Hablemosespanol's Blog

8-A-1 Google Notebook

hablemosespanol — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:51:23 +0000

I would recommend Google Notebook to my students to support their research when completing projects or papers in my class. The ability of this application to allow for URls to be automatically noted and the ease of applying images; combined with the ability to begin the project in school (on a school computer) and finish it at home on their home computer is very appealing. Students would not be hindered by having material stored on their drive in school, and then not be able to access it at home. Also, Students could work at home and then access it in school to show me their progress. This is an exciting future for the world of word processing.

Paperless Classes

hablemosespanol — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:21:46 +0000

I believe that paperless classes would totally revolutionize the world of education. It would change the role as teacher in that it would make available the precious time that we all need as educators to instruct and facilitate the learning in our classrooms. Assessments would be totally different from the traditional pen and paper tests which we are used to. It would make learning more targeted to all learning styles, reaching more learners and would open learning up to the global classroom. Students from all over the world could collaborate together to create and edit work and projects. Measuring learning and assessing student process would require the use of online rubrics. It would reward for content, as well as, creativity in the blogs, online discussions, and projects which could be monitored. I think that paperless classrooms would make it easier in the end to create a learning network. Although there may be some challenges in the beginning with creating a learning network, once established, and connected with other students, classes, and schools; it would begin to flow. I believe that it takes a willingness on the part of teachers and administrators to commit to making a paperless class happen. Once this commitment is made, the energy on the part of the faculty and students would drive the network into success.

The Big Shift

hablemosespanol — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:12:28 +0000

The shift which I have chosen to discuss as impacting me the most in my classroom has been #9 Mastery is the product, not the test (Richardson, 2009). As I was growing up in a pre-internet age, the entire focus of the school day, consisted of taking notes in preparation to take and pass the test at the end of the unit. Things have changed dramatically since then, and I for one, am thrilled. Many students suffer from anxiety in taking tests and do not fare as well on them as others. I feel that projects can be a more equitable form of assessment. I still believe tests have their place, but they are not the whole picture anymore. I do many projects with my classes, and those that generate the most interest and engage the students the most are those which require the use of technology. I still don’t have much of the technology in my classroom, which is needed, however; just the thought of a project which requires a video, or PowerPoint presentation is all the students of today need, in order to become excited about their work. In the future, I see all classrooms in the country using the web as a viable assessment tool. I can see the move away from testing as we know it. Before taking this course, I did not realize all the technology that is available to me as an educator, through Web 2.0. In my own classroom, I will be making the shift from journaling in notebooks to journaling online in the form of a blog. I will be using wikis more as a forum in my classes to facilitate the completion of projects.

Responding to Connectivism

hablemosespanol — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 00:12:14 +0000

http://bce-summer2009.wikispaces.com/Group+A+For+-Irene%2C+Sarah%2C+Shamim%2C+Donette

I agree with this group that connectivism is relevant to all our teaching practices as educators. At every level of the curriculum we need to be looking for a way to make the mega amounts of information which is available to us today, like never before, not so overwelming. We need to help our students to organize this information which is constantly changing and fed to us through the internet. These are new challenges which confront us in the classroom of the 21st century.

Skype Reflection

hablemosespanol — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:18:55 +0000

Connecting to a fellow educator through skype was both exciting and frustrating. I do not have a webcam or microphone, so I had to use the chat feature. I did finally manage to get the message out, it was challenging to get the download complete. It was very different for me to use this type of technology. In the future, could use Skype to connect with teachers at high schools in Spanish-speaking countries. through skype , I can gain the authentic language connections for my students and help to broaden their cultural understanding of other cultures. This can be done through fostering contact and friendly exchange through Skype and the Spanish-speaking world.

Which Podcast would I use in my classroom?

hablemosespanol — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:41:47 +0000

I have found the following podcast which I would use in my classroom: http://www.losblogueros.net/elbloguipodio/2009/06/bloguerismos-del-medio-oriente-corte.html

This podcast offers commentary on current events in Spanish. I am always looking for ways to bring authentic language into my classroom and expose my students to a variety of accents from different Spanish-speaking countries. This podcast offers my students the ability to develop their ear to native speakers speaking the language. Especially my AP class will benefit from the podcast found at the above link. I will use this podcast as homework for the students to listen to 8 podcasts per month and then blog about what they’ve learned and understood from the podcast. I would also have them blog about how their fluency improves throughout the school year as a result of listening to the podcasts on a consistent basis.

How will I use Flickr in my classroom

hablemosespanol — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:44:01 +0000

In my world language classroom, I can see the students using flickr as part of an online project. Possibly, doing a report on a certain culture, country or food. Also, I can see them setting up their own Spanish language blog to be used as their journal, and using images from flickr on their blog entries to put an image to what they are blogging about. Image Citation: bobistraveling(2009, July 4) The Dunes Pea Island Wildlife Refuge OBX NC 0389. bobistraveling’s photostream. Retrieved July 4, 2009 from http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobistraveling/3687194518/

The Pea Island Wildlife Refuge OBX NC

The Wiki which has inspired me to use Wikis in my classroom

hablemosespanol — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:02:26 +0000

In viewing the examples of Wikis, I took personal note of the Wiki which was being used to link two schools. One of these schools is in the US and another in Peru. The Wiki gave historical data and assigned students to collaboratively work on different aspects of Peruvian culture. There was a group on food, history etc.. I found this very exciting for my Spanish classroom, as a way for students to take a country a month and expand and due research on its culture. All posts will be in Spanish and it will keep my students communicating in the target language. It will be a wonderful addition to their journal assignments each quarter.

3-D-2 Social Bookmarking Plan

hablemosespanol — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:22:51 +0000

I plan on collaborating with colleagues through social bookmarking by finding sites of interest to my whole department in order to expand the resources we have in the classroom. I will be able to bookmark sites on Spanish and Latin American writers, as well as, articles for reflection in student journals. I will look for sites which can offer expanded grammar practice and various webquest projects for students of all levels. As department chairperson, I will be meeting with my department in the fall to encourage them to start bookmarking and to give them my user id.

Link to my resource page at pageflakes

hablemosespanol — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:13:08 +0000

http://www.pageflakes.com/rjvajda/27044886