Educational Podcasting!

I have viewed several podcasts over the years but had not truly concentrated on them until recently. While exploring the various podcasts available, I found that there were many different types and topics. My initial opinion of a podcast was a sort of video that discussed recent news. However, through my exploration, I found a lot of audio podcasts that discussed a wide range of topics and did so in a way that made listening to podcasts enjoyable and entertaining.

I found my favorite podcast so far on PodCastAwards.com. This site provided a variety of great podcasts. The one that I found most interesting and quite funny is called This American Life. The podcast I chose to concentrate on from this site is titled 511: The Seven Things You're Not Supposed to Talk About (aired on November 8, 2013). This podcast revolves around a set of rules for conversation as established by the producer's mother. These rules include notions such as never discussing sleep, dreams, diet, health, route, money, and more. Her reasoning is due to the fact that these topics are either boring or vulgar. The podcast is very funny due to the fact that the mother of the producer has a very strong opinion and the producer capitalizes on the obscurity of her statements.

I think this podcast would be a great way to bring up pragmatic competence in the ESL classroom. It is very important for ESL students to understand what the cultural norms of American society include. For this reason, I think that this podcast would be a great way to begin a topic concerning conversational norms. The students would be able to discuss what they think are appropriate conversational topics in various situations and between various people in society. Overall, this is a very important lesson and I think it would be great for the students to not only practice their listening skills by listening to the podcast but also the content of the podcast is directly relevant to their study of American culture.

Creating a Global Community!

This past week I have spent a lot of time exploring the ePals website. One aspect of this website that I really like is the effort to build a global community. The website allows teachers to create a profile and state their classroom goals. They can then collaborate and connect with another classroom from around the world to meet these goals. This is a great way for students to have direct contact with not only other cultures around the United States but also cultures around the world. This is perfect for foreign language classrooms such as French or Spanish. The teacher can connect his/her class with a class from France or Spain and use this connection to send emails, Skype, and learn from one another. For ESOL classrooms, the teacher can use this site to connect with other English speaking nations such as England or Australia in addition to other areas of the United States so students can learn about all the different cultures within this country.

Another aspect of this site that I really like is the link to the teacher resources page. This page provides downloads for many different instructional resources including PDF, video, and audio. My favorite part of the teacher resources page is the Common Core Implementation Center. This page provides ready-to-use, collaborative CCSS ELA projects through ePals. I think this is great because it provides a way for teachers to align the Common Core with the use of ePals in the classroom.

Another very useful aspect of this site is in the Tools for School page. This section provides a great amount of teacher resources and even has a list of classroom-tested and teacher approved resources. The only downfall to this section is that some of the resources cost money. However, there is a good amount of resources that are free for teachers to try before purchasing others. These resources can be browsed via content area, grade, price, and language.

Overall, I really enjoyed the various aspects of this website and definitely plan to use it with my future students. Not only are the resources endless, but there are also numerous classrooms around the world to collaborate with and learn from. I love this site, especially the idea of involving my classroom in a global community!

Comic Crazy!

Over the past week, I have looked at a couple different comic strip generators. I have already used Storybird and therefore wanted to try something new. I ended up choosing StripGenerator. I watched a tutorial on how to use this site and then began to make my own comic. I am not a particularly creative person and therefore I really struggled to come up with ideas. However, once I came up with an idea, I think it worked out really well. Unfortunately, the user is limited to a choice of several characters and items that may not include everything the user is looking for. Additionally, the comic can only be in made in black and white.

Despite the limitations, I think this is a very useful tool for the classroom. It gives the artistic and creative students a chance to create something new and original to present their thoughts and ideas. It could be used as a storyboard activity for students to draw and recreate a story that is being read in class. Also, students could create their own stories or demonstrate a specific situation. Overall, I think this is a great site to help students get involved and excited about school projects. Even though I had no idea what I was doing, I was very proud of my final creation and cannot deny excitedly showing it to my family. I hope my students would find it as fun as I have!

Animoto- Bring Your Presentation to Life!

The past few days I have been experimenting with various websites used for digital storytelling. A site that I found extremely easy to work with was Animoto. This website allows the user to make a video using different themes, music, pictures, and text. It is a really engaging way to present information and make learning fun and interesting. At first, I thought it would be very difficult to create a good video but I quickly realized that all it took was a little effort to add a theme, pictures, and text. The theme came with a great song and constructing the pictures and text was extremely simple. I think my favorite part of this tool is the fact that it is easy to use and therefore it would not be too challenging that students would lose interest. Also, the product is very impressive and makes the creator appear to be experienced with making these presentations.

With the upcoming holidays and the prediction of snow, I decided to create a video about Christmas. This could be used in the classroom as a "hook" for a lesson about Christmas or holidays. It would be especially useful for ESL students who are not familiar with this holiday and need some background information and a quick idea of what it is. I made sure to put some information, vocabulary, and pictures of important elements of the holiday. However, this was made with the limitations of a 30 second free trial. If I had an account, I would create a longer and more vocabulary oriented video to introduce the topic to the students. This could be used for many topics other than Christmas and it is a great way to grab student attention to introduce a new lesson. Overall, it is an extremely beneficial tool for the classroom and also very user friendly because it does not take too much effort to use. Give it a try!

What's Your Story?!

Digital storytelling is something that I have previously seen used in the classroom. However, I did not further explore the concept and its various uses within the classroom. I was exposed to digital storytelling when I was subbing in an ESL classroom. The students were using Storybird to create their own stories and poems using pictures. It was very interesting and the students seemed to enjoy the activity because it allowed them to be creative and choose from all different pictures.

In the article, 7 Things You Should Know About Digital Storytelling, I learned a lot more about digital storytelling including why its significant, what the downsides are, and also what the implications on teaching include. To begin, I would like to define digital storytelling according to the article as, "the practice of combining narrative with digital content, including images, sound, and video, to create a short movie, typically with a strong emotional content." This allows students to use dynamic sources of media to tell and create ownership of their own personal narratives. "People tell stories to teach beliefs and values to others." Through digital storytelling sites and tools, students can tell these stories of importance to other people. This would be a great way to boost implicit motivation within the classroom because students are creating something of personal value. However, this article does mention a downside of digital storytelling. This downside is due to the fact that creating these digital stories is more difficult than it appears and often leads to students copying or mirroring the stories of others. This is important to keep in mind when using digital stories in the classroom because it may take a lot of planning, time, and guidance by the teacher. An interesting implication of this tool as suggested in the article is the ways it allows technology to be applied to nontechnical disciplines such as history.

I also visited the site, Center for Digital Storytelling. This site was very interesting because it gave examples of digital storytelling which are very meaningful and emotional. Also, it provides assistance with the user's storytelling needs whether it be for education, advocacy, community, or more. They "partner with organizations around the world to develop programs which support individuals in rediscovering how to listen to each other and share first person stories." I think this site is a great way to look at various uses of digital storytelling and to discover ways to use it for teaching purposes.

Overall, I think digital storytelling is really interesting and it brings an emotional and personal element to the classroom. This is extremely important in the ESL classroom as students bring different cultures, experiences, and narratives to the classroom. Digital storytelling provides an engaging interface for students to represent themselves and their story through media and words.

Autonomous Learning Through Games!

A game that I think is extremely interactive and engaging for English language learners is Trace Effects. I played Chapters 1 and 2 of the game the first time I encountered it. Then a day later I played Chapters 1-3. I had a lot of fun playing the game but it did take playing the first chapter to get used to it. I had to learn how to navigate a choice of actions and spoken options. Also, I spent a lot of time learning how to navigate the character and interact with others. The game poses enough of a challenge for it not to be overly easy; however, it is very clear on what you need to do and how you should do it. There are a lot of options for English use between the actions which emphasize different verbs and the spoken options which emphasize pragmatic competence.

 

One specific language learning objective for students playing this game (specifically Chapter 1) would be to be able to identify vocabulary concerned with American universities. For Chapter 2 the objective for the students would change to identifying vocabulary used at farmers markets. This could include various listening and reading comprehension skills because the game forces students to read the information on the screen and also to listen to what the characters say in order to gather all the information necessary to complete each step. This is a great learning tool for English language learners because it shows some of the everyday elements and environments in the daily lives of many Americans. It also provides the students with a chance to have certain sections of the video or character speech repeated back to them. Additionally, there is  appropriate feedback when a student chooses the wrong option. The other characters in the game react differently to various answer choices and it reflects real life situations and pragmatics very well. I could assess whether learning objectives have been met by monitoring student progress as they complete the game and receive feedback at the end of each chapter. I could also have them show me what they have learned by having students role play the situations they encountered in the game. I could assess their navigation of both vocabulary and pragmatic competence by observing role play interactions.

Overall, I think this is a really fun and engaging game with a lot of relevance to everyday life and situations in America. I hope my future students will also find it a fun way to learn and practice their language skills!

Escape the Room Games- Phantasy Quest!

Over the past week, I have been exploring the concept of gamification. I have seen and experienced the use of games in the classroom but had not come across the term, gamification, until recently. According to the article, 7 Things You Should Know About Gamification, the term gamification can be defined as, "the application of game elements in non-gaming situations, often to motivate or influence behavior." In general, there are many reasons for the support of gamification for language learning. Specifically, gamification provides ways for students to build connections with one another and also to provide an engaging and interactive way for students to participate in their own education. It is both rewarding and pleasing at the same time which allows for students to enjoy learning. With language students, it can provide concentrated practice on specific areas or a whole language approach depending on the game. Additionally, gamification allows language learners to use graphics and visual aids to assist their learning along with the chance to interact with others.

Over the past few days I have tried several different games, specifically "escape the room" games. One game that I especially liked is Phantasy Quest. I have played it twice, once without the walkthrough and once with it. After playing the game both ways, I would have to say that the walkthrough is definitely necessary in order to prevent frustration. Playing around without the walkthrough could be a fun initial activity for students to get used to how the game works, however, it is definitely necessary for completing the game without getting frustrated to the point of quitting.

The language learning objectives for students playing this game would be to be able to recognize beach/nature vocabulary along with being able to give and understand directions. The role of the teacher during this activity would include verbally giving directions to the students using an appropriately modified version of the walkthrough. The point of verbal directions for the walkthrough would be to increase listening comprehension for both giving and receiving directions. The teacher can provide the directions using North, East, South, and West vocabulary or simply Up, Down, Right, and Left depending on the teacher's preference. The students would be actively involved because the game provides many different ways for the students to interact with the environment on the screen. After the initial walkthrough by the teacher, the students can even use the game to create their own set of directions for what they want the character to do. Then the students can practice giving and receiving various directions with a partner. Images from the game could be used by the teacher to reference vocabulary and possibly draw out a map for students to reference directions in the classroom. One specific way for the teacher to assess learning objectives is by looking at the progress of the students while the walkthrough is presented. If the students understand the directions then they will be able to follow the directions on the screen for the teacher to see. However, if the students do not have listening comprehension for directions and the vocabulary then they will not be able to complete the steps as said by the teacher. The teacher should walk around the classroom to assess the progress of the students in relation to each direction of the walkthrough that is presented.

Overall, I thought this was a really fun game and it provides the students with a lot of different options for interacting within the game. I think it would be a great way to work on both vocabulary and directions with students!

Classroom Tweets!

This past week I have learned a lot about Twitter in relation to teaching. I gained a lot of important information from two articles titled, A Must Have Guide on Using Twitter in your Classroom and Primary Perspective. These articles each provided tips and examples of how to use twitter in the classroom.

In A Must Have Guide on Using Twitter in your Classroom, there are a lot of great ideas for ways to use Twitter with your students. The site notes different areas where Twitter can be useful, including communication, organization, resources, and writing skills. The site then demonstrates different ways in which a teacher can promote these elements of education using Twitter. There are a couple great suggestions for using Twitter as communication that I really liked. For example, using Twitter as a way to have open office hours at all times of the day. Also, it can be used to silence students who often blurt out comments because now they can tweet them instead. A unique idea provided on this site is to use Twitter as a way to keep parents notified and up to date on what their children are learning. I think this is a great idea because it allows parents to feel involved and it provides them a chance to be a part of their child's learning and also connect easily with the teacher.

In Primary Perspective, the author discusses how she used Twitter with her 1st grade class. She uses a lot of graphics with her writing in order to show exactly how she did different things with Twitter for her class. It was very helpful to see the exact ways in which she Tweeted with her students. It provided a lot of insight into making the classroom a global experience. I like that she used Twitter to contact both parents of her students and professionals in different fields that her class was studying. She specifically states that she uses Twitter to show her students that they have a voice and that the world is listening to it. I liked this idea a lot and I liked that her students were able to learn about various perspectives and cultures. I think this would be a great tool for the ESL classroom because it allows for a global perspective and can help facilitate intercultural competence through Twitter.

Overall, I would love to use Twitter with my future ESL students. I think it could make the classroom a really interactive place and allow students to form global perspectives. This would be a great idea especially in the middle or high schools when students most likely will already have Twitter accounts of their own. It is a great way to keep in contact with students and learn from professionals all around the world!

Twitterchat Chaos!

A few days ago I joined Twitter. After joining, I tried a Twitterchat for the first time ever. I chose to attend the Educational Technology Chat, #edtechchat, from 7-8pm EST on Mondays. I arrived on the chat page a few minutes early to prepare myself. I was not sure at all what was going to happen. At 7 the chat began and I started to realize why Twitterchats are such useful resources for professional development. The moderator began the chat by signaling a question with the symbol Q1. This helped me to establish what the conversation was going to be about and allowed me to think of something to say. I did not know a lot about the subject which was STEM schools and students. After watching the chat for a little while I finally figured more out about the subject and asked a few questions that pertained to ESL. It was a great experience to learn more about a subject that I did not know well. This is just one great way that Twitterchats provide professional development. I found it very challenging to keep up with the chat while also trying to write my own posts or respond to others posts. I hesitated to send my first Tweet but it was really exhilarating when someone responded to it. I felt like my voice was heard and that I was an important part of the chat because people cared about my contribution. Part way through I was given the chance to identify myself as a first time user of Twitterchat. At this point a lot of the users made Tweets welcoming me to the chat. The moderator himself even wrote a Tweet that welcomed me and encouraged others to follow me. I gained about 14 followers from the chat and felt appreciated. It was a really inspiring and interesting experience. Feeling so welcome definitely made a difference. It allowed me to open up, be comfortable, and enjoy an experience that I was hesitant about at first. The fact that I felt very comfortable sharing my thoughts and asking questions is another reason why I would definitely use this as a source of professional development. Overall, I would definitely use Twitterchat again for professional development because it was a really fun experience and I did learn a lot about a topic of which I knew very little.

Exploring Social Networking!

A few days ago I joined the social networking site called Teacher 2.0. I have spent the last few days learning about how this site can be useful to me and how to use networking to my advantage. There are some interesting aspects of this site that I think can be really useful to teachers who want to keep up to date and share ideas with one another. One of these elements includes information about virtual, open, and free conferences on various topics that members may attend. There are also options to suggest new ideas, forums, and groups for members to connect with one another over mutually shared interests. Some of the groups on Teacher 2.0 that might be useful to me are Professional Developers, Classroom Bloggers, and Tutoring. One that really interests me is Classroom Bloggers because it is about blogging with your students. I would like to use a blog with my future students and I think I could learn a lot from this group and the experiences of others. Another element of this site that is really interesting is the Web 2.0 feature which I have had fun exploring. It provides a lot of options for networking and peer professional development. Overall, the one thing I am certain of is that I still have a lot to learn about social networking. There are so many different options that I have seen on this site and other sites such as Classroom 2.0 and The Educator's PLN. I look forward to learning more about Teacher 2.0 as I build my profile, join different groups, and attend various virtual conferences!

A Learner is Like a...

I have recently explored the theory of Connectivism in relation to knowledge and learning in today's world. Both the concept of learning and the concept of the learner have been affected by the growth of technology. The theory of Connectivism takes into account technology and networks when defining or giving place to knowledge and learning in current times.

Today, a learner is like a mapmaker (cartographer). In making this comparison, I hope to highlight the fact that a learner must know where to find certain information or knowledge in order to be successful. Similar to a map, a learner must know where to find information (cities) and what sources (roads) to use to access it. I think that this is the perfect analogy for today's learner because knowing where to find information has become more important than learning all the information that is needed. This notion has become a necessary part of learning in the new age of technology.

In the article, "A Learning Theory for the Digital Age", Siemen discusses learning theories of the past including behaviorism, constructivism, and cognitivism. He then proposes a more up to date theory called Connectivism which relates better to learning today and provides an answer for the limitations of previous theories. In this article he says, "The pipe is more important than the content in the pipe". By making this statement, Siemens is demonstrating the fact that it is more important to know where to find "knowledge", than it is to know certain "knowledge".

Additionally, in the video, "The Network is the Learning", Siemen discusses how networks, nodes, and the relationship between the two represent the role of learning today. "What we know today is not as important as our ability to continue to stay current... If I'm not continually learning I'm becoming obsolete in my particular field or within a particular knowledge space...A network continually evolves and continually reforms itself." By making this statement, Siemen is highlighting the fact that today's learners need to stay as current and up to date as possible because technology and the knowledge provided by it is continually changing and growing.

Overall, learners today should be mapmakers. Know where to go to find the knowledge you need!

The Diigo Versus Scoop.it Debate!

I have recently learned about the use of internet tools such as Diigo and Scoop.it for social bookmarking and curating. I signed up and started an account using both of these tools. In general, they are both great resources for keeping a collection of websites that can be accessed from anywhere. They definitely show marked improvement from the use of the favorites or bookmark toolbar. I have at least sixty different websites in my favorites and it is nothing but disorganized chaos that I cannot even access from anywhere but my own computer using a specific browser. This is nothing but aggravating! Diigo and Scoop.it are both great options to resolve these problems and keep organized collections of useful websites.

One of my favorite features of both of these tools is the ability to follow other people's accounts and share information with one another over the web. It allows me to connect with people who have the same interests and therefore locate even more resources than only the ones that I have found. Both sites also allow its users to use multiple tags. This allows the websites to be sorted and organized under keywords for easy finding later.

However, there are various benefits that are unique only to each tool. For example, Diigo allows its users to highlight, capture, and annotate specific parts of the website for followers to see. This is one of my absolute favorite aspects of this site and something that I would use all the time. It is a great way to take notes and emphasize specific elements of the website for others to see. This would be extremely beneficial to my students when they decide to read online. Most importantly, it is a very interactive and engaging element for its users. Although this is an extremely useful tool, there are some limitations to Diigo that Scoop.it takes advantage of.

When using Scoop.it, the users can comment on the scoops of one another. This is great because not only can the user follow other people but they can also communicate through comments to expand their thoughts and ideas. This internet tool also provides suggestions for related articles which is extremely helpful when trying to expand your collection.

Now, in my opinion, there is a major difference when just simply looking at each site. Diigo seems to be slightly boring and does not look very appealing. On the other hand, Scoop.it has a lot of colors and pictures right from the start. It looks very engaging and interactive. Personally, I think Scoop.it looks much more approachable and friendly, especially to students who will most likely enjoy the flashy design.

Overall, if I had to choose to use one over the other it would be a very difficult decision. The highlighting, capturing, and annotating aspects of Diigo are extremely useful. However, Scoop.it is much more visually pleasing, suggests articles, and provides the ability to comment on each others scoops. I wish there was a tool that would combine each of these elements together. In the meantime, I guess I will be using Diigo for my annotating and highlighting needs while I will use Scoop.it for its design, comments, and suggested articles. However, I am sure it will not be too long before someone creates a tool that has all of these features since technology is changing and improving all the time!

Back to the Future! -- Technology in the Classroom!

Today I watched several videos about technology and the affect it has on education both now and in the future. Technology is a major part of people's lives outside of the classroom both for professional and personal use. It makes complete sense in this new technologically savvy world that students should be taught to use these new tools to their advantage.

One of the videos I watched, "The Future Starts Now", reflects directly on this idea. The video discusses the term "ICT" (Information and Communication Technology) and how it should be used in the classroom to motivate students and improve learning. The video speaks directly to the notion of building a "knowledge based society". It suggests that the way in which to do this is by using "gadgets" such as ipads, iphones, computers, et cetera. This video also mentions that ICT is the fifth basic skill of the curriculum in Norway. However, it is important for teachers to be educated on the use of ICT and the benefits it can provide so they will actually enforce it in the curriculum. It is suggested that it should be a part of pre-service teacher training. I completely agree with all of the statements made in this video. I can honestly say that without this class, I would not have known or cared to use many of these technological tools in my future classroom. However, after using these tools and practicing them as part of my pre-service training, it has definitely changed the way I will approach the use of technology in the classroom. I had thought of it as more of a hassle but now I would say that it can make education and learning both more motivating and accessible to all.

Another video I watched, "Social Media Revolution 2011", discusses the very drastic effects of technology on today's world.  It was obvious even before watching this video that technology is a major part of our lives outside the classroom. Yet, I think that this video does a great job of highlighting the extent to which social media has impacted our lives. I thought this video was very eye-opening because it provides statistics stating the effects of various social media sites such as Facebook on the world today. It is amazing to see such high percentages associated with the use of these various sites especially for professional purposes. One part of the video that really struck me was the quote, "We don't have a choice on whether we do social media, the question is how well we do it," by Erik Qualman. I think this quote perfectly reflects on the way that not only technology should be used in the outside world but also in the classroom. For teachers today and in the future, the use of technology is no longer a choice. For me, it is simply a question of "how" to use technology in my future classroom.

The last video I watched, "Classroom of Tomorrow", gives some great visual examples of technology use in the classroom. It was really interesting to see the way classrooms would work using new technology. The video has images of students using their iphones and ipads to participate. It also gives great examples of the teacher using the devices during presentations. The way all of the devices are interconnected is shown in the scene when the teacher slides a stock market picture from his iphone right up onto the screen for the students to see. I would love to have tools like this to use in the classroom. It makes the learning process so much more motivating and inspiring when you can actually visualize and animate something the students are learning. It solidifies learning because it makes it an experience rather than just a list of facts.

Overall, I enjoyed watching each of these videos. I think they give a great view of technology in the classroom. It is altogether inevitable that technology is now a part of the world and must be a part of the classroom. I look forward to continue learning about these internet tools so I can use them in my future classroom. I am especially excited to use these different tools because it makes learning fun and interactive. I hope that my students will feel the same!

Using Blogs to Meet Learning Standards

There are numerous ways that I can use blogs with my own students and for my own professional development.

One important way in which I can use blogs with my students concerns the use of various grammar rules. I can post specific grammar rules that the students have been working with in the classroom. In response, the students can then comment with examples showing proper usage of the grammar rule, exceptions to the rule, and/or questions concerning the rule. I think this would be a great way to interact with students while they practice these grammar rules both inside and outside of the classroom.

Another important way in which I can use blogs with my students concerns reading goals and reflection. I would like to have my students post reviews and reflections of the books they are reading. This will not only allow myself to comment on their thoughts but also other students to see if they like the review and might want to read the books themselves. This also helps build their writing skills as they must use the proper format for a review or summary and edit accordingly.

Overall, it seems as if there are numerous possibilities for the usage of blogs with students in an ESL classroom. I think it would also be of use to create several different classroom blogs for various purposes. Then the students can reply to the "grammar" blog, "vocabulary" blog, "reading" blog, etc. It seems as though a very useful and fun tool for not only the students but also the teachers. It is a way for teachers to respond to students at home using the internet via computer or phone app. (Phone apps for blogging will be especially attractive to students as they are always on their phones.)

Official learning standards in my field (ESL) that student blogging could meet include:

Standard 1 (Intermediate Grades 5-8): Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for information and understanding.
Performance Indicator 12: Convey information and ideas through spoken and written language, using conventions and features of American English appropriate to audience and purpose.

Standard 2 (Intermediate Grades 5-8): Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for literary response, enjoyment, and expression.
Performance Indicator 10: Create, discuss, interpret, and respond to literary works, using appropriate and effective vocabulary, grammar, spelling, and punctuation in writing, and using appropriate vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation in speaking.

Standard 4 (Intermediate Grades 5-8): Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for classroom and social interaction.
Performance Indicator 1: Use a variety of oral, print, and electronic forms for social communication and for writing to or for self, applying the conventions of social writing.