Podcasting for English!

     These days "podcast" is a very common word, however I did not exactly know what it was until I watched Podcasting in Plain English. I can definitely understand why podcasting would be so incredibly useful not only to those who are learning English but for anyone learning a language. Podcasts are essentially mini lessons/lectures that one can download and listen to whenever they want and repeat it as often as they wish.

     After doing a little bit of podcast "snooping" on the world wide web. I found a short, but useful podcast called "Making Soups and Stews" which teachers could definitely use to help their students meet standards especially Standard-ESL.C.9-12.2 which states, "Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for literary response, enjoyment, and expression."

     The reason this podcast stood out to me than all of the others was because I absolutely love food and I really love cooking. If I were an ESL student this podcast would definitely help me to better my English so that I can use it for both enjoyment and expression.

Sandy the Hedgehog's Terrible Weekend

     Today I used storybird.com to create my first "story strip." At first I was not looking forward to it. I did not think I would be able to be creative enough to find a few pictures that I liked and to then piece them together and create a short story of my own. A little while later and voila I had created a story. 

Once I really got into it, this activity was no longer difficult and actually a bit of fun. I think that this would be a homework assignment that students would enjoy completing because while there are guidelines, the assignment itself isn't so rigid, giving students the flexibility they need to be creative and have fun. 

This is an activity that I would definitely use with my intermediate students in order to meet ESL Standard-ESL.I.5-8.2 which states, "students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for literary response, enjoyment, and expression."

In order to use this as a homework assignment I would focus on a specific tense for example the present progressive. I would tell the students to find at least 4 pictures and create a small story with them while using the present progressive tense in each slide. I would have have students get into groups of three or four and have them share their stories with each other not only to share their creativity but to help them reinforce the present progressive tense. Based on the outcome of their short stories I would then either give a mini lecture reviewing the present progressive tense or continue on to the next topic in class.

Animoto in the Classroom

     Today I used a program called Animoto to create a vocabulary slideshow for beginner level ESL students. Prior to using this program I had never heard of it until today. The program itself did not take more than a few minutes to figure out how to use and the final product looked nice considering I used the trial version and the Animoto watermark is still on my video.

     Last week I really enjoyed using TedED to create interactive lessons for more high intermediate - advanced students. In contrast, I think that Animoto would be more useful for beginners and low intermediate students. The short lesson I created involved introducing new vocabulary for the theme of going on a trip that would be helpful for students just starting out as opposed to a student that is geared more towards higher level grammatical concepts.

     With regards to students using this program, I think it would be a good way for them to meet ESL Standard - ESL.E.2-4.2 which states "students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for literary response, enjoyment, and expression." For example at the end of a travel unit, I would instruct my beginner students create a photo and text slideshow using Animoto. The assignment would include 10 sentences about an imaginary trip they are going on. Each slide would include a sentence with at least one new vocabulary word along with an image of the word.

This activity would be used to evaluate their comprehension of the new vocabulary learned during the unit while simultaneously allowing the students to be creative.

Learning the Difference Between Count and Non-Count Nouns with Ted ED

Today I created my first TEDEd lesson and used a YouTube video depicting the differences between count and non-count nouns. The lesson creating process was easy to follow and different take hardly any time at all.

The main language learning object of this lesson is to help students understand what count and non-count nouns are as well as what the differences are between these two main categories.

In order to incorporate this lesson into my classroom and evaluate whether or not my student(s) have understood the concept. I would hand out a worksheet with two columns. One would be labeled "Count Nouns" and the other side would be "Non-Count Nouns" I would then give the students a minute and a half to write down as many nouns as they could think of while putting them in the correct columns. I would then write the same two columns on the board and have a basket full of slips of paper with different nouns written on them. One by one students would take a noun from the basket and write it on the board under the column they think it belongs under. 

Why Flip Your Classroom?

   By studying the given topic at home, flipping the classroom gives students more of an opportunity to collaborate with peers in the classroom. This gives students more opportunities to practice their language skills which helps to further the second language acquisition process. Rather than the class time being focused on a teacher delivering a lecture, the time is now more focused on student to student interaction and second language usage. 

     Flipping a classroom is a term I was unaware of until just recently. For those of you who have also not heard of it, according to "Flipping Your EL Classroom: A Primer" written by John Graney, classroom flipping is the idea of having students prepare for a lesson or topic before class rather than being instructed by the teacher in class. This instruction can take place by assigning videos, textbook readings, going through a slideshow, etc. The students then come to class with the material being learned and then practice applying their new knowledge in the classroom with the guidance of the instructor. This gives students who usually struggle on homework the opportunity to work more closely with the teacher in order to better understand the material and the practical application of it. If the instructor finds that students are struggling with a particular skill, a mini lesson or lecture can be given in class and long with a small homework assignment to further cement the students' knowledge of the topic.

     Besides helping students who generally struggle on homework, classroom flipping can be beneficial for ESL students in a few other ways. As mentioned in "Three Reasons to Flip Your Classroom" written by Helaine Marshall, three of the main reasons to flip your classroom include: comprehension, interaction, and critical thinking. With regards to comprehension, This learning method gives ESL students the opportunity to learn at their own pace rather than trying to follow along in a classroom. This in turn would definitely increase their comprehension. Providing students with various mediums to learn also gives them a structure for both new content and language. 

     The last reason mentioned in the article for flipping the classroom involves critical thinking. Once, a student has learned the material, and mastered and applied their new knowledge in class, students are then ready to take one step further and think more critically about what they have learned. By doing so, students can reach their full academic potential and the class can move on to more complex topics. As an end result, ESL students can then focus less on comprehending material in class but rather they can use the material they have learned and mastered at a much higher level of cognition. 

     Considering the multitude of ways that this method can be applied with regards to the distribution of learning materials and the options for classroom interaction and practice, flipping the classroom is a great way to help students learn better, master material, and do so in a more fun, engaging and personal way. This is teaching method that I am very happy to have discovered and will surely be using with my future ESL students!

The Migrant Trail Meets ESL Standards

 

The Migrant Trail is a fun, addicting, and educational ESL game. I played this game three times through with every character trying to get them all across the desert to their final destination. I was close once but I had to leave Diego behind with only seven miles to go. 

As previously mentioned, I found this game to be a lot of fun and pretty challenging. These are excellent qualities to have in a game. It grabs the students' attention and makes them want to try "just one more time" about twenty more times. The best part is that it IS educational. Having played it so many times I believe that it helps to satisfy ESL Standard I.5-8.1 which states, "[s]tudents will listen, speak, read, and write in English for information and understanding."

The Migrant Trail meets this standard because students will be able to learn vocabulary that they can use for their personal use. At the beginning of the game you choose a character to play with and then are taken to a shop where you buy supplies for the journey. Here, a student is able to learn words for items of clothing, food, and dollar amounts. These are all parts of English that a person would need in their day to day lives. As the game progresses, the immigrants are faced with various challenges from being bitten by a scorpion, to having a blister, to having heat stroke. While these may not be quite as common, this is still excellent terminology relating to health that could be useful for an ESL student to learn and understand.

After having students play this game I would have them get into groups and tell them that they are being sent to a deserted island and they have $150 to spend. I would then write an inventory on the whiteboard with a list of items and their prices and have them discuss together what they would purchase to take with them and why. After re-grouping as a class. Each group would have an opportunity to share with the class what they would purchase to take along with them and why.

Polleke's Blue Room and ESL Standards

     Playing games for ESL practice can be both fun and informative. After playing Polleke's Blue Room it is easy to understand how these sorts of educational games can aid students in the learning of English. The objective of this game was to search for clues to unlock the door to the blue room and escape. At first I thought, "Okay, how hard could this really be?" I played the game once and spent around 15 minutes trying to find clues but the game was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be. I ended up having to follow the walk through in order to beat it. 

     With regards to how this game would help ESL students learn and meet standards, I think it would help students learn new vocabulary, give descriptions, and use the subjunctive at a very basic level. A standard that would fit this description would be performance indicator-ESL.I.5-8.4.1.3 which states, "students request and provide information and assistance, orally or in writing, for personal, social, and academic purposes." 

In order to incorporate this game into a classroom setting I think that it would be good to have
pictures posted on a whiteboard or a PowerPoint slide of each section of the room and then ask students to describe what they can see in the room before playing the game and then after playing the game to test whether or not they have have benefited from the game. I would then divide the classroom into groups of three and tell them to try to beat the game together. If they are not able to beat the game after 30 minutes I would then provide them with a walk through of the game as a class discussion

Gamification and Language Learning

 

  Gamification is the usage of games in non game-like settings or contexts in order to engage students (in this case) in learning. According to "Technology - 'Just' Playing Games? A Look at the Use of Digital Games for Language Learning" there are five main components that make up a successful game. These include: goals, interaction, feedback, context, and motivation. As mentioned in the article, goals are best described as "goal orientation" due to the dynamic, ongoing, and continually negotiated process of task completion. Interaction is a component that can take place in numerous ways. It depends on the type of game, how other game is being used, and the players. Feedback is important so that learners is always aware of his or her abilities. Context according to the article is created and authenticated by both the game narrative and context of play. Motivation is usually considered one of the biggest reasons that digital games are used in the classroom.

     Another way of explaining what makes a game successful is discussed in the article "Sculpting Flow and Fiero" written by Zac Hill. Hill believes that solid game design includes two main factors: flow and fiero. Flow is the concept of "being in the zone." This is when the player is having fun. Fiero on the other hand is described as the feeling one gets when they have conquered or overcome something like a quest or a difficult level.

I think that it is a great idea to use digital language games in the classroom. Not only does it help students to learn, they are able to do so in a fun and motivational way. There are also benefits to using digital games that one may not be able to receive with traditional classroom instruction. According to "Games and Learning"  Games can be highly motivational  and engaging for students. They also have the ability to how that learning can be measured by more than just grades. Using games in the classroom is also an excellent way to build collaborative skills.

In the future, I will definitely use games in my ESL classroom as a way to promote motivational and engaging learning in a fun environment.

#Twitter in the Classroom

     After participating in the #ELLchat on Twitter this past Monday evening, I started thinking about how I would use Twitter in an educational setting. I saw firsthand how it has the ability to help educators from all over the world connect with each other and share ideas, but I wasn't exactly sure how I could use Twitter in a classroom setting with my future students. 

     A Must Have Guide on Using Twitter in Your Classroom is an article that is presented as a list of ideas for Twitter usage in the class except that each idea listed is highlighted and is actually a link to a full article on each particular idea. While I had kicked around a few ideas in my head as to how I could use Twitter, this list goes far beyond what I had thought of. One of the first ideas I had (which was also on the list) was to use Twitter for general class announcements, homework assignments, and office hours. One of the points that were mentioned in the resource category that I plan on doing is to encourage students to follow a foreign language in their news feed. This will allow them to not only follow the news in other countries, it will also help students practice their reading comprehension in the foreign language and to help them learn new vocabulary words. 

In the article Teaching With Twitter written by Lori Stokes, she discusses six ways to use Twitter in the classroom with students. I really enjoyed the second topic she discussed and plan on doing this with students in the future. She talks about using Twitter in real time for questions and feedback during student presentations. I think this is an excellent way to keep students engaged. Often times during a student presentation the audience of students sit there quietly and may seem to be paying attention, but I think often times they are more being talked to rather than being taught or involved with the presentation. Allow students to use Twitter with a hash tag of the name of the presentation allows students to both participate and help the presenter to include additional information or the help questions throughout the presentation.

While there are two or three ways that I will focus on using Twitter in my future classroom, it almost seems like the possibilities are endless! 

My First Twitter Experience #ELLChat

  

   So I just finished my first live Twitter session. That was...interesting. I was completely lost for the first 5 minutes or so, but once I got the hang of it every seemed to flow well. Although it was a bit hard to follow all of the conversations going on at once. I am starting to think it is best to enter the chat with a general topic and then branch off into separate conversations with various people rather than trying to follow every conversation from the main feed. 

     I have never used Twitter a day in my life before and always thought it was stupid until about 45 minutes ago. I still have no intentions of using it in my personal life but in regards to educational experiences and networking I am all for it! It is a great way to hold discussions with people across your own field from so many different places without needing to meet face to face. I almost could not believe how quickly the conversations were flowing. I had expected maybe 5 - 10 people to be online chatting a little at a time. 

     While the conversations were interesting and I actually had a few things to say here and there (I felt a little intimidated at first) the layout was a bit confusing. It seemed to me like using a group discussion forum would be easier to follow. Then again thinking about it, it is sort of set up in a way that allows conversation to flow naturally among several people at once as if everyone were standing in a room having conversations with one another. 

     All in all, it was a little confusing to maneuver at first, but I found the Twitter chat to be fun and engaging! I would do it again and I would definitely find ways to use it with my students. 

Bringing the World Together One Project at a Time

     When I studied abroad in India I had the opportunity to collaborate with a community called Reach The World. It was a program that allowed me to write blogs and field notes on different topics and be connected to an elementary classroom back home in the US. I was connected to a fourth grade class and they used my blog posts in their social studies class to learn more about India. I had the chance to video chat with the class twice allowing them to come up to the computer one by one and ask me different questions about India. I loved the idea of Reach The World; being able to bring various cultures straight into the classrooms of the students. 

     A similar program to Reach The World is EPals, except this site is more collaborative and natives of each country are able to work together on projects. The main categories of this site are divided into: challenges, find classroom, projects, learning centers, and ePals Central. All of projects and activities I have looked at so far seem to range from late elementary school age up through seniors in high school. I think one of the biggest benefits of EPals is that it can be used for any subject including science, social studies, language, etc. I wish that it were also geared to students who were beyond high school as well. While students learn about different people from different countries all over the world, this website gives students the opportunities to actually meet, (virtually) connect, and make friends with these students from places like Brazil, India, Japan, etc. This helps students gain a broader understanding of the world at an early age. 

I don't know if I would use this program specifically since it is geared more towards students in elementary - high school but I would definitely want to find a program similar to this in order to give my future adult ESL students an opportunity to engage and make friends with with native English speakers outside the classroom. 

Social Networking for Language Educators

     The Educator's PLN (personal learning network) is an online social networking site specifically designed for educators. It reminds me  little of Facebook but it seems far more community based. The site has various resources and methods for connecting with other educators including: Edchat, videos, forums, blogs, tutorials, and a link to other educational websites. The site is displayed in an easy to follow manner and has a visually appealing theme. 

I am sure that this site is useful for any educator however I think it would be especially useful for new teachers as a way to connect and learn from teachers with more experience and to also explore additional resources that they may be able to use in the classroom. 

A Learner is Like a Flash Drive

A learner is like a flash drive.

     Why? With today's technology it would be hard to say that a learner is like a sponge; someone who soaks up knowledge and keeps it with them forever. Flash drives are far more realistic because for the most part, we now rely heavily on computers and various other networks to access knowledge. We don't have remember everything we are taught; rather we are taught how to access knowledge and how to store it for later use. Flash drives are a small device with memory that allow us to do just that. We simple store information and resources on the flash drive in able to access it at any point later on. 

     At the beginning of "Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age" written by George Siemens he discusses new trends in learning. The last bullet on his list states, "Know-how and know-what is being supplemented with know-where (the understanding of where to find knowledge needed). This goes back to my earlier statements of how it is no longer important to remember everything you are taught; rather you need to know where to find the information you need and how to store it for later retrieval. 

     In George Siemen's video "The Changing Nature of Knowledge" he says, "[t]oday because of the complex environments we're in, learning isn't something that's exclusively limited or occurs exclusively within an individual's mind." Learning is no longer done solely in a classroom with a teacher and textbooks, it now consists of networks formed between people and information that can be retrieved from computers at any time of the day. With those capabilities and the rate of speed that knowledge is being created these days, it is impossible to remember everything. That is why it is important to know how to store and retrieve data and why a learner is more like a flash drive than a sponge that is able to soak everything up and remember it.

Useful Internet Tools: A Quick Comparison

This past week I have learned how to use both Diigo and Pinterest. For those who are not familiar to either of these, let me give you a quick overview. 

Diigo is essentially an online bookmarking site. It stands for Digest of Internet Information, Groups and Other Stuff. Traditionally one would save a bookmark in your browser. It's helpfulness was limited because it would be saved to a specific browser on a specific computer. If you were out of town and didn't have your computer with you, you were out of luck. If your computer suddenly 'died', all would be lost. Using Diigo, the sites you bookmark are saved to your online cloud account and can be accessed at any time of day, from any browser, on any computer. What's more is that you can save websites to be read offline, and also highlight information on the pages, and take notes. 

Diigo is extremely organized in the sense that you can add tag to each bookmark you create; these are then on the side of your homepage allowing you to access the sites that you have bookmarked by category instead of scrolling endlessly for what you need. Last, but certainly not least, you can follow other Diigo users, giving you access to others' bookmarks and notes. If you have something you would like to keep private, you can check a box for that as well. I try to be an organized person but often times my time is limited and I'm not able to bookmark according to categories. With Diigo I can now do that quickly and without very little effort. am happy I have been introduced to this site and plan on using it often. 

The other new tool I have learned how to navigate (sort of) is Pinterest. This site, like Diigo, allows collaboration and the sharing of ideas between others online. It is essentially an online bulletin board where you can create boards of different categories and post items to these boards. The concept of it is simple enough but once I started creating my first board, it was not as easy as I had anticipated. When I created my first board I then went to search for items to pin to it but when I selected the "pin it" option the name of my new bulletin board did not appear. I had to "like" the item, then go back to the list of items I like, and then pin it to the board. After I added the five items that I wanted, I tried to edit the board to move things around and only four of the five items showed up. It took over an hour for all of them to appear. One nice thing about Pinterest though is that once you "pin" or "like" something a window pops up with related material that you may also want to view.. I do enjoy the concept of Pinterest, but I think there needs to be a way to make the site more user friendly or at least easier to navigate. I will continue to try to figure out my way through the site with hopes that I will be able to catch on to it better.

The Future of Education

     The current education system is not working. It has been obvious for some time now. Drop out rates are increasing, people aren't doing their homework; they are bored, unmotivated, and disengaged. As mentioned by Sugata Mitra in "The Future of Learning, Networked Society." education was first developed by the Victorians with a goal that education will create cookie cutter beings; they will all be taught in the same manner and will know the same things. While that may have worked for them at the time, the world is a constantly changing place and with that comes ever evolving systems; including education. 

     Students are bored and unmotivated. Why? For the most part, they sit for six to eight hours per day and are talked at. Of course that is not always the case, but it is the majority. For some, that's okay. They take notes, are able to remember everything, and then perform well on exams. But that is only one part of the student body and our current educational system fails to account for the rest of the students. So much for "no child left behind" right?

     Students needs to be engaged. They need to be able to explore; find their own answers. Learning should be in a fun interactive environment; not a chore Monday through Friday with a dread for homework after school hours. Give a student the resources that he/she needs, teach them how to use it and watch what they can do. In the same video mentioned above, Sugata Mitra placed a computer in a slum area in India; a place where kids have never heard of a computer let alone internet. Within just hours, a group of children working together were browsing the internet. 

This brings me to the future of classroom curriculum. In "Future Learning" Sugata Mitra discusses the evolution of curriculum. He states that 200-300 years ago one was taught how to shoot a gun and ride a horse. If you told anyone during that time period students would not be taught how to do either of those things in the future, they would be astonished. Nowadays, shooting and horseback riding are sports. Will mathematics someday no longer be taught in schools because it too will be a sport? Sugata Mitra closes with what he believes should be the future of our curriculum: 

      "[R]eading comprehension is the most critical skill at this point in time for a      
       generation that is going to read off screens for the rest of their lives. Information              search and retrieval skills; if people know what are key words, follow a link or not,            it's a key skill. If arithmetic is an outdated skill, this is the skill that will replace it.            Finally, if a child knows how to read, if a child knows how to search for information,          how do we teach them how to believe...if we can do it really really early, we would          have armed that child against doctrine; not just religious doctrine but doctrine in all        forms." 

Giving a student the knowledge of how to search for information, read it, and believe will be some of the most powerful educational tools in the future if it is not the most important. With a virtually unlimited source of information the learning capabilities a student has with the abilities to search,read, and believe are endless. 

Start Blogging!

Hi there everyone! In my first blog post I am going to discuss a few ways having a blog can be beneficial for both professional development and future students.

In a world where we are surrounded by technology it would be silly not to utilize it for educational purposes. Students use the internet on an almost daily basis for social interaction, checking and responding to emails, and entertainment, so why not encourage them to use it in their education as well? The benefits of student blogging can be profound. In an ESL classroom often times students will be timid to speak; afraid of either making a mistake or worried about being judged by others. Through blogging, students have the ability to express themselves free of judgment; allowing them to engage in class discussions and practice both their reading and writing skills simultaneously. This is an excellent way to help students meet learning standards as well. For example, in New York State's ESL standard requirements at the C.9-12.2 level “students will listen, speak, read, and write English for literary response, enjoyment, and expression.” What better way to meet this requirement than with a personalized blog?

Considering the significant number of educational resources that are available to students today, keeping a blog is also an excellent way to take various helpful online materials and bring them into one place. This way, students do not need to go searching all over the internet for helpful resources; they can access everything at once through just one website.

Besides using a blog in the classroom or with students,   blogging can be beneficial for one’s professional development as well.

For one, (as mentioned by fellow Steve Wheeler, another teacher blogger) blogging gives teachers a way to reflect. Teachers who blog consistently about their lessons and classes are able to look back and think about what has and/or hasn't worked for them in their classrooms in hopes that they can make improvements to their current curriculum. It is also a great way to network and receive feedback from other teachers in your field. By blogging you are putting yourself out there in the public eye to receive feedback and suggestions from your fellow teachers. It also gives you and your fellow teachers the opportunity to bounce ideas off of each other in order to help your students.

So what are you waiting for? Get those creative juices flowing and start your educational blog today!