Reflection on Instructional Model

This year I chose to delve in to the possibility of a flipped classroom. I truly believe that flipped learning is the way to go in the foreign language classroom. Imagine - motivated learners watching a grammar lesson at home and coming in to class with the concept at least familiar to them. The class time is then spent putting that grammar concept in to practice - as in, actually speaking the language! I certainly am not the only language teacher to appreciate the possibilities of a flipped language classroom - there are blogs aplenty on the topic - not just flipped classrooms, but flipped language classrooms. I need more time to see how this can play out in my Spanish I classes (not gonna happen in my Intro Spanish classes - we do not cover grammar, and I just don't think that they have enough motivation for their nine-week Related Arts class to do homework, let alone watch video posts). But really, that is my only obstacle - TIME! I am looking forward to doing at least one topic per chapter as a flipped lesson next year. I hope to get the videos made this summer and then my next step will be to develop activities for students to rotate through on the class after watching the post. I can't wait!

Diversifying Assessments

Technology can really lend a hand in diversifying assessments. I love using projects in my language classes because they ultimately feel more organic; our goal as language teachers is communication on many levels (verbal, written, interpretive and more), so the traditional paper and pencil assessments only take one so far. Enter a project, and a student has more than one way to get to the finish line. For example, my last vocabulary quiz was a Google Slide presentation that had basic requirements: include at least 15 new words and simply prove that they knew the vocab. Some students made simple sentences on each slide - 'this is a table', 'this is a patio'. Their slides numbered 15 or so. Other students wrote more complex sentences such as 'there is a bed in the bedroom' - a fewer amount of slides - and then there were a few students who have realized their Spanish 1 capabilities and wrote complex sentences which resulted in more vocab words on each slide.
The challenge would be to push each child to their own maximum without pushing them so far they become discouraged - and get those kids who want to take the easy way out to rise to the occasion. And of course, Google Slides is just one of the tools to diversify assessments - one needs time to find the right kind of resources to put project-based technology infused assessments in to the curriculum.

Chromebooks Meet the The 4 C's

When tech meets the 4 C's the results are mixed; in educational lingo the 4 C's are Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration and Creativity. I think that the use of technology forces some critical thinking and problem solving, just by its very nature - how do I open this type of document? How do I submit this? Where can I find that? And is there another way that I can complete the same assignment using a different platform? Before even getting to any particular assignment, skills are required when using technology in the classroom - are those skills critical thinking skills? Depending on the technology being utilized, they could be - and at the very least, they are problem-solving skills.
Collaboration really thrives with the Chromebooks. In my Introductory Spanish classes, students have always written a script and performed it in front of class. Often it has been one student who writes the script while his or her groupmates suggest edits - or worse yet, drift off. When the students write the script on a shared Google Doc, I see more engagement, and, along with that engagement I see students working together, collaborating.
The Communication element is obviously present with shared Google Docs, but in the foreign language classroom I do believe that the Chromebooks or any technology can only take a student so far. While the tech may expose the student to more of the language (with apps like Duolingo), when we have the Chromebooks in the room, there is inevitably less speaking, and I strive to find a balance between the use of technology and the need for person-to-person communication in the language. We can use tech to access the real world, but within the classroom, we need to practice some of those real world interactions with one another.
Finally, if handled well, technology can foster Creativity, too. Without guidance, tech can limit creativity (students are asked to illustrate a sentence using the word pencil - in the 'old days' I would see 30 different versions of the pencil, from a magazine or better yet, hand-drawn. Today, I see the same pencil clipart over and over again). The time and the energy to push students beyond the first Google Search, and to locate the right tools for the students will ensure that Creativity is part of the student technology experience.

And so, it begins!

Another school year has gotten underway, and, as usual, everywhere the teacher turns, there is someone saying "do this, it is 'just' this little thing. Take this blog, for example, who is going to read it? I am all about getting 'technified' - but I also like to be REAL. I tweet my homework, I Instagram my assignments and I post on Edmodo. I have FOUR Twitter followers, people! Is it worth it to tweet the homework? No, it really is not. And blogging anything? Puh-lease! But still, here I am, completing an assignment for a class I did not know I had to take.
This year I AM excited to have a Chromebook cart for the entire year (they arrived in the middle of the year last year), but it is still challenging to have them for limited time, even with a great, willing-to-share cart counterpart. With quarterly classes, we are able to dabble in some assignments, and I enjoy experimenting. My goal for the year, though, will come from my Spanish I, year-long, class. The students benefit from speaking the language in the classroom (when else will they do it?) - so if I could occasionally "flip" a class - give a grammar lesson at home or for half of their class - and then the students can put that in to play with their compañeros de clase - well, that would be fantástico. We shall see how it goes - or will we? I may never have to update this blog again.. ! ;)