Reflections

As I have gone through this course I do not have many modifications that I would like to make to my Personal Theory of Learning.  The few modifications that I would like to implement is to use a more cooperative learning in groups of three or more instead of simply using a partner to practice new Spanish vocabulary. 

Some adjustments that I would like to make with regards to technology integration is the use of Virtual Field Trips.  There really are no places to take my students to experience an authentic Latino trip in Cincinnati, but I can take my students there in a virtual way.  They will be able to explore new places that would be nearly impossible otherwise for a plethora of reasons.  I would also like to have my students produce more power point presentations using the new vocabulary that they are learning in my Foreign language class. 

I would also like to use more WebQuest projects with my students along with Virtual Field Trips.  These two uses of technology would take my students to distant lands that are so different from the inner city of Cincinnati.  I was fortunate enough to take a group of students to Puerto Rico a few years ago with the generous funding of two Cincinnati Bengals.  The experiences that these ten students have will last a lifetime, but I know that was a rare, once in a lifetime opportunity that may never happen again.  By using the technology available to use these types of instructional practices, I will be able to show my students a world that they can strive to visit in the future.  Seeing something and learning about it may inspire them to achieve in school in order to go see the places that they will experience virtually through a WebQuest or a Virtual Field Trip.  

Voice thread

Here is my voice thread let me know what you think. http://voicethread.com/share/1386679/

Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

Cooperative learning in social learning in practice.  I do believe that in human nature we want to have social interaction to give meaning to everything.   I see that cooperative learning plays an important role in developing social skills and social learning.  Cooperative learning works to a point but it is not the end all learning strategy that a Charter school that I unfortunately worked at for a year believes it to be.  The school wanted every lesson of every day to be completed with cooperative learning, more accurately, using Kagan learning structures.  They believed that those structures made everything fun and then the students would learn.  This was unfortunate because the students at that school were performing at a very low level in every subject but believed they were great students because of the success of the "cooperative learning" that they had in class.  I believe that cooperative learning does reinforce learning and build up social skills.  Cooperative learning is integral in learning a foreign language by relying on your classmates to affirm pronunciation and understanding. It is a tool that is useful when used appropriately,  but is ineffective when over used.  This strategy is just like diet plans, what works from some will not work for all.  Like with everything in teaching every person needs to find what works for them and for their classes and be happy.

Constructivism in Practice

Looking at Constructivist/constructionist learning theories this past week I think of the time I spent volunteering  in a Montessori school as an undergraduate.  I found their philosophy completely different from what I had always thought of as "schooling."  The idea of giving children a learning map and having them find their way instead of leading them to a desired result is something that worked really well for a certain group of students.  I look at this as something that works in combination with an individuals' learning modality, since some people can not learn without being told what to do, when and how to do it.  I really like the idea of learning something new by going through a process and having someone facilitate it or guiding the way.  It takes a special type of environment and facilitator to make this thing possible.  I can remember some students coming into the school from Charter schools in the area and them having a terrible time in trying to acclimate to a new learning environment.  The schools that they came from had no structure, no certified teachers, and principles with no educational backgrounds.  They like the idea of not having a lot of structure, but they also didn't like to actually try and learn things on their own, mostly because the tools were never implemented in them to know how to learn.  I believe that the early years it is easier for students to have a guide that gives them the needed tools to learn so that when they are older they can learn on their own.

Cognitivism in Practice

In this weeks learning resources we are asked to explore Cognitive learning strategies and concepts for our students.  This is something that I rely on a lot in working with my students who are learning Spanish.  I do what I can to help them try and make the connections from learned ideas in their native language so that they can conceptualize what it is that I am trying to teach them.  There is an expression that I believe everyone has heard which is "Lost in Translation."  There are some many sayings that we say that just don't make sense in other languages, for example when I say, "I am going to go work out," we know it means that I am going to do exercise.  The translation of that in Spanish, "Voy a trabajar afuera, " which literally means, "I am going to work outside."  So with things like this in mind I try to have my kids make connections to things that they already know to so that they can avoid the pitfalls of translating things literally.  Something that my students love about Spanish is that they get refresher courses in Grammar.  I have to explain Grammar rules in both languages so that they can understand my lesson better.  They English teacher at one of my school complained to me because she said the students told her that they learned more about English in my Spanish class than in her class.  I do think that learning a language at an early age is easier then trying to pick one up later in life, simply because you do not have all these already learned notions in another language in your head.  I have found that it is easier for my students to learn a new language when they can connect similarities and differences in the two languages. 

Behaviorism in Practice

Looking at the strategies that were used in Chapter 8 and Chapter 10 of the course text, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, as well as exploring some of the Behaviorist-based technology found of the resource page I like the way that they work with the Behaviorist Theory.  In creating a spread sheet that was introduced in Chapter 8, I like that it shows student how their effort in different aspects of the class effect their grade, its a way from them to see their effort and how it translate into their grade.  If the student is willing to put forth a strong effort they see it in the end result, if they slack off then they see how it effects them in the end.  Its a way of showing them that they can achieve goals and perform well if they are willing to put forth the effort and it gives them a sense of ownership of their grade.  It is a way for them to see how they are achieving on their own and that the teacher isn't simply "assigning them a grade" based on their feelings towards a student.
The ideas shown in chapter ten as well as the links in the resources on the course's home page show potential for things that are available on the web that can help students build up confidence and practice things that are learned in the classroom.  I have used a webpage that I subscribe to, Descubre, allows my students to have many different activities in Spanish and it gives them a sense of achievement when they complete assignments or activities on this site.  It allows me to track their progress and help them when they need simple remediation on a certain topic.
These resources and ideas do help reinforce positive learning and try to push students towards the positive behaviors and attributes.  When they can see that they can control how they earn their grades and achieve success in my classroom then they can get excited about other classes and try to do well in all aspects of their schooling.  They will also become excited to come to my class and enjoy the leaning experience that I try to offer them.

Reflections

This course has helped me refine my skills in certain technological areas. Being born during the early 1980’s I can be considered a Digital Native and grew up with a lot of technology.  I have been blogging, have created wiki’s and podcasts in the past, and this course helped me recall some of the skills that I have previously learned for fun when I was an undergraduate.  These skills are useful and now I feel confident in implementing them in my Spanish classroom. 

This course has emphasized something that my mother told me a long time ago, that is the importance of being a life-long learner.  Being a teacher has changed so much in my lifetime just like technology.  As technology changes teachers need to be aware of it to reach new learners in the classroom.  The new areas of teaching and learning are always changing and therefore it is important for me as a professional teacher to keep learning to be the fully prepared to teach new learners.

There are some things that are important for me to be teacher-centered in the foreign language classroom in order to build a solid foundation of learning for the students. Once that foundation is built the transition into learner-centered.  The process of being leaner-centered has a great deal of benefits where I as the teacher can guide the students to finding their way in learning a new language.  Being learner-centered the students will have the ability to access all kinds of different resources to find answers and give them a greater sense of accomplishment.
 

In being a life-long learner I will always look for new and better ways to teach children.  There is always a different way that can be used to be more effective when teaching.  There a so many new technologies and new technological advances that I can learn to implement into my classroom.  These are things that I can use to increase student interest and involvement as opposed to running a traditional classroom.  By being aware of many different ideas I can have a class that is constantly fresh and keeps student interest by not becoming stale.
 

There are two technological goals that I would like to have implemented in the next two school years; one would be for a classroom set of laptop computers and for there to be wireless internet access in my classroom.  The advantages of each student having access to a computer while in my class would be great so that I would not have to take them to and reserve the computer lab.  There are so many wonderful things that can be done using the computer with learning a new language.  I would have the ability to record a podcast of a story or an assignment in Spanish and then have the students listen to it on their own computer to complete the task at hand working at their own pace.  The next thing is having wireless internet access in the classroom as opposed to a direct line.  Being wireless there would be a lot less clutter from all of the different cords and such that would need to be present to connect everything otherwise.  There are of course many obstacles from getting these implemented, but most relevant is the availability of funds.  I have already done a lot of research about buying a classroom set of computers from the city Public School system, and have given my finding to a union grant writer to try and find grant money to pay for this.  We were able to find someone who was willing to give the district grant money for the computers, but unfortunately we were unable to get that money because they stipulated that we buy the computers from a certain company and the district was contractually obligated to buy from another company.   I will continue to search for different companies that may be willing to donate older computers to the classroom and hopefully when the contract is done we can still receive the grant money that has already been found.

Looking back to week one and how much I have progressed throughout this course fills me with some pride.  I have a new confidence to use technology in my class instead of shying away from it.  I feel that there is a sense of not implementing technology because it may be difficult to figure out a starting point for using it.  From the checklist from week one thing that I can change is the use of technology across the curriculum.  I can see many advantages in working collaboratively with an English teacher or a Social Studies teacher while teaching students about the Spanish language and the Latino and Hispanic cultures.   

Reflections

This course has helped me refine my skills in certain technological areas. Being born during the early 1980’s I can be considered a Digital Native and grew up with a lot of technology.  I have been blogging, have created wiki’s and podcasts in the past, and this course helped me recall some of the skills that I have previously learned for fun when I was an undergraduate.  These skills are useful and now I feel confident in implementing them in my Spanish classroom. 

This course has emphasized something that my mother told me a long time ago, that is the importance of being a life-long learner.  Being a teacher has changed so much in my lifetime just like technology.  As technology changes teachers need to be aware of it to reach new learners in the classroom.  The new areas of teaching and learning are always changing and therefore it is important for me as a professional teacher to keep learning to be the fully prepared to teach new learners.

There are some things that are important for me to be teacher-centered in the foreign language classroom in order to build a solid foundation of learning for the students. Once that foundation is built the transition into learner-centered.  The process of being leaner-centered has a great deal of benefits where I as the teacher can guide the students to finding their way in learning a new language.  Being learner-centered the students will have the ability to access all kinds of different resources to find answers and give them a greater sense of accomplishment. 

In being a life-long learner I will always look for new and better ways to teach children.  There is always a different way that can be used to be more effective when teaching.  There a so many new technologies and new technological advances that I can learn to implement into my classroom.  These are things that I can use to increase student interest and involvement as opposed to running a traditional classroom.  By being aware of many different ideas I can have a class that is constantly fresh and keeps student interest by not becoming stale. 

There are two technological goals that I would like to have implemented in the next two school years; one would be for a classroom set of laptop computers and for there to be wireless internet access in my classroom.  The advantages of each student having access to a computer while in my class would be great so that I would not have to take them to and reserve the computer lab.  There are so many wonderful things that can be done using the computer with learning a new language.  I would have the ability to record a podcast of a story or an assignment in Spanish and then have the students listen to it on their own computer to complete the task at hand working at their own pace.  The next thing is having wireless internet access in the classroom as opposed to a direct line.  Being wireless there would be a lot less clutter from all of the different cords and such that would need to be present to connect everything otherwise.  There are of course many obstacles from getting these implemented, but most relevant is the availability of funds.  I have already done a lot of research about buying a classroom set of computers from the city Public School system, and have given my finding to a union grant writer to try and find grant money to pay for this.  We were able to find someone who was willing to give the district grant money for the computers, but unfortunately we were unable to get that money because they stipulated that we buy the computers from a certain company and the district was contractually obligated to buy from another company.   I will continue to search for different companies that may be willing to donate older computers to the classroom and hopefully when the contract is done we can still receive the grant money that has already been found.

Looking back to week one and how much I have progressed throughout this course fills me with some pride.  I have a new confidence to use technology in my class instead of shying away from it.  I feel that there is a sense of not implementing technology because it may be difficult to figure out a starting point for using it.  From the checklist from week one thing that I can change is the use of technology across the curriculum.  I can see many advantages in working collaboratively with an English teacher or a Social Studies teacher while teaching students about the Spanish language and the Latino and Hispanic cultures.   

Podcast

Podcast

P21

When I see the P21 website, I think it is a good idea and good way to see the bigger world outside of the United States, which is good for me since I am a foreign language teacher who is trying to show my students a bigger world.  I was surprised to see that my state, Ohio, is partnering with P21 since I had never heard of it before this assignment.  The thing that I can disagree with is that it is difficult for cash strapped districts to go ahead and get involved with some aspects of this program.  There are so many problems facing these districts that being able to eTeach students can be a very difficult thing to do.  The thing that excites me is that I can find great ways to use this to show my students different aspects of the global community, focusing in Latin America and Spain, which is what I am already trying to show them.  

I teach Spanish to middle and high school students. I think that if I were to use a blog for my class I would use it as a way for my students and their parents to follow along in my class. I could post weekly outlines with lessons, quiz and test dates etc. This way parents will always know what is coming up and students will know what to expect when they come to class. If a student misses class for whatever reason they can go to the blog and see what they are missing.