I have always been kind of techy and try to incorporate things into my instruction that are "fun" for my students (hopefully) but I haven't really tried doing anything really big yet so I was excited to go to the MACUL conference on Friday.
I also had never been to Grand Rapids- It is a pretty cool place! :)
Moving on,
I went to a session on "Gamification" mostly because I like video games and the speaker, Liz Kolb, works at the UM School of Education. We had previously talked about making our classes like a game and I had come up with sort of the same thing she talked about. Using quests and such to maneuver students through content.
Liz talked about the resources she used to "gamify" her classroom and they look really interesting. I think from a World Language standpoint these "quests" would be great for assessing where students are in terms of culture, vocabulary, and grammar knowledge- depending on how you create them. I haven't had a chance to really dive into the 3dgamelab.com things to see. I like the idea of using badges to get students to new levels and not having to grade everything with paper. BUT what about those students who don't have internet? Liz gamified a university classroom where everyone has internet. I think that using this concept in a high school depends on the demographic and socio-economic status of your students. There are schools where not everyone has internet at home.
The only issue I have with all of this is that it costs money. If you want to use it for more than 75 students, you have to pay a monthly fee. I understand that these companies have to make money but it bothers me that all this super awesome stuff we learn and talk about costs money. Then I remind myself that I live in the US and get back to reality.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Friday, December 6, 2013
La Marsaillaise in Phonetics
For an assignment in a grad level phonetics at Eastern Michigan University I was tasked with doing a presentation of the French National Anthem in phonetics. Like every smart student I googled it to see if someone had already translated the anthem into the phonetic alphabet. I found nothing. So to the world I present La Marsaillaise in phonetics. The first three stanzas only; however, typically the first one is the only one sung.
Allons enfants de la Patrie,
a lɔ̃ zɑ̃ fɑ̃ də la pa tʀi ə,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé !
lə ʒuʀ də glwa ʀe ta ʀi ve !
Contre nous de la tyrannie,
kɔ̃ tʀə nu də la ti ʀa ni ə,
L'étendard sanglant est levé,
le tɑ̃ daʀ sɑ̃ glɑ̃ te lə ve,
L’étendard sanglant est levé
le tɑ̃ daʀ sɑ̃ glɑ̃ te lə ve,
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes
ɑ̃ tɑ̃ de vu dɑ̃ le kɑ̃ paɳ
Mugir ces féroces soldats ?
my ʒiʀ se feʀ ɔs sɔl da ?
Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras
il vjεn ʒys kə dɑ̃ vo bʀa
Égorger vos fils, vos compagnes !
e gɔʀ ʒe vo fis, vo kɔ̃ paɳ
Aux armes, citoyens
o zaʀm, si twa jε̃
Formez vos bataillons
fɔʀ me vo ba ta jɔ̃
Marchons, marchons!
maʀ ʃɔ̃, maʀ ʃɔ̃!
Qu’un sang impur
kœ̃ sɑ̃ ε̃ pyʀ
Abreuve nos sillons!
a bʀœ və no si jɔ̃!
Que veut cette horde d’esclaves,
kə vø sε tə ɔʀ də de zε sklav,
De traîtres, de rois conjurés?
də tʀε tʀə, də ʀwɑ kɔ̃ ʒy ʀe?
Pour qui ces ignobles entraves,
puʀ ki se zi ɳɔ blə zɑ̃ tʀav,
Ces fers dès longtemps préparés?
se fεʀ dε lɔ̃ tɑ̃ pʀe pa ʀe?
Ces fers dès longtemps préparés?
se fεʀ dε lɔ̃ tɑ̃ pʀe pa ʀe?
Français, pour nous, ah! quel outrage!
fʀɑ̃ se, puʀ nu, ɑ! kε lu tʀaʒ!
Quels transports il doit exciter!
kεl tʀɑ̃ spɔʀ zil dwa εk si te!
C’est nous qu’on ose méditer
se nu kɔ̃ noz me di te
De rendre à l’antique esclavage!
də ʀɑ̃ dʀa lɑ̃ ti kεs kla vaʒ!
Aux armes, citoyens
o zaʀm, sit wa jε̃
Formez vos bataillons
fɔʀ me vo bat ijɔ̃
Marchons, marchons!
maʀ ʃɔ̃, maʀ ʃɔ̃!
Qu’un sang impur
kœ̃ sɑ̃ ε̃ pyʀ
Abreuve nos sillons!
abʀœ və no sijɔ̃!
Quoi ! des cohortes étrangères
kwa ! de kɔ ɔʀ tə ze tʀɑ̃ ʒεʀ
Feraient la loi dans nos foyers !
fə ʀe la lwa dɑ̃ no fwa je !
Quoi ! ces phalanges mercenaires
kwa ! se fa lɑ̃ʒ mεʀ sə nεʀ
Terrasseraient nos fiers guerriers !
tε ʀa sə ʀe no fjεr gε ʀje !
Terrasseraient nos fiers guerriers !
tε ʀa sə ʀe no fjεr gε ʀje !
Grand Dieu ! par des mains enchaînées
gʀɑ̃ djø ! paʀ de mε̃ ɑ̃ ʃε ne
Nos fronts sous le joug se ploieraient
no fʀɔ̃ su lə ʒu sə plwa ʀε
De vils despotes deviendraient
də vil dεs pɔ tə də vjε̃ dʀe
Les maîtres de nos destinées !
le mε tʀə də no dε still ne !
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Hypocritical Oath
This is a response to the blog titled Connected Educators: Digital Citizenship Survival Kit On the blog site called Techchef4u. Apparently, WordPress does not like me and would not email me my password to actually respond on the blog itself.
Moving on.
Blog Subject: How to live with technology and how to organize your life online. Pretend that your digital existence is another country- this blog post tells you how to be a citizen of that country. Something which I think everyone should learn how to do. Especially those young'uns.
Response: BEST. IDEA. EVER. This should be read by more people. The presentation she gives and the link that are included are the majority of what the blog is made of but within those things is some valuable information.
This brings up the question: When is there too much technology? If students have to learn how to act using technology like they are citizens of another country does that mean we as a society have taken it a step too far? I realize how hypocritical I must sound as I type on my Macbook, text on my iphone and watch tv on my flatpanel HDtv.
My name is DestineyGrace and I am addicted to technology.
*Not as much as some people, I would like to note*
Nonetheless, I am curious to see if anyone agrees/disagrees or what thoughts are. Hopefully since this blogging assignment is due tomorrow- I'll get some responses.
à beintôt mes amis,
Moving on.
Blog Subject: How to live with technology and how to organize your life online. Pretend that your digital existence is another country- this blog post tells you how to be a citizen of that country. Something which I think everyone should learn how to do. Especially those young'uns.
Response: BEST. IDEA. EVER. This should be read by more people. The presentation she gives and the link that are included are the majority of what the blog is made of but within those things is some valuable information.
This brings up the question: When is there too much technology? If students have to learn how to act using technology like they are citizens of another country does that mean we as a society have taken it a step too far? I realize how hypocritical I must sound as I type on my Macbook, text on my iphone and watch tv on my flatpanel HDtv.
My name is DestineyGrace and I am addicted to technology.
*Not as much as some people, I would like to note*
Nonetheless, I am curious to see if anyone agrees/disagrees or what thoughts are. Hopefully since this blogging assignment is due tomorrow- I'll get some responses.
à beintôt mes amis,
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Tech Tools in my placement
Without giving away the name of the school at which I am placed I will tell you these things about the technology in the school:
We haven't discussed this Tech in my placement survey in class but this situation with this amount of technology is not common. It may be in Washtenaw County or the it could be the average property tax of the district itself and how much of that goes to the schools. I know from what I have seen that the entire district is a Mac district so it is not just the high school. Teachers need technology in order to properly plan and execute their lessons and with that I whole heartedly agree; however, I don't think that there is this much technology needed. I don't know how many of the teachers use smartboards but I know they were installed because of a grant and that many of the teachers don't use them-1 reason I know makes sense. Having computer carts is nice because there aren't very many iMacs in the library- certainly not enough for an entire class- saves time with transitions. I mainly have witnessed students using google.translate to basically write their assignments for them or looking up videos on youtube when they should have been working.
I think comparing this school to other "less fortunate" schools in the area (like the high school I attended) is a good idea because not every school has carts and carts of Macbooks to let their teachers use. Granted- this high school has about 1,200 students in it so obviously they get more money from the state itself. But that is not the only method the school pays for stuff.
Almost all the students (except for a small population) have internet at home. Some have their own Macbooks that they bring to school with them (idk why).
My placement has a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy in place so students have their cell phones out during class and it doesn't seem to cause a problem. Most of them just check it real quick between activities or if they finish early- less strict than my grad classes- i'll say that. I have only noticed it become distracting a couple times but its never been bad. I think its a good gradual introduction to college life- since most of these students are tracked to go to a 4-year institution.
CONCLUSION: I do not know if this technology is a good thing or a bad thing. Somedays I miss the use of encyclopedias and typewriters that only typed. What about dictionaries? OMG THEY EXIST?
- All the teachers have a Macbook of some sort
- There are 4 Mac laptop cars for each floor of the school that can be reserved.
- All the computers in the library are Mac
- Every classroom has a smartboard
- Every classroom has a projector
- Every classroom has whiteboards
- Every classroom has surround sound
- Every classroom comes with microphones for the teachers to use.
- The school has wifi- kinda of slow- a lot of sites are not allowed.
We haven't discussed this Tech in my placement survey in class but this situation with this amount of technology is not common. It may be in Washtenaw County or the it could be the average property tax of the district itself and how much of that goes to the schools. I know from what I have seen that the entire district is a Mac district so it is not just the high school. Teachers need technology in order to properly plan and execute their lessons and with that I whole heartedly agree; however, I don't think that there is this much technology needed. I don't know how many of the teachers use smartboards but I know they were installed because of a grant and that many of the teachers don't use them-1 reason I know makes sense. Having computer carts is nice because there aren't very many iMacs in the library- certainly not enough for an entire class- saves time with transitions. I mainly have witnessed students using google.translate to basically write their assignments for them or looking up videos on youtube when they should have been working.
I think comparing this school to other "less fortunate" schools in the area (like the high school I attended) is a good idea because not every school has carts and carts of Macbooks to let their teachers use. Granted- this high school has about 1,200 students in it so obviously they get more money from the state itself. But that is not the only method the school pays for stuff.
Almost all the students (except for a small population) have internet at home. Some have their own Macbooks that they bring to school with them (idk why).
My placement has a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy in place so students have their cell phones out during class and it doesn't seem to cause a problem. Most of them just check it real quick between activities or if they finish early- less strict than my grad classes- i'll say that. I have only noticed it become distracting a couple times but its never been bad. I think its a good gradual introduction to college life- since most of these students are tracked to go to a 4-year institution.
CONCLUSION: I do not know if this technology is a good thing or a bad thing. Somedays I miss the use of encyclopedias and typewriters that only typed. What about dictionaries? OMG THEY EXIST?
Edudemic.com
So as part of an assignment we had to look at an edublog [Blog about education]. I chose Edudemic. The only thing I can say is MIND BLOWN! This blog has everything a teacher could possibly need for their classroom. There are blogs that are reviews of the best laptops for teachers, tablets for students, etc. In addition to tips and posts about using technology for the sake of learning and not just games in the classroom. This blog is made of posts by several different people- so its not the blog of one single educator. This factor, I think, is important because I think it means that you're getting quality information that more than one person thought was relavent to the field of education technology, you can actually submit a blog and have it reviewed and perhaps posted. This blog mainly focuses on the connection of education and technology so I think I'll be bookmarking this blog for later use for sure.
Some of the really interesting articles that I have read on the page so far:
A kindergarten teacher in China used an immersion iPad project with her students so they could draw themselves as superheros in this blog titled "Incredibly Immersive iPad Project Makes Students Into Superheroes."
This blog titled How To Use Scaffolding For Deeper Understanding is quite interesting as well considered the stuff we've discussed in our program thus far.
One thing I also liked about this blog is that there are tabs for students and teachers. A little something for everyone! Which is why I couldn't pick one blog post to talk about because they're all so awesome. I hope you all check the site out-its quite fabulous.
Some of the really interesting articles that I have read on the page so far:
A kindergarten teacher in China used an immersion iPad project with her students so they could draw themselves as superheros in this blog titled "Incredibly Immersive iPad Project Makes Students Into Superheroes."
This blog titled How To Use Scaffolding For Deeper Understanding is quite interesting as well considered the stuff we've discussed in our program thus far.
One thing I also liked about this blog is that there are tabs for students and teachers. A little something for everyone! Which is why I couldn't pick one blog post to talk about because they're all so awesome. I hope you all check the site out-its quite fabulous.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Flippin' the script on Education
Creative title right!?
Today we were privy to the inter workings of the mind of Jonathan Thomas-Palmer, a fellow Wolverine and the founder of FlippingPhysics. "Flipping" a classroom is something that I had never heard of until one of my students (I am currently student teaching at a 1,200 student high school outside of Ann Arbor) mentioned that their Calculus class (I think) is a flipped classroom. I had to stop the student and ask them, "Hey! What does that mean?" And I was then that old person in the room who didn't know why something was funny or how to use the surround sound in the room (Yes, that happened like three weeks ago when my mentor was absent. Darned hardware had too many knobs!)
Let's. Move. On.
The concept of flipping a classroom is one that I think is really interesting that I would like to learn more about specifically how it can be used in a French classroom. Vanderbilt University provides a fantastic definition and concept summary of classroom flipping if you are not familiar with the idea. Essentially, students get the traditional "lecture" type information at home by watching a video and then spend class time doing the homework, labs, etc.
After I got home from my 13 hour day I googled "Flipped Classroom, French" and got quite a few results. Many teachers that are flipping their classrooms are writing blogs about it in addition to the hours and hours they probably spend making videos and other nifty stuff for their students. Mme Burton's blog can be found here. She even has a video on the home page to parents so they can learn a little bit about their child's classroom.
Flippin' French
I think the main way to flip a French classroom would be to use the videos to teach grammar, vocabulary, and culture and use class time for interpersonal dialogues and group discussions about topics in addition to students asking questions of course. My only questions are: Will students actually watch the videos? Will they complete notes and be prepared for class? At what point in a student's education does the student take responsibility for their learning?
Flipping a classroom is handing the responsibility of learning to the student-which is why I sort of think flipping a classroom is best for juniors and seniors or lower grade students that are on the fast track to an early diploma or something. I also think that sometimes students just don't care and you will have those students who will not do the homework regardless of what it is.
However, that being said- I love the idea. <3
Today we were privy to the inter workings of the mind of Jonathan Thomas-Palmer, a fellow Wolverine and the founder of FlippingPhysics. "Flipping" a classroom is something that I had never heard of until one of my students (I am currently student teaching at a 1,200 student high school outside of Ann Arbor) mentioned that their Calculus class (I think) is a flipped classroom. I had to stop the student and ask them, "Hey! What does that mean?" And I was then that old person in the room who didn't know why something was funny or how to use the surround sound in the room (Yes, that happened like three weeks ago when my mentor was absent. Darned hardware had too many knobs!)
Let's. Move. On.
The concept of flipping a classroom is one that I think is really interesting that I would like to learn more about specifically how it can be used in a French classroom. Vanderbilt University provides a fantastic definition and concept summary of classroom flipping if you are not familiar with the idea. Essentially, students get the traditional "lecture" type information at home by watching a video and then spend class time doing the homework, labs, etc.
After I got home from my 13 hour day I googled "Flipped Classroom, French" and got quite a few results. Many teachers that are flipping their classrooms are writing blogs about it in addition to the hours and hours they probably spend making videos and other nifty stuff for their students. Mme Burton's blog can be found here. She even has a video on the home page to parents so they can learn a little bit about their child's classroom.
Flippin' French
I think the main way to flip a French classroom would be to use the videos to teach grammar, vocabulary, and culture and use class time for interpersonal dialogues and group discussions about topics in addition to students asking questions of course. My only questions are: Will students actually watch the videos? Will they complete notes and be prepared for class? At what point in a student's education does the student take responsibility for their learning?
Flipping a classroom is handing the responsibility of learning to the student-which is why I sort of think flipping a classroom is best for juniors and seniors or lower grade students that are on the fast track to an early diploma or something. I also think that sometimes students just don't care and you will have those students who will not do the homework regardless of what it is.
However, that being said- I love the idea. <3
Monday, October 21, 2013
Technology^50
Part 1
So thus far in the semester we have learned from about a million technology related things that we could use in our classrooms but I can't help but ask myself, "Why is this technology SO much better than an ole' fashioned paper and pencil?"
Whelp. I am not quite sure. I am very interested in using technology in the classroom but I don't want to use it just for the sake of using it.
Moving on,
Last Thursday Liz Kolb came and talked to us about many tools that she uses and how technology got her interested in school and in actually doing her assignments. That reason right there is reason enough for me to incorporate technology into my classroom in some fashion or another. Depending on the resources available to my students at home I love the idea of them having a blog or at least some sort of online presence in the class on a regular basis. After hearing about Fakebook and the educational uses of Facebook (which I hadn't really thought about since I am so familiar- unfortunately- with the interface) I would definitely like to incorporate those into the class as well. I would like my students to feel my presence outside the classroom and not just for the 55 minute period daily. I think that if technology use in my class can get students interested in the assignment then it might just get them interested in the class itself. Especially in a World Language class I think the many different technologies we have talked about so far could be incredibly useful. In a program where little is WL focused- technology is not included in that category. If anything I think it could be the most WL applicable because we can use it for audio and for our students to hear native/near-native speakers as we are doing now to prepare for the OPI.
I think a lot of the stuff that Liz Kolb shared with us was awesome and her story of how technology got her interested and bringing it to a personal level is something that technology could do for that ONE student, in the same boat she was in. However, at the same time technology can also be incredibly alienating if a student does not have internet access or even a computer at home because his/her family cannot afford internet or a computer. How will that student feel? What about the students that are less familiar with the technology? How will they learn how to use it if we don't present a tutorial during class? What if they're the only student that doesn't have that knowledge?
As the end of the last paragraph illustrates, there are a lot of unanswered questions regarding technologies use in the classroom. I think that with time there will be fewer but for now look out.
Part 2
So Fakebook vs. Facebook: Wow. Fakebook is confusing and I was really caught off guard by how customizable but not-customizable it is. You pick a name for your Fakebook page and since its supposed to be a real person, their picture pops up. Or the other way around, if you pick a picture of a famous dead person- their name pops up. I like the idea that you can edit comments and responses but you are creating them and no one else can comment on them at all. That seems like a weird quality to have on a website that people are going to want to show others. I don't quite get that yet. Hopefully it will come to me soon :/
I do like the idea of creating a page for a historical figure (I did Alice Paul- wikipedia her, she's important). I think it will force students to really dig into the persona of a historical figure but everything that student would include on Fakebook about a historical figure can easily be found on their wikipedia page so once again...I like the concept of Fakebook but in real-world application I don't know how useful it would be. Many students would not know how to use it and would most likely be as confused as I was. That is not a reflection on those presenting...I think it was just that Fakebook is weird.
bientôt,
So thus far in the semester we have learned from about a million technology related things that we could use in our classrooms but I can't help but ask myself, "Why is this technology SO much better than an ole' fashioned paper and pencil?"
Whelp. I am not quite sure. I am very interested in using technology in the classroom but I don't want to use it just for the sake of using it.
Moving on,
Last Thursday Liz Kolb came and talked to us about many tools that she uses and how technology got her interested in school and in actually doing her assignments. That reason right there is reason enough for me to incorporate technology into my classroom in some fashion or another. Depending on the resources available to my students at home I love the idea of them having a blog or at least some sort of online presence in the class on a regular basis. After hearing about Fakebook and the educational uses of Facebook (which I hadn't really thought about since I am so familiar- unfortunately- with the interface) I would definitely like to incorporate those into the class as well. I would like my students to feel my presence outside the classroom and not just for the 55 minute period daily. I think that if technology use in my class can get students interested in the assignment then it might just get them interested in the class itself. Especially in a World Language class I think the many different technologies we have talked about so far could be incredibly useful. In a program where little is WL focused- technology is not included in that category. If anything I think it could be the most WL applicable because we can use it for audio and for our students to hear native/near-native speakers as we are doing now to prepare for the OPI.
I think a lot of the stuff that Liz Kolb shared with us was awesome and her story of how technology got her interested and bringing it to a personal level is something that technology could do for that ONE student, in the same boat she was in. However, at the same time technology can also be incredibly alienating if a student does not have internet access or even a computer at home because his/her family cannot afford internet or a computer. How will that student feel? What about the students that are less familiar with the technology? How will they learn how to use it if we don't present a tutorial during class? What if they're the only student that doesn't have that knowledge?
As the end of the last paragraph illustrates, there are a lot of unanswered questions regarding technologies use in the classroom. I think that with time there will be fewer but for now look out.
Part 2
So Fakebook vs. Facebook: Wow. Fakebook is confusing and I was really caught off guard by how customizable but not-customizable it is. You pick a name for your Fakebook page and since its supposed to be a real person, their picture pops up. Or the other way around, if you pick a picture of a famous dead person- their name pops up. I like the idea that you can edit comments and responses but you are creating them and no one else can comment on them at all. That seems like a weird quality to have on a website that people are going to want to show others. I don't quite get that yet. Hopefully it will come to me soon :/
I do like the idea of creating a page for a historical figure (I did Alice Paul- wikipedia her, she's important). I think it will force students to really dig into the persona of a historical figure but everything that student would include on Fakebook about a historical figure can easily be found on their wikipedia page so once again...I like the concept of Fakebook but in real-world application I don't know how useful it would be. Many students would not know how to use it and would most likely be as confused as I was. That is not a reflection on those presenting...I think it was just that Fakebook is weird.
bientôt,
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