Online storage and communication

I have found Skype to be a very effective tool for classroom usage.  The ways in which I can use Skype as a Spanish teacher are very diverse and helpful.  With the various accents and cultures that are present in the Spanish speaking world it will be very helpful for the students to not only be aware of them, but to interact with them as well.  In my future classroom I will link up with schools from different countries in order for the students to Skype each other.  This would be like a pen pal, but instead it would be a Skype pal.  I think that the students would find speaking English and Spanish with students from other countries to be a very fun and challenging activity.  We would be able to converse with students from different countries in order to work on listening comprehension and cultural knowledge.  This would also give our students the opportunity to express ideas and opinions about our own culture. 

Dropbox and other online storage tools are a fantastic way to make sure that your information is saved in a secure place other than your computer; which as Kristin put it, “Might get run over by a car.”  While this is a sad statement, it is also a very true one.  We have to be careful about our files.  I, however, am someone who can be easily overwhelmed by too many technology resources, so I must choose one and stick to it until it is on its way out.  Organization is crucial, find one with an interface and style that you like and use it.  At least for me that is what I will try to do. 

Diigo will definitely come in handy as a way to organize my bookmarks and place sticky notes on parts of the website to guide me to relevant information.  This will speed up my search process for materials that I have already encountered. 

Google reader will also aid in the speed at which I can find websites that contain information that I desire. This is exciting and I know I will make the most out of it.  

Zambombazo!

Now we're talking! I am blown away by the amount of people who have dedicated their on-line personalities to the art of teaching.  I am immediately drawn to one of Jeff's favorite blogs.  Zambombazo!! No sabia que habla espanol!

In this blog he posts videos and other fun things from the world of Latin America.  

I will translate his objective.

A varied supply of fun activities based on authentic cultural products (songs, comic strips, news, film reviews, publicity, etc.) with which one can learn about the Spanish language and the cultures of the Spanish-speaking world.  

The first blog that I looked at was a an interview with Pamela Rodriguez, a peruvian singer-songwriter. Not only does the visitor get to practice listening comprehension, but her song and interview are about the "cuna de hielo", ice crib, where the babies in the Andes during the winter die at an alarming rate due to not having access to heat.  She explains that they provide large amounts of clothing but that the babies still pass away.  This is an issue that your normal Spanish class would not focus an hour to, nor one second.  With blogs come the ability to disseminate so much information that students will never be at a loss for a learning opportunity.  I had never heard about this.  But now i have!!! 

Thanks Zambombazo!!! (which translates as a strong blow that sends an object very far away, essentially) A goalie would utilize one of these blows in soccer. 

The comics strips comment on things from various light humor all the way to dark political metaphors.  There are even word games and writing contests that appear on some of the blogs.  It is a truly extensive look at the Spanish language and culture.  

Paz y amor

The class this week was informative and beneficial.  We got to hear a current teacher's ideas on using technology in the classroom.  Though angry birds would be completely out of place in my Spanish classroom, the idea that games can create competition.  Competition that engages the students will create motivation.  I would like to investigate ways to make my classroom collaborative and competitive.  I enjoyed the idea of involving some sort of point system so that students can monitor their  success and their involvement in the game.  

Putting together an on-line profile is a great idea, it will make interview processes go faster and our ideas will be expressed through many media.  We can put anything that we want to on this profile, and I enjoyed learning how to accomplish this because we did it as a group.  This helps me understand things much better when the group achieves their goal together.  We end up helping each other and providing great ideas.  I will work hard to make sure this is something that I can feel happy showing future employers and colleagues.  

As I learn more about the ways that I can utilize these resources, it makes me feel that I will be creating opportunities for my students to use them too.  We can all benefit from using our content knowledge along with technology so that we expand both of them and intertwine their usage.  This way we become more proficient and resourceful when it comes to the both of them.  

Have fun, work hard, live with hopes and dreams   

Blog #4 Gamers = Super Heroes

I was a little skeptical at first but, the reading has its merit, and Pajama Sam has a friend named Darkness.  I can see why starting with the full attention that his child gave the reading, he was able to see many other psychological learning and thinking lessons that were in the video game.
This is also a sign of the times because the author is an eloquent writer, presumably a great thinker.  However, he struggled with the video games that many people deem simple mental activity.  This led him to believe that there really is something to these video games.
I do like how he describes the hidden learning objectives in video games.  Adaptation and the utilization of skills in new areas is a very real representation of one of the core ideas of learning: Application.  During the course of a video game, a student of the game must understand how the controller works and apply these  combinations of buttons to the game play.
There is also intrinsic motivation involved with video games. Once we start playing, we want to win.  Therefore, the students attention is on the game and the processes that they must develop in order to beat the game.
This surprised me a lot at first, but now that it has been presented by a curious author I can see that it makes sense and is a real learning activity.  The students identify with their character, allowing them to make a commitment to the game process.  Just like in a classroom, the interaction with the student and the material presents problems that must be solved.  The players also produce a unique version of playing the game just like a student writes an essay in a completely unique manner.  Risk taking is something to instill in students because it allows them the opportunity to see that we can make mistakes and use them to learn from.  Trial and error is something that occurs in all facets of life, including the world of video games.
Understanding that video games follow well order problems shows another very important similarity to generally accepted rule of education.  We start with the basics and move on to more complicated combinations of the preexisting knowledge.  This involves the rethinking of knowledge and readjustment of schemata.
The question that arises is then, how can we use this style of teaching, where the students are actively engaged and intrinsically motivated, into the classroom?
The TED talk explains some of these ideas.  Games help us draw a parallel between real life and video game life.  If the gamers can solve problems in game world, then they can solve them in real life.  If we develop these skills in the game world we will become more able to solve these skills in real life.
However, many gamers aren't motivated by real life, they get more acceptance, excitement and praise in the on-line world.  The games do help us evolve as problem solvers but we need to incorporate these skills into our communal relations and everyday life.  This way we can benefit as a species from our acquired skills.  So instead of using games to escape real world suffering, we should use our skills to help solve this ubiquitous problem.

I am impressed with the amount of on-line communication resources that we are becoming familiar with.  Now we have seen the positive effects of writing in our blogs in order to share ideas and receive feedback.  This has been a very helpful tool that I have used to validate or question the ideas that I have put forth.  In addition to this, we now have the ability to present podcasts.  This is a very helpful tool that we can use to share ideas that are more "alive" than text.  By this I mean that you can hear the voice on see the inflection that is present when the teacher is explaining their ideas.  

This will come in handy for all teachers.  However, i find it especially helpful for foreign language teachers looking to explain grammatical rules and new vocabulary.  I believe this because of the strong importance of inflection and pronunciation when teaching a second language.  Through this means we can teach the rules of pronunciation in a much more tangible way.  We can be very explicit in our pronunciation strategies concerning, for example, the rolling of the Spanish "r" or "rr" which can be explained by putting the tongue against the roof of your mouth and pushing air over it in order for it to vibrate.  By using an audio sample one can make the sounds and show the specific sounds that are involved in the phonetic process.

There are many advantages to the usage of the podcasts.  I think that we will figure out more and more ways in which we can utilize them to the fullest as we experiment with them.  We will also see great ideas coming from others as we comment on and listen to the podcasts.  I'm excited to learn and to teach!

The recent ban on soda in New York City has gotten a lot of attention.  Most of this acclaim is from those who strongly support or oppose the ban.  This creates a situation in which opinion is a very relevant factor.  I will use this strong presence of opinion to my advantage as a Spanish teacher.
Spanish and many other languages have a verb form that is called the subjunctive.  This form is used when the speaker uses an independent clause that expresses emotion, doubt, desires, or opinions.  The subjunctive then appears in the dependent clause and is formed differently than the normal, indicative form of the verb.
After the students have a grasp on the indicative and the subjunctive has been presented to them over the course of several lessons I will test their ability to use the subjunctive. I will achieve this by introducing a soda ban article in Spanish so that they can get some reading practice and get some background knowledge on the topic.  The students will then be asked to present their own opinions concerning the soda ban.  They will have an opportunity to express doubts (that it will even work or not), emotion (if they fear that the ban will spread to our hometown), desires (to drink a soda right now), and opinions (they think that the idea is ridiculous).  They will be assessed on their ability to apply the subjunctive form correctly in their paragraph that takes a stance on the situation at hand.
This is also a great opportunity to introduce various vocabulary terms concerning business and health.  The vocabulary will pertain to various parts of speech and will be a diverse representation of opinions and stances with which the students might agree.  By this I mean that I will include vocabulary that will be used to negate arguments (and agree with them), express great joy (or anger), express doubts (or strong beliefs).  The students will also be presented adjectives and nouns that will be useful in describing the world of business and politics as well as the description of the human body.
The use of current events is a great way for students to feel involved with the topic and feel a need to express their opinions over them.  This presents us with a great opportunity as teachers to exploit this desire to express themselves.  We can capitalize upon it and have them express new opinions using new knowledge and procedures.