Saturday, July 28, 2012

Organizing my Teaching - Online!


For class this week, we were each assigned a tool to make our lives easier (Dropbox, Skype, Evernote, or Diigo).  I am already an avid user of Dropbox (to share videos and pictures with my family) and Skype (to video chat my friends), but I presented on Evernote.  I can honestly say that Evernote is something that I will use in my classroom.  It will function much like a class webpage, and a way that I can hold the students accountable for doing their work.  For example, on Evernote, I will post the worksheets, syllabus, maybe any activities from the whiteboard if a student missed class, and the students will have this all available to them on the web (they don't need to have the App, although it would make life easier).  So everything the students need to be successful in my class will be right at their fingertips.  Which I love!!


I know the purpose of this blog post should be how I felt about teaching this particular tool to my classmates; and I think that I shared my true belief of its benefits with my group (because again, I really do think I'll use it).  But I would like to talk about some outside research I've been doing recently for another one of my classes on the use of music in a Second Language classroom.  In thinking about how I would like to use music in my Spanish classroom, I have been linking it to what I have learning in this class.  One amazing site that I stumbled upon is called www.LaMusica.com (also available as an iPhone App)!  This site will allow students to listen to FM Spanish Language Radio stations from across the country.  Stations like LaMega in NYC or LA 96.3 not only play Spanish language music, and conduct interviews in the target language, but it would introduce the students to cultural information about the groups living in each area (Puerto Rican or Mexican, for example).  


I know I have to link this research to what we did in class today, and this is how: I would have this link available on the class Evernote, and assign the students to listen to one station for an hour a night for homework (assessment being that they should write about what they heard).  This way, I know that they will be learning about the culture, and I know that they will have exposure to authentic, conversational Spanish, instead of just the textbook vocabulary.  


So, you see, I found the class this week (which was entitled Organizing your Online Life) not about organizing my life, but how I can take the tools and organize a classroom, to help my students succeed.  And I think that using the tool like Evernote will help me accomplish this as a teacher.




As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.
Audrey Hepburn

Friday, July 20, 2012

Lost in Translation


Today in class, as we knew it would, the discussion centered around video games. But not in the way that I would have thought.  Professor J started by having us translate some crazy symbols.  Go ahead - try to do this (from http://stephenfrug.blogspot.com/2011/07/xu-bings-book-from-ground.html)


This is not the exact text that we were given in class, but think about how you would go about reading this.  If you're like me, you'll go strait to the computer and Google this.  And then, when you don't find your answer, you ask for help, figure out what the symbols probably mean and try to translate (and get it nearly right, but not quite). The way I would translate this paragraph would be something along the lines of waking up and getting ready for the day.  


So this task has two useful applications in my mind.  First is an obvious connection to foreign languages.  If I handed this to my students on the first day of class, they would think I was crazy, because it's obviously not Spanish (but as I'm thinking about it right now, it could be read in Spanish...right?); but is it any different from giving a beginner class this? 
They won't know the words, there are probably some symbols like ˜or ´that they are unfamiliar with.  How would I expect them to approach this?  Probably Google, then ask a friend, UNTIL they have learned how to read in Spanish.  Second, this task is kind of like a video game we decided: it's challenging, there's not a lot of risk in translating, worst that can happen is that you get the translation wrong (which I did), and its kinda fun (at least for me). 
So the question comes, how do you implement this in a class?  If someone has suggestions, that would be great!  Otherwise, I will suggest a few more Apps that I would want my students to be using to make their Spanish language learning fun!                                                       
Learn Spanish - MindSnacks (One of the Best Education Apps!)             English Spanish Language Adventure

I don't want to let the other part of today's class go unnoticed, because I had a blast learning how to make my online portfolio!  I'm truly learning things that I find applicable to my everyday life, like Flickr.  How did I not know how to use that before?!  In case anyone would like to see this portfolio it is aquí!

That's it and that's all!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Really? Video games in a classroom?


Yes, really. When I think about how crazy this whole thing sounds, I think back to how I learn how to use computers in elementary school: Type to Learn taught me how to type by somehow linking the practice of typing to rocket ships; Zoombinis, which I have already explained but in case you are unfamiliar:


This was (is?) my favorite thing to do in elementary school technology classes - once you finished your typing practice you were allowed to play Zoombinis.  As I said in a past blog, as a player you take these jelly bean creatures through a magical forest to get to Zoombini-Island, and to do so, you have to complete a set of puzzles.  These puzzles were things like "Find a pattern of lilly pads to get the Zoombinis across the pond," or "Based on what ingredients the Italian monster liked and disliked on his pizza, what is the perfect pizza?" And if you FAIL any of these puzzles, the Zoombinis who didn't make it through the task would be sent back to their slavery island (from which you are to save them) and you had to start the journey all over again.  Sooo, what was I getting from these games?  I mean, it's subtitle is "Logical Journey" and I didn't feel like I was learning, I felt like I was really trying to help these jelly beans on skateboards get safely to their home!  But clearly, with my now awesome puzzle and reasoning skills, I was in fact learning something.


The James Paul Gee article maps out what values that a video game should have, IF it would be used in a classroom setting.  Let's see then if Zoombinis had any learning value.  One of the criteria is that there is a low risk of failure - well, if I failed a puzzle, the Zoombini would get shipped back to slavery!  I would say, high risk.  Good games are customizable to individual playing styles - well, let me think.  I was able to customize what my jelly beans looked like (whether they had one eye or roller-blades) but as far as my playing style, the game did not offer any variation for the different players.  A good game should let the player develop strategies and get used to using these strategies, then change up the game!  Well, there's another fault in this logical journey: I did develop a strategy, which was memorize the patterns, because they only vary slightly (like which ingredients the Italian monster wanted)and then at some point, you memorized how to pass each level. 


Sorry Zoombinis, but I would not use you in my classes.  Not only is there no benefit for a Spanish class, but really, I was just speeding through my actual learning activities to play with the Jelly beans.


What I WOULD do is use any of these things: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-great-online-games-learn-spanish-french-languages/ and maybe encourage my students to go to http://www.languagegames.org/  These games will actually have academic and educational value in a Spanish classroom, and hopefully increase the students ability to use the language - because they will be engaged, challenged, and when they mess up, they're not going to punished like the Zoombinis were, they will be learning from their mistakes.  




La sabiduría nos llega cuando ya no nos sirve de nada. -Gabriel García Márquez

Sunday, July 15, 2012

So I think that my age is showing.  I'm 22.  This week we discussed a time when kids made the games on the computer instead of playing them, and there are students in my program who remember this.  

What?! I only ever played Type to Lean and Zoombinis.  And allegedly the games that my generation is learning secretary skills.. What could helping Jelly Bean people get to Zoombini Island by winning a series of pattern based games in an enchanted forest possibly do in an office?  Nada.


Anyway, I think that it's interesting how the times have changed - the age gap between me and my fellow students shows how the goal of elementary school students with computers is to teach them to type and save the Zoombinis, while back in the day, it was to teach them how to...use a computer, maybe, and all that you can do on it.  But the reason our technological up-bringings are so different is because of the constant advancements in technology.  


Which leads me to my point: in my last blog I speculated what I would do in a classroom with regards to the NYC soda ban.  However, if I were to theoretically teach this lesson next year (when I'm finished with my program) there will likely be some new form of technology or some new trick that I maybe have to learn!  I like to think of myself as up-to-date with technology, but what if I'm still teaching this lesson 15 years down the road?  Will I still know what's going on? (I would like to think so...)


The lesson received some revisions during class, because I got to bounce my ideas off of the other world language teachers, specifically the Spanish teachers.  The parts of my lesson plan that could be affected by changing technology will be made apparent:

  • Goal - Have the students express opinions and recommendations about human rights in Bolivia
    • Start with the movie También la lluvia - a film about the water politics in Bolivia, and the conquest..
    • Have the students do research on sites like BBC Latino América, http://www.jornadanet.com/
    • Have the students write news paper editorial pieces about their opinions
    • Langauge assessment - I will be looking for their use of subjunctive, recommendations, use of vocabulary, and the demonstration of what they learned about Bolivian culture and history
The bolded purple is what will likely change with the tech advances.  I don't know that in 15 years BBC Latino América will still be a viable news source, nor can I say the same about jornadanet.com.  I also think that in 15 years print newspapers may become obsolete with the increasing popularity of online news - so perhaps the more likely candidate for expressing their opinions would be a blog post, much like this one.  So when indeed the tech options for my class do change, I'll be waiting with my plans of how to adapt!

That's it and that's all!


I decided, very early on, just to accept life unconditionally; I never expected it to do anything special for me, yet I seemed to accomplish far more than I had ever hoped. Most of the time it just happened to me without my ever seeking it. 
     -Audrey Hepburn

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Recently, New York City has been trying to enact a ban on the sale of soda, that would reach from delis, to cinemas, to fast-food restaurants.  For this course we had to read an article about this soda ban, in which the sited reason for the ban is obesity.   

Okay, so soda... Technology...? How in a class about technology can you relate these two seemingly unrelated topics?  Well, I can foresee two possibilities in a future class.

First.  As a teacher you can relate the ban of soda to the ban of technology in a classroom.  Across the country, phones, laptops, iPads, and so on, are prohibited from being in a classroom - with the argument from administration that the students will focus better on the material at hand (and perhaps that there won't be any desire to contact the outside world while in class...).  But!  If you're like me, you see that there is a benefit to having an iPhone or iPad in class, because the students could be using apps like flashcards or maybe a virtual tour of that weeks Spanish speaking city on a guide book.  And the article presents soda as the sole contributor to obesity (um, no), there are many other factors, just as there are in a student's level of focus.  They could be thinking of that cute boy who said hey to them in the hallway, or the fact that they didn't have breakfast.  So in a future classroom, I think that as a teacher, you could relate the topic of banning something like technology, may not be as beneficial to a classroom environment as the administration might think it is.

Second.  It's actually difficult to find a solid application of this a Spanish class, but here goes.  You could relate the ban of soda to the ban of, let's say, illegal substances in Central America currently.  In an application to technology (as that is the topic of the course) you could have the students research on the internet ways in which bans are working, or more likely, not working in countries like Mexico or Guatemala.  This way, they can build an argument saying why banning soda is a good or bad idea, and they will be learning about current events in the countries that they are studying.  


Everything I learned, I learned from the movies. - Audrey Hepburn

And that's it!  I'm going to try to finish each blog post with either an Audrey Hepburn quote (she's my favorite actress) or an applicable Spanish saying.  Today's, you will note, that I am placing great value on movies.  I mentioned in the last post that I find music very beneficial to learning a second language, and the same can be said for movies, as you learn about a culture in addition to learning the language.