EdTech & Web 2.0 in the World Language Classroom Day 2

Today was my second day at the MACUL '16 Conference and I my focus for today was to learn more about newer topics as I tend to pick sessions I have an interest in and then don't learn as  much.  For the most part, I was successful as I learned new ways to help my students connect and collaborate with the world at large.

My first session was a keynote called "Let Them Be Heard... Givings Our Students a Voice" with Shannon Miller, renowned Teacher Media Specialist. Instead of focusing on the how-to of technology, which is what usually interests me, her keynote presentation was much more of a anthropological discussion about the impact of giving students a voice.  Shannon's approach to having students use social media tech tools (Skype, Twitter, etc) to engage with authors changed the way they interacted with the world.  

Thank you @shannonmmiller for some great ways to empower our students! #macul16 pic.twitter.com/x1VVvNmaE9

— Angie Saylor (@AngieSaylor) March 11, 2016

Watching Shannon's students interacting with easy-to-access tools left me wondering why I shouldn't be engaging my students with Spanish-speaking people and different cultures in a similar way. Why shouldn't I do that?! It wouldn't cost me anything to do so and we have the technology on hand.  Using Twitter, it shouldn't be particularly difficult to find people with whom to connect on Skype.  Moreover, chatting with students in Latin America would be the perfect way to have my students interact with the world and hit ACTFL World-Readiness Standard 5:

I spent the rest of the day redesigning my session selections with hopes of finding tools to connect my kids with world. Luckily, one of the options was with the amazing Leslie Fisher.  I'd already seen much of her "Web 2.0 Tools You Might Not Know About" session last August, but there were a few new items that peaked my interest. Last year, after her session, I immediately implemented SeeSaw, EdPuzzle, Go Formative, and Quizizz and I LOVE using them with my students. (Blog posts to follow about each of these tools)

 

One of the new 2.0 tools Leslie demonstrated is called Appear.In.  Basically, it allows you to video conference, but in a way somehow cooler than with Google Hangouts or Skype. I'll be playing with it more in the future in and I'll get back to you, but I'm basically planning to have my kids use it for interpersonal speaking practice hopefully with a native speaker. Tracy, our awesome media specialist, volunteered to help me test it out.

In the meantime, however, I decided to make a fool of myself and get called out by Leslie in front of at least 500 people by taking a picture of myself as I appeared on Leslie's projected Appear.In video conference. See photo below for the embarrassing evidence.

Can't wait to use @appear_in w/ Ss for interpersonal speaking. #macul16 #wlteach #spanishteachers @lesliefisher pic.twitter.com/BuQmsYT5h3

— Spanish w/ Sra. Shaw (@SraShawSpanish) March 11, 2016

Before she wrapped up, Leslie talked briefly about Google Tour Builder.  I've used a much-loved Google Maps lesson for years with my 7th graders, but when I used my lesson last fall, it was a fail because of some Google-based technical issues.  I haven't really played with it since, but my kids always loved immersing themselves in language and geography of Mexico City and Oaxaca.  Watching Leslie demo Google Tour Builder motivated me to bring this lesson back in a cool new way.

What I really like about Google Tour Builder is that instead of just wandering around aimlessly on Google Maps Streetview, Tour Builder makes the experience much more streamlined and organized. I've only played with it for 20 minutes and I'm already halfway through what I hope will be a much more engaging lesson to explore México D.F.  Here are some of my favorite Tour Builder features:

• Guide students to a list of locations you want them to visit. 
• Add directions, annotations, and comments for each location if desired. I think this is great for helping students know what you want them to do in each location.
• Import photos and videos for each location from Google, YouTube, or upload your own.

If you're doing a city unit or just want to get your kids acquainted with México D.F., feel free to check out the TourBuilder lesson I created. I'll be making an accompanying handout this week and I'll link here as soon as I'm done. Below is an image of my new Tour Builder link.

EdTech & Web 2.0 in the World Language Classroom Day 1

As any of my colleagues, family, or friends will tell you, I'm a complete technology junkie.  It's true in my personal life (much to my husband's dismay), but nothing is better than when I get to combine tech with my love of education, curriculum, and, of course, world language instruction. On any given day, my students and I probably use more than a handful of tools both inside and outside the classroom, but learning about a few more is always exciting.

I plan to write a blog post at a later date about how I gradually fell in love with educational and instructional technology, but for right now, I thought I'd write about all of the awesome tools I'm learning about right now while at the MACUL (Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning) annual conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I'm here with four of my favorite colleagues and I'm loving the opportunity to immerse myself with almost 5,000 fellow educators who share a common interest.

This morning's keynote speaker was Jaime Casap, Chief Education Evangelist at Google. First of all, how cool is that job title?! Chief evangelist?! Awesome. Besides having an incredible job title, Jaime's presentation got me thinking about the way I view and use technology in my classroom and the way I ask kids to use their tools. I loved the way he presented his message about the implications of technology on the futures of our students and even though I try to stay relevant with technology, that I need to use the tools they are using.  Perhaps my favorite quote to put it in perspective was this:

 

After the keynote, I attended a session called Twitter for Power Users with  Leslie Fisher, all-knowing tech guru. Last August, I had the opportunity to attend four of her sessions and I immediately implemented many of the tools she introduced (most notably SeeSaw and Go Formative).  I don't consider myself a master of Twitter by any means, but I got a lot better after last fall after learning that Twitter is THE place for professional development for teachers. My favorite, as a Spanish teacher, is #Langchat, but Leslie told us that there are over 180 educator chats that occur every week. If you haven't checked out a chat, Twitter might just be the best PD venue you didn't know existed.  Plus, if you're like me and crave constant professional growth, you can connect with like-minded colleagues both locally and around the world.  Next week, I plan to virtually attend my state chat, #MichED, to hear what my fellow Michigander teachers are talking about. 

 

After a luncheon with the Multimedia Special Interest Group (MACUL SIG-MM), I went to a session entitled, "Never Buy Another Posterboard: Digital Creation and Publishing." Even though sometimes I feel like I flood my 8th grade students with tech, I still do posters and I'm dying to move away from them for the most part. For instance, I teach 6th grade 8 times throughout the year and I am completely over my classroom being taken over by family tree posters every nine weeks. I've replaced some of my projects with Padlet assessments, so when I found out about a similar tool called Linoit today, my attention was peaked. At first glance, Linoit looks very similar to Padlet, but there appears to be an emphasis on incorporating audio and video into the digital poster.

The other thing that struck me in the digital creation session was ThingLink.  I learned about it last summer and thought it would have implications for WL classrooms, but totally forgot about.  Basically, it allows you to take any image(s) and add audio, video, text, hyperlinks, and more to it to make the graphic come alive. I think this would be so cool for classroom activities and even presentational speaking assessments.  Here's one I found that would be perfect for my 7th grade or even beginning 8th grade units.  Just click the images to make them come alive and keep in mind you can embed both audios and video.  

¿Cómo es? 

All in all, my first day of MACUL 2016 was a both motivating and interesting, but perhaps the best part was being surrounded by people who are as excited about educational technology as I am.  After a long (and slightly overwhelming) day of learning, my four coworkers and I headed to Brewery Vivant to try new foods and drinks (including a bone marrow appetizer with bread) and discuss the best of everything we learned.  Technology and fun colleagues are a great combination, especially when paired with delicious culinary experiences. Stayed tuned for the next blog entry about day 2.