Thing #11: Content Area

I’m currently teaching English as a Second Language to students in France. Unfortunately, there are not consistent standards or expectations when it comes to English instruction in France. I have actually found their system of language instruction to be quite outdated (often using rote memorization). So rather than using non-existent standards, I am going to be using the Michigan Merit Curriculum: World Languages.

One of my favorite lessons to do with students is comparing and contrasting schools in France with those in the United States. This is a great way to learn new vocabulary (which is not only practical, but necessary in the classroom) as well as to learn about the culture of an English speaking country. The Michigan curriculum standard that relates to this topic is: Intermediate Low and Intermediate Mid (M): 2.1.M.E.a: Compare the educational systems in a community or country in which the language is spoken with one or more other communities or countries.

Screen Shot 2019-03-02 at 10.25.26.png Trying to find resources about American culture while living and working overseas seems like a double-edged sword most of the time. I spend a ton of time researching quality resources and materials, and when I think I’ve found a video that will be perfect for my lesson, when I try to open it I receive an error message along the lines of “due to copyright law in your region, you are unable to view this video.” When exploring the PBS Learning Media website I found so many videos that I thought would really enrich my lesson. Unfortunately, none of the videos were available for viewing in France. As this has become a common occurrence, I’ve become quite good at finding videos through a variety of means. However, this also means that I spend a lot more time preparing my lessons.

In order to teach my lesson about American Schools, I would begin with a KWL chart with my students. Then, I would introduce an article describing American schools, such as the one that I found on the ieLanguages website. Here are just a few of the resources that I found which I thought would enrich my lesson.

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Finding an appropriate audio/video support for this lesson proved to be much more complicated. After much research, I stumbled upon the American English website. On this website I found audio files for students talking about their experience in American high schools. In additional to the audio files, there were also documents with the text written (an important support for ESL learners). I liked that students could hear a variety of accents by listening to many interviews.

CITW9 Connections

When thinking about the nine categories of best practice instruction and how these resources could help me to support and meet these best practices, I came to a few conclusions.

Nonlinguistic Representations: I love the idea of incorporating relevant media into my lessons. Adding videos and audio files is especially important when teach a language.
Summarizing and Note-Taking: Students will be expected to organize their ideas using a variety of resources. Creating Venn Diagrams will be extremely important for comparing and contrasting.
Cooperative Learning: Students will be expected to work together and exchange ideas in order to develop a richer understanding of the content.
Identifying Similarities and Differences: Students will not only be expected to identify similarities and differences, but to then add personal reflections and experiences.

Thing #10: Search Strategies

The Internet is a magnificent tool. It’s hard to imagine a time when we couldn’t simply look something up online. However, we must teach our students how to use online resources responsibly. One of our roles as educators is to prepare our students to be well-equipped to use the almost endless resources that are available online.

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I first discovered MeL when I was still in college, and I immediately fell in love with all that it had to offer. I loved that I was no longer limited to the resources available at my local library. For years I advocated for students and colleagues alike to use this amazing resource. Thankfully, I am still the proud owner of a local library card, so I am able to use the resources no matter my physical location. While there are seemingly countless resources available on MeL, I am going to focus on one that immediately stuck me as extremely practical and relevant for student learning, Britannica School.

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On this electronic resource two things immediately caught my attention: Compare Countries and Tour the U.S.A. I can only begin to imagine the fun my students could have using these resources to improve their learning. Both of these tools feature the focus of my curricula–America and comparing/contrasting cultures. I think this would be a great starting point for students who are unfamiliar with the United States, as well as to learn about cultures of different English speaking countries.

I’ve added a number of links to resources that I found on the MeL website which I think would be especially helpful to my students to my classroom website.

Critical Evaluations of Websites

One important thing to keep in mind when using the internet is that anyone can create a website or publish information. For this reason, it is critical that we teach students how to evaluate the authenticity of different websites. One strategy was designed by Joyce Valenza, called the Elementary (Basic) assessment. What I liked about this strategy was how easy and clear it was, especially for students who are just beginning to learn academic or scholarly English.

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So, I decided to try and use this website evaluation strategy myself. I visited the following websites:

All About Explorers

NASA for Students

At first glance, both of these websites seem legit. They are both well organized and easy to navigate. Visually, they are appealing and seem very professional. However, when you begin to read the content on the websites it becomes clear that one is not at all accurate (All about Explorers). The years are completely incorrect. The locations are not even close to correct. Even with a very quick reading of the information and utilizing other websites, it should be extremely easy to prove that this website is inaccurate. This evidence immediately decreases, if not eliminates, all credibility of the website.

Additionally, the website is extremely biased, as it only presents the positive side of the story. While Christopher Columbus did many great things, he also did many horrible things, none of which were addressed on this website. Based on my evaluation using the criteria above, I can say without a doubt that this website is a hoax.

On the other hand, the NASA website is very clearly an authentic/real website. We can see that a wide-range of topics is presented in a variety of ways: graphically, textually, etc. Additionally, everything is very well organized, making it easy to find what you are looking for. (Content and Usability/Design)

Additionally, we can see that this website is owned and managed by the US government, and that it is updated regularly. This addresses the authority/credibility of the website.

Of the links that I clicked on, I found the information to be well rounded, often addressing both sides of an argument (when applicable). Overall, when you begin reading the content on the NASA website it becomes apparent that it was designed by experts in the field.

Citation Makers

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I remember when I was a college student and had to master both the MLA and APA style of citation. I spent hours trying to correctly cite any sources that I used in my papers. Oftentimes, I felt like I spent more time working on the citations than I did writing my papers! However, with today’s amazing technology, we have tools and resources which can make this daunting task much easier. Two common resources are BibMe and LandMark Citation Machine.

I’m currently reading The Zookeeper’s Wife, by Diane Ackerman (which I highly recommend). It’s historical fiction and is set in Warsaw before and during World War II. If you’re interested in historical fiction, I definitely recommend giving this book a try. I decided to try and create the citation that we would use in the MLA style. I used BibMe to create the citation. It looked like this: Ackerman, Diane. The Zookeeper’s Wife. W.W. Norton, 2007. While this tool might be useful when citing well known works, I found it to actually take more time than simply creating the citation myself, as I had to enter all of the information about the book.

ISTE and CITW 9 Standards Addressed:

Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity: All of the valuable and appropriate digital resources discussed would be invaluable to a wide-range of students. Teaching students how to utilize and assess these resources is key to student growth and achievement.
Model Digital Age Work and Learning: With tools like BibMe and LandMark Citation Machine, students will be better equipped to ensure that proper credit is being given where it is due.
Generating and Testing Hypotheses: With the tools to assess websites, students will be able to make their own decisions about validity based on their own analysis.

Thing #9: Be Legal and Fair

Coming from a country where copyrights seem to truly be the rule of the land, I was quite shocked by the lack of copyrights in France. It seems like everywhere I turn, I am seeing something (most commonly American images or slogans) being used without acknowledge the source of the information. A few years back, the Simpsons were all the rage in France. I lost count of how many times I saw clearly copyrighted images being used illegally. When I asked my French friends about this, they had no idea why I was making a big deal out of it. That’s just how it has always been in France. Anyone can use anything as they see fit. When I first heard this, I thought I had to be hearing about a generational difference. However, the more time that I spend teaching in France, the more I discover that this has nothing to do with generational differences and more to do with cultural differences.

I still remember vividly my first time encountering plagiarized work from a student in France. The student had made absolutely no effort to hide the fact that he had copied and pasted something he had found on the internet. His responses were typed using a number of different fonts and sizes. Some of the text was bulleted, other parts were not. When I confronted the student about it, he did not deny it, but also did not understand that he had done something wrong. Apparently I was the first teacher who had ever explained what plagiarizing was and that it was illegal (he was 18 years old and in his last year of high school).

After this experience, I spent a lot of time talking with my students about plagiarizing and why it was wrong. Apparently this is a topic that simply is not discussed in French schools. As someone who not only attended, but then taught in, American schools, I was utterly flabbergasted by this response. I remember discussing how to give credit to the original author and appropriate/inappropriate ways of using the work of others. After talking with other teachers, what students told me was confirmed: plagiarizing is not a big deal in France. When I told students that in my class I would not accept work that was not their own and if they tried to give me something that they did not write on their own, they would not be given credit for the assignment.

Tools to Check for Plagiarism

Given that plagiarism is not hidden in France, I can verify quite easily if students have done their own work or are using the work of someone else. Additionally, when I begin posing questions about the assignment to students, specifically about vocabulary that was used, it becomes clear if the student is the real author of the work.

When I was a teacher in the United States it was much more important for me to have a number of tools at my disposal in order to verify student work and check for plagiarism. While there are a number of tools available on the internet, my go-to tool has always been Grammarly.com. What I like about this website is how simple and its usability. However, it is not always the most accurate. Paperrater and PlagTracker are websites that I use to verify what I have found on Grammarly.

While I find these tools to be helpful, I do not think that they should be the be all, end all of verifying student work. In my experience, it is best to have a non-threatening conversation with students when you think they might have plagiarized. A lot of times, students might not have been aware that they had done something wrong, and taking the time to address this issue with them will be much more beneficial in the long run.

ISTE Standards:

Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility: This thing is very much connected with the previous thing, Digital Citizenship. By helping students to understand legal and illegal ways of using the work of other people, you are better setting them up for success in the future.

Things #8: Digital Citizenship

Our world is constantly changing, and that means that our expectations and responsibilities are changing with it. From the time that I began using technology to today, there have been huge changes and advancements. I remember when I first began teaching I participated in a training on digital responsibility. It was extremely interesting, and I learned a lot about my role as an educator. However, since relocating to France, I have come to the realization that expectations are not at all the same as what I learned in the United States. Digital citizenship is something that is not discussed at all. Anywhere.

Thinking about my students and the world in which we live, I believe that all 9 themes of Digital Citizenship are worthwhile and ought to be discussed with them. Unfortunately, this is simply not done in French schools, and I know that it is especially not my role as I am expected to follow a very rigid curriculum using only one specific program. However, when I have conversations with my students either before or after class, I don’t see why I could not introduce these themes to them.

For a variety of reasons, I have chosen to focus on Digital Etiquette. I think that this is the first topic that needs to be introduced to my students, then we can build on it by adding the other themes. As with most things in life, good manners are essential in today’s digital age. We must be aware of appropriate and inappropriate ways of interacting with others. For this reason, I am in the process of adding a page about Digital Citizenship to my classroom website. While this is still a work in progress, it does contain great information and resources about one of the nine elements we must consider when talking about digital citizenship. I hope that you find these resources to be helpful!

ISTE Standards Connections:

Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity: Discussing Digital Citizenship is important because it allows students to discover both appropriate and inappropriate ways of interacting digitally. Without formal discussions, we often assume that students already know and understand something, without ever verifying.
Model Digital Age Work and Learning: This is extremely important as our world becomes more and more technologically advanced and connected. By providing students with authentic and appropriate examples, we are encouraging them to emulate what they are learning.
Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility: Above all the other standards, this is the standard that is most directly addressed when talking about the 9 themes of digital citizenship. This is the entire foundation of Thing #8.

Thing #7: Productivity

Technology is amazing! I’m always fascinated when I learn about new ways that we can use technology in the classroom. While technology has proven time and again that it is a useful tool in the classroom, there are still some difficulties and frustration which arise as a result.

Shared Calendar

With everyone being so digitally connected it seems like a simple datebook is simply, well, outdated. Don’t get me wrong, I use both an electronic and a paper planner, but when trying to communicate with a large number of people, I definitely see the appeal in using digital calendars. I’ve already mentioned that I love all things Google, and it’s no different with Google Calendars. What I love about Google Calendars is that I can create different calendars for different purposes (professional, personal, birthdays, holidays, trainings, etc.). The color coding makes it very easy to read and interpret the information being displayed on the calendar, and you can choose to view as many or as few calendars at a time as you want.

Additionally, your Google calendar is easily synced with all of your devices. It’s also super easy to share the calendars with other people. What I really like about Google Calendars is how intuitive it is to make changes. Because of this, it’s not a hassle to update them regularly. With that being said, I think an electronic calendar such as this is a great way to communicate information with both students and families. If there’s a last minute change, no problem. Everyone is alerted quickly and easily. I also really like the reminders that you can set for upcoming events.

Here’s an example of what a Google Calendar might look like for one month.

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Shortening URLs

Screen Shot 2019-02-24 at 11.33.59.png As wonderful as the internet is, correctly copying it from the board to the search bar can prove to be problematic, regardless of age. There are many great tools that we can use to make this task easier for our students. Tinyurl.com and Bitly are two great examples of how to create shortened web addresses.

To give you an idea, I used tinyurl.com to create a shortened address for my students.

The original address was: https://www.internationalstudent.com/study_usa/way-of-life/american-culture/

The tinyurl became: https://tinyurl.com/y37dmmm8 Screen Shot 2019-02-24 at 11.35.38.png

Converting Files

Screen Shot 2019-02-24 at 11.51.06.png One of my biggest pet peeves is that all file types cannot be opened using the same program. How incredibly frustrating it is to create a document and then try to open it using a different computer, only to realize the file type is not supported! As a Mac user, this is something that happens all too frequently to me. Luckily, there are a number of resources now available to quickly and easily convert file types. One great program is Zamzar. You simply upload the current file, select the file type you want to create, click ‘convert’ and boom! Your new file is there for immediate download.

Imagine this: you created a file using Pages but need to modify it on a Windows based computer. Normally, this task would be impossible, but with programs like Zazmar, the task becomes super easy.

Honestly, I was quite surprised by how quick and easy to use Zamzar was. This is definitely going to be one of my go-to websites from now on. I can also see how this website could be very useful for students who are in a similar situation — not having the appropriate program on their home computer to open a file is no longer a problem.

ISTE and CITW 9 Standards Addressed:

Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity: All of the resources discussed in this post truly make learning easier for all students. When technology is able to be simplified, especially for young learners, it is a good thing.
Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments: Teaching students about time management, organizing appointments or meetings, and modifying documents as necessary are all essential skills.
Model Digital Age Work and Learning: Each of these resources will prepare students for the future, as well as any other technological advancements that may occur.
Assigning Homework and Practice: I love the idea of using a shared calendar to communicate homework and assessments with families. While students still have a paper planner, it is not always the case that all necessary information is written down.

Thing #6: Communication

I still remember AOL Instant Messenger being an essential part of my being when I was growing up. I remember the awful sound of dial-up as your computer connected to the internet. Back then, I thought it was the best thing ever and there was no way that anything better would ever exist.

Screen Shot 2019-02-24 at 13.33.07.png It’s funny how time and experience really change your perspective and expectations. AOL Instant Messenger seems like something that existed 100 years ago. With the integration of Social Media and messaging, our lives are constantly becoming more and more connected.

Today, living half way around the world is not nearly as scary or intimidating as it used to be (in my opinion, thanks to technology). I’m able to call and see my family and friends regularly thanks to a number of applications or resources which make communication much easier. Screen Shot 2019-02-24 at 13.32.27.png

I used to use Skype quite frequently, however, in recent years, I find myself rarely using it. I find that I am relying more on FaceTime or WhatsApp for video communication. For that reason, I decided to take some time to explore and reconnect with Skype for this Thing.

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I was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of changes to Skype. Firstly, I found the appearance to be much cleaner and clearer. Secondly, I liked the ability to make group calls and create group chats. This was a feature that I often felt was lacking. I also liked that you had the ability to make either a video call or a normal call.

Screen Shot 2019-02-24 at 13.31.45.png Overall, I was pleasantly surprised to discover all of these changes, but still feel like Skype is becoming a slightly outdated resource. I still prefer the other platforms with which I have become more comfortable and familiar in recent years.

LinkedIn Experience

I have used LinkedIn for many years. I love how easy it is to connect with professionals from all over the world. I’ve been able to make many great connections over the years, many of which have created new professional opportunities for me.

Not only is it an excellent place to make great professional connections, but it is also a great environment to share ideas and experiences–essentially, to collaborate with others.

For example, I was able to find this great resource from another teacher to help improve my students’ fluency. I commented on the usefulness of this video, which then connected me with other resources which I might find helpful.

ISTE Standards/CITW 9:

Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership: Using these platforms allows teachers to interact with people all over the world in a time and cost-efficient way.
Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity: Using these platforms will give students ideas of new ways to use technology, both for educational and personal purposes. With the variety of platforms and uses available, students are encouraged to find personalized ways of using them.
Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility: When communicating in a virtual manner, it is essential that all students understand and follow the expectations for online citizenship. Using backchannel chats and video conferencing technology is an excellent way to reinforce these skills.
Cooperative Learning: Using things like Google Hangout or Chatzy encourages students to work together and exchange ideas.

Thing #5: Collaboration

I’ve never really been a traditional classroom teacher. My only experience as such was during my year as a student-teacher-intern. My passion was never to teach students the traditional subjects, but rather to enrich their education with languages. Being an auxiliary (or ‘specials teacher’) is an entirely new experience. You realize how much you do not matter. You realize that you are always an afterthought (and sometimes not even that). You feel isolated and alone. No one quite knows what to do with you or how to help you. This is especially true when you are the only person in your department, and it is your sole responsibility to make decisions, as well as create the curriculum.

While this might make being an auxiliary teacher sound awful, it was a truly rewarding and enjoyable experience that I would not trade for anything. However, all teachers, but especially auxiliary teachers, have to become resourceful when it comes to finding a team and creating a support system in the school. I was very fortunate because I quickly became very good friends with a handful of teachers in each of my buildings.

Even in my current role, I feel very isolated, but am still thankful for the connections I have with so many former colleagues and teacher friends. I can’t imagine living and working overseas without being able to use technology to keep in touch with them. During my first year in France, my students were digital penpals with students in my best friend’s class. Being able to use Google docs to exchange letters and create authentic learning situations and interactions was essential. Being able to see first hand the collaboration that was taking place between students on two different continents, who did not speak the same native language was truly fascinating.

I’ve also used Google docs to collaborate with former colleagues and to improve my teaching. We’ve often used various platforms to talk and exchange ideas–Google Hangout, Skype, FaceTime, etc..With technology, the possibilities are virtually limitless.

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Creating a Collaborative Lesson

It used to be that distance was a restrictive factor in communication. Today, that is no longer the case. With technology, you are able to easily communicate with people around the world. As I am still working without a department or cohort, I still rely on friends and colleagues in the United States to help with with lesson planning and brainstorming. Now, there is a six hour time difference, which can complicate things from time to time (especially with video conferencing). However, with collaborative documents (such as Google docs) sharing ideas has become much easier.

I recently contacted three of my friends who are also teachers to get some feedback regarding an upcoming lesson I am preparing. I typed the lesson in a Google doc and then shared it with them, and gave them editing rights. This is a quick and easy way for everyone to not only share ideas, but to interact with each other. I also created a Padlet where we could share other resources we found that might be useful. With both of these examples, we are able to have asynchronous collaboration that is beneficial for everyone.

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Collaborative Lesson Reflection

I love exchanging ideas with other teachers! When I first started my career I was very hesitant to accept any sort of feedback (positive or negative). Luckily, that is no longer the case. What I really like about my self-created cohort is its diversity. I love getting perspectives from a wide-range of levels and backgrounds, as well as learning about resources other teachers use that I may be unfamiliar with.

What I appreciated most about this collaboration was how easy it was to organize and the thoughtfulness of the feedback I received. I loved the idea of adding a kinesthetic element to the lesson. I also had no clue about Coogle, but it seems like a great resource to use since all of my students already have Gmail/Google accounts. Prior to this collaboration, I was unfamiliar with the idea of using inquiry based hooks, but thanks to the example that was given, I believe that this activity would be extremely beneficial and enable me to do some slight differentiation with my students.

We also used Padlet to exchange ideas. I like this resource, but if I were to do it again, I would have chosen a different format. I didn’t like that I wasn’t able to directly reply to posts from other people.

Even though we’re over 3,000 miles apart, technology made this collaboration super easy and super meaningful. I think that this is an activity that all teachers should try to complete at least once per year in order to push themselves beyond their comfort zone.

ISTE Standards Connections:

Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity: Using tools that allow collaboration, such as Google Drive, Padlet, etc. not only encourages collaboration, but truly facilitates it in a way that is engaging and enriching.
Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments: Preparing students for the future means giving them the opportunity to use programs that are currently being used in the workplace. Authentic learning experiences are key to student success.

Thing #4: Cloud Initiation

It’s hard to imagine a time in my life when the digital cloud was not present. Unfortunately, I do remember a time, and I remember the moment when I became forever grateful for the cloud. I was a traveling teacher, so organization was key. That being said, I was far from perfect, and often felt scatterbrained. I remember the day when I went to plug in my USB key to my laptop, only to find that it was missing! I practically burst into tears and was unsure what to do, as I had a class scheduled to begin in only a few minutes. Needless to say, I was forced to get very creative that day, but once my USB key was located (phew!), I talked to my tech-savvy friends and learned about the cloud. Ever since that day, I’ve never looked back.

I’ve loved using DropBox for many years, but find that the space restrictions for free accounts is quite limiting. Once my DropBox became full, I began using Google Drive, which comes with significantly more storage space, and I love that it is connected to all of my Google accounts. I honestly don’t know what I did before Google!

Here’s a sampling of my current Google Drive account. I love putting documents into folders (probably a little bit too much), so I create new folders almost weekly.

Screen Shot 2019-02-23 at 18.03.31 — Here’s a screenshot of my Google Drive homepage. I love keeping all of my documents organized by using folders and sub-folders.

Screen Shot 2019-02-23 at 18.03.47 — This is an example of what one of the folders looks like. This folder was designed to organize my documents for teaching verbs.

Screen Shot 2019-02-23 at 18.04.08 — This is another example of what the contents of one of my folders looks like. This is for all resources related to my current position as a Cambridge English Teacher.

Screen Shot 2019-02-23 at 18.04.25 — This is the folder I use for anything related to administrative documents at school.

Symbaloo:

Prior to this course, I had not heard of Symbaloo. However, after watching videos and reading about it, I found it to be a very valuable tool. I am a very visual person, so I love that you can customize each website with whatever image you see as appropriate. Below is an example of what my Symbaloo page looks like. It is just getting started, but I’m looking forward to adding more websites as I discover them.

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Personal Reflection:

I found this Thing to be extremely useful and informative. All of the information I learned will really help me to stay organized and enable the sharing of resources with other educators. While I was already familiar with a number of the tools discussed during this course, I also learned about new tools, which I will share with my students as well as colleagues.

I really like the idea of creating a class Symbaloo so that all students have easy access to resources related to course work. I have also used Google Drive in a number of ways with my students. I find that using Google Drive and Google Docs is a great way to collaborate and quickly provide feedback to students.

CITW Connections:

Cooperative Learning: Using Google Drive or DropBox is an excellent way to promote student collaboration. Best of all, the resources are free and very easy to use!
Summarizing and Notetaking: I really liked learning about the different things that Diigo can be used for. This is a great way to teach students a variety of methods for notetaking, as well as summarizing.

Thing #3: Visual Learning

There are so many great (and usually free) resources available not only to teachers, but everyone! In my experience, I often find a program or website that I really like and find easy to use, and then stop trying to find additional resources. This is something that I am actively trying to change about myself.

With Thing #3, I was forced outside of my comfort zone, and as a result found myself becoming frustrated with the websites that I was trying to use. In the end, I persevered, and as a result, now have many other tools in my belt to help integrate technology into my teaching.

During this unit, I learned about many resources to help improve my instruction for visual learners. I learned about a number of resources to help me to organize lessons and ideas in a visual format. Some of the ways I learned were:

-Graphic Organizers -Infographics

-Word Clouds -QR Codes

Graphic Organizers:

There are many, many great mind mapping resources available. I chose to try Bubbl.us because it was a resource I had never used or heard of. What I liked best about this website was how easy it was to manipulate and make changes once you got started. I think this website would be an excellent tool to organize brainstorming sessions during class. Here’s an example of a mind map that I would use to help introduce the idea of verbs to my students. We would then work together to add more information.

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Word Clouds:

I absolutely love using word clouds! I have used them for many years, not only for teaching, but in my personal life as well. I think word clouds are engaging and fun and can be used for so many different reasons. Students also love making word clouds. In the past, I used the online version of Wordle to create word clouds. Unfortunately, the online version no longer works and you must download the program. This has some potential drawbacks, especially limiting when and where it can be used. Here’s an example of what a word cloud might look like when talking about why English language learning is important. I’ve also shared this visual on my class website, as I think it’s an interesting representation of languages in the world.

Infographics:

I also love infographics! I have used them on countless occasions and find them to be very easy to use and understand. While I love reading infographics, I find creating them to be less fun. I became very frustrated when trying to create an infographic using Piktochart. While I absolutely see the value of this for some content areas and students, I do not think that this is a visual representation that I will use regularly in my instruction. Here’s an example of a inforgraphic representing the results of a class survey:

QR Codes:

For many years, I’ve been seeing QR codes everywhere I go. When I finally downloaded the application to scan them, I was quite intrigued. I thought this was a genius way of using technology to quickly and efficiently share information with a very large audience in a very short period of time. I find the available websites to be equally user friendly and easy to use. For this activity, I tried QRstuff.com. Unfortunately, this has not caught on in France. In fact, I can’t remember ever seeing a QR while living in France. So again, I think this technology has a very important place in learning, but not in my current situation. To get an idea of how QR codes worked, I made one to reach the website of the company I work for (the website is in French). If you’re interested in learning about the company I work for, scan the QR code below!

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I love the idea of incorporating things for all learner styles into my teaching. I think that the websites I mentioned in this post could be very useful for helping me to use more technology in my teaching.

Connections to ISTE Standards:

Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity: As the possibilities are limitless with these resources, students would be given the opportunity to express themselves in countless ways.
Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments: As technology is constantly changing, so are the resources which are available to us. Employing these new technologies will ensure that students are being given authentic opportunities to learn and explore.
Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility: Remembering that once we create something on the internet, it is there forever (even if we delete it). Helping students learn appropriate ways of questioning and disagreeing.

Thing #2: Face of Your Classroom

Screen Shot 2019-03-03 at 17.34.23.png — Link to my Website

When I was a teacher in Michigan I had a class website that was invaluable to my school community. As I was a traveling teacher, without a classroom to call her own, the website provided me with a space to call my own. It also allowed me to communicate with students, families, and other staff clearly and regularly.

Since my transition to teaching in France, I have noticed many stark differences between how technology is used in America and in France. France has been slow to jump on the technology bandwagon, and it is still a very, very slow rate of progress. It is my hope to be able to use a class website with my students, however, I am not sure that this is something that will be approved by the small, private company where I work. I have started my website, with an optimistic outlook that I will one day be able to share it with my students.

I feel like the movement toward incorporating technology into every level of learning has been a long time coming. I remember using blended classrooms when I was a student, and eventually only web-based learning platforms. While these tools are important, it is equally important to remember that all learners are not the same. While technology is a great supplement to traditional classroom instruction, I think that we must be careful not to use it as a replacement, but rather as a complement.

CITW Connections:

Assigning Homework and Practice: Using a variety of technological platforms (blogs, websites, etc.) teachers are easily able to communicate with students and families any homework, as well as resources for additional practice or explanations.
Cooperative Learning: Depending on the selected platform, students could be able to interact with each other through discussions and comments. Teachers could also post discussion questions for students/families to ponder.
Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback: As a way of documenting learning goals and progress, teachers could dedicate a part of their platform to documenting this progression for families. Additionally, this could be a space for teachers to respond to comments and promote deeper thinking.