Mar
3
Multilingualism and it’s benefits: a new study
March 3, 2010 | Teaching Theory | Leave a Comment
The european commission has recently released their findings on a study about people who use more than one language on a daily basis and the benefits of knowing more than one language. It is very interesting and could helpful to many teachers of foreign languages to explain the importance to their students. It is also just a neat thing to read for personal growth and gain as a foreign language educator. The guardian weekly newspaper featured an article about the study which you can find here. And the study can be found here. Enjoy!
Feb
15
Typing in Other Languages Made Easy
February 15, 2010 | Foreign Language Links, Tech Links, Tips and Tricks, Useful Links | 3 Comments
I just came across this neat site that allows you to type any language with accented characters more easily. You simply type what you need to in their typing box and by clicking the letter you want you can insert it into your typing. This could be a good tool for students who don’t have the hang of the alt+number system.
Jan
28
Editing Photos
January 28, 2010 | Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
I just discovered the site www.fotoflexer.com. Just like Tony the tiger says, It’s great! You can crop, cut-out, layer, enhance, manipulate, change the style, add objects and much more to your photographs. It is completely free and you don’t even have to sign-in to use it! I think it may still have a few kinks that need to be worked out but, overall it is a really great site for free.
By the way…sorry I haven’t written in a while. I feel like no one is reading this and I have lost my motivation. I don’t want to be writing for no one. That kind of makes me feel like a loser. So, if you are reading this sorry and if you aren’t well…I guess it doesn’t matter.
Nov
10
Cool Site
November 10, 2009 | Tech Links, Useful Links | Leave a Comment
I just ran across this site. It has some really great resources for teachers to use like a customizable spinner, dice, word magnets, timer, memory game, matching game, interactive graphs, scoreboard and much more. It could really be useful in lots of ways. You should check it out!
Nov
9
Technology Presentation
November 9, 2009 | Tech Links, Tips and Tricks, Useful Links | Leave a Comment
Last week I presented at our district AFLTA foreign langauge teachers conference. I actually did two presentations. One was about my trip to Peru this summer and the other was about my favorite technology and how it can be used. So, I thought I would share the wealth and post the tech presentation on my blog for others to take advantage of.
Oct
20
Free on-line photo editing sites
October 20, 2009 | Tech Links, Uncategorized, Useful Links | Leave a Comment
This article may be old news to some of you. I personally read it quite a while ago but, I was looking back through some of the sites and thought that it is a pretty rich resource. My favorite site they mention is also their number one www.befunky.com. But some of the others are definitely worthwhile. 
Oct
6
The Story of Stuff
October 6, 2009 | Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
I came across this great little video called \”The Story of Stuff\” that follows how we get our stuff and what happens to it when we’re done. It is really interesting and great for kids. Also available in different languages like Spanish!
Oct
6
Cleaning Up
October 6, 2009 | Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
So…I’ve been planning on organizing all of my links for a while and finally did it! Here is the link to my links page on my website. There is tons of useful stuff like lesson plans, tech tools, culture stuff, tutorials and much more. Go and check it out.
Sep
21
An Ineresting Article
September 21, 2009 | Teaching Theory | Leave a Comment
This article was published in an online newspaper and details the results of a study UC Berkeley Anthropology Professor John Ogbu. He was asked to research the reasons behind the low academic achievement of African Americans students at a upscale Cleaveland, OH school. His results were surprising. You should check it out.
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/PrintFriendly?oid=285317
Sep
10
Making Podcasting Accessible for All Students
September 10, 2009 | Teaching Theory, Tech Links, Tips and Tricks, Useful Links | 1 Comment
Hi again! Sorry it’s been so long since my last post. I have been super busy. However, now that school has been in session for about 3 weeks I feel like I am getting back into the swing of things and don’t feel like I’m running all the time. So, now you get the opportunity to hear about all the awesome stuff I’ve found and been working on.
So, my last post mentioned the fact that I am planning on incorporating podcasts into my classroom but that I was faced with a few dilemmas. Well, now I have figured it out and I am happy to report that it is going fantastically! To recap, my main goal was to make it easy for all students to record their podcast even if they didn’t have access to a computer at home. Essentially, I wanted them to be able to phone in their recordings. However, I did not want to pay for that ability. I was at my wits end and was about ready to give up on the whole idea when I had an epiphany. I realized that google voice gives you embeddable code of every voice mail you receive!
There were still some logistical issues I had to figure out such as, where to post them and if/how to have students comment on each other’s with constructive criticism. I fixed these two problems by deciding to post them on my school website. Each student has his/her own page within my site for their recordings. This took a little bit of set up time but once I got going it didn’t take too long. As far as the commenting, I decided to use google docs to create a comment form. With google docs you can embed any form into a website too and it will show you every comment made on that specific form along with a time stamp and whatever info was asked on the form. Again, this took a little time because I realized each student had to have a separate form. Otherwise all the comments from all of the students showed up on one grid. It was easy to do though because I just made about a zillion copies of the same form and changed it’s name. This gave me new embed codes for each student and, within google docs I grouped all the students by class period and gave each doc one of the students names. Now that it is all set up (which probably took me a couple hours in total) I can access each students form and voice mail individually. I know whether they called the number (which is a local number for my area) by checking my google voice inbox (I then have to embed each message on the student’s individual page) and if they left a comment by skimming through each students google doc form.
I know this is a teeny bit confusing and that it all sounds very time consuming but, once the initial set-up was complete I’ve found the overall process to be quick and easy. It allows me to monitor each students progress and encourages them to improve their speaking and writing abilities. Plus, all of my students have equal access to the assignment except for the commenting which only takes a few minutes and I allow them to do in my classroom. I am really proud of what I’ve managed to create and the kids are having a good time with it too. You should go and check it out at my site!
