Madame Techie

Twittertales

2016-11-20T18:14:00.001-08:00

I started having my students write Twittertales several years ago, as an exercise in getting them to understand that they can tell stories in the Target Language - sentences that go beyond simple subject and verb - even at the Novice High/Intermediate Low Levels by focusing on specific pieces of information:

Who
What
Where
When
Why

The beauty of this platform for lower level students is the 140 character limit. By using the simple formula of including those five elements, a complete story can be told basically in a single sentence. The other, perhaps more obvious advantage, is that Twitter allows students to write for an authentic, global audience.

I give students a visual prompt, usually in the form of a thought-provoking photo, often from the French Facebook page Les Photovores. The curious nature of the photos serve to spark students' creativity, though they may be using very basic language (dates, family members...) to address most of the elements. I've also used candid shots of students, which really gets the creative juices flowing!

Twittertales may stand alone, or for students capable of more advanced writing, serve as a starting point for expansion with connective phrases and detail.

Give this new twist on storytelling a shot, and let me know how it goes!

Haven't Tried This Yet, BUT...

2016-10-28T10:56:00.000-07:00

So, my good friend Sarah Thomas @sarahdateechur shared this post on Facebook.

Now Chino Otsuka is a photographer, who no doubt has better PowerPoint skills than I, however, once I got the idea in my head, I thought this could definitely have some really cool applications in the WL classroom using a site like fotoflexer.com or a tool like Google Drawings, albeit with much less panache.

So, I've never been to Paris with my daughter, but don't we look nifty? I used fotoflexer to edit the photos, because while it's a bit more robust than Google Drawings for that purpose, it's not as frightening to me as Photoshop. I layered the two photos in Google Drawings. The Eiffel Tower shot came from a simple Google image search (noncommercial use with modification).

Play a little Where's Waldo?

I've really always wanted to show a gargoyle who's boss

Zombies are everywhere else, why not the Louvre? (Yes, I went there. I Snapsmashed. I can't help myself.)

So, again, I haven't tried this, and therefore I'd LOVE to hear some ideas from you!

Google Hangouts/Video Calls

2016-09-27T18:21:00.001-07:00

So this happened.

My Spanish 3 class (I am having severe guilt over my Spanish 2 classes and my Frenchies, because all the good stuff seems to trace back to my Spanish 3 classes!) did a Google Video call with Venezuelan "artivist" Daniel Arzola. Wow. The story behind our serendipitous connection is pretty fantastic (one well-placed, well-timed #jealous on a FB post) but Daniel's story of how he has turned his trials into meaningful art and social justice is unbelievable. And my students were able to read about his story, analyze one of his poems, as well as some of his artwork, and pose questions to him in Spanish in real time.

As with all Google Apps, Google Video Calls and GHO (now connected with YouTube Live) the whole experience was free! (You know how important that is to me!) If you have a Gmail, you have access to all of the things I just mentioned. Did I mention free?

Here's how a Google Video call works:

Log in to Google
go to your "dot grid" in the upper right hand corner next to your picture
Click "more"
Click on the green "Hangouts" icon
Click the "video call" button
When the new window opens, you may either invite someone by name, by email, or copy & share the link

That's it! That's all! It's just that easy.

Google Hangouts on Air, now connected to YouTube Live are somewhat more complicated, but allow for features like screensharing, muting participants, etc.

Here are the steps provided by Google.

Here is a video tutorial by Rachel Pierson (STEM teacher in Minnesota) and Justin Schleider. (PE/Health teacher in New Jersey).

I have not yet done too many of these with my students, but I am hooked! Not surprisingly, the greatest challenge is making the connections...but that's a project in progress...(stay tuned!)

Here are some ideas for when you connect:

Mystery Hangout (also known as Mystery Skype)
Connect with experts in a particular field - have students prepare questions
Connect with an artist/author/activist - have students prepare questions
Play Simon Says in the TL with other WL classes, or classes in the Target Culture - take turns leading and following
Ask your students for ideas!

The possibilities are mind-boggling, so if you have a possible connection, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??

Let's Recap

2016-09-26T18:29:00.001-07:00

I realize I've probably said this before...probably more than once...but I really think this app is a game-changer. That's what's so fantastic about being a tech blogger - the game is changing almost constantly. That also brings its own type of challenge, wherein as educators in the classroom, we need to be very selective and intentional with our choices of tools. In a way, the ubiquity of the tech and the volume of new that appears makes it so impossible to "keep up" with all the new that it is easier to focus on the pedagogy and learning goals - which is where our focus belongs.

So...Let's Recap. Part of what drives me to keep seeking out new tools, is the fact that to be perfectly honest, I'm cheap. I can't (any longer) say that I will not and have not paid for an app or for a premium subscription, but those occasions are few and far between. In fact, it's kind of a fun challenge to me to see how much I can accomplish without paying for a darn thing! With that said, I dabbled in Flipgrid last year as a way to document and archive student voice. I had looked into it a number of years prior, but it has limited functionality in the free version (billed as a trial). What made me dive in a bit deeper last year, was the willingness of our school librarian to pay for the $65 annual subscription from her budget.

Cut to EdCamp Mville. As if EdCamp isn't amazing enough, (It is. If you've never been, GET TO ONE!!) EdCamp Mville takes place in Reid Castle. Yes, it's a real castle. And I'm addicted to EdCamps. It is true that EdCamps always have the best swag. Believe me, everyone says so. (bazinga) Still, it's considered a tad gauche to declare that the swag is the best part of any EdCamp. Except this time, it was SO true! My swag was a T-shirt donated by Let's Recap. I had never heard of Let's Recap, but it was literally a takeaway that I put into action first thing Monday morning. The PD dream of all teachers, but how often does it really come true?

Like so many apps now, Let's Recap allows you to set up classes that students can join with a code - privacy. Teachers pose questions either in text form, or via short video recordings. Assignments can be single questions, or multiple questions strung together. Students access their assignments from within the class, and then make 15 second to 2 minute video clips of themselves answering the questions. #love

My first task to my Spanish 2 students was to describe an illness or injury they had suffered using the preterite tense, and answering the questions Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? I opted to use text, which several of my fellow EdCampers thought was fantastic, because they dreaded the thought of being on camera themselves. As expected, some of my students felt the same way, but they simply adjusted the angle to shoot video of a desk, a wall, or an unsuspecting classmate. (Yes, once even of me, and they thought my yelp of horror was hilarious. #freshmen) My Spanish 3 class was given 5 prompts after which they were expected to respond using the subjunctive. After viewing, the teacher can go in and provide feedback to the students in text form.

I have used Google Voice in the past to review for speaking exams, but I just might make the switch to Let's Recap for a large portion of that. I also considered Voxer, but having students download an app is so much more cumbersome than sharing out a link via Google Classroom - not to mention that they frequently bristle at the thought of teachers having any control over what goes on their phones.

So this one is a winner. If you're still reading, you really should be checking out Let's Recap. And then typing me a comment to let me know how it goes!

The Power of Periscope

2016-09-22T18:43:00.001-07:00

If you haven't heard of Periscope, it just might be time!

Periscope is a live broadcasting app (think Facebook live) that is connected to Twitter. It allows users to broadcast live from wherever they are with their device, or to watch live broadcasts streamed by users from around the world. Frequently, there are live broadcasts of historic events as they unfold, and what enhances the authenticity is that these broadcasts come from the average citizen, not filtered through the lens of a media conglomerate.

Periscope broadcasts used to disappear after 24 hours, but fairly recently they added the option to archive broadcasts - which means you can preview broadcasts before showing them to your students for added safety.

One of the great features of Periscope is the fact that it maps where live broadcasts are occurring. on an iOS device, click on the globe, and a world map appears with the number of broadcasts in progress shown in each region. In just a couple of clicks, authentic, up-to-the minute video resources are available. As I am typing this, there are 30 live broadcasts from South America listed, 7 from Mexico, and 11 from the Caribbean. 38 live broadcasts from Africa, and 57 from France.

It goes without saying that not all broadcasts will be school appropriate. It pays to take the time to get to know regular scopers from regions of interest. Start following scopers who do quality broadcasts, whose language tends to be clear, and whose content is school-appropriate.

Broadcasting the amazing things you do in your classroom is another way to make global connections. I have done this twice so far with my Spanish classes and once with my French class. One of my Spanish classes participated in the Global Collaboration Day sponsored by GEC. They were able to share a global service project they have been working on, and try to get other schools involved.

That Spanish class and my French class participated in the International Day of Peace edition of #passthescopeedu (check out my other blog for more information about that event). My Spanish class again shared their project, which is on Water Scarcity, so we scoped from the perspective that much violence has erupted in the battle for potable water. Some of my French students as well as some of my colleague's students performed the Grégoire song Toi Plus Moi. (I have to say, when I found out that song was part of the curriculum in my new school, I instantly knew that would be our scope - what a perfect fit!)

As part of the event, I was able to share scopes that came from Catherine Mongis in Martinique via Stacy Lovdahl with my classes, and I am looking forward to connecting our classes (something that would never have happened without #passthescopeedu)

Two "safety controls" that I highly recommend if broadcasting with students are:

keep your location turned off
only allow comments from people you follow

Both of those things have eliminated the issue of "trolls" making inappropriate comments during your live broadcast. A great feature of Periscope that I discovered when I forgot to follow those tips (things got ugly fast!) is that when trolls are blocked - even after the fact on replay - their comments do not show in future replays.

This app is definitely worth a look. The applications for WL teachers are exciting!

If you try it, let me know how it goes!

Ignite Sessions: Its All about the Ideas

2016-07-04T09:13:00.001-07:00

So for my first time really being an active participant in the #notatiste community, I decided to go all-in, no holds barred. (If you know me at all, that will not come as any sort of shock.) Without really having any idea what I was getting into, I signed up to host an Ignite Session. Then I decided to investigate and see what I had gotten myself into. Here is the official site, although the #notatiste sessions were not hosted in conjunction with the official site. Rapid-fire, 20 slides, 15 seconds per slide. I knew it was either going to be a perfect fit for my fast-talking self, or it was going to be a complete disaster due to my tendency to ramble. In the end, I really liked the format, but would definitely use it very sparingly and for very specific purposes.

In my last post: SnapSmashing: (not just for kids anymore) I posted the end result -- you can judge the success (or lack thereof) for yourself. :) As I built the presentation, I knew I needed to be mindful of the focus, and stick to the apps and examples of how each could be used. With the exception of the explanation of filters v. lenses, I left the mechanics and processes of the apps alone. I think the format worked very well for that type of presentation. Any kind of tutorial would be ineffective, I think, due to the speed of presentation. I also liked the fact that we archived them via YouTube, so on replay viewers can pause, reflect, take notes, etc.

Would I use it to introduce new material to my students? Probably not. I think the level of frustration for students trying to process TL at that speed would be disastrous. What would be interesting, however, would be to have students collaborate on an Ignite session to present to their classmates as part of the year-end review process: each pair or small group could be assigned a review topic, slides divided among the group members (I used Google Slides to create mine, and then Screencastify to capture the video). Archiving to YouTube would then provide the class with replayable resources for review.

As with all things (IMHO) the Ignite Session is simply another tool in the arsenal. As a presentation tool, it's all about the ideas: throw a bunch out and hope that your audience is sparked to think of even more.

If I have ignited any ideas for you, leave a comment!

SnapSmashing -- Snapchat (not just for kids anymore!)

2016-07-03T12:50:00.001-07:00

So...Snapchat.

Obviously I am a hardcore techie (see blog title), but when I first heard about Snapchat, I immediately jumped to the conclusion that there would be no way to apply it in the classroom, and furthermore, I wanted no part of an app whose popularity was driven by the fact that the Snaps disappear in short order. It just seemed like a recipe for disaster. Since then, with regard to Snapchat, I have had an Eric Sheninger-like epiphany. Thanks to an enthusiastic and uber-talented Voxer group dedicated to using Snapchat in the classroom, I have come to find limitless possibilities for using Snapchat to teach World Language.

The possibilities so excited me, that I volunteered to do an Ignite session (my next post will be on Ignite sessions, but the link below is an example) on "SnapSmashing" -- like Appsmashing, but with Snapchat at the heart.

Just imagine the possibilities in the World Language classroom:

Interpretive Listening -- via 10 second video clips (and it doesn't get much more entertaining than seeing your teacher lensed like a dog speaking Spanish. -- Trust me, they'll replay it. CI on the edge.
Interpersonal Communication -- drop the snap videos into a Voxer chat, and have students respond via text or voice.
Presentational writing -- Still Snaps can be created by teacher or student to use as writing prompts -- students take on more of the creation responsibility rather than simply curating and consuming pre-existing images.
Presentational speaking: students can start small by recording their own video snaps in the TL

What are you waiting for? Get snapping!

Hot off the presses: Snapchat has just released a new feature called "Memories" which allows snappers to archive & organize snaps on the Snapchat server - a useful tool for teachers just got even better!

2016-06-27T10:00:00.002-07:00

How I "Didn't" Attend #cuerockstar But Will Implement What I Learned Next Year...or Maybe Run My Own Beta Test Tomorrow...#notatiste2016 Karaoke Party!!

2016-06-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

This not attending conferences thing could catch on! If only I weren't already getting in the habit of "not" attending one conference while sitting in another...but that's a post for my other blog...on another day...probably...

So, I had a vague awareness of Cuerockstar through my Twitter PLN, but to be honest, I never really paid much attention, because since the title of the conference ended with "rockstar" I simply assumed it had nothing to do with me.

*sidebar -- This post in my other blog that I wrote after attending the EdCamp Organizers' Summit addresses a bit of my process of "letting go" of being constantly starstruck (it's a process...not gonna lie...I totally geeked when I realized my picture was on the wall at ISTE...still human...) and always feeling "less than" some of my better-known colleagues is worth a look if you ever feel that way.

One of the amazing members of my PLN, Sarah Thomas, put out an all-call to the EduMatch Voxer group for volunteers to help with two Cuerockstar sessions on EduMatch Bingo that she was offering. These sessions were something Sarah referred to as "beta tests" of the concept (read: highly experimental, and somewhat risky...depending how you define risk).

I participated in the Voxer group in both sessions, and in the Google Hangout as well in the second session. I can tell you that Sarah is a master of reflection, and the changes she made between the two sessions were impactful.

As a result, though I did not technically attend Cuerockstar, I was there virtually, and consequently I have a deep context with which to understand Sarah's blog post, which I am reading and re-reading in preparation for my own beta test...

#notatiste2016 Karaoke Party!

I am a 20 year karaoke addict. Please don't recommend a 12-step program. I am not interested.

I joined the volunteer group for #notatiste2016 and lo and behold...there was a spot for a virtual karaoke host! (no, really, I'm not making this up). I did a bit of inquiring, and found out (now it seems erroneously) that last year's party took place via Google Hangout. So I created a Google Hangout. Then...someone suggested that we start a Voxer group. I thought, great! The possibility for asynchronous karaoke! (If you're a karaoke fan, check out the Smule App). Then, somehow, spontaneously, I think it might have been through the Oh Snap Snapchat Voxer group, (wherever it came from I am hereby publicly crediting/blaming Cynthia Day and Dan Kreiness #shenanigans) the idea of the LipSync Battle was born...which is appealing to ANOTHER segment of people who want to have fun, but don't want anyone to hear their voice ( I can't relate, but to each his/her own!). We have some other surprises planned as well...but never having done ANYTHING like this before, I'm relying on my tendency to fly by the seat of my pants and what I learned from Sarah's sessions and reflections.

As with all things, my end game is to see how I can make this work in my classroom. The differentiation possibilities are clear. The language use possibilities (Presentational Speaking, Presentational Writing, Interpersonal Communication, Interpretive Listening, Interpretive Reading...it's all there, folks.) are absolutely ENDLESS, which means it's not just another flashy use of tech for its own sake, but can truly transform learning into something we've never before experienced.

And I can't wait to meet the students who blow my mind with ideas I haven't even thought of yet.

Mmetechie

Is "Not at ISTE" Really Even a Thing Anymore?

2016-06-27T03:19:00.001-07:00

So, ISTE has always been kind of like the "Holy Grail" of conferences for me. Total "bucket list" kind of thing, registration fees so outrageously expensive I can't even consider it at this point, this year it's in Denver...which might as well be the moon...so although I've dabbled in following the #notatiste Twitter hashtag in past years to (sort of) soothe my #isteenvy this is the first year I really am diving in and taking major advantage of #notatiste16:

Google + Community
Voxer group
Collaborative Notetaking for Periscope sessions
Hosting the virtual Karaoke Party (OK, so that's maybe not a stretch...)
Hosting my first Ignite session
and of course Twitter

But truly, the innovative - and in many cases "on-the-fly-innovative" uses of technology in tandem -- app-smashing if you will -- has made it seem like I might as well have been there. Or maybe I WAS.

I volunteered to be a collaborative note taker for Tony Vincent who is an educational Periscope journalist. Yes, this is really a thing. They get media passes (that really work) and everything. The first session I helped him cover was Global Collaboration -- a passion of mine. There were early bandwidth issues, and things got off to a rocky start, but once Tony was rolling, his scoping was entertaining, informative, and simply on point.

So as I'm watching Tony's scope, furiously taking notes, I hear him say "I know people on this screen..." and then he gets distracted by another colleague.

*sidebar: Tony always asks permission before scoping anyone.

He is several minutes into his interview where I'm listening...

typing...you're reading this blog, and perhaps figure out my point sooner in the video than I even did...

But I hear Tony's excited shout-out and see Sarah Thomas on the screen. I'm equally excited, because Sarah is a valued member of my PLN, and I'm furiously giving her some periscope love on my phone (#tapgamestrong -- post to follow) and giving a shout-out to her via comment on Periscope...while taking notes on my chromebook.

Lightbulb! I realize the poster presentation she's giving is the Humans of Education project that I got involved in with some absolutely adorable third graders after Sarah put out a request in the Edumatch Voxer Group (ANOTHER post...). I jumped on that, because I am all about Global Connections, and am in the midst of a project involving just that (yup...more posts...#bloggameweak but I'm getting on that!).

THEN I see the actual poster behind her with the pictures of the actual Humans of Education, and immediately start geeking to the other notetakers. Holy Flat Bradylady, I WAS AT ISTE!! On a wall, being scoped live!

Now obviously the individual educators weren't the point, it was the scope of the project being scoped (see what I did there...?) that made the poster session exciting to ISTEgoers, but I had my semi-private fleeting moment of feeling pretty special.

But wait...believe it or not, there's more...

In (you guessed it) another post, I will expand on the journey that is the #passthescopeedu special edition International Day of Peace project (September 21) that Valerie Lewis, organizer of #passthescopeedu has agreed to allow me to connect with #passthescopeedu so I can finally make a meaningful connection with the International Day of Peace event, gain some traction, and make something happen! (The September date has always been a struggle because it is so early in the school year!). Totally by accident, as I was struggling to find Tony's scope amid all of the connection issues they were having out at ISTE, I stumbled into Valerie Lewis's scope - also from the Global Collaboration poster sessions...and BOOM!! I was back at ISTE!

Thrilled that Valerie gave the project a shout-out, actually more thrilled at the possibility that I can finally make this dream a reality after struggling to find a project that could be a good fit.

So back to the title of my post: Is #notatiste really even a thing anymore? Well, yes...and absolutely no. I have heard over and over from my peeps in the #notatiste crew about how intense the learning experience has been even from afar, and I can only agree. The amplification via technology and the way it becomes exponentially more accessible each year to ALL EDUCATORS is simply...

via GIPHY

So if your not at ISTE, definitely take the leap and be #notatiste! Who knows, you might find yourself at ISTE after all!!

Mmetechie

No More Index Cards for Student Information! (Vlog: Google Forms)

2015-12-04T15:39:00.001-08:00

How many of you are still having students fill out index cards the first day or week of school so you have their information handy when you need to contact a parent, or need to check in with some background information?

How many of those index cards spend time on a shelf collecting dust, or stashed somewhere you might not even remember off the top of your head?

For the past several years, I have been using Google Forms to collect student information electronically, eliminating the need for dog-eared, easily misplaced index cards. If you're not lucky enough to be in a one to one school, a few minutes in the computer lab is enough to send students the link to your Google Form, and collect all the same data, in about the same amount of time, but giving you much easier access and the ability to do much more with your data.

Here's the sample form that I used with my Spanish 1A class this year:

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But the form itself is just the tip of the iceberg. The vlog below will show you what you can do with the data you collect.

How do you use Google Forms to collect data in your classroom?

Let me know!

Tracy

Vlog: Google Docs for Student Collaboration -- Peer Editing

2015-12-03T17:30:00.000-08:00

Google Docs is SOOO much more to a World Language teacher than just a word processor!! The vodcast below is an example of how I have used Google Docs to enhance the peer editing process in my classroom:

Back in the day...(when I student taught, my hands were stained at the end of every day with overhead marker.) it was like playing whack-a-mole going from group to group, trying to keep them on task, trying to troubleshoot all the groups at once, not feeling effective, correcting the same mistakes over and over and over. Students were frustrated, because if I was helping another group, my back was to them (horror!!) and some students simply have difficulty delaying gratification. It didn't help that I was so easily distracted, that I lost my train of thought every few seconds.

No, it's not a silver bullet. (THERE'S NO SUCH THING!!) But it does allow for a much smoother and more effective process. My explanations are in writing, so if they forget what I said three or four seconds after I've moved to the next group (please, tell me you understand) they can refer to the comments. Classroom management can be deferred -- they know in advance that Google tracks EVERYTHING, and issues will be handled, and I always follow through. The edge is that none of those issues need to be handled immediately, in front of classmates. No power struggles, no risk of losing face (you or the student...interpret as appropriate...) Most of all, no room for denial, so no emotion needs to be involved on your part.

Pedagogically, we have collaboration and critical thinking, and without having to decipher their classmates' handwriting, they are able to focus fully on developing their writing skills. As I move from screen to screen (group to group) if I notice common struggles, it is much quicker and easier for me to address the class as a whole.

As technology tools go, This one is a keeper!

Let me know how it works for you!!

Tracy

Back Again: LessonPaths

2015-11-27T19:01:00.001-08:00

If I could only get into a more consistent blogging schedule like a REAL blogger, I might not have to post these "I'm back again" posts every couple of years! (sigh...)

But let's face it, teachers are humans too, and there are only so many hours in the day!

So, it's been so long that I actually had to go back through the archived posts and see what I've already written about. Let's face it, I started this blog in 2011, and in the edtech realm, that's an eternity! So long, in fact, that this tool has changed names since I started using it years ago.

LessonPaths (formerly Mentormob) is a cloud-based tool used to create playlists of websites, documents, images, and quizzes. With an available Chrome extension, Lessonpaths makes it easy to gather materials on a specific topic, or for a specific student with the click of a button.

Here's a sample playlist:

Create your own Playlist on LessonPaths!

This particular example is where I keep my "Brain Breaks" for easy access. Most of them are YouTube videos, which are particularly easy to organize and access with LessonPaths, but the advantage that YouTube playlists don't have, is that I can also add blogposts from other language teachers whose Brain Breaks might need more explanation, so I save the whole page for reference. I can add links to Google Docs -- my own or others', images, or even create quizzes and articles, although I don't use those features very frequently (read: at all).

I think of LessonPaths as a simplified internet filing cabinet that is student accessible. I have playlists for subtopics, cultural points, individual students -- basically whatever comes along that needs quick organization and quick visual access. Students like that they can move through the steps at their own pace, see what's ahead, and even skip steps that they may not need -- great for differentiation!

Give it a try, and let me know what you think!

Mme

I'm baaaaaack!!!

2013-02-22T19:06:00.001-08:00

It's good to be back!

It's been almost a full year since my last post -- things have been hectic to say the least! APPR, SLO, LAT...I've been drowning in alphabet soup, but it's time to get back at it -- for my own sanity if nothing else.

So my first post of 2013 is going to be about.....

If you haven't discovered this obscenely addictive website...WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?!

As with Twitter, there is a lot of fantasy pinning going on (Go ahead. Search "chocolate" or "shoes" and you'll see what I mean). But also like Twitter, once you get past all that, there's a whole lot of "teachery stuff" out there as well.

So, start with the basics, and set up an account. Once you have an account, the pinning begins! When you come across a resource that you want to save for later use or reflection, pin it to an appropriate board. It's a great way to organize resources, and the nature of the tool makes it very visual, so you're looking through files of pictures, rather than file names. I am forever pulling from my boards and those of other foreign language teachers to find things for lessons -- sometimes right on the spot.

Here are a few of the greats you may want to follow to get started:

For every pin you "steal" from someone else's board, Pinterest lets you know where THEY "stole" it from, and POOF! a new source of pins to "steal". It's truly a never-ending font of useful stuff! To make it even better, you (and others) can comment on the pins, thereby sharing new ideas for using resources you may not have thought of. Genius!!

Try it! You'll like it!

Tracy

PS -- here's my board

Diigo

2012-03-01T11:12:00.000-08:00

Diigo is a fantastic organizational and research tool. The purpose of Diigo is social bookmarking. Many teachers (in my experience particularly Foreign Language teachers) travel from room to room and/or building to building, and therefore work on any number of different computers during the course of a school day. I hear frequent complaints from teachers who are frustrated by losing their bookmarks each time they log out of a computer. Diigo eliminates that problem.

Diigo is cloud based, so it can be accessed from any internet-capable device at any time. It allows for tagging as well as creation of lists, to facilitate organizing bookmarks. Teachers can also create groups for their students (public or private), and manage student login information easily through the teacher console.

My French 1 students are assigned a French speaking country that they study throughout the school year. They revisit their research at different points based on the topic at hand. For example, our current project involves researching street food common to their countries. As members of the Diigo group I created, students create their individual libraries within the group to house their research, which they have tagged to help them organize their resources.

But the power of Diigo doesn't stop there. Using their toolbar called Diigolet, (students must save to favorites each time they log in, but it is a simple step) annotation tools become available for students to highlight and take notes directly on the website they are viewing. When they access that site in the future, if they are logged in to Diigo, their annotations are visible, no matter what device they use to view the site.

I used to use portaportal to organize bookmarks that I wanted my students to access, in fact, I am still in the process of reorganizing the bookmarks I imported into Diigo from portaportal (it allows you to import all your bookmarks, but you lose the happy little folders that organized them) I refer to Diigo as Portaportal on steroids. A great resource!

What do you think?

Wikispaces in the FL Classroom -- Part 1

2012-02-27T19:04:00.000-08:00

I would have to say that Wikispaces has proven to be the most valuable Web 2.0 tool I use with my students. I absolutely love its versatility. Therefore, this post will be Part 1 in a series of posts about this tool. I will apologize in advance for the seemingly random order of the posts. I have a colleague coming to observe my use of social media, and this is the first thing I will be showing her, so please bear with me -- I will eventually cover other uses for Wikispaces (there are so many!)

One of the functions Wikispaces offers is a discussion feature. I have set up a "Wiki Home Page" for each course that I teach. When I need quick feedback from my students, I can have them post a response to a topic or question that I create on the Discussion tab.

For example, at the start of class I post the question "Qu'est-ce qu'elle prépare? (What is she preparing)?" as a new discussion thread. I show a quick video clip, and students must post a response to the question based on what they see in the video.

Students are logged in to their own Wikispaces accounts, so they are easily identified. It literally takes me about two minutes to scroll through one class worth of responses, and *POOF*, informal assessment in a cultural context.

Feedback comes in the form of my response to the thread -- I restate the correct answer, and in some cases publicly acknowledge a different correct answer I hadn't thought of in advance (I love when my students teach me!)

The Wikispaces Discussion feature beats pen & paper ALL DAY LONG!

What do you think?

Popplet

2012-02-20T15:32:00.000-08:00

Popplet is a tool that I have just begun using with my students. So far, I haven't even used it in the way it is intended, but it has worked like a dream for my students who chose to use it.

Popplet at first glance looks like a mind-mapping tool, and could definitely be used as such. Each "popple" (basically a rectangular bubble) exists as its own self-contained unit or capsule of information, but popples can be connected as necessary to organize related topics and/or ideas.

Popplet enables real-time collaboration, so students can work on the same popplet, adding to and expanding ideas at the same time. Images and videos can be embedded in popples, along with text, allowing for multi-media presentation of ideas.

My initial foray into Popplet was to include it, as I did Prezi, as an option for student written product for their family projects. My students were able to learn Popplet very intuitively, with very little guidance from me. Each of their family members was represented by a popple, including photo and text.

Here's an example created by one of my students:

I have also included Popplet as an option for the "Things I like" assessment.

When we return from vacation, I will be exploring its collaborative capabilities, having students categorize vocabulary. Here's the template I will give them to start:

What do you think?

Arthur Alien Assembly

2012-02-14T18:03:00.000-08:00

Ok, so admittedly this is a tech tool with a very narrow application, but it solves a problem for me that I have long been wanting to solve, so I thought it was worth mentioning.

The Arthur Alien Assembly Game allows students (or teachers) to create original alien creatures with minimal effort. The website will then allow you to print the alien you have created, or alternatively, you can take a screenshot of your creation, and embed it into a web page, wiki page, etc.

Why would a foreign language teacher be interested in this tool? Body parts, numbers, and colors. It's a concept most teachers of novice language students must teach. I have long drawn absurd pictures of alien creatures for my students to describe to one another, but my art skills leave a lot to be desired. If students have to ask me what body part appears on their paper, I have failed.

So here's how I use this in class: Each student spends less than five minutes creating their alien. Without showing their partner, they need to describe the alien (including numbers, body parts,and colors) to their partner, who must attempt to draw what they hear. Partners then switch roles. Drawings are compared to the actual alien creations to see how well they described/understood the description.

Here's a sample :

What do you think?

Empressr is Impressive!

2012-02-09T11:53:00.000-08:00

I discovered empressr.com last spring. The format is similar to Powerpoint (or Keynote for the Maclovers out there), except it is more streamlined, and it is cloud-based. It also allows for creation of audio, video and photos within itself, as well as allowing files to be imported into your library.

Is it free? Of course! Is a download required? Absolutely not!

I am a MacGirl, and had been primarily using Keynote for years. Yes, Keynote will open Powerpoint files, and yes, it allows you to export from Keynote to Powerpoint format, but it never works perfectly in either direction.

I have long had issues with students using a version of Powerpoint that is newer than Powerpoint 2003 (which is what our school computers have) and the files are incompatible.

Another benefit to empressr -- NO MORE FLASH DRIVES!!! I have no particular beef with flash drives, I just always seem to lose them, which defeats their purpose.

No more need to remember to email myself a presentation I created at school, because it's in the cloud!

Downsides? It is definitely more bare-bones than Powerpoint or Keynote, but I acually find this to be an upside when working with middle-schoolers who often tend to over-focus on aesthetics to the detriment of content when too many options are available to them. Also, I have been unsuccessful at embedding empressrs into wikipsaces pages, so we have to settle for a link.

My first attempt at using empressr with studetns involved having an empressr presentation as an option for their family tree project (other options: paper poster, popplet, prezi, or glogster). I had only one student choose to use empressr, with little or no guidance from me -- technologically speaking. The vast majority of questions I was answering were content-related, or research-related.

Bottom line, I am impressed with empressr.

Here's an example:

What do you think?

Prezi: Love It or Hate It

2012-01-22T19:02:00.000-08:00

Prezi is an online presentation tool, à la Powerpoint, but which is anything but linear. It zooms, it spins, it allows the creation of text within images within text down the most minute unreadable size until zooming in on what is important at a specific point in the presentation.

Honestly, I HATE Prezi. I hate working with the platform, and for the most part watching Prezi presentations makes me dizzy.

HOWEVER, my students LOVE it. (Go figure). I took a workshop over the summer, and was forced to make a Prezi. I used the opportunity to update my opening day Powerpoint, and my students thought it was "really cool". I haven't made another Prezi since, and I don't feel I'm missing anything.

When many of my students reached the point where they were ready to create a project about their families, I bit the bullet, and made Prezi an option. The students who chose it, really enjoyed the platform, and they required very little guidance to create their presentations. The most difficult part for them seemed to be creating paths -- some did not do that at all, but with only five "slides" required, I could easily click through the presentation and see what I needed to see.

I have to laugh, because after attending a workshop dedicated to Prezi (prior to the one I attended this summer) and still I struggled to make a Prezi I was happy with, yet the majority of my students took to it very intuitively. Pretty amazing.

Colleagues I have spoken with seem to either love Prezi, or hate it -- a left/right brain thing, perhaps?

Although I am definitely not in the "love it" camp, I will continue to make Prezi an option for student presentations. If it's something that inspires them, who am I to crush their creativity for my own comfort?

What do you think?

Let's Celebrate My Rockstars!!

2011-12-20T17:40:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's true, I've been sorely neglecting my blogging duties. It is certainly not a result of turning away from technology in the classroom, au contraire! The thrilling reality is that I've been blessed to be able to teach in a 1:1 setting virtually the entire school year to this point, and due to some restrictions that I can't solve quite yet, building and grading portfolios takes a bit more of my time than I'd like.

Today, however, I am posting to celebrate two of my rockstar 8th graders that impressed me so much I just had to share!

I have thrown quite a lot of technology at my eighth graders this year, and I must say, there is a noticeable gap between their willingness to use new technology, experiment, and exist in a mostly paperless environment and that of my sophomores. Maybe it's simply a product of personality, but I am amazed at the reluctance of students just two years older to embrace technology in a way their middle school counterparts can and do.

But back to my rockstars. A little background on some of the tech they've used in my class: We've used Voki to record their voices introducing themselves in French. We used Blabberize when they described celebrities. Partway through the Blabberize project, a number of my students began having trouble recording via the website, so we switched to Audacity, and uploaded the files into Blabberize.

Fast-forward to the weather forecasting project. This was to be step 2 in an ongoing project where students learn about a French-speaking country (step 1 -- make a flag, and record yourself describing what the colors stand for -- using Audacity). My rockstars used Google Images to download maps of their countries. They added "stickers" representing weather conditions using Picnik (undoubtedly this will be a future post). The final step was supposed to be (at least in my narrow little teacher mind) to take a screencast of the map with a voice-over by the students giving the weather forecast, using Screencast-o-matic. (yes, I realize how far behind I am!!).

The students were already familiar with Screencast-o-matic from using it to record themselves taking listening assessments, but apparently the rockstars couldn't wait for me to explain exactly how I wanted the weather forecasts done, so by the time I got to checking on them (during "free" time they had to explore what their classmates had been doing on their portfolios) they informed me that they had completed their forecasts using Audacity and Blabberize. Knock me over with a feather and color me stunned! They knew what the end product was that I expected, and found a more than acceptable solution all on their own, by thinking outside a box I was all set to build for them.

So what did you learn from YOUR students today??

Here's one of the "Weather Blabbers":

Goalbook

2011-10-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

Goalbook is one of my new favorite sites -- not least of all because their customer service is OUTSTANDING!! If you are a reader of my Changing My Realm of Control blog, then you may have already read my parallel post there (more theory, less techie). You probably also know that I have gone from dabbling to diving headfirst into personalizing instruction for my eighth grade French students (and I'm having the time of my life!)

Here's how my journey began. Faced with the highest percentage of students with special needs I have ever taught, I simply could not bring myself to "teach the curriculum" knowing that some, perhaps many, would be left in the dust while I moved forward with the students who learn at the prescribed pace. I just couldn't do it again. So without even consciously deciding to do it, although I had certainly mulled over different scenarios and strategies, I found my classes separating themselves into flexible groupings based on topics students were working on at the moment. Believe it or not, it just sort of happened. The kids responded VERY positively, and it was far more manageable (if you like chaos) than I had imagined it could be.

So the question became, as each class divided into more and more groups based on student pacing, how do I make sure each student knows what they are "supposed to be" doing during a given class period? My initial solution was Evernote. I created a note for each day of the week. Each day I would grade the assessments that came in (not too overwhelming at first, since there was never a full class set of assessments to grade at any one time, due to self-pacing, and assessments were very short, due to beginning language limitations), and then assign each student to review, progress, or assess in a list in that day's note.

Don't get me wrong, I love Evernote, and will dedicate a future post to it's glory, but I knew from the beginning that my system was flawed, and that students needed to take more of a role in planning for themselves. I just didn't know where to begin.

I first encountered Goalbook via a blog called Beta Classroom. I backburnered it, because I just had too many other pots on the stove. I revisited it this week, and the magical CLICK happened. Part of my hesitation was the thought of adding yet another piece of daily-use tech to the kids plates (some of them are really resistant to new accounts, and have extreme difficulty remembering passwords), but the more I researched and let the idea percolate, the more sure I became that this was an essential piece that would reap benefits far outweighing the whines.

When I began setting up the account...Tuesday evening, a chatbox popped up and a tech support person offered their unsolicited help. When I regained consciousness and came out of shock I thanked him...in French. He responded....in French! Although I correctly guessed Google Translator was involved (students, if you're reading this, yes, you will get caught!!) the effort was appreciated almost as much as his sense of humor when I called him on it. How refreshing!

My initial thought was to have all of the students use my login information so they didn't have to remember new information of their own. But within a couple of hours of students creating their initial goals yesterday (I kid you not) the happy chatbox reappeared offering to solve all my problems -- and the offer was sincere, because they adjusted my account to allow for students to create subaccounts under my domain before the end of the day yesterday. (Shortly after 4PM for the sake of accuracy). Unbelievable!!

Yes, we are still working through some very minor glitches (Suzy is unhappy with her green alien avatar and can't seem to change it to a purple sparkly unicorn) but when I say WE are working through it, I really feel that is true, and if that's not a 21st Century skill we are teaching -- to be able to give your customers that feeling -- then it should be.

Read my parallel post if you want to know more about how I feel about setting goals with students, but if you're ready to jump in and give it a try, Goalbook is a great place to start.

What do you think?

Grading Student Writing Drafts Part 2: Jing

2011-10-15T07:39:00.000-07:00

This is not something I discovered on my own, and there are several other teachers that I know of who use Jing for this purpose (names are escaping me)

My use of Jing is an extension of my use of Awsome Screenshot. As long as I have been grading papers, I have been talking to myself while I grade -- a habit that drives everyone around me nuts, except for those of my colleagues who do the same. And truth be told, I'm really not talking to myself, I'm talking to the student whose paper I'm grading, except my words float uselessly unheard into the atmosphere, never to help develop anyone's writing at all.

Enter Jing. Jing is (the basic version) a free offering by Tech Smith (makers of Camtasia). Jing allows me to record, in five minute video segments, the annotation process with a vocal background track -- me giving an explanation for each annotation. To be clear, I am not telling students how specifically to correct their papers, but I can cram 20-30 mini grammar lessons (reminders of things we've already gone over) in about five minutes. As for my own learning style, after recording a class of videos on a particular assignment, I know what points need to be revisited in class due to common errors. No going back through papers tracking common errors. If I've had to verbally re-explain something four or five times for a recording, trust me, it's memorable. I also let the students know on the recording that theirs is the umpteenth "paper" where I've seen the same error, which seems to take some of the pressure off when we revisit the concept in class.

So far, my students really seem to like the correction videos, and they are effective. However, I cannot tell a lie. The are time consuming. I range from 5-15 minutes per student per assignment. It's a lot, but I feel it's worth it. What it has also done for me is to limit the number of graded writing assignments I give -- that is not to say that my students are writing less -- on the contrary, in fact -- but I've set their blogging and commenting on each others' blogs apart from the graded writing, so it serves a different purpose.

Here's a sample in an eportfolio.

What do you think?

Grading Drafts of Student Written Work Part 1: Awesome Screenshot for Google Chrome

2011-10-09T18:37:00.000-07:00

Long title, but worth it! The grading process I go through for student written work has evolved quite a lot over my fifteen year teaching career. Some of the keepers have been:

1. Insisting on a draft

I think it is crucial for early learners of a foreign language to recognize that mistakes are expected. Even more than that, they are a necessary part of the learning process. I used to grade the first draft, and make revision optional, updating the grade as students made corrections to their writing, but so few students were motivated to correct their work, that I felt a change was necessary I began requiring a draft. I graded the draft on content, rather than grammatical errors. I would make note of errors so students could correct them in the final draft.

2. Providing a key to my notations.

This I figured out very early on. I always explained my notations, and they were (to my mind) fairly straightforwardd -- voc = vocabulary error, vb conj = verb conjugation error, etc. but having a key for reference made things much easier for my students. This key is always a work in progress, as their questions and errors never cease to surprise

Key to editi ng abbreviations

3. Awesome Screenshot

Last year I began my journey into electronic portfolios. With students doing their writing online it made no sense to create (read: waste) paper just to note areas needing correction, which they would then correct back on the computer. I knew there had to be a way to keep it all online. Enter Awesome Screenshot. I use it as an add-on to Google Chrome. It appears as a button on the Chrome toolbar. When I open a student's portfolio page in the Chrome browser and click the Awesome Screenshot button, it offers three choices -- capture the visible part of the page, a region of the page, or the whole page. Awesome Screenshot creates an image file of your choice, and opens it (within Chrome) with a toolbar for annotation. I am thereby able to make basically the same notations I used to make with my pen, now with the mousepad on my laptop, and my horrible handwriting is no longer an issue for my students (neither is theirs for me). I then save the annotated copy as a new image file, and embed it into the student's electronic portfolio above the original draft. That done the student has the annotated image to refer to while correcting the draft.

Here is a sample :

What do you think?

Music and Learning in the FL Classroom -- Part 2: Camtasia

2011-09-29T17:22:00.000-07:00

More Disclaimers: Camtasia breaks both of my cardinal rules -- 1. it is not free 2. it requires a download. Again, I make the case that I do not have students use it, and that is why I make the exception here. It is simply too powerful a tool to pass up!

In my last post I discussed how I use the tunes of children's songs with rewritten lyrics to help my students learn various vocabulary and grammar concepts. This year, I decided to "kick it up a notch" and create music videos to add a visual dimension. So far, it has been very effective.

Camtasia is a video editing program, that, in addition to allowing you to edit already created videos, has a screencast feature to allow you to take video of whatever is happening on your computer screen. There are two free screencasting apps available in the cloud -- screenr and screencast-o-matic, and Jing, which is free, but requires a download. I prefer Camtasia because of its editing capabilities.

So, allow me to guide you through the birth of a music video...

Step 1: Create the video portion. I use empressr, a free, cloud-based tool for creating presentations similar to Powerpoint or Mac's Keynote.

Step 2: Run through the slideshow while running Camtasia, to take a screenshot of the slideshow beginning to end.

Step 3: upload the sound file

Step 4: use Camtasia's editing features to adjust the timing so the video and music are synchronized

Step 5: Publish! I use youtube for no other reason than my students are familiar with it. It has recently been unblocked at my school (for teachers), so that is not an issue.

So far I am finding that the visual aspect is very helpful to students, even more so than simply having a copy of the lyrics -- the next best thing to "follow the bouncing ball"

Here's an example of the one I made to help them with the verb être:

(Please note: the song/chant is not an original, it was posted to MFLResources on yahoo. The "singers" are my students from several years ago.)

What do you think?