Why technology classes are important

It is 2012 and technology plays such an important role in the language classroom!!! Now you actually can bring the language into the classroom from any country. There are podcasts, newspapers online, videos, and many magazine, plus websites of department stores to supermarkets. These sites can be used effectively in conjunction with the thematic units in textbooks.  Then there are all the sites that are used for fun to practice the language or that are guides that help students with vocabulary or particular grammar topics.  

A course like this is very important and as we move forward in technology, it is important to stay current with what sites are offered and how they can be utilized in the classroom. In this course, I was familiar with some of the sites presented to us, but I was given the chance to reflect on how to use it maybe in a different way that would benefit my students. I was able to see how I can use certain sites and integrate it into my curriculum.

Teaching and language learning should be creative and an exploration of the language. By using technology in the classroom, we help make that connection and bring the language to life. It demonstrates that words in a textbook are used “for real” and students are explore all this with technology!!

Ana and Mimi, Thank you for a great course!! I truly enjoyed it!!

My Webquest

It is much easier to type out the directions for a project and hand out a paper, but a webquest brings a project to life a little more. Students have easy access to the site, so they can’t say they lost the papers with the directions for the project. Also, it is colorful and you can add pictures and list websites that can be used for the project. It is a much better guide for the student to follow.

I received very nice comments about my webquest, but one person thought I should have placed a power point on the web quest as an example. Of course, I disagree because this project is for high school students in 10^th or 11^th grade, and they know how to create a power point. Also, I chose to use a power point because not only is this an art project but a speaking project. In the project I state that students must only use bullet points because they must discuss the art and artist. They can use note cards but they are no permitted to stand in the front of the room and just read their cards. The slides are a guide.

I do think I could list a few more sites on the webquest to guide for the students, but overall the webquest states exactly what I am looking for in the project and I am looking forward to using it in my class. I will be creating another webquest soon for my French 4 class on music in France.

Quizlet

This is a site my students love to use. There is no need to buy index cards or flash cards anymore. All you have to do is use this site. Some students create their own , but many have been created already for particular book series.

I like to present all vocabulary in the target language, but this site does help my students in French 1. Once we have started the vocabulary, I go to quizlet and search for the chapter we are doing. I enable the sound and pick a student to come to the smart board. I place that student in charge of advancing the cards. Students must repeat the word…and the pronunciation in not horrible on the site.  This gives me a chance to go around and check homework and take attendance. Also, the students LOVE being the person at the white board controlling the cards.

Once they are finished, I can continue my lesson and use the target language knowing that some students might have a better understanding of what I am saying because of this site. I also know, many use it at home to review for a test. They even can print out a list of the vocabulary.

I do not assess my students matching or listing vocabulary on a test or quiz, but I like fill in the blanks and ask questions using the vocabulary. At first I did not like the site because it was just a list of vocabulary, but using it more, I see it does help them with the fill in’s and questions.  I see that my students have a better comprehension of their vocabulary and use it more. So I strongly recommend this site.

Symbaloo

This is something over Christmas break I must design for myself and my class. I love this site and how it organizes all websites in one. I would like to create one for each of my three classes.  It is a neat and organized way to list important websites in class.

I always tell my students to use different sites to help them with their language learning, plus there are ones that I specifically use. For example in French 4, I use French in Action, a video series all in French, or we look at certain French TV stations.If a student is absent when I show a episode, they must go online to watch it. Wouldn't it be great to go to an organized spot and just click on the site. This is site is student friendly and in an organized fashion for the students to access.

Also, as we look at new book series, many have extra practice online or the textbook and workbook are online. Here we could list all the important sites that are used in the course for the year and then add new ones!!!

This site is easy to use, inviting and easily can be navigated. It is easy access for students and I believe they would be more interested in using it.

learning with puzzles

Sometimes learning vocabulary or the conjugation of verbs can be boring and tedious, but with puzzles it can become more amusing and engaging.

I forgot about using puzzles, until a friend of mine who teaches seventh grade, was telling me how she used a crossword puzzle the other day to review vocabulary. Regardless of the grade, I knew my students would like it. My freshmen were getting ready for a test and I decided to create on to reinforce the vocabulary and grammar topics from the textbook.

Like I mentioned before, I belong to Discovery Education through school, and the site offers a great puzzle maker.....puzzlemaker.com. All you have to do it plug in the words you want and it creates the puzzle for you.  After I created a “criss-cross” puzzle, I decided to create a word search, a personal favorite. The next day, they were a success and the students told me that it was a great review and fun. I let them work with a partner and they used their highlighters for the word search.

This is something that I use to do and not sure how I got away from doing this in class. It is a non threatening way to review for a test. Puzzles are associated with fun…what a fun way to review vocabulary and grammar. I also discovered my book series, one which I can not stand, offers a puzzle making component. I think it is the only redeeming quality of the book!!

TED

What a great site and a great resource of information. Even though the site is not geared towards learning another language or was the site created to aid in this process, it is a great site to use if you are teraching ESL. For a few years, I did teach ESL and found this site very useful.

I like the variety of videos and how you can change the language. I would use the site as a listening activity and create a set of questions for each video. I would pick different topics that I know would interest my students.  This site is educational and there are many different topics to choose from.

Also, TED offers two other great features. One is that many of the videos offer subtitles in another language and second, there is an additional transcript and a person watching the video can skip around to any sentence in the video.

I hope to teach an ESL class again and I would love to use this site!!

Audacity

A teacher in my department has made using Audacity a requirement for her course and it is 20% of the students grade. She teaches AP Spanish and has used Audacity for the last few years. She has found a students’ recordings has great quality, it is easier to evaluate their voice files, and the students’ overall preparation for the exam.

It is very easy to have students record regularly and place their files into a shared folder where she can access them, offer feedback, and the students can then listen again with her comments. Our technology department helped establish shared folders for students to be able to submit a work group and aid in turning in their files.

 The students and my colleague really love using this Audacity. The students feel they are getting good feedback and great practice for their actual test day. Anything beats using those old cassette tapes!!

makebeliefcomix.com

Makebeliefcomix.com is a great way of introducing comics into a language class. I first used another site years ago with a family project, but after trying this site, I am ready to create a project where my students can have as much fun using it as I did.

The site allows any user to create a multi strip comics in English and a variety of languages.. There are a number of characters, emotions, thought bubbles,speaking balloons and background colors to choose from. Students can organize the characters on each strip and add text. They have some controls with regards to layout of the characters within the strip.

After adding the content to the comic the students have the option to print the final comic or email it. By using the print screen command on the keyboard the students can also paste the comic into word or PowerPoint for easy presentation.