Information literacy

I found the library informational session to be helpful in understanding the research options that are available for middle school and high school students today.  When I was in high school, I did all research with books and print journals and did not have access to any of the databases that students learn about today.  I think it's wonderful that they have access to all of this information, and that learning how to access it seems to be a large part of library programs today.  I also found the reminders about the differences between Google searching and database searching very helpful.  I feel that the information I gained from the session will be useful to me in future research projects at Fairfield U.

When I think about applying these research skills to my future classroom, I try to determine how often I will assign a research project, and what type of research it will require.  If I were to project to students, it would most likely be for advanced students, and it would be related to a current event or cultural topic.  I envision more research on French news websites, not necessarily from the types of databases we learned about in this session.  I do believe, however, that the basic, universal skills of designing a thesis, creating productive searches, and correctly citing resources do apply and I could carry this information on into my future classroom.

Mobile technologies in the classroom

I think that online survey tools, such as Survey Monkey, can be very useful in the classroom.  I think they provide an opportunity for students to be creative in designing their survey, and they enable students to gather information about one another that they might not otherwise know.  A survey is also a nice segway into important graphing and charting activities, which can strengthen skills in organizing and presenting information.  In addition, I think teachers can use a tool like Survey Monkey to poll students on topics like what they think of a recent project and why, which can help teachers modify their instruction as needed.  

For my survey, I polled classmates and family on whether they cook dinner at home or eat out, and what types of food they enjoy in both scenarios.  According to my survey results, 60% of respondents cook dinner at home 1-3 nights per week.  The top three types of food that people enjoy cooking at home are pasta (80%), salads (60%) and soups/stews (60%).  The foods people cook the most often at home are pasta and pizza.  When people eat dinner outside of the home, they do take-out (60%) more often than they eat in a restaurant (40%).  Finally, peoples' favorite restaurants have a common Italian theme and include such places as GoodFellas, Bertucci's and Pinnochio Pizza.

I also created a QR Code for this week's assignment.  My code links to a recipe from one of my favorites chefs, Ina Garten.  

I think QR Codes can be a very fun and engaging way for students to access information.  I can imagine linking students to cultural information or current event news articles with this tool. 

Despite the value I see in these mobile technologies, I still have a degree of reservation about giving phones such a prominent role in the classroom.  I read through the articles provided in class that outline some very real benefits of giving students permission to use their phones in school.  For example, the article about the student in a rural area who could not get to school and texted her teacher to communicate this information revealed a very positive benefit.  I believe phones do enable students to easily communicate with their teachers, something that is often difficult for students to do.  If the texting option encourages students to be in better touch with their teachers, then this is definitely something to explore.   My concern with giving the phones such an important role, however, lies with the fact that not every student will necessarily have access to a phone.  This could be for financial reasons, or it could be because parents simply do not want their middle school student to have a phone yet.  I realize some schools have 1:1 programs that eliminate this issue, except in the case where parents would rather their child not have a phone yet.  I also think these phones can be a distraction - in all honestly, my iPhone can be a distraction to me!  If a school is going to allow phones to be used in the classroom, I think guidelines around phone use need to be clear and enforced, and parental buy-in needs to be present.

The world of SmartBoards

Last week, I observed a high school French class as part of my World Language Methods class.  The teacher was around my age, and he used a world language teaching method I was interested in observing, so the session was very interesting to me.  The teacher has a lot of experience and had a great command of French and the class in general.  I remarked right away, however, that his entire lesson was conducted with an overhead projector, transparencies and a chalkboard.  There was a SmartBoard in the classroom, but the computer was tucked away in a corner.  When we spoke afterwards, he asked jokingly if I liked his "high tech lesson."  I asked if he ever uses the SmartBoard, and he said he doesn't really have a need for it.  

As I was driving home, I thought about our class's recent SmartBoard training session.  I thought about how I could have conducted, or even enhanced, the same lesson using the SmartBoard.  During the lesson, the class read a short story, and every once in a while the teacher wrote key grammar or vocabulary points on the board.  The teacher had a rule that the students were responsible for everything he wrote on the right side of the board.  They had to write this information in their notes.  The teacher used the left side of the board for pre-teaching concepts, and the students were not responsible for putting this information in their notes.  If he used the SmartBoard, he could automatically save the content on the right side of the board and print it out for the students' notes.  He could do the same with the pre-teaching content on the left side of the board and label it differently so this information could be in students' notes as well.  I would also have had students up at the SmartBoard rearranging parts of sentences to reinforce grammar points.  Grammar can be boring, but if learning it can be more interactive, the students may be more engaged.

As a future World Language Teacher,  I see a lot of potential for the SmartBoard.  I love the "rolling dice" tool, which I could use to choose volunteers and practice numbers.  I also liked the Anagrams, which I could use as part of a vocabulary activity.  I could have students come to the SmartBoard and match French labels to the corresponding pictures.  Finally, the infinite cloner would be very useful in grammar lessons.  I can envision cloning the labels "nom" (noun), "verbe" (verb), "objet direct" (direct object) etc. and having students label different parts of a sentence.

My classroom observation experience reinforced the fact that a SmartBoard is only as useful as the teacher is trained.  I realize I need to explore and practice within the technology as much as I can so I can use it to the fullest potential.

I'm a Twitter convert

I will admit that I have always shunned Twitter.  I have been a Facebook user for years, and I never saw the need to join another social network, especially since I thought I would end up connecting with the same people.  Plus, I barely have time to keep up with everything on Facebook, so why add another social network to my load?  

After starting a Twitter account as part of the class assignment, and reading the articles we received in class, however, I have been converted!  I think I began to see the light during Patrick Larkin's Skype conversation, during which he explained how he created his professional learning network on Twitter, and how this opened the door to so many new contacts and insights for him.  The idea of using Twitter for something more than keeping up with friends and family makes Twitter more appealing.  The article "Nine great reasons why teachers should use Twitter" gave me many ideas for how to use the social network, such as to get new lesson ideas and gather feedback on my own ideas.  The best part is that the feedback can happen in real-time!  As a brand new teacher, I imagine this "sounding board" aspect of Twitter will be especially useful to me.  The author of this article also gave the following advice:  "Remember, your experience on Twitter is only as high quality as the people who you follow and the information you share."  I plan on spending more time really thinking about who I should follow as a future World Language teacher.  I also need to build time into my day to check my Twitter feed, and the fact that updates have to be concise will make this much easier (I hope!)  Right now, I view Twitter as a wonderful source of articles on popular themes and topics in world language education, which will be important to read as I prepare for my future career.
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I also spent some time going through Edmodo this week.  I love the concept of this social network, because I am adamantly opposed to teachers using other social networks, such as Facebook, to communicate with their students.  I believe that teachers need to draw a line between their professional and personal lives, and being involved with students on Facebook would make that nearly impossible.  

From my review of Edmodo, I feel like it will satisfy so many of my organizational and planning needs, and it will enable me to communicate with my students in a forum that is of interest to them.  The benefits of having a means to communicate class news and assignments, give quizzes, share links to relevent articles, and gauge students' interest in  all of this are undeniable.  The more I explored, I began to wonder, Do I really need a blog if I use this tool? And if I do start a blog, is it too redundant to have a blog and Edmodo?  Like a blog, Edmodo offers a calendar and a homework posting capability, and it offers that interactive communication so that students can comment on whatever I post.   I feel, however, that my posts cannot be very lengthy in Edmodo.  Since the interface is busier due to all the capabilities Edmodo offers, I think lengthy posts would be too cumbersome to read.  For this reason, I would use Edmodo for organizing, planning and communicating news and short posts.  I would use the blog for writing reflections and opinion essays.

There are two features of Edmodo that stood out to me.  The first is the ability to create and organize groups for both students and parents.  It is so convenient that a student can access pages for all of her classes with one Edmodo login.  I also love that parents can access all of their child's class information via one login.  Teachers can create a "Parents" group, which provides an easy way to communicate information that is specific to parents.  I also love that parents can access their child's grades via the site.

The second feature is the Badges.  I think middle school students in particular would love receiving these badges.  What a great way to offer positive reinforcement!  I can imagine students "collecting" these badges, and feeling proud when peers can see them on their Edmodo pages.

All in all, I would definitely say that I will look into using Edmodo in my future classes. 

Prezi perspective ... and Skype too!

Before our Prezi tutorial and assignment, I had seen a few Prezi presentations in several of my grad courses.  Being used to Powerpoint from my years in consulting, I initially  loved the fresh and fun look Prezi brings to presentations.  As I watched more presentations, however, I realized that it is very easy to overuse Prezi's zooming features and intricate designs.  When this happens, presentations become overwhelming and it becomes difficult to sort out the main ideas of the content.  I think this becomes even more of a challenge for younger audiences.

After doing the assignment, I do not think the basic templates are too overwhelming or intricate.  I chose the "pathway" template, which guides the viewer along via a simple flow.  It has footprints that mark the way, and simple circles to frame each "presentation point."  I do think that a more youthful template like this would be more engaging for students, as opposed to a Powerpoint template, which can look very business-like very quickly.  My guess is the more distracting templates I saw on prior presentations are only available via an upgrade.  Once I got used to the menus and how to sequence the flow, it was easy to construct my presentation.  

I just completed a lesson plan for my World Language Methods course, and I definitely needed slides to use as visual aids to support my French lesson.  I immediately opened up Powerpoint and set to work on my slides.  After creating a few, I remembered that I could have used Prezi.  I stuck with Powerpoint, however.  This is most likely because my  comfort zone lies with Powerpoint.  I also think that Prezi is more geared to very short snippets of text.  All presentations should limit the amount of text, but I felt I needed more room for my French text (maybe this is because the template I selected had circular "slide" layouts, as opposed to the rectangle in Powerpoint).  I think I need more time to experiment with Prezi, and my goal is to use it for one of the other lesson plans I need to do for my World Language Methods course this semester.  I will add to this post with my results!

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I also want to include a few words about Skype in this blog post.  I really enjoyed the Skype discussion with Patrick Larkin.  I thought it was very informative, and the fact that he took time out of his clearly busy schedule to speak with one class from Fairfield University speaks to his passion on the subject of technology in schools.  Having graduated in 1994 from high school, I find his iPad initiative remarkable.  I still cannot get my head around the fact that students will use the iPads responsibly for the most part, but he seems to have a great deal of confidence in the students, and he also views the benefits as outweighing any risks.  Maybe this confidence is the secret to his success!  In addition, I also wondered how he encouraged all teachers, especially those who do not consider themselves "tech savvy," to use the iPads in their classrooms.  His expectation that teachers set a goal of adopting and implementing one new tool each year is very realistic.  I think this approach will minimize any additional pressure teachers may feel in the midst of an already pressure-filled career.

I find so much potential for using Skype in a world language classroom.  I could skype with native French speakers from around the world on a variety of topics.  For example, I could arrange conversations with a French restaurant owner as part of a thematic unit on food.  Or I could skype with a native French citizen about current events in the country.  Finally, we could skype with an English class in France with whom we are "key pals."  The fact that these conversations can be in French as much as possible will provide students with more exposure to authentic language and accents, and provide more opportunities to improve listening comprehension and oral speaking skills.

Animoto - mixed reviews

My feelings about Animoto are mixed.  I think the concept (ie, making your own movies via a user-friendly, stream-lined process) in and of itself is very fun and engaging for students.  I myself felt pretty limited while making my video, however.  I felt the text boxes were too short, especially since I was writing in French, which requires more words (prepositions) than English.  I also had a difficult time making accents work.  I would need to find a way to work around this if I were to use it in class.  My other frustration was that I could not control how the text appeared in relation to images.  For example, I could not make text appear WITH an image to which it pertained.  I was frustrated that I could not control the time spent on each frame as well.  Perhaps these limitations are because I was using a free version that has more limited capabilities.  I would think other versions are more robust.

After that critique, I will now note some positives!  The technology behind the tool is pretty cool.  I never thought making a movie could be so easy!  The front-end is very user-friendly and I think anyone could navigate around the tool after a simple tutorial, which makes this a possibility for middle school through high school.  The themes are visually appealing, and while I like the music selection, I would prefer more known artists (although there is most likely a copyright issue here!). 

As I write this post, I realize that, while I may have issues with Animoto, students would not.  I can imagine that middle school students would love the ability to make their own videos.  So, for me, the best use for Animoto would be for student use in the form of assignments and assessments.  I could integrate Animoto into an end-of-unit assessment.  For example, if we studied a particular francophone city or country, I could ask students to do their "report" using Animoto.  They could also create a movie that tells a story, using a particular tense we learned in class.  As I think through this more, I do believe the possibilities for students are more robust.  If students are engaged in the technology, they will have much more fun completing the assignment, and there is a lot to be said for that!
 

I love Glogster!

I really enjoyed the Glogster assignment.  I think this tool has so much potential for use in the classroom, primarily because it is so engaging.  I think students will love the idea of navigating their way through the pathfinder at their leisure, based on what is most interesting to them.  As a result, I believe I can use this tool in a variety of ways, from introducing a new unit, to providing background on a text we are reading in class, and it will still be engaging for my students.
I created a Glogster pathway to be used as a supplement to reading Le Petit Prince in class.  The purpose was to provide background information on Saint-Exupery's life, the setting on which Le Petit Prince was based, and the primary symbols used throughout the book.  When reading a text in class, I think learning about the author and his or her perspective is extremely important to gaining a thorough understanding of the text's true message.  Glogster is a great way to provide students with access to this type of information, which some students can find boring or unimportant.  I think that giving them the control to find this information in the way they choose will make the task a more positive experience for them.
Another potential use for Glogster would be to link students to cultural content within a unit.  Culture is one of content standards for world language learning, and I would love to add a significant chunk of cultural content to each of my units. I am taking World Language Methods this semester as well, and I need to create a full unit of lesson plans as a final project.  I have decided to do my unit on "Communities,"and use this as an opportunity to talk about different types of communities (urban vs. rural), as well as community leaders.  I will use the content as a springboard to teach the grammar and vocabulary.  I can envision using Glogster as a means to introduce this cultural content.  For example, a Glogster pathway that focuses on urban vs. rural communities could include links to video and news stories about important issues facing urban (ie, pollution, environmental) and rural (ie, jobs) communities, as well as issues they share.  It could also include images of authentic French advertisements from both communities.  A Glogster pathway on community leaders could include links to information about the French perspective on the US presidential election, or the recent French presidential election.
Overall, I find Glogster to be a robust tool to use in the classroom.  I'd even love to have students create their own Glogster pathways as an alternative to a report about a given topic!