More Spanish

Me fascina Flickr, me encanta Google Docs y me gustas tú, Leigh :)

I learned and processed so much in the last couple of days I can’t get the words on the computer screen quick enough.  Let me try and explain what has gone on in class the last few days.  I apologize for the long post that may not be as cohesive as I’d like it to be.

My students, after three years of using and practicing verbs like gustar bombed what was suppose to be a grade boosting quiz.  So I asked my buddy Leigh for suggestions.  She mentioned the song Me gustas tú by Manu Chao, and sent me a couple of wonderful examples of a project her students created using a comic creator site.  I owned the song, but had been hesitant to use it in class (even the edited version) because of the refrain “Me gustas tú”. I didn’t want them to become confused with the use of the verb “gustar” in the tú form, when 99% of the time these verbs are used in the third person.  I placed a few examples from the song on the blackboard, and asked the kids to explain the grammar to me.  A few were able to explain why  “Me gustan los aviones”, and “Me gustas tú” were both grammatically correct.  Then, on their own, some other students came up with “Te gusto” =  You like me & “Les gustas” = They like you.  Bottom line, there is a lot of English interference with this type of construction, and the kids will need to continually practice and use before they stop translating from English into Spanish. 

I modified Leigh’s  gustar project from a comic book to a slide show presentation.  I wanted the kids to learn about Google Docs and Flickr.  I was shocked to find out that in a class of 24-26 students only 2-3 knew what Google Docs were. However, I was hesitant about asking the kids to create yet another account on the Internet since they already have four accounts for my Spanish class. I made it optional.  The kids could create a Powerpoint presentation on Word, or they could do it on Google Docs for a little extra credit.  Only one students chose Powerpoint.  Now that they know how easy and convenient this web 2.0 tool is to use, we can use with future projects. I stand by my theory that my students will cross a river filled with crocodiles for extra credit, but don’t really want to use notecards for 5 minutes a night to reinforce vocabulary. (I know, I know... I am enabling this behavior...)

I have also been observing what motivates certain students.  I’m going to protect the innocent by making a compilation of a few students into two.  Let’s name the first one Paco.  He may not be getting an A in my class (see notecard issue above), but he is talking in Spanish whenever and with whoever will talk back to him.  He wants to read a version of Don Quixote that is appropriate for his language skill just because he is interested. He has figured out how to put accent marks on web pages using laptops, because I asked him to help me. Extra credit never came into any of this (he also was one of the 2-3 kids who used Google Docs before).  

Now let me tell you about Dora.  She is a straight A student.  She only used Flickr because I threw a little extra credit for those who used images from that site instead of a Google image search.  I pointed out what gorgeous images Flickr had to offer her presentation, and she agreed, but still preferred a search on Google because it was quicker.  This image was fine for her instead of this one.  She said she just needed a soccer ball.  Nothing fancy.  Using a Creative Common search added an extra step she didn’t feel was necessary.  She has other classes and commitments, and her time is better spent doing that work.  A soccer ball is just a soccer ball.  

I’m not saying that Tina doesn’t deserve her A.  She does her work, and knows her stuff. She also enjoys talking in Spanish, and does it very well.  But darn it, Paco deserves that A also... I’m figuring out a way to make sure he gets it too...

On self-evaluation with rubrics

Lani one of my mentors in PLP suggested students write their own assessment in order to maximize their motivation.

  

What if your students collaborated to create their own rubrics for projects?

So, I had my students individually write their rubrics on our latest oral report project.  I gave them three areas and asked them to write specific goals.  I wanted them to create a rubric that assessed vocabulary and content in the research piece, general grammar usage in the writing, and the oral component (pronunciation and fluency).  I gave them a total point value, and asked them to distribute points within the three areas as they thought appropriate.

Some observations... 

I have exclusively used rubrics on projects and formal written work; however, a few of my students did not know what a rubric should say.  I was surprised that I needed to pull up an old rubric, and show them how I wrote assessment criteria.  

Some of my students had no idea what I meant by a general grammar assessment.  When I gave examples of verb conjugation and noun adjective agreement, light bulbs went off.  I had always taken for granted the use of this term. 

Some students spent a lot of time talking to each other about how to stack the rubric so that the lowest grade they could get was a C average (not an A, mind you).

Many students wrote rubrics that were very vague, not unlike I did when I first started using rubrics to assess my students. 

Several students made the criteria much more difficult than I would have. “I will only make 2 or 3 grammar mistakes”

One student placed 13 of the 15 points in the oral component, and went on to set up the criteria as “Speaks like a native Spanish speaker.”

Up next...

I plan on having them write a rubric for their next cooperative project.  I will give them four general areas and the point value again.  I will have them write the rubric before they begin the work, and revise it after they finish the project. I’ll look over the rubrics and ask groups who are vague to tweak their rubrics.  Any thoughts or suggestions welcomed since this is very new territory for me. 

Four magic bytes

When my son was younger his pediatrician convinced him he needed to try four bites of all the food on his plate.  He went from a diet of chicken fingers and fruit to calamari and steak, granted he still won’t eat vegetables willingly, but at least he has four bites.  I believe the same four magic bites is applicable when it comes to web 2.0 tools, and I would like to encourage my colleagues to give these tools a chance before writing them off. 

Twitter was one of those tools for me.  I tried it once or twice several months ago.  I could not see a purpose to this social networking tool.  After joining the Social Networking Group on PLP ning, I read this post by Jeff Utecht and gave Twitter another chance, and the magic happened.   I started by looking up Spanish teachers, and found many were not liked by Twitter users, but I also found a little Tweet from an Instructional Technology Coordinator  looking for information for one of his Spanish teachers on Skype. It hit me then.  I can be a resource for others and other people I haven’t met in person can be a resource for me. I actively started growing my personal learning network instead of waiting for it to find me. 

Two months later, I am a poster child for Twitter.  I have met multiple Modern Language teachers from the UK currently using exciting and innovative web 2.0 tools to enhance their language class. I joined an Ning that specializes in using photos for pedagogical purposes. My Twitter buddy in California has helped me with all my accent mark trials and tribulations. An educator and translator in Spain continually sends me great links to anything from online dictionaries to funny videos about language learning. My French teacher friend in the south also has the added advantage of watching (and not spoiling) episodes of Lost. If you notice I have only named some of my online colleagues who teach a foreign language.  I haven’t (and couldn’t) name all the other innovators in education who take time out of their day to share resources, ideas and great links with me on Twitter.

I shudder to think what I would have missed if I hadn’t gone for that fourth bite on Twitter. So I am going to make a deal with myself to keep an open mind about ways to innovate my classroom.  I may find, just like my son did with vegetables, that not all tools or methods are to my liking, but I will at least give them the benefit of the doubt before writing them off.

And the results for Gabcast are in!

Fabulous! I can see myself using this web 2.0 tool. A lot.  I have always struggled with oral work.  The kids feel uncomfortable in front of their peers for an oral evaluation.  Pulling them aside one by one is too time consuming when you have a large class.  My solution Gabcast. This site allows students to call in and record themselves.  I gave them five questions dealing with movies and verbs that use indirect object pronouns.  The student picked three to answer.  They called in and recorded themselves, and now I can listen to them for an oral assessment.  It's online. It's free. I can embed on the blog if I want them to reply/react back. I can even download to my iPod if I want to listen to movie recommendations while running :)
Gabcast! Bell 4 #14

Sunday, February 15, 2009

I wanted to follow up with some thoughts on grading the Gabcast homework.  The online features with this service make it pretty easy to grade.  I created a separate channel for each of my classes, so I could organize my recordings and be more efficient. The biggest problem I had grading this assignment was the students who did not identify themselves during the recording (about 1/4 of each class). I will publish the recordings in their class wiki & the kids without a grade can find themselves and tell me what recording number they are.  On the side of my gradebook, I gave a grade for each of the anonymous recordings (with their corresponding episode number), so I don't have to go back and listen to them. None of the episodes are labeled (other than given a number) when the students record, so it is necessary when you have a large number of recordings on one channel to give a couple a tag or title for ease of reference. The first class took the longest to grade because it was my first time doing this activity. By the time I got my system down, a class with 26 episodes about 40 seconds long each took about 30 minutes. This grading does not lend itself to any kind of multitasking.  I really had to focus and give it my full attention to get done quickly. I like the fact that I could do this assessment outside of class.  The same type of evaluation would have taken a lot longer to do in class because of class room management multitasking.  The recordings themselves are clear and easy to hear, unless the student recorded in a loud and busy location.

March 7, 2009

An update to this post that I really didn't want to make:

Since I tried this out with my students, Gabcast has changed the terms of their service agreement.  The service is still free for those who would like to set up a podcast with a mic & computer, but sadly, the ability to post a cast through a phone will cost now.

Some thoughts on reading and writing online

My reading methods class best prepared me to teach. I learned some students needed to be coached on how to vary their reading style depending on the medium. Last weekend, I was talking to a friend who is a very thorough reader about all the wonderful resources for teachers in the form of blogs, and she was frustrated she couldn’t keep up with the reading.  Later on, I realized, although she is a good reader, she is applying  the same type of reading skills she used during graduate school to the blogs on her RSS feed. She hadn’t adapted her reading skills for the skimming and scanning  necessary on some internet pages. The opposite holds true for some of my students. Many are expert scanners, but don’t read information for detail. They are used to skimming, picking up key words and moving on to the next link. 

In an interview with Wired magazine, Maggie Jackson, author of Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age, talks about how the digital world is changing our brain.  Jackson says there are studies that show how the environment shapes brain development in kids. The kind of reading material my students have been exposed to largely determines the kind of reader they are.  As a teacher I need to be aware of two things.  First, I do not have the same kind of reader in my classroom I had ten years ago. Second, my methods class on reading is even more important now, because there is a wider variety of written media out there for kids to sort through, and they may not naturally know how to vary their reading style to fit the medium.

I see some of the same issues with their writing.  They write a lot. They text, and journal, and post to Face Book, but many of my students don’t naturally go back to edit or revise.  Because of the multitasking environment they live in, they chose not to go back and look over their work. In an informal medium like a social network site, that is quite appropriate, however, in a more formal medium like a blog or wiki, editing and proofreading is needed. 

In the last couple of days, my students made me realize I need to be more proactive in my approach to the quality of reading and writing my students do.  The class was working on two separate tasks. One group was reading what is quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs for class, while the second group recorded a Voicethread presentation.  Many students approached the blog as a scan and skim activity, to the point they didn’t read the follow up questions, and neglected to respond fully to them.  Some of the students read the blog, and answered the follow up questions quite thoroughly, but they published their reply without editing.  Today I pointed out the different types of reading, giving them examples of when scanning is the best way to approach a web page, and when a closer reading would be a better tactic.   We also talked about quick writing and polished writing.  I’m going to encourage and provide my students the opportunity to read and respond to blogs and discussion threads, but for the next few weeks, I will ask them to be mindful of the kind of reading and writing they are doing.  My hope is this practice will help them discern the appropriate reading and writing skills they need to use.

El día de San Valentín

Today I read a tweet from annebcw that requested ideas for Valentine's Day. That is when I looked at my calender and realized that Feb 14 is a week away. A couple years ago we were working on a unit in Spanish I that involved family members and adjectives. I came up with a list of famous couples that my students might know (Cinderella & Prince Charming, Lucy & Desi, Marge & Homer Simpson, etc). I put the names on sticky mailing labels & when each student came in, I put a label on their back. Their goal was to find their "match". They could ask all kinds of questions in Spanish (except for ¿Cómo me llamo? or ¿Quién soy?) Their classmates could answer their question, but not reveal their identity. Because I never have an even number of boy to girl ratio, the name on their back did not reflect their specific gender. I saw a post on FL Teach this week with some suggestions. I'll do my best to find it and link it also. How about you? Any fun ideas that will get them talking in the target language on Valentine's Day?

Podcasts for intermediate level

Another great find that was brought to my attention through FL Teach was Notes in Spanish.

I heard podcast #32 which was about Facebook.  The speakers enunciate well and speak slowly.  The topics look very interesting.  I'm not sure what I will do with these yet, but I wanted to pass the information on.  Feel free to leave ideas on how to follow up with a podcast with students.  I did notice that there were worksheets for sale that relate back to the podcasts.

Cooperative short story writing

One of my favorite activities this year with the wiki was a short story assignment my Spanish III students did on our class wiki. I was trying to figure out how to do a writing project that practiced editing skills, and my colleague suggested a cooperative story. The grammar focus was preterite vs imperfect, and the vocabulary was disaster related (floods, fires, earthquakes, paramedics, etc).  I assigned the groups randomly so that no two students were in the same class (that way we avoided problems loading the wiki page at the same time & it allowed the students to use the discussion thread feature).   The students wrote directly on the wiki in Spanish.  They had to write a minimun number of sentences the first day & the second day at the computer lab, they had to make corrections on each other's work.  They could delete sentences & add more to make the story more cohesive. They were given credit for each step of the process. They were also graded on how well they comunicated with each other on the thread (I allowed them to use English  there). 
Please check here and here for some examples of their work. If you go here you will see an example of a successful discussion thread.

 

You can find the rubric I used, and the self-evaluation the kids used for themselves and each other here.

Breaking down walls

My young teenage son is obsessed with Pink Floyd.  He learned to play “Wish You Were Here” on his guitar and we finally allowed him to see The Wall.  We spent our snow day morning talking about the movie, well, more like me listening as he explained and analyzed the movie.    He liked how the images in the movie had a double meaning.  The hammers built things, but they also destroyed them.  The wall protected, but it also was a symbol of isolation.  His analysis of the movie was a synthesis of several days’ research .  He found sites and interviews and experts who had their own opinion of the music and movie.  He is our 21st century learner.

I appreciate how he takes responsibility for his learning.  He finds information from all sorts of different venues: books, magazines, his teachers, his friends and, of course, the web.  He knows that there is a wealth of information at his finger tips, and he seems to know how to get to it.   (Just for the record, I spend my fair share of time worrying about what he might run across.) However, what struck me after our conversation about The Wall  was that he needed to do something with this information in order to process it.  He needed to talk to someone about how the images and the music worked well together, but how the images, by themselves, were sometimes just creepy. He still isn’t sure what parts of the story are the protagonist’s hallucinations and which parts really occurred.  He still is unsure of what to make of the last scene when the wall comes down, anarchy or liberation? 

So that leads me to think about the figurative walls in my classroom.  How do I get my students to be so interested in Spanish, that they will be motivated to seek out what they need to make their learning relative and productive?  How can I shift my lesson plans, so that I am a facilitator and not a dictator of curriculum? What walls need to come down?  What systems and processes need to be built up to make it the best learning environment?  As teachers and learners we have some very powerful tools on the web.  How can we make the most effective use of them?  How can our students pursue their individual interests while the course objectives are still met? 

Being on the edge of this shift has been very energizing for me, but it has also been very frustrating.  Many times, I have more questions than answers.  I’ve never been a “think-outside-the-box” kind of person, yet I find that I have to continue to push myself to see how my classroom may benefit from changes in procedure.  I will need to change the way I assess my students to something that is unfamiliar, but that will still make them accountable. I don’t even know what that looks like yet.  So, I too, am doing what my son does.  I’m gathering information from blogs, from my Twitter network and my Ning colleagues.  I’m processing the sample lesson plans and assessment options available to me in the hope that I may also be able to give back and share ideas with others, who are also trying to build new procedures that make sense for our time, and replace systems that no longer work in the 21st century.  

txting en espñol

Here is a short list of text shortcuts in Spanish from FL Teach, just for fun or combined with a phone mini-lesson.

stoy           Estoy
tmb             También
l               El/la
mñn             Mañana
hno/hma hermana
bss             besos
100pre  Siempre
ac              Hace
aki             Aquí
asdc            Al salir de clase
bbr             To drink
c               Sé, se
finde           Fin de semana
fsta            Fiesta
qt1bd           Que tengas un buen día
hl              Hasta luego
kntm            Cuéntame
kyat            Cállate
m1ml            Mándame un mensaje luego
q acs?  ¿Qué haces?
q risa  ¡ Qué risa!
salu2           Saludos
tqi             Tengo que irme
tas ok? ¿Estás bien?
xfa             Por favor
xq              Por qué, porque
ymam,         llámame

ymm

For a more comprehensive list check out this site.