activity, the descriptive writing, using the picture prompt.  Not only did she use a great picture, which could provoke endless responses, but she set up the writer very well with to get them started on their writing.   Having a response already started, it made for a very smooth and quick transition to actually writing what the man saw on the other side of the fence.  I think that this activity was exceptionally well done.  All in all , a great job!  A clear and straightforward introduction and tasks that build on one another that gradually get more demanding.

 2.)         Another Voice Thread that I enjoyed was Meng Zhang’s.  Focused around descriptive writing, it used pictures to prompt student responses.  The first picture was of a busy city, and the second, a supermarket.   The students were to select someone in each picture and describe them using adjectives.  In addition to practicing writing , students were to practice using the drawing tool, as well, to indicate which picture they were describing. 

              As being effective for teaching what I liked is the fact that the students had the opportunity to choose what they wanted to write about and the fact that the pictures could be interpreted in so many different ways.  Also, something else that I thought was effective was having modeled responses so the students knew more or less exactly what they were to do.

Twitter: The New Connection

To begin, I must say that Twitter is something completely new to me, however, think that it has some serious potential for someone dedicated to reaping the rewards of bringing modern technology into the classroom.  It not only can be implemented in teaching, but also can aid in various ways with regard to professional development.

As far as teaching goes, the opportunities are many, and I know there are still multiple ways to use Twitter in the classroom that I haven’t been introduced to yet.  From the article28 Creative Ways Teachers Are Using Twitter  ,using  twitter is looked at as a way to increase teacher interaction and engagement with students.  Having tested blogging out this year, and being a huge success, the idea of story telling strikes me as having some great potential. Also, the idea of paperless teaching is very attractive, at least for a temporary change of pace.  With Twitter,teachers and students can hold discussions with each other informally and instantly- a great way to share information, or use each other as resources.  Another way that Twitter can be used is keeping parents informed of what is going on with their children and the school as a whole, however, this is highly dependent on availability of technology to the parents. 

                From the professional development angle, Twitter is a great place to share articles, links, and resources with other teachers, worldwide.  One can find a very broad range of material, covering everything from Smart Board tricks to the latest teaching techniques.  Twitter can also serve as a great way to maintain contact with former students and employees. If you are interested in how Twitter can aid in your professional development, check out the following article – Teaching Paperless: Seeking Social Solutions toMysteries of 21st Century Teaching and Learning.

The Educator’s Personal Learning Network

                                         The Educator’s Personal Learning Network

The Educator's Personal Learning Network is a well developed and highly inclusive website that covers a new teacher on a variety of basis.   There are videos for modern day instruction at all levels and ages; forums where people can display and request information, take surveys, and share dissertation work; a section on upcoming events and workshops for educators ( both online and not online); a groups section- where people with common interests are brought together; a blogging section, leaderboards, and an educational chatroom ( for members only).  All in all, The Educator’s personal learning network is  a highly useful site, and without having to register, is a resource that any teacher needs to check out!

Learners Are Like Mountain Climbers

 

The learner today is very much like an extreme mountain climber.  From reading the article Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, it  is especially apparent when Siemens claims that “Connectivism is the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization theories. Learning is a process that occurs within nebulous environments of shifting core elements – not entirely under the control of the individual.”  First a mountain climber never really knows what they might run into, which can prove quite chaotic, weather and natural obstacles are often great challenges which cause them to adapt and make decisions.  Second, a climber must network and cooperate with other climbers to reach their goals.  Self-organization of a mountain climber is critical, without it, they go nowhere, or will find themselves in some difficult situations

According to the video The Impact of Social Media on Learning,  it is said that with the Connectivism Theory “It really comes down to our ability to have a dialogue with other individuals.  When we have that dialogue, we ourselves grow in that knowledge, we grow in our own understanding of our ideas sometimes.”  Dialogue in mountain climbing is critical, and often necessary to help others along when they get stuck or cannot see around an obstacle.  Having that connection, a resource, allows individuals to do much more than they could do individually and better prepares them for similar situations they may encounter in the future.  

Mod #4 Edu Blogger

The name of the blog that I commented on was called “Free "Free Technology For Teachers" and  the specific post was titled “Qwips –record audio captions for your pictures”.  As a student teacher in world filled with technology, I have been experimenting with and looking for new ways to engage my students.  I started off this semester just using technology in front of the room, as a means of instruction.  I used smart board activities, videos, and interactive games to get the students interested.  Now that I am getting to know the students well, and figuring out what we can do with limited resources, I am working technology into class work.  Just last week we did blogging for the first time – students blogged about their experiences coming to the United States as English Language Learners and commented on each others' posts, a great success! Now that I saw how well blogging worked, I am interested to see what else I can do with technology to benefit my students and make learning fun and engaging, digital story seems like it might be next on my agenda!  Now, with Quips I have an easy way for students to record their voices and narrate pictures.