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.