A few nights ago I participated in the #langchat Twitter chat. I love learning from and networking with my colleagues from many places! I love connecting with others, sharing ideas, and refining my practice. Being a reflective practitioner allows us to provide meaningful opportunities for our students, allows us to learn from our weaknesses and allows us to celebrate our strengths. I pride myself on being tech savvy, integrating technology in my classroom as a means to redefine my lessons and their quality. In the #langchat, I boasted about an APP I use in my classroom for formative assessment called Recap. If you haven't used it you should- it is incredible and it has revolutionized speaking assessment in my class! None-the-less, the question was brought up about the use of technology and how students spend too much time in front of the screen. How much tech is too much? When does it actually make a difference in our classroom. I have high school students in a 1-1 environment. We went 1-1 last year with Apple iPads. Each student is responsible for their device, charging it, brining it to school, and keeping a charge all day. This is much more of a challenge than I ever imagined. Students initially loved the devices, but the novelty quickly wore off and I found students asking, "Can I just do this on paper?" Conversely, if I assign something they are to do on paper I get, "can I just do this on my iPad?" I then found myself thinking about what the difference was between the two, was I really using technology to redefine my practice or was I giving the students the choice to complete an assignment using technology? That type of use of technology, for me, does not actually change what I do. It then started clicking. How has technology actually changed what I do? Well, truthfully it has made the language classroom come to life! Connecting to others around the world, other students from other states, and exploring places in a depth that we could not about 10 years ago with the ease of today. We can communicate with others. Apps like Recap and Flipgrid are revolutionizing formative assessment and giving the students the opportunity to actually have real and meaningful conversations with others. Ironically, as I started writing this blog today, I got a Tweet from a colleague, Maris Hawkins. She invited me to collaborate with her classes using Flipgrid, so students can converse with each other from across the nation! If you are interested in such an awesome opportunity you can check out her blog post here. My students will be joining and conversing tomorrow so that they can have the opportunity to engage in the language beyond the confines of the classroom. Think about the implications technology has on professional development and networking. I just got a Tweet from a colleague that works in a different part of the state, with whom I have never taught, to collaborate with her classes on Flipgrid and allow our students to work together. I just want to reiterate- I got a Tweet! We are using social media to connect with colleagues and improve our practice!!! That is POWERFUL! Writing this blog, I am reflecting and sharing my opinion with the hopes that others too might feel compelled to consider the importance of tech in their classroom. I participate in Twitter Chats, follow some very talented professionals in the field of World Language, and via Google Slides and Zoom Meetings I have been able to collaborate and prepare for my upcoming NECTFL 2018 Session, The POWer of Formative Assessment, with my colleague Arlene White who lives 3 hours from me. Without technology, this level of collaboration is just not possible. I think of technology as a tool to augment learning, but I still find meaningful purpose in traditional tools of the classroom. Technology has a purpose, just as a novel, a paper, a pencil, etc. do as well. The sheer quantity of apps available is dizzying. As a teacher, we must know which apps best fit who we are as a teacher and who our students are as learners. We have to be willing to do the dirty work, understand the app, play with it, step outside of our own comfort zone. We must align our Can-Dos and standards to our activities and opportunities. Just because technology is advancing and changing the world doesn't mean our traditional classroom methods are antiquated or ineffective. We must know we to use a hammer and when to use a screw driver. It is the same principal, in my opinion. We cannot use technology just for the sake of using it and saying we incorporate it in our lessons. We have to use it to drive our thought process in how to make World Language come to life in our classroom and how to redefine the lessons we can share with our students to facilitate language acquisition, excitement, and motivation. The integration of technology in the classroom is truly colorful. It's not as much about knowing when to do a hand written exit ticket versus a Google Form, and more about providing access to the culture of language and the opportunity for real world communication. Think about how you are using tech in your classroom, but more importantly WHY. I think by asking ourselves why, we have a much better shot of knowing how much is too much. (Pictured above: QR code stations with links to gruesome sports injuries. Students worked in small groups and scanned the various links- had to write a brief synopsis of the injury and make a recommendation on how to fix the problem- use of preterite tense and subjunctive. I love the faces they are making! )
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Author14th year Spanish teacher Archives
June 2020
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