Thing 6: Screencast

<iframe width='480' height='300' src='https://www.educreations.com/lesson/embed/8210420/?ref=app' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe>

This video shows chore vocabulary. Each slide shows a picture, asks what a child is doing, then gives the verb. Once all chores are introduced, an A or B quiz is given followed by true or false.

http://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/dan-queria-un-gato/4214893/?ref=app

This video tells a story about Dan wanting a cat. This would be used after a TPRS lessons to quickly tell the story with out circling questions.

Both videos make the spanish vocabulary clear and we're made by teachers. I found the second video to be more engaging. The structure of each slide changed. The first video felt very slow and was very repetitive. Both videos used pictures and clip art that we're probably found on Google Images. Annotation was used more on the first video, but only to show correct quiz answers.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1btyxzwg2s097ck/Buddy%20reading%20directions.mp4

I made this screen cast to show students what to do at a center. Recording these instructions has made centers easier because students can listen to the instructions as needed. I am also using Explain Everything to record students describing an invented school uniform to check for their understanding of clothing vocabulary and how to describe it in Spanish. Also, I have used this app to create QR codes so students can scan it and see the meaning of the word. This has been especially helpful in kindergarten and first grade where reading in Spanish is very difficult.

Thing 7: Digital Storytelling

http://youtu.be/74bK0vwPlLs

I tried to embed the video but Posts kept freezing.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/i5juoxhx6qumbos/03-23-2014%2011%3A55.mp4 The video works fine in the app but the timing is off once it is on YouTube or in DropBox.

I would uses video stories if I wanted to hear a conversation between students while an image story would be more helpful to assess an individual student.

Three ways I would use video stories are to record student skits, to make a teacher student interview less stressful, and to demonstrate a new vocabulary or grammar topic. Students enjoy making skits. If I have students record them in an app. They can listen to self assess. I can also listen to the skit several times to get an assessment information that I need. Recording an interview with a student using a. App like Sock Puppets would be less stressful because it would seem like a fun gam rather than an assessment. Like the skits, I can listen to the conversation several times if needed. Lastly, demonstrating a new topic through an app is more engaging than listening to the teacher. Students can listen to the recording and try to create the rules themselves.

Two ways I would use image stories are to hear how an individual student can give descriptions and to have students retell a story. Pictures are great ways to spark conversation and writing. I can give student images that go with our unit and have them record a description or story. Also, retelling a story is very helpful because I can tell if a student can understand the story and use the new language independently to tell the story in their own words.

Thing 9: iBooks

I think ebooks would be a great substitute for text books. Students would have reference materials right there to look up unknown words or mark important information. They can also have the material read to them which I think is the best feature. Students who struggle to read are often held back in other subjects. Now, students can focus on the information, not with their frustration from decoding the text.

I was impressed with the number of free books. I think high school and college students would benefit from them the most. Many of them looked like higher level and classic novels. This would be a good resource for families who can't afford to have many books in the home. If they have a school provided iPad, they now have access to an entire library.

Thing 8: Comic and Book Creation

This was a very simple app to use. The only problem with using this with a foreign language is it doesn't let you add some punctuation marks and accents. To use this in the future, I would have to be careful with the vocabulary and symbols I need to use. Next year I plan to family vocab. I would love to have students make a comic about a family member showing what they do for a living and a simple description. I could do the same thing with an About Me assignment. I could also use theis to teach culture. Students can research a country and create a comic of someone visiting and giving a tour.

I love using the book creator app. I have created several lessons this year and it has been successful. Many children's books in Spanish are too advanced for my students so I create a simple book that uses the vocabulary we have practiced. The books usually accompany a game. This book is similar to the game Guess Who. I used it as a first grade center. Each page gives a clue about a character card's clothing and they had to decide which character the clues describe. I created two books during my school vocabulary unit in the beginning of the year. One helped practice words for places in the school. The book had pictures of the principal and students used the text and picture to figure out where he was in Spanish. The other book helped students practice verbs such as write, read, and play. Next year, I hope to have students create their own books telling us about their families.

Thing 5: Presentations

http://prezi.com/cc1oof60hrqr/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

I created my Prezi on the website because I wanted more options. The presentation goes along with a TPRS lesson. TPRS is a way of teaching a foreign language through storytelling. The slides are my visual aids to help the students understand new language. I normally use PowerPoint to create visual aids. I like Prezi because presentations do look more creative, but sometimes PowerPoint saves me more time because I am able to duplicate slides or copy and paste images.

Other than TPRS, I can use Prezi to introduce vocabulary or during games. I often post questions on the board during games so the whole class can see. Prezi can be used to organize my exit ticket questions so that I don't have to print them. Also, I show a Prezi during open house to show parents procedures and what we'll learn for the school year.

Next year, I plan to teach family vocabulary. Students can create a presentation with pictures of family members and describing them in Spanish. Because this is stored online, students could easily access their projects at home.

Thing 4: Take and Edit Phitos

Here is a picture from my iPad camera. This is my buddy, Mac. Isn't he cute?

This is a screen shot of the Explain Everything homepage.

I cropped the image to focus on where to begin a new project. It was cropped in the photo app.

Getting crazy with Kindergarten at Parma!

Being able to edit photos and screen shots has been very helpful in the classroom. I have made directions for apps and centers including screen shots and photos to make them easier for students to understand. The editing also allows me to mark the pictures to point out important tools.

One of my goals is to take more photos during class to keep,parents informed. I have a photo section on my website, but I don't have much posted. I think parents would learn more about my class by seeing their student in action than from me writing a paragraph.

Students have used photos during our weather unit. I had students take pictures outside. They used the Explain Everything app to record a forecast over the picture in Spanish. It was a quick project that allowed me to quickly check for understanding.

Thing 1: Pedagogy

Redefinition

-video: http://youtu.be/EV8M6P9st9Q  Chicago 0:30

-activity: Teachers are planing virtual field trips using iPads. Students are able to see places that it would not be realistic to travel to as a field trip. They are also able to experience a new field trip everyday.

-Bloom's: analysis- Students write about what they learned during the virtual field trip as well as writing opinions.students can compare the place they visited to where they live.

Modification

-video:http://youtu.be/muo6TXe8xk8 9th Grade 1:44

-activity:Students who were unable to verbally communicate are using iPads. They are learning when to use the recorded responses.

-Bloom's: Synthesis- Students participate in a conversation using vocabulary recorded in the iPad. In class, students role play situations that they need specific vocabulary such as shopping for groceries.

Augmentation

-video:http://youtu.be/muo6TXe8xk8 9th Grade 3:45

-activity: Discussion questions are being written in an app the shared from the teacher's iPad to the students' iPads. Students type their responses in the same app so the teacher has instant, easy access.

-Bloom's: Application- Students need to use grammar and vocabulary they have been practicing to answer questions provided by the teacher.

Substitution

-video:http://youtu.be/muo6TXe8xk8 0:22

-activity: students are using an app to create a graph during 9th grade geometry. The app acts as a piece of graph paper. It seems like the app takes more time because you have to choose the correct tools and zoom in where you need to mark the graph. If the graph isn't zoomed incorrectly, the graph will be inaccurate.

-Bloom's: Analysis- students create graphs based on data. 

When an activity is high on the SAMR scale, it seems to be higher on the Bloom's taxonomy scale. Activities that we're not possible without technology give students more opportunities to problem solve and a wider range of experiences.

Thing 3: staying informed with Flipboard

Elementary Spanish

Flipboard would be a good place to organize my resources. Right now, I use Twitter, Diigo, Pinterest, And Facebook to find ideas. I would prefer to look in one place because sometimes I forget which place has an article that I need. If I had other elementary Spanish teachers in the district, we could add to each other's magazines to share ideas without jumping between emails and websites.

Thing 3: Staying Informed with USA Today

The USA Today app would be difficult to use in my classroom. The images is the biggest way I can use it. If a picture goes with vocabulary we are using, I can show it for the students to practice. If I taught in a general classroom, I would use this as a source of informational text to give the students some variety and real world connections. This would be a good app for students to choose articles on topics that interest them and use those article for reading and writing practice. This app could also tie into a social studies lesson. Use an article related to a place or event that is being studied. If I found a news app that focused on Latin America or South America, I could try and share current events with my older students.

For a student project, I would ask the students to find an image and import it into Explain Everything or Ask 3. They would record themselves discussing the picture in Spanish. This project could be really useful at an upper level class like Spanish 4 or AP.

Thing 2: Connecting and Communicating with Video Calls

Video calls are an amazing tool in the foreign language classroom at all levels. They give students an opportunity to communicate with people in other countries to experience the language and culture. I see many posts about this on Twitter. Some classes have been Skyping to hear stories from different cultures since it is reading month. Other classes meet to ask questions about the cultural theme they are covering. For example, I saw one teacher post that the students chatted about their favorite foods and how the foods were different in the different countries. Recently, I saw a video on YouTube about a high school Spanish class Skyping with a bilingual preschool. The high schoolers were able to practice their Spanish while the preschoolers practiced their English. I have not had the opportunity to use Skype or Google Hangouts in my classroom yet, but I hope to in the future.

Thing 2: Connecting and Communicating with Twitter

Twitter has been a very useful tool. Since I am the only elementary Spanish teacher in my district, and one of only a few in Jackson county. I often feel like an island. For my first year of teaching, I spent time searching the internet for lesson ideas, but was usually disappointed with what I found. Most lessons were geared toward high school or we're just vocabulary drills. Twitter has helped me connect with other foreign language teachers from around the country. Now, I can post questions and concerns about my lesson plans to get feedback. Also, when I see other teachers are using similar activities and strategies it makes me feel more confident. The best benefit of Twitter for me is it encourages me to take risks and think out of the box. I read about other amazing foreign language teachers and strive to be as creative, engaging, and passionate as they are. It has definitely been a big motivator. The two chats that have introduced me to most of my PLN are #langchat and #FLESchat. #Langchat discusses topics that are relevant to all levels of foreign language instruction, while #FLESchat focuses on elementary foreign language.

I have started a Twitter account to post what is going on in my classroom to keep parents informed. I only have 5 followers, but it is an easy way to keep in touch. For now, Weebly is my main source of communication with parents, but I continue to update the twitter account in case it becomes more popular.