How might we make student self-organization more appealing?

All the tools we've been playing with in this module are way more fun than using an agenda or a regular notebook. I like all of them, but for now Wall Wisher seems like the easiest to use and like it would seem the least like schoolwork. Just the fact that you can personalize it and move things around, add pictures and videos... I think it would be great for students who need to improve their organizational skills. Granted, I am mostly a Lower School teacher so that does always factor in when I'm forming an opinion about something. :)Bubbl.us is something a bit more serious in my mind and I think I'll definitely use it when planning new units etc., so I can immediately see how it can be useful for students doing research projects or planning anything that requires a lot of smaller tasks to be done in order for the end-result to be what they want it to be.

Ways you could you use Google Maps or Earth to engage learning in your classroom

With my grade 6 students I do a unit on getting around a new city. In this unit we start by learning the names of different important buildings, we learn how to ask for and give directions and near the end of the unit we look at the map of the Madrid metro system and practice providing detailed information on how to get around Madrid using the metro (where to get on, where to transfer to a different metro line, and where to eventually get off in order to reach your desired destination). Using Google Maps and/or Earth could be a great extension to this unit. Students can use the actual map of Madrid to create their own walking/bus tours pointing out specific places that could be of interest to them and their friends. Or, in order to connect to a cultural unit, students could use Google Earth and a series of clues provided by the teacher to follow a suitcase that got lost and is being shipped from one random Spanish speaking country to the next, tracking its route. That could be a fun way to learn a bit about the countries where Spanish is spoken.

En el aula de español - collage

When you see this collage, doesn't it seem like teaching and learning Spanish is a blast? Well, collages can be deceiving. :)

Mass-sharing?

How might we prepare students for a life of mass-sharing?

Well, I know how I should start and that is by accepting mass-sharing as the way things are done and learning to be more relaxed about it. Putting things on-line for me is the same is "handing it in" and what I like to hand in is "the final copy". In my mind everything else, that is not the final, proofread and a "ready for printing" version, is not "good enough" to be on line. I know that this is not the way I should be looking at things, but it's hard not to do that when all through my education I was taught that the final copy is the best copy and everything else is "not acceptable". Also, I do have to admit that I've also had a couple of bad experiences with leaving comments on blogs and having people with unfamiliar usernames rip them apart, pointing out the "flaws in my reasoning", correcting grammar, etc. in a very inconsiderate and sometimes simply mean way. I guess this may sound crazy, or at least overly sensitive, to some people, but it is how it is... and if I feel this way, maybe some other people might too.

So, when preparing my students for mass-sharing, I would primarily talk to them about all the wonderful benefits of sharing and contributing to understanding, then try to teach them how to find the most useful source of information and check the accuracy of the information they found, provide appropriate feedback when doing so, and how to carefully choose what PERSONAL information they share. I guess I'd also try to teach them to be more relaxed about sharing their own stuff and not have the same "hang-ups" that I clearly do. A very good first step would be having them share their thoughts and ideas on-line but primarily with their classmates and teachers, and then slowly take it from there.

Online Teaching Resources

What online resources have you used to improve your teaching, and how do you usually find them?

Usually, when looking for online resources, what I'm basically looking for is ideas. I generally search for worksheets, practice exercises, lessons which I can use or modify and try out in the classroom. Sometimes I look for examples of authentic spoken Spanish from different parts of the Spanish speaking world so that my students can get a taste of what communication in Spanish sounds like in Argentina or Mexico and how it differs from communication in Spain. I also regularly use my favorite online English-Spanish / Spanish-English dictionary.

I must admit that I haven't been very successful in my search for free online courses that are both age appropriate and teach the "Spain" version of Spanish. The fact of the matter is that even when I do happen to find what seem to be very good online courses or activities that my students might like, I'm reluctant to use them in the classroom because every time I've tried something like that, ISB technology somehow failed me. I don't know if it's a weird coincidence or the fact that my classroom is in the basement, but I just haven't had luck with online courses. It mostly has to do with problems students encounter as they are trying to log in or access the website in question. Perhaps it's the laptops or a "bad connection", but whatever it is, it results in some students, those who managed to successfully log in and access the website in question, being on task and engaged while others, who haven't been successful logging in and accessing the website, being frustrated and disruptive. Because of this, I usually encourage my students to use online resources at home for practice. I imagine/hope that next year will be a different story with every student having his/her own laptop and I look forward to using online resources more regularly in my everyday teaching. One thing is for sure: dictionary use will be faster and more practical and using my delicious account as a source of teacher recommended online resources will definitely help my students stay on track, get additional practice, and take a more active role in their language learning, if, of course, they choose to do so. :)

Then and Now Reflection

Think back a few years to how you used to use your computer. Describe any changes you've noticed over that time. Finally, make some predictions about your computer use in 2013.

When I first started using a computer actively, I was probably in grade 11, which means I was about 16, which makes it school year 1996/1997. At that time, a computer for me was nothing more than a fancy typewriter because it was primarily used for typing essays, which I, by the way, first wrote out on a piece of paper and typing it out was just the final act before handing it in.

Oh, and I should mention that a couple of summers before that school year my dad had decided that it would be very beneficial for me to learn to type, so I spent the summer of probably 1994 or 1995 hating the fact that I had to spend an hour a day doing "fff space jjj, ddd space kkk, etc.". :) Later on (SY 1995/1996), I also had to take a typing class as one of my electives in grade 10 and we used to spend almost the whole class in the computer lab with a blank piece of paper taped over the monitor and a piece of paper with a story on it beside the computer. The assignment was to retype the story without looking at the monitor and going back and correcting possible mistakes, and do it all by the end of the class. How crazy is that?

So, as I mentioned, grade 11, Burnaby Central Secondary School, and I'm using a computer as a typewriter. The following year I began using a fax machine to fax over physics notes to friends, share test questions, etc., and by the end of grade 12 I started using my computer for more personal things. I think I still have a floppy disk somewhere with a "What's my life like at the moment (June 1998)" MicrosoftWord document on it that contains what can best be described as a reflection on my teenage life in Vancouver. Unfortunately I don't know anyone anymore who has a floppy disk drive, so I may never be able to go back and see what I wrote. :(

Obviously, all of that seems crazy right now, but that's how it was, which means that 3 years from now it will seem even crazier. I imagine I won't even need to have any programs on my computer because all my stuff will be available online and I'll be using open source software. I probably won't even need to bring my computer anywhere with me, because I'll be able to use any computer to access my documents. Of course, since I can still remember using a dial-up connection and hoping that no one will pick up the phone in the other room while "receiving mail" is flashing, it sometimes makes me wonder what I'd do if all my "stuff" was online and my internet is not working. Things that make you go hmmm... ;)

Being in the Public Domain Reflection

Some people have strong feelings about being in the public domain (meaning their pictures, thoughts, interests... can be potentially accessed by people they don't know). Explain your feelings? How do we address these concerns as teachers and role models? How do we teach this?

I guess I'm one of those people who see the use of the internet as a visit to an amusement park. There are various interesting things for you to see and experience, you can have a lot of fun, but there are also opportunities for unpleasant experiences (getting your wallet stolen, going on a ride that looks like fun but you end up feeling sick during or after, getting separated from your friends, etc. :) ) It's all about how you behave in certain situations, how you protect yourself from possible unpleasant experiences and how you go about solving a problem that comes up.

I guess I would try to teach my students to be informed, prepared, and take precautions to ensure the information that is out there about them is the information they wouldn't mind sharing with the rest of the world. Providing information about possible negative outcomes of sharing too much personal information and ways they could be remedied (if possible) would also be a good idea.

Google Docs Reflection

I really like google docs. They're easy to use and I already have a bunch of ideas about how I'll be using them next year with my students and with other teachers.

What I like about Module 3 of this course is the fact that learning to use google docs, and using other google apps in general, has immediately made my life easier. From realizing how our LS Language B team meetings can be more productive just by creating one google doc instead of working on 3 separate excel spreadsheets, to getting quick help from Rada through google chat when I was unsuccessfully trying to change the language on my blog and google docs account from Serbian to English, my week has been made easier. I guess I like the collaborative aspect of it all more than anything else. :)

As I was watching the last video on google apps being used in that school, and having previously uploaded a presentation just to see how it all works, I did realize that the whole thing is not perfect. My presentation didn't quite work how it was supposed to and I found the idea that thanks to google apps we could be available to parents any place any time a bit scary. However, the benefits of it all are much greater and I look forward to putting it all into action next year.

Gmailing reflection

What are the main differneces between Gmail nad any email you've used before?

I've been using Gmail as my personal email for a while now and I like it because it's easy and always available, regardless of where I am. If there is a computer and an internet connection, I can check my mail. In fact, I can't even comment on the differences between Gmail and other emails I've used before, because Gmail is the first and only web based email I've used and listing all the advantages of using web based email is crazy, because they're so obvious.

What I like the most about using Gmail is the chat option and of course Google-talk which I use regularly to talk to my friends and family who don't live in Serbia.

What would you like to be able to do with Gmail?

I don't know what I would like to be able to do with Gail because I'm not sure I know what my options are. I definitely want to work with Google documents and learn how to have my students do writing assignments in Spanish (using a Spanish keyboard with all the accents and letters). I'd like to then be able to read their assignments, suggest corrections, or correct their errors myself, all the while tracking the changes I make, as I now do with Microsoft Word documents.

How could one of the tools in Gmail be used to positively impact student or teacher performance at ISB?

I think all the Gmail tools can be useful. I already made a contact group entitled "LS Language B Team" and would definitely make groups for my students by grade level so that I can send them information pertaining to their assignments quickly and easily (reminders, threats of tattling on them to their parents, etc. :) ). The chat option is great for teachers to use to collaborate and get help/advice quickly when planning lessons, or when in class. Also, my students could use the chat to ask me quick question if they need to. I've been using Gmail calendar in my personal Gmail to remind me to send emails, pay bills, etc., and that could definitely be useful. In general, Gmail tools can help improve teacher-student communication and organization.