Camping Anyone?

             When browsing through these different podcasts, I noticed that ESL Pod seemed interesting.   After looking around, I noticed a specific Podcast that caught my eye.  Supplies for Outdoor Recreation, was the title of this podcast and reminded me of my favorite season, summer.  After hearing the podcast, I had an idea that would allow students to practice summer vocabulary as well as topics and conversations on a camping trip.    As a teacher, when introducing camping/outdoor vocabulary I would have the different supplies as a visual so students can visualize the objects as they hear it. 

                This podcast was clear and gave a variety of ways to say certain words.  The man spoke extremely clear.  Listening to this podcast will allow students to understand verbs, nouns, and adjectives as introduced by the speaker.   Students will be able to hear the correct spelling of most of the words introduced, as well as simple vocabulary definitions such as flashlight, bug spray, matches, tent, etc.  The speaker made connections to real life examples that will make it easier for learners’ to comprehend the podcast.  

 

                Not only did the speaker introduce summer fun vocabulary, but he also used everyday vocabulary to reinforce good social skills for the learners.  He used vocabulary such as saying please and thank you, and being kind to friends. 

                As a culminating activity for this podcast, I can have students take a hike in near woods near the school that I was teaching at.  This will allow for the students to make connections and see what the outdoors is like when exploring new vocabulary, terms, and definitions on camping outdoors. 

Communication + Collaboration = EPals

               

              First off, EPals was an extremely easy site to navigate through.  The tabs on top were all clearly labeled and allowed viewers to easily find their way around this site.  The logo of EPals; Global Connection, Where Learners Connect, is catchy in that it does just that!  It allows viewers to see the different options that are available to them from professionals whether learning is about holidays around the world, maps, habitats or natural disasters in Spanish.   

                Under each EPal project, it includes the project name, topic, essential question, overview, and the ability to connect with classrooms.  This is great feature because it allows teachers to easily view what each project entails.  One project that caught my attention was the Holidays and Festivals Around the World.   This would be a great introduction project so children can learn about the different customs, traditions, and cultures about different holidays throughout the world.  Children can construct similarities and differences between holidays in the United States compared to the holidays and festivals that are introduced with this project. 

                Another great feature was the teacher forum which allows teachers to communicate with one another.  This is a great way to discuss the different things that worked or didn’t work in each project.  There is always room for improvement and feedback is a great way to improve your ideas and lessons for other times. 

                EPals offers great support and resources for family.  This is a great way to get family involved in their child’s education.  There was a section under families that will allow parents and guardians to view their students work and accomplishments.  This is great way to not only make families happy for their kid’s accomplishments, but also incorporating technology with the visual effects of seeing their work on the computer screen. 

                All in all, EPals offers communication and collaboration between individuals.  This program offers online use of documents, student work, and communication tools that make students, parents, and educators stronger and more aware of collaboration between classrooms and home.  

Mi Familia en Madrid

     In the Mi Familia en Madrid Animoto, I showed my viewers some different photos of my family in Madrid, Spain.  This would have been a great introduction tool in the beginning of the school year when I was showing photographs of my trip abroad.  This is a great way to organize pictures and show them in a fun and engaging way.  In the Spanish classroom, you can introduce different units with photographs, music, and text from different Spanish speaking areas around the world.  Students, can create different Animoto's that allow them to be creative in bringing their writing pieces 'to life'.  Students can complete different writing prompts in the classroom, and with the help of Animoto, they can create different sections of their writings and use their imaginations to make videos of it.
    Animoto can be a free replacement for PowerPoint, field trips, digital storytelling, science projects and more.    

The Joy of Voice Threads

            Both Alyssa’s and Meng’s Voice Thread’s were interesting to respond to.  They both incorporated the use of adjectives and responding to a picture.  In this scenario, this would be a great tool to use in any English or ESL class to not only practice the use of adjectives, but to also practice using their voice or writing skills.  The threads that I visited, gave in depth directions as to how to use the Voice Thread so that learners were able to explore this tool with the help of their teacher.  It was great in that it allowed learners to use their own unique way of responding to the thread. 

                In my voice thread, I allowed the learners to respond orally, but then they had to give me a hard copy of what was said and reinforce their writing skills.  In reviewing my thread, I think that this will be a wonderful tool to practice for ANY type of speaking task for any exam.  It can allow for learners to hear themselves and give feedback to themselves as well as other classmates.     

Fruta, Fruta, Fruta

     This was a great tool that will allow students to think creatively in creating a book that will be beneficial to them.  In this case, I created a Bilingual Concept Book that will allow viewers to have access to some different fruits in Spanish as well as their English meaning.  I created this book in order for the young learners in my class (3rd grade) to understand the different fruits, names, and pictures that go along on each of the page.
     In any foreign language classroom, the teacher can model a story at first and show them the different things that can be included in their story.  Students can create stories on simple vocabulary (clothes, school subjects, things around the house, etc.) from converting English stories into their native language.  The teacher can work collaboratively with the technology/computer teacher to allow students to work on their creations in class.  This will allow students to ask questions,  work with others, and use their imagination and what was already taught/reinforced in class.
  For example, if I were to allow students to create books on 'School Supplies and School Subjects' in Spanish, I would create objectives such as; students will create a story on different school supplies and subjects in Spanish, students will use photos to design a book that will show their understanding of the major vocabulary on school subjects and school supplies.

Digital Storytelling

Photo taken from Flickr by Brian Alexander

                                        

                   Digital storytelling is a virtual tool that can entertain or enlighten any audience.  As stated by Jeniffer New in her one source titled How to Use Digital Storytelling in Your Classroom, she states that, in today's digitized world, visual storytelling is a favorite classroom tool, and the affordability and accessibility of technology such as iMovie provides opportunities not imagined a decade ago.  Digital storytelling can use a variety of text, video clips, music, narration, text, and recorded audio.  The length of these videos    can vary in length but for educational purposes, these videos usually last for two to ten minutes.  There can be a variety of themes and ideas for creating digital storytelling.  These themes and ideas can range from historical events, personal tales, and stories about planets and dogs and everything in between.  

 

         In order to fully understand digital storytelling and what it has to offer, watching this six minute video clip on Introducing Digital Storytelling will allow viewers to take into consideration the ways in which this tool can be beneficial.  

 

       The way students express their creativity and use their imagination nowadays can have kids be fully engaged in creating Digital Storytelling.  Students can use narration and clips that express their wide range of creativity.  Students can work collaboratively on creating digital storytelling that will allow them to use writing, speaking, and listening to make their story.  In a ESL or FL classroom, students can present these different digital storytelling techniques that introduces to other students their home life with pictures and possible dialogue that allow for complete interaction in the classroom.  Following the curriculum of the school is an important factor of teaching but using technology in ANY classroom will heighten students awareness of what is being taught due to the interaction, visuals, and sound opportunities that students can explore.  

 

His path, his journeys, his ACCOMPLISHMENTS!

Whether sitting in class or reading article, I always found it interesting to hear about people’s journeys on how they learned English.  As part of this MOD, I found that commenting on and reading these different posts opened up my eyes to the different accomplishments that individuals face in learning the English language. These accomplishments can either be the positive ones or the negative ones and how they learned from their mistakes.   A Journee in Langauge blog, introduced me to one man’s journey and the struggles, achievements, and accomplishments that were overcome in acquiring English.  

Are you TIRED of the....

....same old material being presented to you in class?? Blah blah.  Do you want some spice in your life and learn through others in your field and through technology?  Twitter is a great way that will allow you to stay connected to the outside world by ‘following’ others and seeing what’s important in your chosen field.  Twitter allows you to follow artists, educators, singers, athletes, and many more individuals as you can live with them throughout a day in the life of them.  

            You can use Twitter in the classroom in a variety of ways.  One way that I know I would use it is  in my classroom would be if teachers and students from around the world can collaborate on projects using Twitter as a communication tool that simultaneously educates students in different classroom and cultural protocols.  Since I know I will be doing something in the foreign language or ESL route, this would be a great way to incorporate communication into the classroom.  Not only would this allow students to use technology, but it would also let students use an ESL NYS standard for communication with other individuals and others from around the world.  In the web page titled, How to use Twitter for Social Learning, it states that Twitter allows portrays easy access, and there are many websites that allow viewers to use this tool in presentations, activities, and allows teachers and students to understand how to use Twitter. 

              Twitter can be successfully used in any classroom at any grade level and content area.  Some ways that teachers are using Twitter is for review of tests/quizzes, answering questions, instant feedback, communicate with professionals of individuals in your field of interest, set up a poll as with many other ways, as stated in the web page, 28 Creative Ways Teachers Are Using Twitter .  I think that any subject teacher can use in their classroom.  Math teachers can allow students to communicate with other mathematicians while in English class, students can catch up on authors of that time or poets from a different era.  

P.L.N.....Personal Learning Network

The Educators Personal Learning Network is a network in which ESL/EFL teachers can refer to when needs ideas and keep in touch with other teachers in around the world!

When exploring this website I noticed some really nifty things that would beneficial in any ESL/EFL classroom. Some of the major headlines on this site were as followed:

My Page:  Easy set-up! (all it involves is an e-mail address and a password)
Members:  Comment or "give a call" to over 11,000 members who can give you advice or ideas for your classroom
Videos:  Want to critically think about something?  The video headliner will allow you to access many different types of videos from Online Learning to Digital Learning in a Social Studies classroom
Forum:  Search, comment, and reply on several topics relating to learning
Events:  Attend or view events in your area (some of these events will allow you to stay home and attend right at your own computer!)
Groups:  Join groups that allow you to have say in several ideas.  Some groups I thought were important were Language Learners and  IPads in the classroom.
Blogs:  Blogs, blogs, and more blogs!  View several blogs posted by teachers, professionals, and parents of students!
Leaderboards:  Have a question of want to see the #1 video? Check it out!
EdChat:  Talk with members and see what's new!

A learner is like a.....

"A learner is like a human evolving from ape to humankind, you are able to see change and improvement over time"

When I first looked at this assignment it took me a while to comprehend the quote, “A learner is like a…”.  Some things that came to mind were words such as diverse, changing as the years pass, evolving, and improving.  Even though none of these terms fit into the quote directly; I thought that “A learner is like a human evolving from ape to humankind.  A learner is always learning at different speeds and the learning abilities of student are evolving and changing with time.  

  

“…Where we have come with computers, we are now at a point where an individual, can do significantly more with the aid of a computer which was never ever possible in the past..” This was stated by George Siemens in the video The Changing Nature of Knowledge, in which he explains his view on the changed nature of knowledge and his learning theory of connectivism.  Throughout this video clip, he used the word ‘connect’ many times.  One time that stuck out to me was when he said that individuals connect with others and form more connections with data bases that are the main forms of knowledge at this point in time.  The learning ability of the learner use to be in the minds of the individual, but with the complexity of our databases nowadays, students can connect to many outside sources that just solely are inside of their minds.  

As stated in the article Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, George Siemens, states that connectivism is the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization theories.  With the increased use of technology nowadays, students, adults, and children stay connected through the use of social networking, news, media, etc.  When individuals stay connected through this process, they then have the ability to stay connected through different fields and continue to improve their learning process.  The connectivist theory is evolving in ways that individuals connect such as, going from telegrams, to letters, to emails, to phone texts!

Same video-clip, Similar IDEAS!

When completing this Mod I noticed that when I was adding my education blog feds, I saw that Meng Zhang had similar thoughts with regards to the 21st Century Education in New Brunswick, Canada video.  It was interesting that she shared the same thoughts and ideas as me and made me have a "Oh yeah" type response when reading her posts to the video. This idea was that in years from now there will be no textbooks for students, it will all be in a little gadget that holds all this material. So....I guess I have to start touching up on my technology!      

This video was interesting in that it had no sound, however, was extremely beneficial because it showed the audience ways in which technology will advance throughout the years.  I am excited to see that as technology is improving in todays classrooms, how it will effect the learners that it surrounds.  Being a first year teacher, I want to incorporate as much technology in my classroom because years down the road, everything will be technology based.  In my classroom, I noticed that virtual tours are a great way in which students can first hand experience 'life' in that certain area without even being there. 

 

Technology, technology, technology!

21st Century Education in New Brunswick, Canada   

This what one of the videos that I thought was more interesting because a. there was no sound and b. it was really an eye opener to see how advanced technology will be in the next couple years.  From when I was in elementary school to the elementary school I teach in now , there are many uses of technology that students can use such as SMARTBoard, over head projectors, Elmo's , etc.  I can only wait and imagine the ways in which technology will change! 

This is one video that will make people pay attention to because there was no sound so that they will have to stay focused on the screen.  I found it interesting that they repeated the question Did you realize? several times as a way to show the audience how different technology will be in years down the road.   

Internet Safety

 Hello Students in Room 33 and Parents/Guardians.  This year we will be using the Internet in many fun and exciting ways.  Below is a list of ways that will keep your student safe from the Internet both at school and at home.  There is also information for the parents/guardians for protecting your child!

For the STUDENTS...there are some very important things that you need to keep in mind when you're on your computer at home or at school.....

1.  Never give out ANY type of personal information out on the Internet (name, home address and phone number, credit card number, school name, etc.)
2.  Never take a picture of yourself on a chat room or other sites that allow this
3.  Never write to someone that makes  you scared or uncomfortable
4.  Don't go and meet someone alone that you met online without the consent of you parent/guardian
5. Tell your parents right away if ANYTHING anybody says makes you uncomfortable
Remember:  Over the Internet people may say they are a 12 year girl when they really aren't!
6.  Don't talk to strangers

For the PARENTS...

1.  Become computer literate and learn how to block objectionable material
2.  Keep the computer in a common area, not in individual bedrooms, where you can watch and monitor its use
3.  Share an email account with your child so you can monitor messages
4.  Bookmark kids' favorite sites for easy access
5.  Spend time online together to teach your kids appropriate online behavior
6.  Find out what, if any, online protection is offered by your child's school, after-school center, friends' homes, or anyplace where kids could use a computer without your supervision
NOTE:  This link will show you what Notre Dame Academy (NDA) has to offer when protecting their students from the Internet
7.  Take your child seriously if he or she reports an uncomfortable online exchange
8.  Forward copies of obscene or threatening messages you or your kids get to your Internet service provider

Feel free to visit this link  which will give you more tips on Internet Safety and more specifically for teens and younger children:

Incorporating Blogs into the Classroom

1.  Students can create a blog where they describe a typical day at school. The teacher can invite other same aged students from different global locations to contribute the same type of information on the same blog.This will allow students to see the different ways in which their school days and similar and differ.  Students can ask questions and leave comments to gain cultural awareness. Students can then begin to share/compare thematic units being learned, novels being read, field trips being taken, etc.  This will be interesting to use in my classroom now because they are learning about different vocabulary in and affiliated with school.  This will heighten their awareness on schools around the country or schools that can be right around the corner.  This will cover the standards 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 which allows students to communicate in languages other than English.

2.  In my school, the 8th grade girls and boys need to make a portfolio to enter a high school of choice (usually a Catholic School).  Having students create an E-portfolio will not only display their student work but will also allow students to visually see their portfolio on the computer.  Students could add links to videos, presentations, podcasts, etc. which can show the viewer how that individual excels in their field (academically or in sports).  Allowing students to complete this type of portfolio will allow them to comment on their weaknesses and strengths as well.  This type of work shows others what work is highlighted in their portfolio.  Standard 1.2 allows children to understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics which is the standard that students will demonstrate while completing this task.  

3.  Creating a blog to communicate class/school information with parents will allow students, teacher, and parents/guardians to see important information that's happening in the community, school, and in the classroom.  Teachers can post field trip information, field trip forms, parent helper calendars, general classroom guidelines and more.  This will be extremely beneficial to those specific parents who don't speak English as a first language because the teacher can intertwine links that will allow parents to appropriately view and communicate with the other parents/guardians of the students.  Teachers can also show homework assignments, spelling words, test, quizzes, and projects on the blog which will allow for open communication between the teacher and guardians if questions happen to arise.  In my classroom, I can have students post a special fact about the Country of the week and students can post their thoughts about it. This will allow students to not only communicate with others but will also allow students to gain knowledge and understanding of other cultures.