NEW ERA

PODCASTING

We have gone from the days of the television with the rabbit ears, radio vision and the victrola to smart tvs ipods and cds.  Podcasting makes it easy for us to take our broadcasts with us wherever we go because that is where the world has brought us with technology today. I want to introduce you today to Parang music.  This is the season in Trinidad and Tobago where we begin the preliminary celebrations for the Christmas season. Parang music is based on holiday sentiments sung in Spanish (which celebrates the integration our hispanic ancestry of the island), it uplifts the Virgin Mary, the baby Jesus, the food we eat the music we play, it encompasses everything and the people and how we live. When you hear this music wherever you are in this world, your heart longs for home, Trinidad and Tobago. http://djfloopstt-podcast.club/trinidad-parang-soca-christmas-classics-video-mix/

This podcast showcases a medley of performances by some popular performers, singing parang songs like Soca Santa, which is a Santa who likes the Trinidad scene like the music, food and women. the soca reference is to the type of music that is popular in Trinidad and Tobago. Some of the more traditional parang songs is sung totally in Spanish and honors the Virgin Mary and Jesus.

CREATING 

WITH COMIC STRIPS

STRIP GENERATORS & LANGUAGE

http://www.dvolver.com/live/movies-1212067

Whether you use Dvolver, Strip Generator or any other, these sites are great for creating comic strip stories for use in the classroom.  Comic strip doesn't necessarily mean funny stories, this is just the forum being used to tell your story and it can be sad, action, funny or a combination of all three.  I was able to create the above story using Dvolver with great ease and I consider myself a computer novice.

I would like to see my students using any of these mentioned sites to be creative and show their individual style developing a story line from conception to production. My rubric will be based on creativity, images, text, grammar which includes spelling, punctuation and capitalization.  I will also look at the number of scenes and the number of lines of dialogue.

Students should use stories that come from their everyday lives to bring some sense of reality to it as well as sincerity. However, developing a story out of fantasy is also a good choice in showing imagination.

THINGS TO DO IN GREECE

Island of Crete

https://animoto.com/play/qXLXoWoe11mfJviiUXa4mQ

In my photo story about my trip to Greece, you will notice I am showing an action in each slide. Students can use this forum to tell a story using any creative avenue using videos with added text and background music uploaded from their own computers or from what's provided by the Animoto site.

My assessment of their assignment will be based on creativity, images, correct grammar, including spelling and punctuation. There should be text on the slide or immediately following on the next slide and music should be incorporated in the theme.

Learning about culture using vocabulary

SPREADING THE WORD

Using Words to Learn About Culture

Since ELL learners are coming from someplace else to study the target language, it makes sense to study something of other cultures, and in doing so, learn new vocabulary in the process.

Very often in different cultures you will come across words that are unfamiliar.  For instance in Trinidad, we eat a type of sandwich/snack called "doubles" 

Some of the familiar things that we have one name for here in the U.S. other cultures or countries have different names for them, and it's only by discussing culture that we become familiar with them ourselves.  My language learning objective of course would be to extend my students vocabulary based on cultural experiences. 

 

After a week of discussing different things about Trinidad, culture, nature, food, climate and Carnival, I would show a short video about Trinidad. To test the students new new vocabulary, I would give a short quiz after having them watch the short video.

http://ed.ted.com/on/i74ZuIN2#watch

http://ed.ted.com/on/i74ZuIN2#discussion

The Benefits of Flipping

To Flip or Not to Flip

There have been far too many instance where I have been the student who was so sure I understood everything that was being said or explained in class; I took notes, I was attentive in class and even asked questions so I was sure I understood the lecture.  However, by the time I got home and sat down to do my homework, I could not make any sense of what I was supposed to do, or how I should even answer the question or questions.  I was frustrated because I had lost the teacher's "voice" in my head, and the knowledge I had learned earlier.

http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/tesolc/issues/2013-10-01/3.html  

The Flip

At the point of need or frustration, Having the teacher's "voice" would be incredibly helpful so that homework time would become classroom work.  Actually having the problem addressed immediately through intervention by way of tutorials or mini lectures,  meeting the needs of the students is a great way to make a difference and bring success to the classroom and confidence to the students.

How many times have I wished that I could ask my teacher or professor to just explain to just me alone some small part of the lecture or book, without the class present so that I don't feel like an idiot for not grasping it the first or second time.  Sometimes I just have specific questions tailored to what I think is just for me, that I want the answers to.

Using videos empowers the students as it gives them control to start and stop at their convenience. The videos allows the students to focus on what they find most difficult.  I work with a many ELL students, so I understand how this feature would be great for some, especially in private.  However, it could also keep them from learning to be more assertive in the classroom and prevent them from trying to keep up with their peers.

http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/tesolbeis/issues/2013-08-28/6.html

Whatever we can do to make learning more interesting or exciting today, we should do it because it is too easy to become bored and sleepy in the classroom if the material isn't challenging or engaging. Having the direct instruction taking place outside of the class may present some problems with distraction, but that also depends on how serious those students are about learning and keeping up with their peers once they convene in the classroom.  Being able to work independently at home using the videos, then collaborating in class with your peers while having the teacher present to consult with, and get immediate feedback is an experience I wish I had had the opportunity to work with. 

Using Twitter in The Classroom

In using technology to our advantage, Twitter is no exception.  Twitter can be incorporated into our lessons, it can be used to keep the class interested as we show our students that even in the classroom we are keeping up with them and the times. One website has a numbered list of all the interesting ways Twitter can be intertwined in the classroom for things like upcoming due dates for assignments, running news feed for the class, poetry, running issues etc.  

http://www.teachhub.com/50-ways-use-twitter-classroom  

The power of Twitter for instance as an educational tool was in full effect during President Mubarak's attempt to hold on to his rein, his citizens were using cell phones and social media to change his country's history, by tweeting and opening up the happenings of the country to the rest of the world as it was happening.

/http://novemberlearning.com/educational-resources-for-educators/teaching-and-learning-articles/how-twitter-can-be-used-as-a-powerful-educational-tool/

Twitter + Education = Success

Well I tried to follow a Twitterchat on Saturday evening by TX HS Football chat,"The best football chat for networking and continuing your education. #txhsfbchatfounded and operated by" @coachfisher_rp. However, I went online at the right time and clicked on the link but nothing was happening for this non-tech-savy novice.

That being said, I do believe that one can learn a lot from Twitter because there are a lot of educational information floating around and being shared freely on practically any subject, even my field, whether it's as broad as education or more specific as TESOL.

http://www.edudemic.com/100-ways-to-use-twitter-in-education-by-degree-of-difficulty/http://www.edudemic.com/100-ways-to-use-twitter-in-education-by-degree-of-difficulty/

https://twitter.com/hashtag/TESOL