Professional Development

Professional development is key to staying competitive in today's job market. Doctors, engineers, managers, and many other professionals undergo constant training to keep their skills up to date and brush up some skills they already have. I work at a bank part time and this is something all employees do periodically.

During the readings for this course it has been pointed out that it is important for teachers to keep up with the fast moving world of technology and all of the resources available for instruction. Why is it then that teachers are not given the time, tools and support needed to reflect on how can they use technology in innovative and creative ways to support their curriculum? Not one of the teachers that I have observed on known has received any training on how to make technology meaningful and integrate it with the curriculum. I think this is a conundrum because teachers are expected to use skills that they never formally acquired in many cases.

Unfortunately, many teachers who are interested in professional development end up paying big bucks out of pocket to attend workshops like this one. For a convenient fee of $595, teachers can walk out of there with many ways to enhance their every day instruction. Many students can potentially benefit of having more knowledgeable teachers and a one day seminar or workshop can often do that. I think that schools districts need to make time for teacher's professional development, specially in the area of technology. In addition, I also think it is important to make this training relevant to your particular subject area! That is one of the things that caught my eye about that seminar: it was focused on use of technology on foreign language. I think very often broad generalizations about the use of technology can be vague.
This might of course be entirely too much to ask for, but everyone expects a lot out of teachers.

Apps for Spanish Education

Working on Interactivity #3 was a very enriching experience because it brought a lot of resources to my attention that I did not even imagine could ever exist, but that was only the beginning.
I am currently tutoring a few Spanish students and suggested that they look for apps in their phones and/or tablets to help them learn and review "on the go." I thought it would be a good way to take learning outside of the classroom and also make it a little fun. When asked what apps would I recommend, I could honestly not give a straight answer. I did not know any!!
That's when I decided to research the available foreign language learning apps on the market. I came across this very interesting blog that has compiled and categorized a great list based on the feedback on their readers! Take a look at the page here. I liked it a lot because they were all for teaching Spanish and designed with cultural context, which is extremely important while teaching any language. I already checked some of the apps out and will definitively be sharing them with my students and their parents soon.
In addition to providing a great inventory of apps, the article also briefly discusses the problems with increased technology settings as more schools are fostering the permanent integration of technology in the classrooms. The presence of technology in the classroom does not immediately guarantee meaningful and authentic learning, but it can make it more interactive and fun.

Interactivity #4

Lesson Plan
Spreadsheet

I picked this particular lesson plan because I thought it was well structured and it used authentic material (the video clip) to work with the topic. It is very important that students be exposed to authentic material in foreign language classrooms because they reflect real world language experiences. The video and students comprehension of it was essential for the lesson. The overall objectives of the lesson were very clear and the worksheets was not merely generic information. Both worksheets pertained to personal student information that they could share in their small groups and with the entire class. Students had to be able to tell the time, but also to use it and recognize it on every day conversations. In order to perform the tasks assigned, students had to work in groups and this fosters cooperative learning. I thought it was a very solid lesson plan and I would only change one thing. I would have a very brief PowerPoint at the beginning of the lesson with the information in the “Viewing Guide.” A couple of oral review exercises would be great before embarking in this lesson and a way to catch student’s attention. Perhaps having a map of Latin America and Spain at the end of the PowerPoint and telling what time it is in different major cities would be ideal. If a smartboard is available, that could also be a great quick and concise way to review the previous material.

Access to Technology

Until I got to high school I had little experience with technology in the classroom. There was one computer laboratory for the entire school. Computer class would take place once a week. It was very exciting to walk into the room and get to play with the computer for a period. There were no projectors, computers, or any fancy gadget in my classrooms...just chalk and a blackboard.
Nowadays this is very different. Most schools are equipped with multiple computer laboratories and some even have at least one computer on each classroom for the teacher to use. Projectors are at the disposition of the teacher and the traditional blackboard has started to be replaced with the fancy smart-board. In a matter of a couple of years the presence of technology in the classroom and in the lives of children seems to be ubiquitous. This has many benefits, of course, but let's not forget that technology is, after all, a commodity and that it can be very expensive. What happens if you are teaching in an urban, low income area where not all of your students have access to a computer and internet from home? Some students feel self conscious and might not even tell the teacher about their situation. They continually show up to class without certain research assignments done and you start wondering why. Some parents even attempt to limit the amount of exposure their children have to technology by cutting down on television and computer time. Technology is everywhere, but we have to remember that it may not accessible to everyone the same way.

I think in order to make myself aware of individual student’s situation and know what tools they can access, I would simply give a short survey at the beginning of term to find out if all students have access to a computer, the internet, a printer, etc. Based on the results I would know if certain students need accommodations to be made and what kind of help they would need from me, if any.

Interactivity#3

Incorporating technology into the curriculum is going to be one of the main tasks of the modern teacher and doing so in a meaningful way can present a challenge, especially for those teachers that receive little to no training on the subject. Researching technologies on my content area and putting together the inventory definitely helped to raise my awareness on different tools that can be innovative and revolutionary in foreign language classrooms. On other education classes I'm being asked to write lesson plans that must include use of technology in an authentic and meaningful way. I can use this inventory as a reference guide. It will be very helpful. On another hand, this project also made me realize how little previous knowledge I had about all these tools as a student and also as a future teacher. In an ever more globalised and competitive world, it is important for teachers to keep up with the times and utilize technology in an innovate way in the classrooms.