Final Project

I am creating activities for a grade 10 FSL class for a unit on childhood.

Google Form:

I like the idea of using a Google form as a questionnaire for the beginning of a unit. It exposes students to new vocabulary through having to look up words and eases them into using applications on the blog. I would likely ask them to do this at the end of the first class with the help of a dictionary and their classmates. Alternatively I would ask them to do it at home to give them time to look up vocab. I would use the spreadsheet function for the form the next class to show them what their peers answered and as a class we would create the “top 3” of all the categories in the classroom. It is a fun activity that gives them the chance to look at the vocabulary others have found and to get a glimpse into the collective childhoods of the class.

Jeopardy:

I wanted to use jeopardy as a form of review that they could do in class in groups. If I split them into groups of four they can run their individual jeopardy games with the one I created and they can submit a list of jeopardy winners to me at the end. This way it is not always the same person answering the class jeopardy questions and everyone has a chance to practice the vocabulary in small groups. I like that it can later be posted on the blog for them to refer back to. I would also ask them to lead the jeopardy game in French to get them used to doing different tasks in the target language.

My Jeopardy Template

Polyvore:

I wanted to use polyvore as a visual representation for an in-class presentation on childhood. I would want the students to create a visual with lots of different elements that they can explain. This would help them discover vocabulary and would provide visual support that would aid comprehension in their presentations. I would either use this as a visual element for their final project or would encourage them to create this at the beginning of the unit as an inspiration board for the rest of the classes. This would allow them to refer back to their visual Polyvore creation and pick a writing topic or toy from the ones they already chose if they couldn’t think of something. If they used it as a visual element for the final project I would ask them to talk about what each image represents in a presentation to the class.

Mon Enfance by muzykak featuring enamel jewelry

Cell Phones

I love the idea of using phones more in class. Polleverywhere.com can be a fun hook at the beginning of the lesson and I wished that more students could be encouraged to bring their phones to class so that I cold have used it during my practicum. I like the idea of teaching students about consideration and respect rather than banning the devices all together. The one thing that I do not like about cellphones in school is when students bring them into classes like drama. Although I love phones I don’t allow them in the drama studio because they tend to get stepped on or use inappropriately. I have never asked students to use phones in that class and I think that, unless I ask them to bring them beforehand, they should understand that leaving your phones in you locker is a basic rule of a drama classroom. 

Mixbook

I would use a slideshow like this when teaching grammar to younger grades. I like that it looks like a book that students can leaf through.

| Start your own Photo Books | Create custom Christmas Cards

PowerPointlessness

I thought that this article made a good point about some PowerPoint being badly constructed which results in their general pointlessness. During my practicum I noticed that whenever my SA used a PowerPoint all of the students started behaving better. They were quiet., looking at the screen and seemed completely comatose. I tried to find ways to use PowerPoints in a way that kept them awake and actively learning but found it difficult because of the necessity of turning off the lights. It seemed to encourage napping more than anything. I started making them more interactive (guessing vocab games, fill in the blanks etc…), which seemed to help.

I would like to see some more research on whether students actually absorb then information better through PowerPoint or whether it is just a pretty picture in the background.

Google Doc/ Form / Slideshow

My Google doc for a classroom one sentence story that the students would log onto and create in french.





Here is a halloween ppt that i made for a grade 9 class:

Collaborative Projects

This article and the problems that it brings up reminds me of the Ted talk by the woman who wrote the book quiet. It was about the power of the introvert and she mentions how classrooms are moving away from anything hat requires deep individual though. She says that everything today is done in groups to encourage collaboration and teamwork. Although she doesn’t necessarily see this as all bad she mentions that those who are introverts are being constantly overwhelmed with other peoples chatter and would benefit from more time to think about the problem individually before it is brought to a group. Creative ideas do not always come from a group and individuals should also be encouraged to think, not just the group.

I thought that this related to this article because this article brings up a lot of stumbling blocks associated with group work. They’re not necessarily the concerns that she has but nonetheless involve rethinking group work and formatting it differently. These author mentions that conversation is essential to knowledge but he takes a very broad stance on what conversation entails. I like the fact that he brings digital resources in that allow a certain amount of individual thinking and eliminate some of the group work problems such as clashing personalities.

Pinterest

Here is a interest account of stuff that may be useful for teaching. I would encourage my students to use a pinterest account for projects where they need to collect images or use sites that are graphics heavy. I think that having the visual will help them communicate their research to their classmates in the target language.

Go to the Pinterest Page------->

Curate Your Materials

Although I understand the difference between collecting and curating resources, I would definitely consider myself more of a collector at this point in my life. Although I appreciate it when other curate resources at put them on the web I feel that I need to collect resources in quantity so that I can later evaluate them for myself. I do like the idea of curating this material eventually once I have had time to test it out and see what does and doesn’t work in the classroom. I think that you need to have a certain amount of practical experience with the application before you dismiss it as being unworthy of your curated collection.

 The way that I would do this is by doing an activity involving the program with students and seeing if it worked well in the context in which I was trying to use it. This links in well with what the author of the article was saying about students curating these programs. The choose, categorize or dismiss something as being unworthy of a curated collection you need to have fairly in-depth knowledge of the theme or subject area being studied. This could be a good way of putting students in charge of their education by narrowing down what tools are useful to them and what tools might have value for other students.

French Podcast Intro

This is an intro for a podcast that I would create with a French class. I would have them make their own podcasts and would publish a series of them in the class podcast once a week.

listen to ‘French Podcast Intro’ on Audioboo

Podcasts

I like the idea of using podcasts in the classroom because it operates under the same principle as having kids post to a blog instead of sending you their work. The work should be better because a wider audience is viewing it. I think that it helps kids think of real-world applications for their thoughts and assignments and gets them out of the bubble that is their classroom.

            I also like the fact that, if they do a good job, teachers in other parts of the world might show it to their classes to teach them a concept. I think that hearing it from someone their own age ads an interesting dynamic to education if the podcasts are done well.

A Discovery of Witches Hits Polyvore

A Discovery of Witches by muzykak featuring Hudson Jeans bracelets


For my Polyvore i made a representation of a character (Diana) from the book A Discovery of Witches. Although I would not use this particular novel i created this as an example of something they would create for a character in a book they are reading. I could see myself using something like this in a french classroom to make a window display for a character in a book they are reading. I would use this to expand the vocabulary surrounding the character as they would have to look up the terminology for every aspect of the Polyvore to present it to the class.