Thing 23

Wow - I can't believe that I have made it to Thing 23!!!!!!!  What a fun and exciting journey.  I have learned a ton and am very happy that I had the opportunity to take this class.  I can't even begin to describe how I have developed from Thing 1 to Thing 23!  Truth be told, prior to taking this course I thought - it would be an easy and fast way to knock off some SBCEU's.  Well, to my delight I learned so much more than I ever could have expected!  If I had to do it all over again, I would have done it with or without the added incentive!  It was worth it :)  It just amazes me how technology is ever changing.  I am one of the younger teachers at my school, and thought of as pretty technologically savvy - wait until they see me now!  Ha ha ha!

I am so excited to implement many of the Thing's I have learned into my classroom.  The last video that we just watched couldn't have said it any better.  The Internet has become a place not only to explore, but to share, trade and collaborate.  What an awesome tool - especially for educators!  Although I am finished with the "Things" - my journey is far from over!  I can't wait until summer vacation (42 days - not that I am counting or anything ;) - to have time to sit and discover new ways I can spice up my Spanish curriculum!  Thank you for reading my posts - what a fun adventure!

Thing 22

Click HERE to view my wiki site!  (https://efhs-espanol.wikispaces.com/)

It was fun being able to embed several different types of mediums into one site.  I focused on Alebrijes - which are brightly-colored Mexican woodcarving sculptures.  I not only included the wikipedia Spanish site, but also my own personal photos and videos of how alebrijes are made.

I think a blog would be useful to describe week to week lessons, list homework, etc.  However, a wiki I think would be more useful when researching or focusing on a specific topic.  It would allow students to view and collaborate on the topic.  Both ways would add an a ton of educational value to the classroom! 

Thing 21

I explored several different wiki sites - however one that I found related to Spanish teaching was: http://cartierm.wikispaces.com/

Srta. Cartier had a great idea to have students go to her wiki site and fill out a "What did I miss" form for homework.  What an awesome idea!  Too many times students love to ask the teacher (many times WHILE you are teaching) to gather the materials that they have missed.  Not only do you have to tell them to wait until the end of class, but it is a huge disruption.  This totally puts the students in charge of being responsible, filling out the form - and allowing the teacher to respond to their request during his/her prep period.  How cool!  

Again, the availability to the Internet would be a problem - but in a perfect world where every student was connected - this would be such a cool tool!

Thing 20

I could see myself becoming easily addicted to this iTunes thing!  This was my first time to explore the use of iTunes - what an awesome tool!  I subscribed to several podcasts, however the one that I thought was cute for the classroom was the Sesame Street en espanol :)  Some of my students joke that it's like they are in elementary school again - but they are "new" learners to the language, so if they can relate to some things, like Sesame Street, they may be able to understand it more!  

I used all of the search tools, however my favorite was iTunes.  I like being able to not only listen, but view as well.  It was easy to tell what type of media you would be getting with iTunes - I found on the other sites, you had to search a tad more for the video.  As far as EPN vs. Podcast Alley - I preferred the EPN.  Podcast Alley - had me downloading MORE things to my computer - I can't believe all of the new bookmarks and downloads I have!  But hey, I'm on the final stretch...only 3 more things to go!!!!!!  This has been a fun journey!

Thing 19

The first Podcast that I listened to was off the English Idioms and Slang site :
http://cdn4.libsyn.com/diemrob/Lesson161.mp3?nvb=20090322170329&nva=20090323171329&t=0df05e5d1cf02d41d4fa9

I thought it was interesting and good, especially for English learners to be able to HEAR not just read the lesson.  This would be great for an ESL class and to allow students to engage in listening skills, outside of the classroom.

The second Podcast that I listened to was from the Learn Out Loud.com website: http://www.learnoutloud.com/Podcast-Directory/Travel/Europe/Notes-from-Spain-Podcast/6922#plink

It was pretty interesting to hear this man, Ben Curtis, tell you about some of the site from his travels around Spain - could be cool to use in the classroom.  

I must say, however, that my students and myself - would much more be inclined to SEE the sites, not just listen to them.  I'll have to search for more v-casts in my next "thing"!

Thing 18

Here is a great slide show that would be useful during our Spanish food unit!

Tortilla Española - Spanish Omelette

View more presentations from vbayon.

I am the queen of PowerPoint presentations at my school!  I use them on a daily basis and it was almost laughable at how many I created - that already existed out there in cyber space!  We travel to Chicago every year with the Spanish classes, and I compile a slideshow of all of the photos I have taken.  I usually compile them on to a DVD with music and sell them - this year I could just download the presentation to Slideshare!  

Thing 17

Knowtes.com is a World Language teachers DREAM!  Although the site took a long time to load, it was worth the wait!  In the language classroom, a key to acquiring the language is through repetition.  This tool not only allows the students to be "green" and throw away those paper flash cards, but also allows them to focus on set vocabulary.  I loved the fact that you could move your mouse to keep track if you answered correctly or incorrectly.  What a great way to help student focus on the vocabulary  they need to know!  

Thing 16

Where was Google Docs during my college years?????  I can't tell you how easier this would have made my life!  I still have several students in my classes that do not have Internet access.  So, I can see that being an issue.  However, what a great tool for those students that do have access.  In our upper level Spanish classes, students (in groups) create a travel itinerary to a Hispanic location.  They come up with a description of the sites, write a report on places to visit, hotels to stay at, currency conversions, etc.  A good chunk of the project could be done at home - if students had access, as opposed to waiting until the next class to collaborate and compile the information onto the shared document.  The possibilities are truly endless with such a tool!  

Thing 15

I do think that RSS is becoming easier to understand.  It especially helps to have these videos to refresh my mind!  I think it is a great tool - however I was glad to clear out a bunch of the clutter that I signed up for in Thing 4.  To be honest, I have been unable to check my feeds regularly - with a 2 year old - it's almost impossible to sit down at the computer without her wanting to play/type as well.  Unfortunately, like we were warned, many of the sites are blocked at our district - so all of my work has to be done at home!  I was hoping to use my prep period to take this class - oh well!  All in all, I can see how RSS can be a time saver - for busy moms like me!

Thing 14

My Delicious username is: musallj.

Delicious - that is such a great name for a website!

I have chosen several Spanish related websites that I believe are essential to high school Spanish teachers.  I think that social bookmarking can help me be a more organized and productive teacher.  Instead of spending time jumping back and forth from google.com to yahoo.com just to try to navigate the web for a specific thing I'm looking for - I can just consult the Delicious website first.  Chances are, there won't be any need to go anywhere else.  It was pretty crazy - how many of the websites I found to be useful, were already bookmarked by other Delicious members.  I definitely think that Delicious will enhance my productivity when searching and preparing my lessons for my Spanish classes.

Thing 13

I absolutely love the videos put out by the Common Craft show with host Lee.  They make everything so easy to understand!  Tagging sounds pretty useful - especially when you are switching between classes, using different computers, etc.  I was unaware that the delicious website was out there.  It will be interesting to explore and use come Thing 14.  However - I am worried that I am not going to remember all of my User ID's and passwords by the time I get to Thing 23!!!!  Maybe there's a website for that too!??!?!   Tagging does seem very useful - especially when you are getting information from several different websites.  A definite advantage would be to the traveling teacher - who uses a different computer practically every period.  After reading the 13 tips for tagging - it seemed to raise a few flags....  For instance, you are going to have access to a ton of websites that others have tagged - not just your select group of colleagues.  The disadvantage I can see to this is having a slight confusion - in Spanish for example, I would tag everything with the appropriate Spanish word.  You run into accent mark issues, Spanish vs. English tags, etc..  I did like how tip #12 - allowed you to direct your sites to a specific audience by using "for:username" - that I could see come in handy within my World Language department.  I will be interested in seeing how this all plays out in Thing 14.

Thing 12

Wow!  I feel like I am getting so tech savvy :)  The widget that I selected was a cute green miniclock that matched my blog page.  I am getting more comfortable with embedding code - especially since I remembered to look for the blog button.  It made uploading the Widget just a click away.  No, I do not belong to other online communities - partly due to the fact that I am a teacher and I don't want my students to have access to my site (I know you can set them to private....still...) and the other part due to my husband having a huge objection to the whole on-line communities like MySpace and Facebook.  

I think such sites are popular with students today due to the fact they can chat, view photos, and videos of their friends with just a click of a button. 

Thing 11

I commented on the following blogs:  New Learning is Fun,  LambUnit blog and Comments by Chris.  I really don't like leaving comments, hence why I did the minimum required for this activity. For me, it takes the anonymity out of using the Internet.  I understand the purpose - to connect and build a community of learners, however it is just not my thing.  Maybe I will get more comfortable with it as I progress through the Things.  

When I received my first comment it was pretty exciting.  Kind of like getting a letter in the mail - but not knowing who it was from until you opened it!  Weird, I guess - but still a little exciting :)  I think commenting in online communities is is kind of like having access to your own personal support system.  You can use those contacts to ask questions, build relationships and collaborate ideas.  For this very same reason, students who share their writing online with others can collaborate ideas, ask and answer questions, form relationships and peer edit.  I think it would also be beneficial - due to the fact that many of my students can't drive to work together after school - if they were involved in an online community they would be able to receive feedback almost instantly from several different individuals.

Thing 10

Here is a funny video called The One Semester Spanish Love Song. It's very silly!!! Anyone who has ever taken Spanish class should be able to understand every word!



I used the Zamzar website to successfully download this YouTube video. It did take some time to receive it in my e-mail, however it did eventually arrive! I am just learning a ton with these "Things" - it is such a cool feature. No more downloading to the thumb drive for me!

Thing 9

I was already had a YouTube account prior to this "Thing".  I am an addict!  Talk about just sitting down for HOURS and searching through the videos.  I have even found some that my students were in...very entertaining to say the least.  Thankfully none of them were incriminating! Unfortunately the Dearborn School district restricts the use of YouTube on all the computers.  I understand the reasoning behind it, however there are so many Spanish content related videos that I would love to show with just a click of my mouse.  To use YouTube in the classroom, I have had to go about it the long way...  I have downloaded a few Spanish music videos from YouTube at home and brought them in via a thumb drive to show my classes.  They think this is so cool - because after studying and singing to the songs, they can see the visual interpretation as well.  I just can't say enough about YouTube...  There are so many great ideas for teachers, not to mention ways to enhance the curriculum - it's awesome!  

Thing 8

Wouldn't it just figure....I just put my daughters 2nd Birthday invitations in the mail yesterday.  It's not until today, that I learn how to do this SUPER cool effect to the photo!  Well, I guess I'll have to wait for the 3rd birthday party ;)  Playing around with Thing 8 was a lot of fun!  Wow - I can see how this can get addicting!  I really liked using Spell with Flickr - I'm not too sure just how many words I tried spelling, but it was fun to see how they came out.  Not to mention - being able to click on each letter to change it as well.  I also liked playing around on the Big Huge Labs site.  Along with the activities, I found their list of the top digital cameras to be interesting.  We are in the market to replace our current Canon - so I'll have to let my husband know of this site!  As far as usefulness in the classroom, students in the upper level Spanish classes, assume identities of famous Hispanic personalities - and having them make a trading card with various facts of their person would be pretty cool!  Name, Date of birth, Place of birth, Projects they were/are involved in, etc. all in the target language would be a neat addition to their project!

Thing 7

Now I feel like I'm getting fancy - able to add photos to my blog!  Ha ha ha!  This was one of the photos that I placed on Flickr.  It is of a yearly trip that we take with 50 or so of our Spanish students to Chicago for a Fiesta Latina weekend.  We always have a blast!  Students learn how to Latin Street Dance, are able to visit a Mexican Fine Arts Museum, see murals along Pilsen Village, and use their Spanish a ton!!!!  I always make a slide show of our trip - now I'll be able to post the photos on Flickr - they will all think I have gone high-tech :)  Of course, I will have to check into the photo disclosure forms that our parents fill out at the beginning of the year to make sure the students faces are allowed to be put online.  That is why I chose this photo of them holding up Mexican mascaras.

Thing 6

I decided to use this particular photo because this was the Estacion de trenes (Train Station) in Valencia, Spain where I did my study abroad experience in college.  It was an amazing experience and just past the train station, in the distance, was the apartment where I stayed with my host mom Maria Carmen.  Pretty cool!!!!  Wow - I guess this Flickr site does have a TON of photos.  I had never heard of it before - but it's neat to know that now I can use more than just Clip Art!  Ha ha ha!  I'm off to search for more photos!

Thing 5

I was a little confused with the whole RSS thing at first.  After going on the Google Blog Search link, I found that many of the links I clicked on where indeed NOT RSS compatible site.  So - it did take awhile for me to find sites that I was interested in, and would also fit the criteria of allowing you to do the RSS thing to.   I found several Spanish related blogs, that I could use in my professional life, plus a cool site for mom's of toddlers.  I have a 2 year old daughter, and there was a site dedicated to moms of toddlers - entitled what to do when you have the winter blues and can't get outside to play.  Sums up Michigan in February!!!  It will be neat reading some other mom's creative ways they solve the winter blues :)

Thing 4

I never realized how much time I waste checking back at blog sites to see if anything new has been added.  I had NO clue that such a tool existed out there to bring the new information to you.  What a great tool to use!  Not to mention how convenient it is.  I'm looking forward to see how this works for me.  Especially as a World Language teacher, sometimes you feel as though you've read or heard of a specific topic a million times before, this is great that it will notify you of any new areas of interest you may have.  It should be interesting to see how RSS will work for me!

Thing 3

A blog could support the work that I do in that it would enhance the curriculum that I am teaching.  As a high school Spanish teacher, most of my students would love the opportunity to travel, however due to tough economic times many are not able to afford the travel abroad experience.  Having a blog in which my students could access, and in a sense allow them to virtual travel to the places that we have been studying could be a really cool addition to my current curriculum.  I think that students would be excited to participate in the blogging assignment - they truly love when we go down to the computer lab.  However the computer lab is where my concerns lie.  Many of my students do not have access to the Internet, therefore we must sign out a time to use the school lab.  With only one school lab and over eighty staff members, the computer lab is next to impossible to get into. 

Thing 1 and Thing 2

I am participating in 23 Things because I am interested in incorporating more technology into my teaching.  I have been teaching for 7 years now and considered myself to be somewhat savvy with technology.  However, after reading all that you would learn by taking this course - I realized that there was a ton out there that I had left to learn.  

I am a high school Spanish teacher and have a love for bringing the culture alive in my classroom!  I am excited to see what I will be able to do by the end of this course :)

After reading Thing 1, I was amazed at how technology was incorporated cross curriculum - not just in one particular classroom.  I thought it would be neat to see this put into practice, however I was a tad skeptical how/if it could work in my building with staff participation, etc.  So many are resistant to change, especially when they have been teaching for many years.

I'm excited for this course -we'll see what happens!