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

Global Collaboration

          It takes a village to raise a child, that was what I grew up hearing and believing.  Today the same applies to education, it takes global collaboration to make and keep our students smart and on the cutting edge.  This is a site that caters to students from grades 1 to 12, and covers subjects like The Square of Life Project (grades 1-5), which teaches about "Local and Global Environments is an Internet-based elementary level collaborative project in which students will investigate their local environment and share that information with other students from around the country and the world."   Down The Drain (4-8), which encourages students to pay attention to the amount of water they use in their homes. Finally, Home Lighting in Developing Countries (9_12), "Students integrate solar and LED technologies to produce model lighting systems for use in developing countries." This is definitely a form of technology I can use because this would be a great way to save on energy and save a tremendous amount of money yearly. Not being connected to electrical poles, deletes the worry of losing electricity during storms, especially winter storms here in Buffalo New York.

         
 

Technology in the Classroom

          The future classroom and even today's classroom is not complete without some form of modern technology included in the lesson plan.  The type of social networking group that would be most useful to me is one that is constantly updating with participants from around the world with a knowledge base of every little thing such as Classroom 2.0

Connecting to Stay Current

          The learner today is like the age old sponge.  With every new innovation that comes with time, they quickly soak up the knowledge expanding their wealth of information. The Impact of Social Media on Learning  for instance has been overwhelmingly tremendous. There isn't one thing that we as educators or students can do today that doesn't require the use of the internet.  Google docs is a great medium for groups to combine efforts when working on group projects.  It saves time and energy, also, Teachers can share this forum to continue a class activity from home.  Not to share information and open your mind to learning from your peers or current available information is to run the risk of becoming an isolator; one who holds the monopoly on knowledge in the classroom, which depreciates you as a teacher and cheats your students out of being on par of ahead of the rest.  What we know today is no as important as our ability to continue to stay current. Continuing to stay in top is the key to remaining competitive.

          Keeping up

          In education it is definitely okay to keep up with the Joneses. You want to always be just as knowledgeable or ahead of the others.  The field of education and the world market is a brutal reality when it comes to getting into the best schools or landing the best jobs so creating a network enables you to stay current, therefore connectivism is key.  What is Connectivism : This is the resource that enables us, both teachers and students to stay in the game.  By having dialogue with others  we ourselves grow in knowledge.  Not just dialogue, but open communication whether through blogging or other forms of social media.  Blogging is one of the better ways to share or connect with other people in order to stay current and learn from each other.

          

PINTEREST VS DIIGO

I have had a Pinterest account for a long time now, and I use it to collect fashions, recipes, shoes, all the things I love.  I go back to it almost everyday to add to it or to look up something like an outfit, so I can buy the items or something similar while I'm out shopping.  The recipes come in handy around the holidays as I am always looking for something new to add to the menu.  I am new to Diigo but so I may be a little biased still.  However, I have noticed on a professional level, you can highlight texts on saved sites for both Diigo and Pinterest, you can also use multiple tags and you can copy and paste from original articles to appear in comments about the site.   Other viewers of my site can post comments whether Diigo or Pinterest and they can follow me and I can follow them.  They can also enjoy all my postings or like them.  f 

On Pinterest you are offered a lot of posts related to the items you tend to favor which is always fun and interesting.  Not so on Diigo, this site appears to be more professional in that you don't use it to post photos of foods to share, which is not to say you cannot save recipes or fashions, just not in the same way.  Diigo is a site better suited to collecting and sharing information of a professional nature.  I am not yet aware that this site offers suggestions of related article.

I would recommend both sites but for specific reasons.  I view Pinterest as a fun place to collect, view and share your interests, but I like Diigo for my professional life where I can readily go to look up articles I saved that might help me with my profession.   

  

https://www.pinterest.com/michellegaskin/ 

The Literary Maven/Bullying is one of the listed on my Pinterest under Language teaching, these are the educational reasons you can use these sites for. You can find anything on Pinterest to help you in the classroom just like you can to help you in fashion, for instance grammar techniques.  

One World SchoolHouse

The short video on Educational Change Challenge prompts a lot of questions that I had never thought of.  1. What is school for? 2. As a teacher do I and am I capable of expanding the classroom? 3. Do we need technology for learning?

In my opinion, school is another place where children and adults are given the opportunity to discover new things, ideas, collect and share information.  After all even as teachers, we still learn from our students, especially our foreign ELL students.

I do agree that as teachers we have to meet and understand our students where they are, and to do so, we definitely need to expand the classroom by using everything that is available to us in order to reach or students and also keep them interested and motivated.  This is where technology comes in, because the world has advanced so much in the past twenty five years, that we would all be lost without modern technology.  Classrooms are equipped with video set-ups that we may be able to bring so much more into the class rooms than just text books.

Teachers also have to learn to be innovative in their own respect by being aware of the different cultures represented in their classroom.  The classroom very often is a second home and needs to be warm, friendly and inviting.



Educational Change Challenge

Education Militarized

The Future of Learning based on Ericsson shows us a time where our students live in a world where education serves them better than it does today.  Or at least that is what we are supposed to believe.



Watching the video, I was very interested by the choice of words used to convince the audience that a future without standardize testings is better if the children are given access to to information instead.  Allowing the children to solve problems by failing until they succeed for instance so they learn by error.  Sort of like finding your way by getting lost.  Ericsson suggests that we teach kids how to solve rather than memorize, and that sounds like a sensible idea ...surely a different idea.

The Future of Learning, Networked Society - Ericsson

LAI 591 The Future of the Classroom via Technology

One of the ways I think blogging can be useful in my future classroom is for students to communicate ideas that can help each other out in the classroom by sharing information and following it up with feedback.  This is a wonderful way for those students who didn't get a chance to comprehend everything that was being said in the classroom to come together in a friendly stress free atmosphere to ask questions, make suggestions and work out problems.

Another reason for ESL students to blog as part of a classroom activity would be to practice constructing English sentences with each other.  By casually conducting written conversations, the students are exchanging new vocabulary as well as gaining confidence in their written abilities which will translate into better work within the classroom itself.
 ESL.C9-12.2.1.1

Oral discussions/exams in class as well as written exams will determine how much the students are improving over time (weekly, monthly). State standardized tests such as TOEFL and Gre are ways in which the State assesses whether foreign students are ready to move on to higher education.