Dream It: A technology based grant proposal for transformative learning
Backwards Design
I used the Backwards Design template to help brainstorm my ideas for the Dream IT project. I really enjoy using this model because it helps you to identify your desired results from the start! Then it makes you think and find evidence to support your results. Lastly, you can plan lesson and activities that best fit learners' needs.
i-Images
Connect with communication.
Connect with each other.
Connect with the world.
Connect with each other.
Connect with the world.
The Description
A Spanish classroom of 35 students can makes it challenging to individually communicate with native speakers within the classroom and the community. My Spanish students at Clarkston Junior High School struggle with their speaking skills and transferring their knowledge of verb conjugations and vocabulary into speech. I’d love to see my students use Movie Maker, iMovie, or Audacity to create meaningful conversations where they’re effectively communicating with native speakers in the Clarkston community. This will be difficult but possible with the TPACK framework and a dream!
My dream is to see the transformation of students from scared to speaking with confidence in Spanish. The key activity I would integrate is interviews with technology. What do you do on the phone? Ask how someone’s doing. On Facebook? Ask about someone’s weekend. In person? The same thing! You’re not actually interviewing, but you’re having a conversation by asking and answering questions! Conversational skills are a key component to learning a language and technology will help address these problems because students will practice in class then apply it to authentic scenarios. I’ll be evaluating a video presentation or podcast of the student and native speaker from the community while assessing their speaking skills, cultural interactions, and creativity with their choice of technology.
My dream is to see the transformation of students from scared to speaking with confidence in Spanish. The key activity I would integrate is interviews with technology. What do you do on the phone? Ask how someone’s doing. On Facebook? Ask about someone’s weekend. In person? The same thing! You’re not actually interviewing, but you’re having a conversation by asking and answering questions! Conversational skills are a key component to learning a language and technology will help address these problems because students will practice in class then apply it to authentic scenarios. I’ll be evaluating a video presentation or podcast of the student and native speaker from the community while assessing their speaking skills, cultural interactions, and creativity with their choice of technology.
The Transformation
The transformation of knowing to understanding is a difficult process that takes time, effort, motivation, and authentic learning. I envision my students knowing how to conjugate verbs, understanding how to use them to communicate with native speakers, and using their technology skills to communicate in and outside of the classroom.
The Michigan World Language Standards and Benchmarks requires students to be novice high after meeting a two-credit graduation requirement. (Michigan Department of Education, 2007) To do this, teachers must take students with zero skills and transform them to novice high speakers through Communication, Culture, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities.
Application, empathy, and self-knowledge are the most important facets of understanding to my teaching and students. (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998) Students connect with each other through communication in a second language when they apply their skills and knowledge to real life scenarios. Students will have to show empathy to native speakers as they may have a different culture and background. Lastly, students need to have self-knowledge to understand that they’re limited in what they can say in Spanish, which may cause a language barrier. Students will need to have an understanding of their skill level of Movie Maker/iMovie or Audacity in order to know which program is the best for them.
Technology can be a fun and motivating way for students to be able to increase their cultural awareness and improve their Spanish speaking skills and confidence. The final assessment will be the interview presentation to assess effectively communicate with the native speaker. Due to the schools’ curriculum, I will do a formal oral assessment as an interview (between the teacher and student) including questions that students used in their presentations. The role of technology in the assessment will be to see if students can properly and creatively use the tools to present their interview.
The Michigan World Language Standards and Benchmarks requires students to be novice high after meeting a two-credit graduation requirement. (Michigan Department of Education, 2007) To do this, teachers must take students with zero skills and transform them to novice high speakers through Communication, Culture, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities.
Application, empathy, and self-knowledge are the most important facets of understanding to my teaching and students. (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998) Students connect with each other through communication in a second language when they apply their skills and knowledge to real life scenarios. Students will have to show empathy to native speakers as they may have a different culture and background. Lastly, students need to have self-knowledge to understand that they’re limited in what they can say in Spanish, which may cause a language barrier. Students will need to have an understanding of their skill level of Movie Maker/iMovie or Audacity in order to know which program is the best for them.
Technology can be a fun and motivating way for students to be able to increase their cultural awareness and improve their Spanish speaking skills and confidence. The final assessment will be the interview presentation to assess effectively communicate with the native speaker. Due to the schools’ curriculum, I will do a formal oral assessment as an interview (between the teacher and student) including questions that students used in their presentations. The role of technology in the assessment will be to see if students can properly and creatively use the tools to present their interview.
The Total Package
Context
I teach Spanish at Clarkston Junior High School in Clarkston, Michigan with close to 1,300 8th and 9th graders. Students are required to take two consecutive years of a foreign language. Our school offers Spanish, French, German, and Japanese with Spanish being the most taken language. I teach two sections of Spanish 1 and two sections of Spanish 2 ranging in class size from 30-40 students and 72 minute periods. Majority of my class is made up of general education students with a handful of special education students (on average 5-10 students per class) who receive different types of support depending on the individual circumstance. My focus for the dream it project will be my two Spanish 2 classes.
My school has 5 computers labs and 3 laptop carts which book up quickly. The computers are older and the laptops are a year old with built in cameras & microphones, but without Microsoft Office. I mention this because if you get your class in the computer lab then switch to the laptops the next day, you need to make sure your students are using Google Drive or they will not have access to their files. The Media Center is equipped with cameras, flip cameras, headsets, doc cameras, and all teachers have a ceiling projector in their classrooms.
Content
My classes have a TV, Movies, and News Unit in which the main concepts are demonstrative adjectives, preterit stem-changing verbs, and entertainment vocabulary. The skills students should demonstrate by the end of the unit include discussing current events, asking for and giving information, and talking about past events. Students are assessed by vocabulary, grammar, and oral quizzes and a common assessment.
I want my students to have a more authentic learning experience by using technology to speak with a native speaker to practice asking and giving information in an interview format. Students will use the entertainment vocabulary with the past tense to communicate with a native speaker in the community. In class, they’ll discuss ways they should communicate culturally and how to use technology by creating a video presentation or podcast that will take place inside and outside of class. I will review Internet safety and the benefits of effectively using technology to connect with the Spanish speaking population in the Clarkston community.
Many times students can ace a matching quiz or conjugation on a verb, but have difficulty using the content together. Learning the preterit tense is often difficult for learners because they have the misconception that the present tense conjugation rules apply to the preterit causing them to stem change incorrectly. Students often feel the lowest confidence in their speaking skills based off of previous pre/post-test given. This previous data that leads me to believe that students will struggle with their speaking skills and this may be improved through authentic learning.
Technology
The technology that is best suited for my problem is software that can be used for increasing communication such as Google Hangouts, audio voice tools (Twisted Wave, Sound Cloud, and Voicethread, Audacity), movie making tools (Movie Maker, iMovie), laptops/computers, and other smart devices (iPad, iPod, smartphones).
Our curriculum map states that the technology expectations of the unit are PowerPoint presentations, audio and video tools, & Internet based instructional resources. The technology I chose is better because PowerPoint only has the vocabulary word with a picture and it’s not used in context rather than rote learning. Therefore, the learner can generally only perform well on matching quizzes and not oral quizzes. Using tools like audacity to record interviews uses authentic learning and conversational Spanish. Whereas an audio CD recordings or video of native speakers helps the learner’s hearing skills, but they’re still not communicating.
Google Hangouts, Flipcams, or Sound Cloud allows learners to record and replay conversations. They can learn from their mistakes, re-listen as many times as needed to themselves and the native speaker. Lastly, programs like Movie Maker, iMovie, and Audacity allows students to take their conversation and create an interview like a news broadcaster or journalist while using their skills contextually. They’re using technology to create something fun and innovative and their Spanish speaking skills and vocabulary to communicate with a native speaker in an authentic learning environment.
Pedagogy
The pedagogical approaches that will work best given my content area and technology choices are scaffolding, prompting/fading, showing students examples, group and pair work, and individual work.
I would begin by showing students examples of an interview video and podcast that I conducted with a native speaker. I would point out positive and negative aspects of what to do while communicating with a native and the dos and don’ts of making a video/podcast. I want to give students the choice of making a movie or podcast. Next, I would give students prompts of possible questions to ask then go over them as a class. Later, I’d have students work in groups of 4 creating their own questions to ask their interviewees. I would help the groups then have them split into pairs asking their questions and switching partners every 2-3 minutes. I would fade out from helping the students and have them pick their top 6-8 questions to ask. Lastly, on their own students would be conducting the interview then creating their final product. I would use scaffolding and differentiated instruction while teaching the different technologies. Some students have used Movie Maker in 8th grade and will need to transfer information from long-term memory into working memory whereas other students it’ll be brand new.
These pedagogies will work best because they support the content and skills students are gaining and I would try to work in the students zone of proximal development (Waston and Kopnicek, 1990) by not making it too easy or too hard so the learner is motivated to achieve the task. These pedagogies will be motivational for a student because they’ll be in the ZPD, get their choice of technology, choose their questions, have an authentic experience, and be innovative!
Total PACKage
Technology, pedagogy and content are all affected by each other, without one you’re missing out on the total PACKage. Without technology, students would be limited to the walls of my classroom and rarely have authentic interactions. It would be difficult to hear themselves and others speaking the language. Without pedagogy, students would probably be repeating the language over and over. They would become lost without differentiating instruction or scaffolding. Next, they would lose motivation to learn and the content would become irrelevant. Without the Spanish content, I wouldn't focus on using audio tools to increase communication and confidence in speaking skills. I would find other tools to re-purpose that would best fit my classroom, but I’d need technology!
Using audio and video tools helps uncover the Spanish language allowing the learner to go back and listen unlimited times. They’re able to analyze the mistakes made and learn from them. They can listen to the native speaker and learn about their dialect, cultural cues, and create a relationship with the local Spanish-speaking community. This gives a deeper understanding of the language and culture, which would not be possible without technology. TPACK allows the re-purposing of technology to create a learning environment that included the “nature impulses of children.” (J. Dewey) My plan allows students to ask authentic questions (inquire), use Spanish socially (communication), make movies or podcasts (construction) and create their presentation using their choice of technology (expression). TPACK enables the connection with others in the classroom, the local community, and with the Spanish-speaking world.
SAMR Model
My teaching is impacted by technology according to the SAMR model because my plan is moving in the direction of using technology from enhancing to transforming the students’ learning. My plan is in the modification stage because I’m combining audio tools to transform an interview into a video or podcast.
Student learning is impacted and transformed by technology according to the SAMR model with my plan because students are taking something they’ve done before, ask and answer questions in the target language, and transforming it into a video or podcast presentation giving it a professional and innovate feel.
My plan is aiming for the highest level, redefinition. I want to use technology to create new and innovative activities that were once unimaginable. My goal is to connect with Spanish speakers in the community then globally using Google Hangout of Skype to redefine technology and connect with a community member’s aunt in Guatemala or cousin in Ecuador.
I plan on reaching my goal of redefinition using audio tools first as a substitution. Instead of an old fashioned tape recorder, students are able to use Internet based audio tools. Next, I would implement the augmentation of the audio tool allowing students to re-listen to their interviews from anywhere. The modification of the plan would be using the audio tool to create the video or podcast as a “professional interview.” This would finally lead to the end goal, redefinition of the tool which would be using it to record an interview with someone in another country.
I teach Spanish at Clarkston Junior High School in Clarkston, Michigan with close to 1,300 8th and 9th graders. Students are required to take two consecutive years of a foreign language. Our school offers Spanish, French, German, and Japanese with Spanish being the most taken language. I teach two sections of Spanish 1 and two sections of Spanish 2 ranging in class size from 30-40 students and 72 minute periods. Majority of my class is made up of general education students with a handful of special education students (on average 5-10 students per class) who receive different types of support depending on the individual circumstance. My focus for the dream it project will be my two Spanish 2 classes.
My school has 5 computers labs and 3 laptop carts which book up quickly. The computers are older and the laptops are a year old with built in cameras & microphones, but without Microsoft Office. I mention this because if you get your class in the computer lab then switch to the laptops the next day, you need to make sure your students are using Google Drive or they will not have access to their files. The Media Center is equipped with cameras, flip cameras, headsets, doc cameras, and all teachers have a ceiling projector in their classrooms.
Content
My classes have a TV, Movies, and News Unit in which the main concepts are demonstrative adjectives, preterit stem-changing verbs, and entertainment vocabulary. The skills students should demonstrate by the end of the unit include discussing current events, asking for and giving information, and talking about past events. Students are assessed by vocabulary, grammar, and oral quizzes and a common assessment.
I want my students to have a more authentic learning experience by using technology to speak with a native speaker to practice asking and giving information in an interview format. Students will use the entertainment vocabulary with the past tense to communicate with a native speaker in the community. In class, they’ll discuss ways they should communicate culturally and how to use technology by creating a video presentation or podcast that will take place inside and outside of class. I will review Internet safety and the benefits of effectively using technology to connect with the Spanish speaking population in the Clarkston community.
Many times students can ace a matching quiz or conjugation on a verb, but have difficulty using the content together. Learning the preterit tense is often difficult for learners because they have the misconception that the present tense conjugation rules apply to the preterit causing them to stem change incorrectly. Students often feel the lowest confidence in their speaking skills based off of previous pre/post-test given. This previous data that leads me to believe that students will struggle with their speaking skills and this may be improved through authentic learning.
Technology
The technology that is best suited for my problem is software that can be used for increasing communication such as Google Hangouts, audio voice tools (Twisted Wave, Sound Cloud, and Voicethread, Audacity), movie making tools (Movie Maker, iMovie), laptops/computers, and other smart devices (iPad, iPod, smartphones).
Our curriculum map states that the technology expectations of the unit are PowerPoint presentations, audio and video tools, & Internet based instructional resources. The technology I chose is better because PowerPoint only has the vocabulary word with a picture and it’s not used in context rather than rote learning. Therefore, the learner can generally only perform well on matching quizzes and not oral quizzes. Using tools like audacity to record interviews uses authentic learning and conversational Spanish. Whereas an audio CD recordings or video of native speakers helps the learner’s hearing skills, but they’re still not communicating.
Google Hangouts, Flipcams, or Sound Cloud allows learners to record and replay conversations. They can learn from their mistakes, re-listen as many times as needed to themselves and the native speaker. Lastly, programs like Movie Maker, iMovie, and Audacity allows students to take their conversation and create an interview like a news broadcaster or journalist while using their skills contextually. They’re using technology to create something fun and innovative and their Spanish speaking skills and vocabulary to communicate with a native speaker in an authentic learning environment.
Pedagogy
The pedagogical approaches that will work best given my content area and technology choices are scaffolding, prompting/fading, showing students examples, group and pair work, and individual work.
I would begin by showing students examples of an interview video and podcast that I conducted with a native speaker. I would point out positive and negative aspects of what to do while communicating with a native and the dos and don’ts of making a video/podcast. I want to give students the choice of making a movie or podcast. Next, I would give students prompts of possible questions to ask then go over them as a class. Later, I’d have students work in groups of 4 creating their own questions to ask their interviewees. I would help the groups then have them split into pairs asking their questions and switching partners every 2-3 minutes. I would fade out from helping the students and have them pick their top 6-8 questions to ask. Lastly, on their own students would be conducting the interview then creating their final product. I would use scaffolding and differentiated instruction while teaching the different technologies. Some students have used Movie Maker in 8th grade and will need to transfer information from long-term memory into working memory whereas other students it’ll be brand new.
These pedagogies will work best because they support the content and skills students are gaining and I would try to work in the students zone of proximal development (Waston and Kopnicek, 1990) by not making it too easy or too hard so the learner is motivated to achieve the task. These pedagogies will be motivational for a student because they’ll be in the ZPD, get their choice of technology, choose their questions, have an authentic experience, and be innovative!
Total PACKage
Technology, pedagogy and content are all affected by each other, without one you’re missing out on the total PACKage. Without technology, students would be limited to the walls of my classroom and rarely have authentic interactions. It would be difficult to hear themselves and others speaking the language. Without pedagogy, students would probably be repeating the language over and over. They would become lost without differentiating instruction or scaffolding. Next, they would lose motivation to learn and the content would become irrelevant. Without the Spanish content, I wouldn't focus on using audio tools to increase communication and confidence in speaking skills. I would find other tools to re-purpose that would best fit my classroom, but I’d need technology!
Using audio and video tools helps uncover the Spanish language allowing the learner to go back and listen unlimited times. They’re able to analyze the mistakes made and learn from them. They can listen to the native speaker and learn about their dialect, cultural cues, and create a relationship with the local Spanish-speaking community. This gives a deeper understanding of the language and culture, which would not be possible without technology. TPACK allows the re-purposing of technology to create a learning environment that included the “nature impulses of children.” (J. Dewey) My plan allows students to ask authentic questions (inquire), use Spanish socially (communication), make movies or podcasts (construction) and create their presentation using their choice of technology (expression). TPACK enables the connection with others in the classroom, the local community, and with the Spanish-speaking world.
SAMR Model
My teaching is impacted by technology according to the SAMR model because my plan is moving in the direction of using technology from enhancing to transforming the students’ learning. My plan is in the modification stage because I’m combining audio tools to transform an interview into a video or podcast.
Student learning is impacted and transformed by technology according to the SAMR model with my plan because students are taking something they’ve done before, ask and answer questions in the target language, and transforming it into a video or podcast presentation giving it a professional and innovate feel.
My plan is aiming for the highest level, redefinition. I want to use technology to create new and innovative activities that were once unimaginable. My goal is to connect with Spanish speakers in the community then globally using Google Hangout of Skype to redefine technology and connect with a community member’s aunt in Guatemala or cousin in Ecuador.
I plan on reaching my goal of redefinition using audio tools first as a substitution. Instead of an old fashioned tape recorder, students are able to use Internet based audio tools. Next, I would implement the augmentation of the audio tool allowing students to re-listen to their interviews from anywhere. The modification of the plan would be using the audio tool to create the video or podcast as a “professional interview.” This would finally lead to the end goal, redefinition of the tool which would be using it to record an interview with someone in another country.
The Evaluation
The big idea I was trying to uncover was to get students out of their comfort zone and speaking Spanish confidently with a native speaker. The second idea that I was trying to uncover was to break students common mistakes and non-contextualized language by using technology tools in increase their speaking skills.
I would measure the impact of my transformative technology integration on student learning by using a variety of methods. I would evaluate a) students’ confidence of speaking Spanish b) their communication skills c) their use of technology to effectively create a video or audio presentation.
I would use Google Forms to give a pre-survey and post-survey about comfort levels of speaking Spanish. Google Forms are user friendly and allow you to see data instantly, know which kids responded, and they can give you percentages based off of students’ responses. I would consider asking students to rate their confidence level on the following scale: not confident, somewhat confident, confident, or very confident. I want to keep it simple so I can easily compare the pretest and post-test results. If the post test result show a high number of student being confident or very confident speaking Spanish, I would consider this part of the plan a success.
I would create a rubric to assess students’ communication skills. It would include using the preterit tense correctly, good use of vocabulary, cultural awareness while talking to the speaker, fluency, and pronunciation. The rubric would include a section for creativity for the video/podcast presentation. If the student excels in all of these components, I would label them a successful student in using technology and thinking deeply about using their language in context.
I would to give informal interviews with my students at the end of the project about the overall process. I always like to get feedback from students directly and face to face especially since many 9th graders are more than willing to share their honest opinions. I like to find out if the students enjoyed the project, found it valuable and authentic, felt more confident, thought differently about the language, and would like to use technology again in the future. If students respond positively to these questions, have grown in their speaking skills, connected with a native speaker, cleared up their prior misconceptions and integrated technology, then I would say this is a dream come true.
I would measure the impact of my transformative technology integration on student learning by using a variety of methods. I would evaluate a) students’ confidence of speaking Spanish b) their communication skills c) their use of technology to effectively create a video or audio presentation.
I would use Google Forms to give a pre-survey and post-survey about comfort levels of speaking Spanish. Google Forms are user friendly and allow you to see data instantly, know which kids responded, and they can give you percentages based off of students’ responses. I would consider asking students to rate their confidence level on the following scale: not confident, somewhat confident, confident, or very confident. I want to keep it simple so I can easily compare the pretest and post-test results. If the post test result show a high number of student being confident or very confident speaking Spanish, I would consider this part of the plan a success.
I would create a rubric to assess students’ communication skills. It would include using the preterit tense correctly, good use of vocabulary, cultural awareness while talking to the speaker, fluency, and pronunciation. The rubric would include a section for creativity for the video/podcast presentation. If the student excels in all of these components, I would label them a successful student in using technology and thinking deeply about using their language in context.
I would to give informal interviews with my students at the end of the project about the overall process. I always like to get feedback from students directly and face to face especially since many 9th graders are more than willing to share their honest opinions. I like to find out if the students enjoyed the project, found it valuable and authentic, felt more confident, thought differently about the language, and would like to use technology again in the future. If students respond positively to these questions, have grown in their speaking skills, connected with a native speaker, cleared up their prior misconceptions and integrated technology, then I would say this is a dream come true.
The Connection
My plan needs to include more methods for teaching literacy skills to my students for a more successful implementation because I primarily focused on speaking while reading and writing are important components of learning a language. I could “provide repeated opportunities for students to build their reading and writing skills through available technology tools by having students choose the materials they would like to read.” (Castellani, 2001, p.60) Implementing more reading strategies and giving students the freedom of choice would help their interviews run smoothly and prepare them for reading their questions with more fluency.
My plan seeks to meet the needs of diverse learners because it provides different choices for the learners to meet the end goal. Students are allowed to make a movie or a podcast using assistive technologies and can choose their own path to get there. I plan on using differentiated instruction to reach a variety of learners, whether they are at a slower or faster pace of learning and using technology. I can apply the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to my classroom by providing “multiple means for expressing what they learn, and multiple pathways for engaging their interests and motivation.” (Howard, 2004 p.1) It's important to remember students think differently and will want to get to the end goal by taking different pathways and they deserve to take the path that is best for them.
In order to work on my project, students need to know how to navigate the Web and post information safely. I would make it a main priority to teach students about Internet safety by giving them tips on how to remain safe and private while they’re online. We also have a school assembly given by local police officers at the beginning of every year that teaches students about Internet safety and gives them real-life examples of scary things that happened to other students close to their ages in Michigan. Since my plan requires students to use their voices and faces on the Internet I would be sure to include a letter home to parents stating our plan for the project and what resources we would be using. Two resources that would be helpful in teaching healthy digital citizenship are www.21things4students.net and www.staysafeonline.org/in-the-classroom/middle-high-school.
My plan will push students to be creative when they’re making movies or podcasts because they’ll be making them as if they are a journalist, broadcaster, news anchor, etc. Students will think critically because they'll be making up their own questions, which is hard for this age group and level of Spanish. It will get students to think critically about the use of the language because they will no longer be filling in the blank on a test, they’ll be using the language verbally and contextually. This will hands down be very difficult for learners, but the use of technology should help them out! Since this will be such a challenging task, it would be a good idea to have students practice a lot before the interviews and there are many online resources to this for leaning Spanish. “Online activities provide educators with the means to offer instructional assistance” (Mandernach, 2006, p. 45) which will give me time to walk around and help students as needed.
My plan outlines a path for my professional development because once I use these programs with my students, I'll be able to share my knowledge with other teachers. It will help me become active in the community and demonstrate leadership in my school. Others will see me creating a project with technology and being open minded about trying it with my classroom will encourage others to be open minded about using technology in their classrooms!
My plan seeks to meet the needs of diverse learners because it provides different choices for the learners to meet the end goal. Students are allowed to make a movie or a podcast using assistive technologies and can choose their own path to get there. I plan on using differentiated instruction to reach a variety of learners, whether they are at a slower or faster pace of learning and using technology. I can apply the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to my classroom by providing “multiple means for expressing what they learn, and multiple pathways for engaging their interests and motivation.” (Howard, 2004 p.1) It's important to remember students think differently and will want to get to the end goal by taking different pathways and they deserve to take the path that is best for them.
In order to work on my project, students need to know how to navigate the Web and post information safely. I would make it a main priority to teach students about Internet safety by giving them tips on how to remain safe and private while they’re online. We also have a school assembly given by local police officers at the beginning of every year that teaches students about Internet safety and gives them real-life examples of scary things that happened to other students close to their ages in Michigan. Since my plan requires students to use their voices and faces on the Internet I would be sure to include a letter home to parents stating our plan for the project and what resources we would be using. Two resources that would be helpful in teaching healthy digital citizenship are www.21things4students.net and www.staysafeonline.org/in-the-classroom/middle-high-school.
My plan will push students to be creative when they’re making movies or podcasts because they’ll be making them as if they are a journalist, broadcaster, news anchor, etc. Students will think critically because they'll be making up their own questions, which is hard for this age group and level of Spanish. It will get students to think critically about the use of the language because they will no longer be filling in the blank on a test, they’ll be using the language verbally and contextually. This will hands down be very difficult for learners, but the use of technology should help them out! Since this will be such a challenging task, it would be a good idea to have students practice a lot before the interviews and there are many online resources to this for leaning Spanish. “Online activities provide educators with the means to offer instructional assistance” (Mandernach, 2006, p. 45) which will give me time to walk around and help students as needed.
My plan outlines a path for my professional development because once I use these programs with my students, I'll be able to share my knowledge with other teachers. It will help me become active in the community and demonstrate leadership in my school. Others will see me creating a project with technology and being open minded about trying it with my classroom will encourage others to be open minded about using technology in their classrooms!
Works Cited
Castellani, J. & Jeffs, T. (2001, June). Emerging reading and writing strategies using technology. Teaching Exceptional Children.
Howard, K. L. (2004). Universal design for learning: Meeting the needs of all students. in the curriculum--multidisciplinary. Learning & Leading with Technology, 31(5), 26-29.
Retrieved from http://ezproxy.msu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/61798023?accountid=12598
Mandernach, B. J. (2006). Thinking critically about critical thinking: Integrating online tools to promote critical thinking. Critical Thinking, 1, 41-50. Retrieved from:
http://www.insightjournal.net/Volume /Thinking%20Critically%20about%20Critical%20Thinking-%20Integrating%20
Online%20Tools%20to%20Promote%20Critical%20Thinking.pdf
Michigan Department of Education. (2007) Michigan world language standards and benchmarks.
National Cyber Security Alliance. (2009). Stay safe online. Retrieved from http://www.staysafeonline.org/in-the-classroom/middle-high-school
REMC Association of Michigan. (2012, June 01). 21 things 4 students. Retrieved from http://www.21things4students.net/about/
Watson, B., & Kopnicek, R. (1990). Teaching for Conceptual Change.
Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria , VA : Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Chapter 2: Understanding
understanding.
Howard, K. L. (2004). Universal design for learning: Meeting the needs of all students. in the curriculum--multidisciplinary. Learning & Leading with Technology, 31(5), 26-29.
Retrieved from http://ezproxy.msu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/61798023?accountid=12598
Mandernach, B. J. (2006). Thinking critically about critical thinking: Integrating online tools to promote critical thinking. Critical Thinking, 1, 41-50. Retrieved from:
http://www.insightjournal.net/Volume /Thinking%20Critically%20about%20Critical%20Thinking-%20Integrating%20
Online%20Tools%20to%20Promote%20Critical%20Thinking.pdf
Michigan Department of Education. (2007) Michigan world language standards and benchmarks.
National Cyber Security Alliance. (2009). Stay safe online. Retrieved from http://www.staysafeonline.org/in-the-classroom/middle-high-school
REMC Association of Michigan. (2012, June 01). 21 things 4 students. Retrieved from http://www.21things4students.net/about/
Watson, B., & Kopnicek, R. (1990). Teaching for Conceptual Change.
Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria , VA : Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Chapter 2: Understanding
understanding.