Best & Worst of Tech & Topics

By far my favorite moment in this class happened when we were doing video editing.  When Erin & I went to play back our videos, they sounded like chipmunks… Hilarious.  But I also liked how low key the class was, and how much fun we had as a class.  I also loved the videos we watched in the beginning. Most of them were priceless.

My least favorite part of this class was doing the website.  I have never had so many technological issues in my life, but I am so glad everything on it (with the exception of my video as of right now) is up & working!

Cell Phones in the Classroom

I do not really think cell phones in the classroom is a great idea.  While most of them have cell phones, not all of them do, and I don't think it is smart to automatically assume that every child will have a cell phone with internet access and apps on it.  Also, I think that cell phones can be extremely distracting to students, with all of their tempting apps & games at the tips of their fingers. They also can go off at any time, and the sounds can disrupt and stop class.  I do think that apps can be extremely helpful, though to the learning process, so in the future I think the use of cell phones in the classroom will be the norm.

Movie Comparison

For the movie comparison paper, the two movies I watched are The Dead Poet’s Society and The Freedom Writers.  Both of these movies show the lives of teachers who are extremely dedicated to the learning and success of the students in their classrooms.  In Dead Poet’s Society, Robin Williams plays the role of a teacher in an all-male boarding school, where he inspires the students to think outside the box and in an untraditional way that is not entirely understood or accepted by his colleagues.  The other film I watched, The Freedom Writers, shows Hilary Swank playing a teacher who is put into a classroom full of students who don’t take as much of an interest in learning as she had hoped.  Both of these films depict great teachers and how they overcome obstacles during their teaching careers.

            In The Freedom Writers, the movie follows the story of Erin Gruwell, a teacher at Woodrow Wilson Classical High School, who encounters a group of students who are all having struggles with racism and gang violence in Long Beach, California.  In the beginning, her class is not motivated to do work, and they have problems getting along as a class.  One of my favorite scenes in the movie, and a turning point for the students, is when she has them all stand on a line she creates, and has them stand there if they know someone who has been killed due to gang violence.  She keeps raising the number of people killed, and many of the students continue to stand on the line.  At the end, she points out to the students that they are not all as different from one another as they thought.  I really like this scene in the movie because it shows how great of a teacher she is, and how much she wants her students to get along as a class, which will make her more effective as a teacher.  There are other instances in the movie, such as one scene where she tells a student she refuses to let him fail, that continue to show her dedication to her students, which is one of the most important aspects of being a teacher.

            The second film I watched, Dead Poet’s Society, showed Mr. Keating, a teacher at the Welton Academy for Boys, which is a school that prepares students to be leaders and have great academic achievements.  At the school, most of the teachers practice a traditional approach to teaching, while Mr. Keating shows the boys an entirely different way of learning, where they can challenge what they are being taught, and can learn in an entirely new way.  For instance, in one scene, he has the boys rip out the entire introduction of their poetry textbook, because he finds it to be ridiculous, due to its use of mathematical equations to rate poetry.  In another scene, he has the boys all go outside, and has a few of them walk around in a circle.  The longer they walk, the more they begin to walk together, at the same pace, with the same foot forward.  Then, he has the rest of the students do the same exercise, and the point of it is to show conformity.  This is a very important lesson at this school, because the boys are taught to believe in the beliefs of the school, while Mr. Keating is trying to show them that they need to be their own person, and do things that they believe in.

            In each of these movies, both teachers show how much they care about their students, and show different teaching methods with which to connect with them.  They try to think outside the box in order to get through to their students and show them a new way of thinking.  Additionally, both teachers can be seen as great role models for their students, which is essential in a classroom.  

Personal Learning Networks

One of the PLN's I would use as a teacher would be "The Educator's PLN" which can be found by clicking here.  This is a great resource to use because it is made up of teachers who all post their own information to the website.  I like this site because one of the first things that popped up on the right-hand side had to do with world language learners.  Because I want to be a French teacher, the information that could be found on this site posted by my colleagues would be really useful.  It gives examples of different activities teachers posted about world languages.  For example, there is one activity a teacher posted that he did in his classroom, which are podcasts that the students can listen to, and send their information back to him through e-mail.

Another Personal Learning Network that I found that could be useful is called Powerful Learning Practice.  To get to this site, click on this link.  When I typed "world languages" into the search engine, it brought up a bunch of different articles from teachers about making the classroom more culturally accepting, and there was even an article about having a "Multicultural Day" at school.  I think this particular PLN would be helpful because having a classroom that is open to learning a new culture is extremely important when teaching a foreign language to students.  This is because, along with the new language they are learning, they are also being introduced to a brand new culture alone with it.

Web 2.0

Two of the Web 2.0 tools that I could use as a French teacher in my classroom are Quizlet and Audio Lingua.  They both would be really helpful in assisting to learn a new language.

The first of the two, Quizlet, can be found at this link.  When you go to the website, there is a search engine in the upper right-hand corner, and if you type "french" into it, a bunch of different lessons will pop up that you can click on and navigate through.  One of the coolest things about this website is that it has flashcards on it with each lesson.  On one side, it has the word in English, and on the other side, it has the word in French.  Another helpful tool from these notecards is that you can have the notecards say the word out loud so that the students can practice their pronunciation and vocabulary at the same time.  

In my class, I could use this tool both as a homework assignment and as a study tool before a test.  I would probably assign going through one of these lessons as homework and going through the set of notecards a few times, listening to the pronunciation, so that students would be familiar with the words before coming to class.  Also, I could use it as a study tool before a test because it would be great to review as a class using the note cards.  Additionally, the lessons each come up with a couple of games (Scatter and Space Race), which are located right under the notecard, that would be fun to play as a class the day before a test to help review all the terms.  

The next Web 2.0 tool that I would use in my class is called Audio Lingua.  This website is great because it has recordings from native speakers all over the world speaking in their languages.  The website can be found by clicking here.  This would be a perfect teaching tool for foreign languages because this way, the students can practice their listening skills while also hearing the language be spoken how it really would sound if they went to the country where the language they are learning is spoken.

In my class, I would use this as a lesson by first finding and listening to a recording that pertains to the material we are learning in class, and typing out what the speaker is saying.  Then, I would make a document for the students leaving blank spaces in it, and then have the class listen to the recording and fill in the blanks as they listen to it.  I would play the recording a few times, then go over it as a class and filling in any answers that were hard to hear.  Then, I would play the recording again and have the students listen to it again, allowing them to hear it and know exactly what they are saying.  Repetition and listening activities can really strengthen listening skills when learning a knew language!

Student Standards

For me, one of the most important things in a classroom is RESPECT, between students and their peers, and also between students and their teacher.  Without it, no classroom can function properly.  I would say this is the biggest standard I am going to hold my students to.  Because I think it is so important, I made a little acronym for it, showing some rules that demonstrate respect in the classroom:

R: be Responsible for your own work

E: come to class Eager to learn

S: Stay in your Seat

P: be Polite to teacher and other students

E: Everyone will treated with respect

C: Cheating will not be tolerated

T: Tell the Truth at all times

All of these statements listed are important guidelines for any classroom.  Hanging an image of this in the class will help students remember what they are responsible for doing, and how they are expected to act in the classroom.  Also, it is easier for students to remember the key words in acronyms like this to help them know what is appropriate classroom behavior.

21st Century Students

I think it is amazing how far technology has come, just in the time since I have been in grade school.  At my elementary school, we had a computer lab, and that was about as far as technology went.  Now, schools have iPads, laptops, tablets, and other learning tools to help students in the classroom.  In order to make my students prepared to live in the 21st century, I must incorporate the use of technology in my classroom as often as possible.  For me, making PowerPoints and Prezis is a way to use technology in the classroom, while helping students learn at the same time.  On both of these presentation tools, you can add videos, links, and basically whatever you want to make them fit your lesson plan.  When I am a French teacher, it'll be really helpful to use these tools to teach students about the language and the culture in a way that they will find interesting and engaging within the classroom. Also, to prepare them, it is important to let them use technology themselves, instead of just watching me use it.  Hopefully the school I end up teaching in will have some sort of technology that will allow me to let the students do activities in class using laptops or iPads, or any other tool that will be helpful to them and their learning experience.

Technology Setbacks

Technology is certainly a wonderful thing.  I can hardly imagine my day without having my iPhone or laptop.  However, it is not always the best tool when it comes to reliability.  There are many times when we need technology for various projects, homework, etc., and it seems like it always fails us at the worst possible time!  Although I love technology, there have been many times where I wished we would go back to a good old fashioned pencil and paper.

My most recent technology crisis occurred about two weeks ago.  I had to fill out an application online for school, and I needed it to be mailed in the day that I filled it out.  I tried opening the application on my Mac, but for whatever reason, it would not open no matter what I tried.  Thinking I might have better luck on a PC, I rented a laptop from Xavier, and was able to open the application just fine.  I was so excited that I was able to open it, and proceeded to fill out the whole application.  Thinking all I had to do was print it, I sent it to the printer, and waited…. nothing.  So I sent it again thinking maybe I just clicked the wrong thing.  Once again, nothing.  So I looked a little bit like this:

At this point I started to panic, because this application was really important and I really had to get it in the day I was filling it out.  So, I did what I always do in a time of crisis, and I called my mom.  Thankfully, she was able to pull it up and print it out from her house, and I had to drive all the way out to where she lives and meet her to get the application and put it in the mail.  

This was a time when I was very lucky, though.  Sometimes technology just doesn't want to work for us.  Something that was created to make our lives so much easier sometimes does just the opposite.  Luckily, I was able to get my application in that day with no problem, but if she had been busy that day or if it didn't work on her computer, I have no idea what I would have done.  It's times like those that I wish computers did not exist.

Modern Technology in the Classroom

For this blog post, I decided to look on YouTube to see what kind of modern technology is being used in the classroom today, and I found something I found really interesting, called Skwirk.  It is actually offered in Australia to Australian students, and it is a learning tool that is used by a lot of teachers there, who can use it to help with their lessons.  It is a great teaching tool for the teachers because it allows the students to learn through the use of technology.  Skwirk provides lessons, worksheets, videos, and other materials that are very useful for the teachers who use it in their classrooms.  It really helps benefit the students with their work.

On their website, this is what it says about Skwirk:

"Designed for all Australian school students, it features content written specifically for the syllabus in each state.  In addition, Skwirk contains thousands of animations, videos, exams, podcasts, learning objects, worksheets, and other rich media features that cater to all learning styles.  Skwirk also makes studying a rewarding experience, literally.  As students complete activities, exams and quizzes on the site, they earn points which can be redeemed for prizes and rewards. (schools excepted)"

For more information, the website can be found HERE.

Also, here is a video that shows some teachers talking about this program in Australia:

Legal Issues Facing Teachers

When trying to come up with a legal issue to write about for this post, I happened upon an article online that discusses the use of Facebook and its interference with the freedom of speech of teachers.  Sometimes teachers have lost their jobs because of things they have posted on Facebook that had to do with students, school events, or otherwise "unacceptable" comments or photos.  Some teachers find this to be a violation of their freedom of speech because the things they say may have been acceptable if they had chosen a different career.  However, as teachers, there is a lot of legal involvement in their jobs and they have to be really careful about the things they say on a social networking site.  I found this to be particularly interesting because I had never really thought about how a simple Facebook comment could ultimately make someone lose their job.

To read the article I found, click HERE.

Portfolios

Portfolios are very valuable for my future students because they show all of the different things we have had to do in order to become teachers.  Also, all of the different things we are putting into the portfolio can be used as learning tools for the students, such as the videos, presentations, etc. Also, portfolios are useful for people who want to see what kinds of things we do in school that help prepare us to become teachers.

Presentations

When I am teaching, I want my students to enjoy my class.  Because of this, presentation methods are extremely important.  That being said, I plan on being a presenter that keeps the students interested in what I am presenting, while teaching them to learn at the same time.  After seeing all the different kinds of presentation methods in class the other day, it is easy to see that there are numerous different methods and ways of presenting information that can help students learn and have a visual of what they are learning.  Because I will be teaching French, I definitely plan on using a lot of videos, songs, and other forms of media in my lessons, and with new methods like Prezi, it is really easy to put all the information into one program that can include text, videos, pictures, or anything you want it to in an organized manner.  It is definitely a step up from PowerPoint, and it will help keep me organized and my students entertained at the same time! C'est parfait!

Evaluating Textbooks

Textbooks are a great resource for students to use when learning material about a class… or are they? Having the ability to evaluate textbooks is extremely beneficial when picking out a textbook to use in the classroom.  It is really important to be sure that the book is at an appropriate level for the students who are going to be using it… For instance, in my classroom, I would not give a college level French book to people who are just looking at the french language for the first time.  It would be next to impossible for a student with no background in French to learn it from a textbook that has no English in it whatsoever.  Also, in French textbooks used in schools, one of the really nice aspects of them is that there are often pictures in the book.  A lot of people are visual learners, so it helps them to see a visual of what they are learning, and it will be more likely to stick in their head.

For example, here is a labeled picture that similar to something that is likely to be found in a French textbook when talking about how to say the parts of the face:

My Educational Purpose Statement

There are many reasons why I have always wanted to become a teacher.  Primarily, though, I want to make a difference in the lives of children.  Teachers have the ability to be a role model for their students, and to lead them in the right direction.  I want to be that role model.  Additionally, I think having a class that students look forward to attending would be really rewarding.  Personally, my French class in high school was the class I always wanted to go to because I knew we would be learning something interesting or doing a fun activity that would help me get my mind off of all the other challenges of my day.  That is what I want my classroom to be also… an escape away from the real world, and spending just a moment somewhere else learning about an entirely new language, culture, and place.

To show a little bit about why I love France so much, here is a video of Paris at night time… Enjoy! (: 

Hello World!

:) Bonjour!