Thing 23

I made it!!! Cutting it close, but I finished. Quite a feat for a mom of 2 small kids who took 4 vacations, played in a tennis league, coached high school tennis and organized all the closets and back porch of her house :)

I am excited to get in my classroom and see how I can use some of these tools to improve my teaching. I realized that if I don't start using more technology in class I will start to lose my students. Technology is embedded in their lives and they expect it in their classes too. This is giving me new enthusiasm for teaching. Which, after 10 years, my teaching could probably use.

I also plan to forward the 23 Things website to my father in law who will be a professor at Davenport in the winter. He taught 25 years ago and will need to update some of this thinking. I think 23 Things can help. I knew he was in trouble when he commented how 'small' the school's library was (ie. no books) but they had lots of computers. We talked about how everything is researched using the internet that very few books are opened when doing research. I will have to share what works with my students once I get going.

I wish I had more time to prepare before school starts. I could spend another week on iTunes and Youtube finding fun things to enhance my teaching :) I am very glad I decided to do 23 Things. I will definitely recommend to others in the future.

Thing 22

My wiki: http://maestrajen.wikispaces.com/

Hmmm...wiki's and blogs both can have a place in the classroom. It really depends on the purpose. I could see using a wiki for science labs or peer editing a Spanish essay. Where blogs aren't as interactive, but students can leave comments and I would know who said what and when. For grading purposes, blogs seem a bit easier to keep track of student input. Not sure if there is a way in the wiki to know who made the edits.

I am excited now to try these and all the other things I've learned in my classroom. It makes starting back to work not so bad....no really, I'm kind of looking forward to it.

Thing 20

I found a bunch of podcasts in Spanish, about learning Spanish, and fun ways to improve Spanish on itunes. I've never been an Apple person. This was only my second time on the iTunes website and really found navigating around relatively easy once I got the hang of it. I did have to use the search tool to get to Podcasts. The other search tools had issues. The EPN tool had many podcast links, but when I clicked on them the were errors. It must not be updated frequently.

I can't wait to listen to my Coffee Break Spanish and share with my students Slow Spanish. I want to find some Spanish video podcasts too now. Still working on getting a projector for my classroom too :)

Thing 19

http://www.newsinslowspanish.com/home.php
http://rlnvault.com/rln09/category/shows/coffee-break-spanish/


I could definitely see using pieces of these podcasts in class. I would have to scan them for vocab and pre-teach some things. But it would be great to incorporate more realia into class. I have been looking for fun, new ways.

I had no idea how many podcasts were out there. I could literally spend days researching ones to use with my teaching. You do need to look carefully, because some were titled 'beginner' but would have been way beyond most of my students, at least initially. But it gives me lots of possibilities now. I would like to try and do some podcasts of my own. The Media Literacy teacher in my building started doing podcasts for our daily announcements. It worked great last year.

Thing 22

Sorry, I went out of order here since I knew I had time to tackle wiki's but wanted to allow more time for the podcasts.

I have used wiki's before, but not in the classroom. I liked seeing how teachers were using them to connect to other classrooms across the globe. It would be fun to get questions answered in that manner, instead of me researching it on wikipedia or google. The only obstacle that keeps arising is that I don't have regular access to computers. I could make some of this homework, but not all of my students have computers or internet access at home. Some more things to think about...

Thing 18

This is a lot better than the 30 year old Alfabeto video tape I use!

Spanish A-Z

View more presentations from kherzog.

I have been wanting to do more notes in a slide show presentation instead of using boring overheads. This gives me new motivation :) I could direct students to the site to review, or if they were absent. I just hope they can see it well enough on my t.v. I guess this would be another reason to get a projector for my room. I need to see if I can use our home one or buy a cheap one for my class. Going to go ask hubby what he thinks. I am actually getting excited to try some of these new things at school. I just wish I wasn't teaching 4 preps and 4 grade levels in 2 different buildings, so I would have more time!!

Thing 17

I really likes the Knowtes concept. The website was a little tricky to navigate, but I got the hang of it. It wouldn't take the students long. I set up 2 study groups that I can later add flashcards to. Then students can join the group and practice with the flashcards I made for each class and topic. It saves paper and student don't need a partner to practice. Parents are always asking me how their kids can practice at home, now I have another suggestion for them.

I saw the comments about Knowtes. Wordlearn.com is much easier. I set up and account there too.