Monday, November 28, 2011

Podcasts in the L2 Classroom

I'm actually familiar with podcasts, which is amazing to me because I feel like there is so much out there technologically that I had no idea even existed! Podcasts would be a great tool to implement into the classroom because the students could take the possibility of learning with them wherever they go. I am a firm believer that learning takes place both inside and outside of the classroom, and how great is it to have something like podcasts that make this idea possible? The best part is that the students could even be the ones who create the podcasts, so the learning can become more implicit and student centered, which is important in any classroom. I also think using a tool that is compatible with the technological devices that our youth are using today will motivate them even more to learn both inside and outisde of classroom.

 I found this great podcast that could be implemeneted into an ESL classroom because it focuses on the types of things that English language learners struggle with. This particular podcast focuses on being impolite in conversation, which is something any person encountering American culture, or any other culture for that matter, can struggle with. I love this podcast because there is not only spoken dialogue going on here, but there is also written dialogue that goes along with it which makes it easier to follow along with. Another thing that I really like is that the phrases in English that might be difficult for an English language learner to comprehend are highlighted. Also, these podcasts are available on iTunes! One thing I would change about this is the way the dialogue is spoken. It sounds too robotic and unnatural, I think they should focus on a flowing dialouge to help these ELLs better understand conversational English and how it actually occurs in context. 

Monday, November 21, 2011

ePals

I recently discovered a website called ePals, which is an organization that is used to provide world-wide connections. It's very important for students who are learning a second language to develop an understanding of other students and cultures from around the world. They need to understand the various perspectives that exist, not only of themselves but from people all around the world. This website is a great way for these students to accomplish this goal.

There are several features to this program that could be so useful in a second language classroom. One of the features that I thought would to be most useful and most important is the fact that this program is a safe social learning place where communication and collaboration can take place between both students and educators from all over the world. I also really like that this site includes up-to-date technological tools that you could use in the classroom, like: blogs, wikis, forums, dynamic calendars, and homework dropboxes. All of these web tools could be used in the classroom in so many different ways, and I have discussed several of these tools in previous blogs.

The site also has several products available to educators. One product that I really liked is called "in2books." This product only focuses on grades 3-5 (unfortunately) however I think it's really neat because it matches students up with adult pen pals who have read similar books. The student and the teacher can partake in in teacher-monitored online letters focusing on questions and/or issues that are raised by the text.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Photo Shows

I've recently discovered a few great websites for creating photo shows. Some of these include Animoto, Slideroll, and Stupeflix. I tried one of these sites (Stupeflix) and made my own short photo show. This site would only allow me to make a free video if it was only a minute long. I would definitely invest in one of these tools though because this device could be used in so many different ways in the second language classroom. The students could document to the class where they come from, we could use it during content lessons, and we could also use it to showcase what we have completed over the course of the year. It's such a great technology because you can add music, graphics, and text to the photo shows. These are just some suggestions, but, there are so many fun ways that this could be used, and not to mention, it gets the students using some new technologies in their learning.

The video that I created displays some pictures that I took during my annual trips to Nashville, Tennessee each summer. I go down for the CMA (Country Music Association) Music Festival, where you can get a four day pass to see over 30 big named artists perform each day/night. I could have gone on forever with this video, but, since I had a time limit I had to cut it short. The song playing in the background is one of my favorites; it's called "Knee Deep" by Zac Brown Band ft. Jimmy Buffet. My Stupeflix Video.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Using Digital Storytelling in the L2 Classroom

I-Dissabtes_collage2.0 045
Photo by: Anna Fuster


Since I've been learning about digital storytelling I figured it would be worth my while to actually create a short digital story using a web tool called Bubblr. I made a story that I enitiled Look Around Your Classroom by Ms. Schurr.
 
In this particular story the author is looking around their classroom and describing what they see. I would use this story to help students at the very beginner level with the type of vocabulary that is associated with what you would find in a classroom. This book was designed for an ESL classroom but could also be modified for use in any other language classroom. After the students have read this short story, they can create their own stories by showing what they see in their own classroom. I think it would be a fun idea to incorporate pictures of their actual classroom so that it is authentic and so that they can associate their story with what is around them on a daily basis.

The learning objectives of such a lesson would include vocabulary acquisition and comprehension. The students would be using their newly learned vocabulary and applying it to pictures and actual physical objects around the room so that they might begin associating those words with the objects in the room. They would also be building on their literacy skills as well as their English language skills with reading, writing, speaking, and listening. I really like the idea of using these digital story books in the classroom because you can partake in the creative process right along with your students and it can be applied to whatever topics you are currently teaching about throughout the curriculum.

Digital Sotrytelling: A Fun Tool for Classrooms!

Sigms_Kiosk_002
Photo by: Gwyneth Anne Bronwynne Jones

I have just learned a lot about this idea called "Digital Storytelling." After reviewing what this tool actually is and what it does I have realized that there are so many ways in which I could incorporate this into an L2 classroom, or any classroom for that matter. It could even be used for personal use and doesn't need to be used in a classroom whatsoever.

What is digital storytelling you ask? I found out a lot of useful information about this tool from the EDUcause Learning Initiative PDF. In this source, titled "7 Things You Should Know About Digital Storytelling" they describe digital stroytelling as "the practice of combining narrative with digital content, including images, sound, and video to create a short movie, typically with a strong emotional component." They also state that, "Some learning theorists believe that as a pedagogical technique, storytelling can be effectively applied to nearly any subject."

I really like the idea of using this tool in the classroom because you can not only use it individually but it can be used collaboratively as well. This type of tool allows the students to publish their work and gives them a sense of ownership. It is a very powerful thing when students are able to display their own work to their teachers, peers, parents/guardians, siblings, etc...This tool could be used inside and outside of the classroom, meaning that the students could use this tool in school and at home. The students are also developing literacy skills in a fun and innovative way rather than simply writing something down on paper. They are really able to delve into their imagination and creativity with this tool.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Microblogging for Educational Growth

Blogging is a great way to learn through the experiences and knowledge of others, however; microblogging can serve to be just as useful inside and outside of the classroom for both the educators and the students. Microblogging may have a smaller content base than a traditional blog does, but, it is still a great source of information that can be used to help all of us grow and develop as both educators and learners.

There are several different ways in which an educator can implement microblogging into the classroom. There are numerous ways in which a microblogging site, such as Twitter, can be used to fulfill the educational and technological needs of our students today. One article, entitled "28 Creative Ways Teachers Are Using Twitter" has discussed several different ways in which you could use Twitter in the classroom.

I know that I will be implementing microblogging into my own classroom in the future because it is a way of not only embracing the social media that envelopes our social world today, but, it is also a great way to go about educating our students and ourselves. I will use microblogging for my own personal development as an educator and as a learner, and I will also use it to implement ideas in the classroom so that my students might be able to have different and enriched learning experiences. In using these types of sites in the classroom it is important for the students to get a sense that the reading and responding that they will be doing is not simply a "lecture" but is a way of communicating; it is a "conversation." This idea is emphasized by Ernesto Priego in his article called "How Twitter will revolutionise academic research and teaching."

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Social Networking Groups for Teachers?

I have discovered that there are social networking sites for teachers! Who knew?! I had always just considered social networking sites to be MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs. I had always wondered how you could keep your professional life and your social life separate and this would appear to be a great alternative (a blog would be a good alternative as well). There is one social networking site that I think will be extremely useful to me in the field of teaching English as a Second Language because it focuses on that! This site is called EFL Classroom 2.0. I like hearing ideas from teachers in every concentration because I can use some of those ideas, but, other times I need to focus on things that are directed only at English Language Learners.

TANGENT: There is a video on YouTube by Alan Levine, called Alan Levine - New Media Consortium. There is a quote in here by Alan Levine that I absolutely love that says, "I think we need to just sort of put aside this notion that we can keep up (reference to 'keeping up with the times')." He also states, "More or less, when I don't know something I have a network of colleagues and people that I can put out my ignorance to and they responded help me out." I like these ideas because it relates back to my previous blog about connectivism. It is so important to connect with other people so that you can expand on your own knowledge based on the knowledge and expertise of others. It is also important to understand that technology is changing so much that it is nearly impossible to keep up with everything. This is a comforting idea because for the longest time I felt like I wasn't "keeping up with the times", however, I am learning a lot!

A Teacher is Like a...


A teacher is like a piece of a puzzle.

You may be asking yourself how this is so. With the explanation that follows I hope this will become more clear to you. I have just read a seminal article on Connectivism called Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, by George Siemens. There are several quotes in this article that discuss the idea of making connections and how these connections relate to one's own learning. One of the quotes that I found to be substantial says, "The starting point of connectivism is the individual. Personal knowledge is comprised of a network, which feeds into organizations and institutions, which in turn feed back into the network, and then continue to provide learning to individual. This cycle of knowledge development (personal to network to organization) allows learners to remain current in their field through the connections they have formed." Another quote in this article states, "When knowledge, however, is needed, but not known, the ability to plug into sources to meet the requirements becomes a vital skill. As knowledge continues to grow and evolve, access to what is needed is more important than what the learner currently possesses." I have compared a teacher to a piece of a puzzle, because in the grand scheme of things, they are connecting to other pieces of the puzzle (other teachers, peers, students, etc...) and are learning based on these connections. There is only so much one individual (puzzle piece) can know or do, it is through this puzzle where we add all of the other pieces together that we can grow in our knowledge about the world around us.

There are also videos available on YouTube that George Siemens has posted about Connectivism. One such video is called The Impact of Social Software on Learning. A substantial quote from this video states, "The social software that we see in the form of blogs and wikis developed in order to enable these individuals in a quickly changing knowledge field to continue to stay current and to continue to learn from each other." This idea, again, relates to the idea of making connections among other individuals so that we may continue to learn from one another and expand our own knowledge.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Learning More & More About the Blogosphere!

I am learning so much about the technological resources that are available out there through an online graduate class that I am taking. I can't believe how "in the dark" I've been about all of this exciting new stuff! Well, at least now the light bulb is going on! Better late than never!

I recently joined Google Reader, which is a much easier way to keep track of all of the new posts by the authors of the Blogs I have been following. One Blog I am following is called "Free Technology for Teachers" by Richard Byrne. The link to this particular blog is given below.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/

There was one post by the author that had to do with an online site that taught lessons for learning 60 languages. He describes this site as containing "self paced" lessons where the students complete activities in the target language using their native language to help them make a comparison. I love this idea because the students aren't engaging in yet another site that "translates" incorrectly, they are actually engaging in a learning process that could be fun! I would definitely use this resource in my classroom. Below is the link to my comment on this particular post.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/09/pronunciator-lessons-for-learning-60.html#disqus_thread

Enjoy!

Monday, September 19, 2011

"A Vision of K-12 Students Today"


This video has got to be one of the most inspiring videos I have watched in a long time! I am learning more and more every day how unaware I truly am about the impacts the use of technology has on teaching and the classroom. I am taking those initial "baby steps" but I have already learned so much and I can only hope to continue learning more ways to improve the education of my future students. I especially liked how they used "signs" in this video to portray the messages they wanted to send. My personal favorite was the one where they said "Let me use the WWW, Whatever, Whenever, Wherever." I fee like a lot of us assume that these technological devices that our students use on a daily basis will inhibit learning. I say don't look at it as inhibiting, look at is a challenge. How can you use these devices that these students are so attuned with and use them in your own classroom to promote learning?

A "Brave New Digital World"

I've recently done some reading in this great book called "Brave New Digital World" by Robert Blake and I would like to share with you some ideas of his that have intrigued me and I am hoping they will spark some thoughts in you as well! Throughout this book, Blake aspires to answer two significant questions:

(1) What does technology have to offer for an L2 (Second Language) classroom?
(2) How can you tie in technologically assisted activities into the foreign language curriculum?

The first chapter of this book gives an overview of SLA (Second Language Acquistion), Language Teaching, and Technology. There is not one idea in particular that stood out to me, however, several ideas really got me thinking about my future classroom in regards to implementing technology. This author is interesting yet informative, so I took a lot out of what he had to say. I would like to share with you a number of quotes that have helped/inspired me from this first chapter in hopes that you too might be able to take something away from it. I will highlight the ones that I thought had the most impact on my own thinking.

  • "People's interactions with computers, television, and new media are fundamentally social and natural, just like interactions in real life." ---Reeves and Nass (1996, 5)
  • "Computers can make a significant contribution to the SLA process because the students themselves feel that they are interacting with the computer in a real social manner." ---Robert Blake via Reeves and Nass
  • "More important, the web gives all peoples a channel to express their voice, promote their self-image, and legitimize their goals. This sense of authenticity provides endless topics for cross-cultural analysis and discussions in any content-driven classroom." ---Robert Blake
  • "Networked exchanges seem to help all individuals in language classes engage more frequently, with greater confidence, and with greater enthusiasm in the communicative process than is characteristic for similar students in oral classrooms." ---Swaffar (1998, 1)
  • "One of the most significant problems facing computer-using teachers is that no education curriculum can prepare them for the swift and continuing changes that take place in the world of technology." --- Hanson-Smith (2006, 301)
  • "Will technology expand in the future from this complementary role to replacing the teacher and the classroom venue completely? A rational response to this question might be that technology will not replace teachers in the future, but rather teachers who use technology will probably replace teachers who do not." ---Robert Blake via Clifford (1987, 13)
  • "...L2 learners need input that is both challenging and accessible; they need comprehensible input that is within their grasp, input just slightly more complex than their current, still emerging, mental representation of the target language, or what researchers have called their interlanguage." ---Robert Blake via Gass and Selinker (2001, 11)
  • "Technology, then if cleverly designed and properly implemented into the curriculum, has a vital role to play in augmenting the opportunities for L2 learners to receive target-language input." ---Robert Blake
I will leave you all with this one final quote which had the greatest impact on me throughout this reading. This chapter serves as a wonderful eye opener to all educators and I know I have certainly put a lot more thought into becoming a technologically advanced L2 educator!

"An increasingly multicultural world in global and local contexts will put intense pressure on our profession to find the most efficient and readily accessible ways to learn another language. To that end, using technology is a challenge that language professionals must squarely face and to which they must endeavor to find pedagogically principled responses."---Robert Blake

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Internet Safety in the Classroom

Dear Students,
                      There are a great number of things that you must take into consideration when posting anything on the Internet. I know a lot of you are familiar with social networking sites and whatnot, but, there are a lot of different methods out there that you can follow to keep yourself and others safe. I ask you kindly to take this information seriously.

Are you aware that...
  • if you have your Facebook page set up as "publicly searchable" that your page can be found on the Internet, and not JUST through Facebook itself?
  • using location-sharing programs, through Facebook, Twitter, etc...where you may "check in" to places, you are leaking your exact location to whomever reads it?
  • nothing is private online; if you post something it can travel far and fast and can be read by who knows who?
       You are not as private and safe on the Internet as you may think. The points listed above are only a few of a number of different things that you probably are not aware of.

I have posted a link to an article about cyber safety. Why don't you expand on this idea and see if there are any other ways that you can think of to keep yourself safe?

www.connectsafely.org/safety-tips-and-advice.html

Using Blogs in an ESL Classroom

       Isn't it funny how we have all of these New York State Learning Standards that we absolutely must take into account while we as educators are planning and implementing our lessons and very few of these state standards and performance indicators actually focus on technology specifically? It's a puzzling thought since so much of what we do today, inside and outside of the classroom, relies heavily upon technology. This is when we educators must "think outside the box." Sure, the standards and performance indicators don't outwardly say "Students will use technology to...," however, this does not mean that you cannot use any of these standards and performance indicators when introducing technology into a lesson. Let's face it, when we use technology in the classroom, students are taking away a lot more than simply learning how to use that technology.
       I am not a current educator, however; I am currently attending graduate school. I have a BS in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and I am studying to obtain a Master's Degree in ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages.) At the end of my Master's program I will be a professionally certified ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher, grades K-12. As a future educator I am always trying to discover new and innovative ways to teach, and what could be more new and innovative than technology? One of the biggest technologies that has entered our world is blogging. I have presented myself with this question: "What are some ways in which I could include the use of blogs in my own teaching and what state standards (in the field of ESL) would my students be meeting as a result?"





       Since I will be a certified teacher of grades K-12, I will give three examples of how I would include the use of blogs in my classroom; one at the elementary level, one at the middle school level, and one at the high school level. I will then provide the ESL New York State Learning Standards for each level that this student blogging would meet.
  1. Elementary School Level (Grades K-4) 
          In this type of classroom I would use a blog to post class-related information so that students and their parents would have access to this information outside of the classroom. This class-related information is not limited by any means and could include a great number of different things. One such example might include posting classroom calendars which might mark important events or might include due dates for assignments, tests/quizzes, NYSESLAT (New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test) date, ELA (English Language Arts) exam date, and Math exam date. Another example would be posting homework assignments and worksheets because some students either tend to "forget" their assignments or have simply "misplaced" them. Another example would be to include practice exams for the NYSESLAT, ELA, and Math state tests, however, the ELA and Math wouldn't be considered until 3rd grade because that's when they begin taking them. This could also be very beneficial to the parents of the students because it will help them to understand what their children are learning and what is expected of them. It may even be helpful to include translated texts because not all of the parents of these ELLs (English Language Learners) can understand English.

  •   State Standards Addressed:
            * Standard 1: Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for information and understanding
            *Standard 4: Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for classroom and social interaction

     2. Middle School Level (Grades 5-8)
         In this type of classroom I could use a blog to post prompts for writing. This could serve as a good practice for them in communicating effectively to both myself and their peers through writing, and even reading. I could post a question that all of the students must answer and after they have answered this question I could in turn have them each ask a question of their peers. I could pick one of these questions to ask in the following writing prompt and continue this process until all of the questions have been answered. I would invite the use of comments on other students' responses so that they may take their peers' advice and improve upon their writing skills. I could use a process similar to a peer review.

  • State Standards Addressed:
         * Standard 1: Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for information and understanding
        * Standard 2: Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for literary response, enjoyment, and expression
        * Standard 3: Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for critical analysis and evaluation
        * Standard 4: Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for classroom and social interaction

      3. High School Level (Grades 9-12)
          In this type of classroom I could use a blog to link our classroom with another class somewhere else in the world, which could include the U.S. It could be relating to the students' native countries or somewhere completely different. Through this blog the students could learn a lot from the other students and could also gain great practice through communicating. This type of blogging could be used for a project where they try to find similarities and differences between themselves and the other students, especially if they come from different backgrounds and cultures. We could then showcase these discoveries through this blog and what they have learned in the process.

  • State Standards Addressed:
         *Standard 1: Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for information and understanding
         *Standard 3: Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for critical analysis and evaluation
         *Standard 4: Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for classroom and social interaction
         *Standard 5: Students will demonstrate cross-cultural knowledge and understanding