Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Podcasts

Sooooo, podcasts...
Has great potential for the classroom. Students can create conversations, share information and tips, follow directions, develop activities all on line, in and outside the classroom. As usual, the key is where to start and what will be a good first activity that will be simple enough to create while still being engaging and of value to the student. So, more research is required followed by some practice. Andee, what are you thinking about? Let me know...

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Follow up on Wikis

So, after talking with Deb and Connie (gracias) I'm looking to set up a wiki for my level 4 short story "La Cruz del Diablo". I'm thinking about all the papers I hand out and have students work on. There's a vocab sheet, a character sheet, a places sheet, chapter summaries and gists, and a classroom generated graphic organizer. So rather than having all this in seperate sheets why not post it to a wiki where everyone can contribute, update, and have access to the information. I can assign a chapter to each group to summarize and comment on. Students can post vocab descriptions and character resumees for other to see and use, and it's all right there for me to monitor. Depending on graphic capabilities, we can even do the final project on line!!
I need to set up a "pilot program"...
Ok, Wikis!
A collaborative website for the classroom. What is the content and how do you monitor it?! It could be very useful for group projects especially for students who can't get together outside of the school day. They can post and edit work from home. The teacher's job can be that of coordinator / facilitator and overseer. So what exactly does one get started? Something small and useful. What are the graphic capabilities? Is it more like a Word document of a Publisher doc?
Andee, what are your thoughts?

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Web Site

Sooooo, is a web site the way to go. I like the concept of one-stop shopping for my students and one-stop editing/creating for me. So if I have a web site where I post homework do I still need to post on Homework Now?
If I think of a web page as an interactive bulletin board then what goes on it? I can post class info, contact info, pictures, calender, homework, links... then what?
I need to do more research, see what other are doing and how can I adapt it to my needs?

Shared attention

Ok, so for those of you not up on world futbol events, the Champions League kicks of today and my team, Atletico Madrid is currently playing. So if you hear me hell GOALLLLL!!! any time within the next two hours just ignore me...
Steve and Connie, I promise that I will be diligent and attentive to my tech duties today... Welcome to the world of multi tasking!!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Cool stuff

Ok, so as usual there are a ton of things that I can imagine doing with voicethread in Spanish. From sixth grade basics to level 4 analysis and commentary. The ability to have students practice speech outside of class is invaluable. There are so many options that it is simply overwhelming! The only obstacle is getting started; making sure that all students have an account; deciding what my goal will be and deciding on an image; implementing and then wraping it all up?
Yet, this has soooo much potential to be a class pleaser!

obstacles!!

So, the bell goes at 2:15 and the kids take their time leaving the classroom (can you believe it!!!). Finally the last kid without a life leaves and I grab my stuff (all of it I hope) for tomorrow and run out the door. Students, backpacks, detritus, and other teachers block my way. Avoid eye contact! Keep moving! I made it to the stair case and there it happens... "Sr Coll I need to talk with you about Maria..."
So I make it out of the building at 2:30 and fight traffic across town. Stuck behind, of all things, a school bus!!! So, I made it before 3:00...
Do I remember anything? Well I'm happy I remembered I had class!!
So, we ready for this? I am, bring it on!!
Henry

Thursday, August 20, 2009

I wonder...

This thought started as my response to Steve and Connie's post. I thought I would share it with everyone. With all these different tools in different places should I just have a website? Sr Coll's site? I could have a main page with general info and sub pages for each class where activities, homework, and links can be posted. Sound like a lot of work to build and then maintain. I have all it takes just to update homeworknow. But in an effort to centralize and standardize information, a website might be the way to go - or at least something to grow into...
OK, on a side bar... we have this debate on the spelling of standardize or standardise. What do y'all think? Let me know and I'll pass on the results to Deb and Lynne.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Soooooo much

I love delicious but there is just sooooo much stuff on it. It's a full time job just plowing through it to find all those wonderful gold ingots that are in there, somewhere...
Learning how to narrow your search and collaboration with peers will be very important. So let me know if you find cool sites out there that you think I could use.
Gracias!

Dia tres

OK, so my head is full of this tech stuff. I'm to the point that as something comes in something else gets pushed out. And we have two more days to go!
I really hope to get a chance to work on an igoogle page. It seems to me that the more stuff I can have in one place the better. Kinda like one stop shopping!
Veremos...

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Interesting Spanish link

Check out this site. It has some useful activities and info.
Spanish Culture
Happy blogging!

Que lio!!

OK, so I'm liking this idea of a Reader. The big issue will be filtering through all the stuff that's coming in. I need to be more selective about what I subscribe to in the future. Once again, we are trying to figure out what is relevant and useful and what is not all without spending the whole day on it. Not easy but it's a start...
How about the IGoogle thing? Or is it MyGoogle?
Quien sabe!

Dia dos

My main hope for the day is to be on the beach by 1:05...
But, since we have a few hour before that, I hope to get to the bottom of this RSS thing! Maybe explore that I Google option. It would be nice to have everything in one place.
Veremos...
H

Monday, August 17, 2009

Recording devices in the classroom?

I've always told my students that what happen in the classroom stays in the classroom. Well, after reading the post on "Spies" I realize how wrong (once again) I was. The use of electronic devices as miniature recorders has brought down the walls of privacy in the classroom. Students can now secretly record what happens in the room. OK, so what? I have nothing to hide... do I? But what happens when the truth is edited and presented out of context? Are we concerned now?
It becomes a matter of responsibility and accountability. But who is responsible and how will they be held accountable. What are the values and ethics of technology use in the classroom and how do they extend beyond the walls of our school into the community? How do we teach social responsibility in the 21st century?