12 Things
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Saturday, April 3, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
Thing 22
I think there is an 80% chance that I would take on a self-paced class or two through Michigan LearnPort over the summer. It depends on my plans for the summer. I'm in the process of applying to UT for my Master's, and if I start taking classes there then I'm not sure if I would have the extra time. Also, if I do not receive PD hours for them then I might not be as motivated to take them (just being honest). I didn't catch if I'd earn PD hours for those or not...I would assume so. The grant writing and creative classroom ones looked interesting. It's clear just by looking at the offerings that technology is being emphasized.
The advantages to online PD would be you can pace the class yourself and take it from the convenience of home (much like this class). The fact that they're free is an advantage, and earning PD hours would also be an advantage. Disadvantage- no face-to-face contact for discussion, but if you blog in discussion, you're still exchanging quality information. As with any online class, you might run into technical difficulties along the way which may cause frustration. Overall, there would be more advantages than disadvantages.
I guess I would like to see more curriculum-specific PD opportunities to take what I've learned and be able to use it in my classes right away. We recently had a speaker talk about restructuring the classroom and rethinking assessment procedures. The idea was great, but I would have liked to have been walked through what that process would look like and told the steps I could take to implement those practices in my own classroom.
Overall, I've liked my experience with this class. I've found the content useful in both my personal and professional life and I'm glad we've learned things (no pun intended) that we can apply to the classroom right away. I also liked how the 12 Things focused on continued professional development with other fellow teachers. I had very few technological issues, and thought the information was user-friendly. I really like that I have a whole slew of sources to refer back to and projects that I can continue to improve upon, such as my wikispaces page.
The advantages to online PD would be you can pace the class yourself and take it from the convenience of home (much like this class). The fact that they're free is an advantage, and earning PD hours would also be an advantage. Disadvantage- no face-to-face contact for discussion, but if you blog in discussion, you're still exchanging quality information. As with any online class, you might run into technical difficulties along the way which may cause frustration. Overall, there would be more advantages than disadvantages.
I guess I would like to see more curriculum-specific PD opportunities to take what I've learned and be able to use it in my classes right away. We recently had a speaker talk about restructuring the classroom and rethinking assessment procedures. The idea was great, but I would have liked to have been walked through what that process would look like and told the steps I could take to implement those practices in my own classroom.
Overall, I've liked my experience with this class. I've found the content useful in both my personal and professional life and I'm glad we've learned things (no pun intended) that we can apply to the classroom right away. I also liked how the 12 Things focused on continued professional development with other fellow teachers. I had very few technological issues, and thought the information was user-friendly. I really like that I have a whole slew of sources to refer back to and projects that I can continue to improve upon, such as my wikispaces page.
Thing 21
I have used videos in my room before, and I'm glad I've learned how to still be able to use YouTube videos without the school filter preventing showing it. Earlier this year,I tried to embed a soccer video on my blog, but when I went to show it to my class, the school filter still blocked it. It was a YouTube video.
Videos are useful for generating interest and bringing humor into the classroom as with One Semester of Spanish Spanish Love Song. They bring people and places of the world into the classroom. I love having audio or video of authors reading their own works- putting a face to an author's voice is a great way to bring that person to life to the students.
I did have trouble with some of the videos I tried to upload. I was successful in converting the videos using Zamzar and Benderconverter, but once they were saved to my computer and I tried to upload them onto a blog post, it wouldn't work. Also, how do I make the videos smaller? They look giant on the blog page.
Videos are useful for generating interest and bringing humor into the classroom as with One Semester of Spanish Spanish Love Song. They bring people and places of the world into the classroom. I love having audio or video of authors reading their own works- putting a face to an author's voice is a great way to bring that person to life to the students.
I did have trouble with some of the videos I tried to upload. I was successful in converting the videos using Zamzar and Benderconverter, but once they were saved to my computer and I tried to upload them onto a blog post, it wouldn't work. Also, how do I make the videos smaller? They look giant on the blog page.
Thing 20
I think my students would enjoy listening to podcasts, but it depends on the topic. My Spanish students would be very interested in hearing from native Spanish speakers who are around their same age. Podcasts with humor or story lines would be of interest to them. We teach Night by Elie Weisel, and a lot of students are very interested in the Holocaust. If there are podcasts out there with interviews of Holocaust survivors, they would be very interested in that. In 11th grade, we teach Fallen Angles by Walter Dean Myers (Vietnam story) and I would imagine the 11th graders would be interested to hear from those who were a part of that war.
English:
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/
http://www.justvocabulary.com/podcast/
Spanish:
http://www.spanishpod101.com/
http://radiolingua.com/shows/spanish/coffee-break-spanish/
I think my students would like creating podcasts more than listening to them. The high school years are a very self-interested time. They would think it's cool to hear their voice online. I'm hoping it would motivate them to do better work knowing that anyone could listen to the final product (especially peers from other classes or mom and dad!). Plus, I think podcasts allow more room for creativity and personalization that perhaps an essay would limit for some students.
My Spanish students would be nervous (at least at first) to speak Spanish online. I think they would need to hear from other foreign language learners who have done the same thing before they try it out.
Ideas related to my curriculum I have already explained in my podcast about the top five ways I could use podcasts in a language arts and/or Spanish classroom.
Podcasts that I personally like include:
http://radiolingua.com/shows/spanish/coffee-break-spanish/
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/
Podcasts that benefit me professionally include:
http://www.artofstorytellingshow.com/
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1013
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/
http://tenaciousteacher.theteachingexperience.com/
http://learninginhand.com/
http://www.princeton.edu/WebMedia/podcast/current.xml
English:
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/
http://www.justvocabulary.com/podcast/
Spanish:
http://www.spanishpod101.com/
http://radiolingua.com/shows/spanish/coffee-break-spanish/
I think my students would like creating podcasts more than listening to them. The high school years are a very self-interested time. They would think it's cool to hear their voice online. I'm hoping it would motivate them to do better work knowing that anyone could listen to the final product (especially peers from other classes or mom and dad!). Plus, I think podcasts allow more room for creativity and personalization that perhaps an essay would limit for some students.
My Spanish students would be nervous (at least at first) to speak Spanish online. I think they would need to hear from other foreign language learners who have done the same thing before they try it out.
Ideas related to my curriculum I have already explained in my podcast about the top five ways I could use podcasts in a language arts and/or Spanish classroom.
Podcasts that I personally like include:
http://radiolingua.com/shows/spanish/coffee-break-spanish/
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/
Podcasts that benefit me professionally include:
http://www.artofstorytellingshow.com/
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1013
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/
http://tenaciousteacher.theteachingexperience.com/
http://learninginhand.com/
http://www.princeton.edu/WebMedia/podcast/current.xml
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