Reflection 2

The tool I found most useful was blogging.  Spanish IV students will soon watch a film and Ms. Hurysz and I will use blogging to pose questions about the film to students. I think that students will be more invested responding to the questions in a blog format rather than simply using pen and paper.

Wikis in the Classroom

I have explored the video clips / information presented about wikis and have thought about its application in my classroom.  I suppose that if I were to have students complete a group project, it would be useful.  Students could work collaboratively without having to physically meet.  However, I see blogging as being more practical in my classroom.  I am more interested in students posting reactions to discussion questions or to a visual and having classmates respond to their posts. 

Online resource reviews

Here are my thoughts on the online resources we investigated:

You Tube - I love this sight and use it all of the time.  I have found quality video clips pertaining to the the Spanish-speaking regions of the world I study with students.  Sometimes they are about current issues and sometimes they present historical issues.  Students have watched newscasts as well.

I have also used it to show students music videos and dance styles. In addition, students have been able to watch parts of movies we have viewed in class when they have been out absent.

Movie Clips - I do not see this being very useful in my classroom.  I searched the videos that we show in the upper-level Spanish courses and was not able to locate any of them. If this site carried more foreign films, it could be useful.

 Next Vista - This site seems to have potential, but it was limited in its resources for the LOTE classroom.  Under Lightbulbs, I only found a couple of student presentations which were not always accurate in terms of Spanish grammar. I thought that there might be Spanish grammar clips created by teachers, but did not find any.  Under Global Views, there were a couple of clips about cities in Chile and Venezuela, but I don't think that I would use them. Under Seeing Service, there was a video about using the land to provide financial stabilty for families in Latin America.  The video was decent in terms of quality, but, again, not something I would probably use in class.

School Tube  - I found several presentations created by Spanish students and some scenes from Spanish classes, but nothing I would use in class.

Teacher Tube - This is a site I had never really explored before.  I did find a lot of Spanish-related materials on this site including a nice PowerPoint on the benefits of studying Spanish.  I will experiment with this site in the future.

A Benefit of Blogging

Our main goal in the LOTE classroom is to have students communicate in the target language.  Blogging is a useful tool that can be used to promote communication.  The majority of students probably have not used blogging in their classes. The mere novelty of this activity makes it appealing to students. In addition, it would get students using the language outside of class in a more authentic manner. It would probably not be perceived as "contrived" like the more traditional assignments from worksheets and textbooks might be.

In the LOTE classroom, a question can be posed by the teacher and students can respond in the target language.  Questions can target specific vocabulary being studied in class.  The more controversial the topic, the more the students will be apt to write.  It is my hope that students can speak their posts as well, if this is possible.

As students post their responses, they can also begin to comment on others' responses. I am hoping that students will put forth more effort knowing that both the teacher and their peers will be reading and responding to what they write.

Assignment 2

Blogging is so much fun!

Michele's Blog - Issues and Trends Fall 2009

This blog was created for an online technology course I am taking.