Day 9

Today we had a speaker who introduced Second life, this is something that I don’t understand how could be used in the classroom, or I didn’t understand what it was really about. It made me think of the Sims, a computer game that my teenage daughter used to play. What was interesting about this class was to learn about copy rights, I always thought most of the material on the internet was available for public use. It’s more, I have used pictures that I downloaded to create a portfolio in Spanish on Morphology and Syntax to teach Grammar. I have copied poems and pass them out to my students. I just got shocked to realized that more than once I had broken a rule or two.

 

 

Day 8

Today’s class was exiting. I really enjoyed working with the two different softwares, PhotoStory 3, and Windows Movie Maker. The PhotoStory 3 was my favorite, Wendy did a great job teaching it in such a simple and clear way. I think what made it so enjoyable also, was the fact that we were able to do it, see the end result, and have that feeling of accomplishment. This software is another potential tool that brings so many possibilities into the classroom as a project.

Windows Movie Maker on the other hand, was a whole other story, It wasn’t as easy to follow as PhotoStory, and took me a little longer to feel comfortable with it, but it had my wheels spinning thinking in the many ways I could use it for my classes. At the moment when Andrea was explaining how she did the video on how to do the pinwheel… piñatas, kites, tamales, came to my mind. I think creating these videos on how to do’s will be my summer project. I definitely can see the use of these programs in my classes.

 

Day 7 Wikis, SMART Boards & Google Sketch Up.

I don’t know if I making it up a new class, or if this was the continuation of the previous blog, but I remember in this class we were divided in groups, and we try different programs, Wendy and someone else were in my group. We did Wikies, I think we shared the SMART Board activities that we created, and the last was Google Sketch. After seeing the tutorial for Google Sketch I spent the rest of the class trying to figure it out how to do the chair, this was, out of all that we did over the semester, the most frustrating program. I didn’t like it, and to be honest, I don’t see it as something that I will use in my classes. The Wikis, yes, I can see how this will work as a tool to develop collaborative skills. Actually, wikis are something that I will like to give it a try coming September with my seventh and eighth graders. I know it will be a challenge for me I will need to request permission from the school, and from the parents, since technology is not part of the program in Waldorf education for the middle school. I see many positive aspects about creating a Wiki, specially teaching a foreign language. Thank you professor for exposing us to such a wide range of possibilities.

Day 6 Skype, Elluminate and I-chat?

Another overloaded class with the ease of the familiar. I’m trying to remember the order in which the different software and programs were introduced, since I’m blogging late. If I’m not wrong in this class we kind of jumped stones in the river without getting our feet that wet. The first, I think, it was Skype, because I felt so relief to go over something very familiar at the time, I had been using Skype to video chat with my step daughter who was teaching flamenco and belly-dance in Japan for five months and very homesick. This tool could present an incredible opportunity for my students to communicate with students from Spanish speaking countries, exposing them to a real communication in the target language plus the benefits of sharing cultural facts to enhance their learning.

We also visited Elluminate, this is another incredible site, they have a program called Fire & Ice, “ Clasrooms without walls. Education witout barriers. Learning without limits.”

This program connects schools from around the world, in which teachers and students collaborate to participate in socially relevant topics. This program reaches the most remote places in Asia, Africa and South America, which is the reason why it caught my attention, since for me teaching a language is more than teaching how to speak, read and write, for me teaching a language is opening a window, if not a door to a different culture and its richness. In this class we also went over the I-chat, very similar to Skype, but in this case is a program for Macs. I know we were introduce to something else, I apologize professor if I’m missing something, this goes to show you how well did you use each second of our class time.

Day 5 SMARTBoards

Today we were introduced to SMART Boards and how to use them. We worked in groups of four. My group was Marc, Greg, Danielle and I. I really enjoy this class, in the beginning I don’t know if I felt a little intimidated or just in awe by it. Ideas of how could I use it to teach Spanish were swarming like busy bees trough my mind, but again, time was an issue. It seemed like every time that I was feeling like I was getting a hold of it, it was time to wrap it up and be done. I downloaded the software and had fun playing with it. When it came the time for me to create an activity, took me forever, it seemed that when I was in the classroom everything was quite easy, but at home was a whole other story. I got really interested in this specific technology and read as much as I could find about it. It was interesting to notice how for some teachers this is a tool like the key to the heaven’s doors, and for some others was the opposite. Some teachers think that the fact that the board can easily need to be re-oriented, could be a waste of class time. Teaching in a Walforf school my chances of experiment with this tool are remote, even though, its use to teach a foreign language, in my case Spanish, could be an incredible enhancement to the lesson, plus a great tool for language acquisition.

Day 4

This class was a little more relaxing. We went over the use of the blog, and then we were introduce to Thinkfinity. I think this is what it made me feel more confortable and relaxed, since I had previously worked with Thinkfinity and Marcopolo in my Differentiation Instructions class. This website has an amazing source of information. It provides lesson plans, activities, and ideas by grade and subject that will help new teachers to create their blue print planner and spice it up for the following year. The greatest part, is that this website will find those lessons that comply with the New York State standards.

Each of our classes feels so intense, it seems like we get so much information and not enough time to process it. I wish I could have focused on one thing at a time to be able to use it comfortably.

Day 3

In today’s class the professor introduced pod casts. We got to create our own, record our voices and add the music. It wasn’t anything from the other world, but for me was an anxiety ride. Anything that has to do with technology seems to shake my ground. It was fun to follow the step by step directions to create the pod cast and see the end results. As an assignment we had to work in groups to create a pod cast that integrated the different fields in education that each one of us is majoring.

Using Pod casts as a tool in our classroom could be a great opportunity to foster our students’ creativity, encourage them to explore, and to create a space to think and engage in discussion among themselves, and also, at the same time, it will help them to develop collaborative skills in order to work together in an equal way. I enjoyed working with Greg and Marc, it was great to discover how each of us had a different skill or strength, that put together made the work easier and fun.

Day 2

In this class we were introduce and explained how to create quizzes with Excel and Word using Thesaurus, and how to create a descriptive card. Unfortunately, I was absent due to my work, but luckily, I had been introduced to these programs before in the class Introduction to Computers. What it was new for me was creating a descriptive card, to which the Professor guided me through very patiently. In the beginning I couldn’t think of how these could be used in my classroom, and then the spark came to me. For my Spanish Classes, this will be a fun and creative way for my seventh and eighth graders to introduce themselves, at this point they are able to sustain a basic conversation in which they can express their likes and dislikes. Certainly, the descriptive cards could also be a way to assess their basic skills.

Copyright

One of the links in the presentation was on the ten myths about copyright, this seemed interesting there is a lot of information on issues that we are familiar to, and think that they are acceptable, but they're not. For example, "If I make up my own stories, but base them on another work, my new work belongs to me."

First Day of Computers

The discussion in class today, presented me with a wider view of the use of technology in the classroom. After watching the video clips, I can see how computers can be an effective tool for enhancing instruction, but it also, for me, it raises concern about how affects and effects the learning process. It seems to me that for some students the computer is It. What about experiencing looking up a word in the dictionary? what about experiencing reading a book without the constant stimulus of the flickering screen, and the temptation to surf away?

I guess technology, when properly used, could be a positive tool as I mentioned before. I just wander, what will happen to the child's natural curiosity and creativity? In a way, everything is being given.

I have to say, I feel a little crispy about this class (no the class itself, the machine, and my respond and reaction to it). I do not have much experience with computers, and I'm feeling a bit intimidated and lost. I just need to make peace with it, and learn.