End of Class Post

This class has taught me a lot of different ways to integrate technology into the classroom that I had never thought of before. My favorite lesson was on Inspiration. I have actually used Inspiration to create study guides for my own classes, and I think that it is such a beneficial tool for students of all ages. It helps visual learners organize information in a way that makes sense to them, which really helps them to learn, understand, and remember the material. I also enjoyed creating the Webquest and the Nonlinear PowerPoint presentation. In both projects I tried to think out of the box, and plan a lesson that I could ACTUALLY USE in the future, rather than just work my way through an assignment. I got excited while I was planning my Hunger Games lesson plan, and it made me want to go out and teach that lesson right away.

As I was completing each assignment, I tried to make it relevant to my field in every way possible so that I could use my creations in both my portfolio and future classrooms. Normally, I would have just picked a topic that was interesting to me and go from there. However, by challenging myself to stay within my field, I really learned a lot about how I can incorporate educational technology into ESL, and now I have a lot of resources that I can use for the future, which is awesome!

Technology is ever-changing. As teachers, we constantly need to be adapting and keeping up to date on what technology has to offer us, because there are so many ways that we can use it in our instruction to aid student learning. That of course doesn't mean that we rely on it; it is just one more tool that we can add to our toolboxes of effective teaching. The more tools we have, the better, because we have limitless options to offer our diverse students. Many teachers are scared of technology, usually because they are unfamiliar with it because they have grown up in a different era. We can't be scared of change and we can't try to stop it. Instead, we must adapt and learn how to manipulate technology so that it benefits our teaching and our students.

Nonlinear Powerpoint Final Project

This past weekend I was hospitalized for a gallbladder infection, and since I was not able to present my PowerPoint to the class, I wanted to share it here. I decided to plan my lesson around literary elements, using The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins as a medium. In my fictional class, we had just finished reading the novel, and this lesson was designed to focus on learning the literary elements through examples from the story, rather than just explaining what each element consists of. I chose to focus my lesson on six elements: characters, theme, plot, setting, climax, and resolution. Each student was designated a District, and would work with one other student to complete the lesson (representative of the two tributes from each of the 12 Districts who compete in the Hunger Games). The PowerPoint lesson was nonlinear, meaning that the students would click on links in the presentation that would jump them to another slide.

The students had to read through a brief description of each story element. After they were comfortable with each element, they would "compete in a challenge in the Games." Each challenge consisted of 2-4 writing prompts that would make them think critically about the story element and apply their knowledge to the novel. For example, the writing prompt for Resolution was, "Do you think the problem in the story was really resolved? Why or why not?" The students would have to understand what "resolution" was in order to apply this knowledge to the story and reflect on the question.

I chose to use The Hunger Games in this lesson because I wanted my students to really be engaged in what they were learning. Every student I know is excited about this book series, and it has a LOT of good information to offer to students, especially intermediate ESL students. Too often, language teachers neglect to build on ELL's cognitive development because they are focused primarily on their language development. The Hunger Games as a lot of deep and hidden themes that require students to really think critically in many aspects... Could this happen one day in our society? Does it already reflect some aspects of our society? How is it fair that the Capital gets to waste money while the Districts starve every day? This novel allows the opportunity for language, cognitive, and academic development, if lessons are structured and planned carefully.

Language Learning Software

For one of my other graduate courses, I was required to review a language learning software for second language learners that I could incorporate into my future ESL classroom. The software that I chose was Tell Me More. I have actually already had some experience working with this language learning software during my undergraduate years. At Naz, we were required to take two semesters of a second language, and this included a lab component. For the lab, we had to complete units on Tell Me More every week. Tell Me More is a software program that focuses on all four components of language: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Each unit focuses on a topic (food, clothing, greetings, etc), and you have to complete  A LOT of activities before you can complete it. The activities are the same in each unit, but they change in content, so once you get used to the activities the completion of each unit goes faster.

The activities vary from crossword puzzles, correcting sentences, listening to a paragraph and transcribing it, to even pronouncing words and sentences into the accompanying headset. The activities are very differentiated, but there are some definite flaws in the program. The pronunciation activities are particularly frustrating because sometimes the software does not recognize the word you speak, no matter how many times you try, even if the pronunciation is correct. Some of the writing exercises also frustrate users because the software will mark you as incorrect and will not let you continue just for a simple punctuation error, which is not indicative of true language learning.

Despite its setbacks, language learning software has tremendous benefits in ESL classrooms, especially Tell Me More. This software provides numerous ways for students to practice their second language skills and is very interactive. Students will be more engaged working with this program than just sitting with a grammar textbook. The activities are also scaffolded in a way that allows learners to build their language skills, starting from simple fill in the blank exercises and working their way up to transcribing a paragraph by using both listening and writing skills simultaneously. I would recommend the software to be used with intermediate and advanced learners, as opposed to beginners, because it requires some background knowledge of the second language. The software is expensive, but is definitely worth the money and is a valuable asset to any second language classroom.

Podcasts

Podcasts are audio tools that can help provide students with more information on a topic. Teachers are able to record and publish podcasts on their own using basic software such as GarageBand and Audacity. Then, students can individually listen to the podcasts through a computer or an iPod with headphones. Over Thanksgiving break, I went on a trip to Chicago. One of the sites that we really wanted to see was Willis Tower, also known as the Chicago Skydeck. In this building, you went up 103 floors and could step out into a glass box almost a half mile above the entire city. What was one of the coolest things about this tourist spot was that it offered an audio tour through a podcast. Visitors would have to pay (extra!) for the audio tour, in which they would receive a headset with a prerecorded podcast. When you got up to the top of the tower, the podcast would tell you exactly where to go. As you looked over certain parts of the city, it would provide you with so much information that you would not have if you were just looking out over the city without the podcast.

While my podcast story didn't take place in an educational setting, it still has the same implications for a classroom. If a teacher plans a field trip for her students, she can record a podcast that the students can listen to while on that field trip. This keeps the students focused, engaged, and aware of exactly what the teacher wants them to know.

As a teacher, you can also have students create their own podcasts as a class project. This allows students to work creatively with new technologies that they may have never experienced before. Students will most likely be excited to create podcasts, because they get to take responsibility for their own learning and they are the ones who get to create the scripts. Podcasts are one type of assessment that teachers can use while differentiating instruction for audio learners.

Teacher Websites

Creating a website for your classroom can be a great tool for communication with parents and students! There are a few tips to keep in mind while creating your lesson plan...

• Make sure the website is easy to navigate! If parents or students get lost within your website, they most likely will not use it again. Stick to a consistent pattern and structure throughout the whole site.
• Make it visually inviting! The more visually appealing a website is, the more time students and parents will stay exploring. Put in the extra effort to make sure there are no pixelated images, fonts that are too small to read, text that is too light to be read, etc.
• Make sure to include your contact information! Parents are most likely looking at your website to find out how to get in contact with you. Don't forget to include your email and school extension, and list which is the best way to get a hold of you so that parents know your preference.
• Include some personal information! Both students and parents feel more comfortable  with a teacher that they can relate to. You don't need to include your entire life story, but adding some fun facts about you can really boost your relationships with students and their parents!
• Keep your site up to date! If students and parents cannot find recent information on your website, there can be a lot of confusion. It is helpful to include a "Updated on..." section that lets readers know exactly when the website was last updated.

iPads in the Classroom

I have owned an iPad for almost 3 years now and I honestly bring mine with me wherever I go. They are lightweight, small, easy to store, and even easier to use. iPads allow you to do everything that you can do on a laptop (with a few exceptions), but with less hassle and need for storage space. For 3 years I have been recommending iPads to everyone that asks me about them. They are great for your own personal use, but they also have a great place in the classroom as well.

The great thing about iPads is that you can virtually download an infinite number of applications (apps)...there literally is an app for everything, including apps that are beneficial in the classroom. During my student teaching placement last year, I had three girls who had recently moved from Africa and didn't speak a word of English. One day I decided to browse the App Store for any apps that would help English Language Learners (ELLs) build and acquire new English vocabulary. I found three that seemed as though they would be beneficial. The next day I brought my iPad into the classroom and asked my cooperating teacher if I could work with those three girls using some of the apps that I found. She agreed, and for the next hour we explored the apps. One of them in particular really stood out. It allowed the student to choose a letter, and then it would go through simple words that started with that letter. It provided a picture and audio readings as well, so the students were receiving both visual and auditory cues. My students absolutely loved it. They would listen to the word and then repeat it out loud, and within a few weeks their English vocabulary had doubled, if not tripled. 

There are so many apps that you can find that are beneficial for students and do not cost a thing. However, you have to proceed with caution. Some apps appear to be beneficial, but really have no place in the classroom. It takes a lot of time and effort on behalf of the teacher to search for apps that will truly benefit students and assist their learning. It is a time-consuming process but it is definitely worth it.

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel has always been a frustration for me, in particular using graphs and tables. I have had many assignments where I was to create specific types of graphs and was offered no guidance or instructions, so I would struggle for hours trying to figure it out for myself, following different tutorials that don't make sense, downloading different tool bars, and becoming more and more frustrated as time goes on. I think Excel is a great tool to use in the classroom, but ONLY with structure and assistance provided by the teacher. Excel is one of those programs that is easy to get overwhelmed with. I think if it is going to be used in a classroom, the teacher needs to have a deep knowledge and understanding of the program, so that he or she can provide step-by-step instructions for the students.

There are a lot of ways that Excel can be used in the classroom that I had never realized before. One of the most interesting new ways I learned to use it was in creating timelines. I never knew before that Excel could be used to make a timeline, and I think that is a creative way to engage students in history like never before. Excel can also be beneficial for teachers, in ways such as creating a gradebook that calculates averages and creating seating charts. If used properly, Excel can have tremendous benefits for the classroom. However, teachers must find a way to structure the use of Excel, as it is a very confusing program and students can easily become frustrated or overwhelmed.

Research Paper - Blogging in ESL Classrooms

For my professional paper, I researched the topic of using educational technology in English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms, specifically the use of blogs. I wanted to find out how effective blogging could be with English language learners so that I could decide whether it would be a useful tool to use in my future classroom. I decided to start my research by going more in depth into what characteristics are required for effective second language acquisition. Thomas and Collier are two leading experts on second language acquisition, and have published a well-respected article on bilingual education and components of effective SLA. They found that there are four components to SLA that must be present in ESL classrooms in order for English language learners to reach their full learning potential: academic development, language development, cognitive development, and sociocultural processes. 

As I did more and more research on the topic of blogging in the classroom, I began to find many connections between the effects of blogging and the components of effective SLA. The benefits that blogging provides to ELLs align very significantly with these four components, which would allow one to argue that using blogs in an ESL classroom could be very effective for students who are developing language proficiency in a second language. For example, when students are blogging, they are engaging in reflection and critical thinking skills. These skills, in turn, help students develop their cognitive thought processes - a critical component of SLA. Blogging also provides ESL students with authentic and meaningful interactions with other learners across the world. Authentic communicative situations are essential for ELLs to develop proficiency in a second language. Almost all of the characteristics of blogging that I found during my research aligned with at least one of the four components of SLA.

As a future ESL teacher, I would definitely use blogging as a medium of instruction in my classroom. I think that blogging provides ELLs with so many opportunities to build their language skills in a real, meaningful way. They increase motivation in students, because students are given choice and responsibility in their blog posts; this can instill a sense of pride, self-confidence, and esteem in non-Native speakers who may feel uncomfortable or insecure with their new language. Blogging also allows learners to connect across the globe, sharing their cultures, customs, languages, experiences, and values. When students have the chance to connect worldwide, they develop global and cultural awareness that is often not present in a confined classroom. 

While blogging has many benefits to ELLs, and all students in general, it has to be implemented in an effective and structured manner. Teachers need to keep in mind that not all students have access to technology outside of the classroom, so they need to allow students class-time to work on their blogs. Many students may not have experience with the basics of using a computer, so teachers need to provide full, sequential instruction so that students are not overwhelmed by new information. Teachers also need to find ways to keep students engaged in the blogging process. This can be done by giving students choice about their blog topics, using partner blogs, having students comment on each other's blogs, and more. Blogging can be extremely effective for ELLs if it is implemented in an efficient and effective manner!

Visual Learning

Many of our students in the classroom are going to be visual learners, meaning that they need visual representations of the content in order to develop a deep understanding of it. As a future ESL teacher, I think visual learning is especially important. When teaching non-native speakers, it is crucial to provide visual cues so that the student can make connections with the new language and the visual material. If the student is just given the language, how are they supposed to gain a full understanding of what it means? 

I had a great experience of this idea today at the school where I am completing my observations. I was working with two Spanish-speaking kindergarteners, and we were working on the names of colors. Since this was my first time working with these two students, I decided to try a quick exercise to get a sense of their background knowledge of colors. I first asked them to point to something blue. The two students just looked at each other, unsure of what to do. I asked the same question but substituted the color yellow, and arrived at the same result. My understanding of this exercise is that the students had no context in which to put the words "blue" and "yellow." I grabbed a pack of crayons and some coloring sheets for the students and we began coloring together. As we colored, I held up each color crayon, said its name, and asked the student to repeat it for me. I then found a corresponding object in the classroom that went along with the color. After a few repetitions of each color, the students began naming the colors without any help from me. Next, I took them to the carpet, which had each color blocked off in its own section. We began by stepping on each color and saying its name. Then to really test their knowledge, I decided to instruct them to go to certain colors. For example, I would say, "James can you hop to the color purple?" By the end of the game they were hopping around and they knew the names of their basic colors! Providing them with visual cues was crucial in developing their understanding of the content I was trying to teach them.

There are many technologies that can help teachers develop visual aids for their students. Last week I learned how to use Inspiration, and I have been using it for my own benefit ever since! Inspiration allows users to create webs, graphic organizers, lists, and more that organize material in an appealing visual style. I have been using it to create graphic organizers for my midterms that are coming up, and it has been really beneficial for my own learning.

WebQuests in the Classroom

I have used WebQuests before with success in my undergraduate education classes. One of our assignments was to complete a WebQuest that was designed for high school history students. This particular WebQuest was a preview to a government research paper. Students had to walk through each web page that was presented, and decide whether it was an official and accurate web page or a hoax. At first glance, some of them were difficult to tell, especially since the web address was only a character or two off from the legitimate website. The purpose of this WebQuest was to get students acclimated to researching political issues online, so that when the time came for them to do independent research they would (hopefully) be able to recognize illegitimate websites.

I think WebQuests can be a powerful and engaging tool in the classroom, if implemented appropriately. In order to be beneficial, the teacher must spend A LOT of time preparing the WebQuest for students, in particular with obtaining proper websites for students to explore. It is a very time consuming task for teachers, but I think that the hard work pays off. WebQuests allow students to become engaged in curriculum material that they may find dull or boring otherwise. They allow for collaborative learning, shared responsibility, and teamwork, which are all positives in the classroom. During a WebQuest, students have to become experts on a certain topic and share this information with their group. They know their teammates are counting on them to contribute to the completion of the final task.WebQuests increase student motivation, and therefore students are likely to put forth more effort and work to the best of their abilities on the task; in doing so, they will learn more than they would from a simple lecture or PowerPoint! Many WebQuest tasks are also designed to address problems or issues that exist in the real world, which makes the task authentic. In WebQuests, students use real, timely resources instead of dated textbooks and materials that are only presented from one point of view. They prompt higher-level thinking and pose questions that require more from students than just spitting back information. They provide authentic, engaging, and worthwhile activities that students will truly benefit and learn from.

Microsoft PowerPoint

I have never been a fan of using PowerPoint in the classroom. I think that it encourages uniformity, rather than creative thinking, on behalf of students. All students have to do is copy and paste information onto multiple slides and then read their information word-for-word during their presentation. Students spend more time perfecting their backgrounds, color schemes, and adding illustrations than researching and learning about their topic. 

PowerPoint does have some benefits if used effectively in the classroom. You can easily input pictures and links, utilize different templates, and you can add note pages to provide additional information. However, I think the advantages are outweighed by the disadvantages. PowerPoint presentations do not allow students to prepare topics in significant detail, unless they try to pack large paragraphs of information into each slide. This encourages students to reduce their content into simple bullet points and headlines. Sure, they can elaborate on their topic while presenting the information...but the majority of the students in the audience may lose focus, not have enough time to copy the extra information, and as a result, do not gain as much knowledge from the presentation.

PowerPoint presentations are typically dull, monotonous, and do not encourage student interaction. The only opportunity provided for students to show some creativity are pre-programmed into the software already; students pick from predesigned templates, color schemes, fonts, etc. PowerPoint does not offer students a true chance to demonstrate their own knowledge, creativity, and higher level thinking skills. I feel that its use in the classroom should be limited, if used at all.

Microsoft Word

The only time I ever used Microsoft Word in my own classroom experience, both high school and college, was to type essays... talk about boring! I never thought of Word as anything other than simply a writing tool, with the occasional graphic to spice up an article. When I began my student teaching last year in the Rochester City School District, I learned some pretty cool features of Word that can easily be incorporated into any classroom.

If you are lucky enough to have a SmartBoard in your classroom, then you can have extra fun with Word! My second graders LOVED learning and practicing their math skills through this technology. If you have a SmartBoard, you can make Microsoft Word interactive with you students. One of their favorite activities involved counting money. First, before the students arrived for school, I would open some clip art pictures of money into a word document - pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. I would make sure that there was a numerous amount of each coin available for the students. Next, I would make four jean pockets from clip art, one for each type of coin. When the students would arrive, they would have a morning routine that we would complete every morning on the classroom carpet. Money and counting skills was part of this routine. I would give them various amounts of money and ask them to put coins into the coinciding pockets to make that amount. To do this, all they had to do was go up to the board and physically drag the coin into its pocket with their finger. For instance, if I asked them to make $0.75, they could put 3 quarters in the quarters pocket, 10 dimes and 1 nickel into their respective pockets, 2 quarters, 2 dimes, and 1 nickel into the pockets, and so on. The students loved this interactive activity of physically dragging the money into the pockets, and it dramatically improved their money counting skills!

This was just one fun way of using Microsoft Word in the classroom. I think it is really important to offer a variety of ways for your students to use Word, not just when they have to write an essay. Students could also explore Word on their own and see what interesting features they can find!

Social Media in the Classroom

In this day and age, students are more familiar with media than most of their teachers. As a teacher, why not use that to your advantage? In order to get students to learn, teachers first need to engage them in the subject matter and make them care about what they are learning...what better way to do that than to use social media? There are thousands of ways that teachers can be creative and use social media appropriately in their classrooms to promote student learning. For example, you can have each student create a private Twitter account for a particular character from history and have a classroom debate on a historical issue through the web. This is a great way to include those students' opinions who may not like speaking up in front of their peers. Through the anonymity of a Twitter feed, they may feel more comfortable to post their honest ideas and feelings about a particular issue rather than voicing their thoughts in front of the whole class. If used appropriately and effectively, social media has endless benefits to enhance student engagement and learning in the classroom.

Students also need to actually learn how to use social media. They need to learn about things like online privacy and cyberbullying before they create social media accounts; unfortunately many students do not understand the true hazards that social media entails. In this age of the Internet, is it the teacher's responsibility to teach them about these things? Maybe not, but if the students are at least being exposed to these issues in the safe environment of a classroom then they can learn to take more precautions at home.

We can't avoid using technology in the classroom any longer. The world is constantly advancing technology and, whether we like it or not, this is the age of technology. Five-year-olds have iPhones and ten-year-olds have laptops... it is time to face that reality. Technology does not need to take over the classroom..it shouldn't! But there are so many ways that technology can be incorporated into the classroom to enhance learning and engagement. Our students do not know anything besides technology; this is the world they have grown up in. As teachers, we must embrace what they know, educate ourselves, and use these tools to further our own teaching practices.