BYOD: Bring Your Own Device

Our new school initiative, BYOD (not as exciting as BYOB) has been in the works since September and has finally become "official." The program allows students to bring any electronic device that might have applications to help them with daily tasks in class. Kids with laptops, iPads or other tablets, e-readers such as Kindles, and even smartphones, have begun bringing them to class and are now using documents on their devices to take notes, write down homework, and do in-class research. I've mentioned this in several comments on other blogs, so I thought I'd put up a post about it, explaining what it looks like in my classroom.

I have one student who brings a laptop, but most bring tablets and phones. Students are sometimes your best resource in finding a new app to use for educational purposes. Many of them found their own app versions of digital agendas for keeping track of homework & upcoming tests, flashcard apps for studying, and for my class, an online French-English dictionary to help with writing. Here is an example from my own classroom. Students were doing an activity in their textbook working with partners. About half used pencil & paper while half wrote their answers into their device:

I have not had any problems with texting or any other inappropriate device use at the middle school level. I have at the high school level, but no more than usual! A colleague of mine put it in perspective for me when he compared it to a student doing his science homework in your French class. You don't confiscate the binder and create a new "no science binder" policy, you simply tell the student to put it away. I have had to tell a student "we are not using our devices right now, you should only be listening" but it hasn't needed to go further than that. So far BYOD is much more of an asset than a liability!

Here is a link to the Cheshire BYOD Resource Center

I "dig" Diigo!

I believe I have finally arrived at a place where I'm remembering to click the "Diigolet" button, rather than instinctively going for the "Bookmark" tab. I was reluctant to get on board, but I have to admit Diigo is way better! I like that I can easily organize everything so that if I am trying to remember that blog I saw on iPad apps for Education, I don't need to sift through all my bookmarks at once. I can click on the "iPad" label I've created and only look at the few pages I have saved that have to do with iPads. Bookmarking on Firefox does allow you to make folders, but I never remember to. This is much more user-friendly. I also love how it "suggests" labels - I assume it's based on the wording on the page? Half the time I don't need to create any more labels than what it's suggested for me! Here is a link to my Diigo page - it's a bit sparse right now but I plan on using it a lot more!

My Animoto - "Expressions Avec Faire"

My Animoto will be used with my 8th grade classes when we learn the verb "faire." "Faire" is the verb "to do" or "to make" and it used in a TON of expressions in French. Sometimes it is difficult for students to understand why expressions that use "faire" in French do not always translate word for word. For example, in English we say "go on a picnic" or "have a picnic," but in French they say "faire un pique-nique" (do a picnic). Therefore, I get questions like "I want to write that I'm going on a picnic this weekend. How do you say 'go?'" I have to explain that it is not worded the same way. This is a good way to introduce the verb and how it's used. After we watch the Animoto, students can answer the question at the end about what they noticed about the expressions and their meanings - HOPEFULLY they will pick up on the fact that the translations in English did not always use the word "do" or "make!"

I can't believe that RSS really stands for "Really Simple Sindication"

I literally thought Judy was joking when she said what it stood for ;)

Acronyms aside, I had previously considered myself a "pro" at all things Google, and I must sheepishly admit that I had never even heard of Google Reader, nor did I know that there were tools out there that sent information to you. The only similar concept I had experienced were those annoying e-mails you get from websites that had asked for your e-mail address if you had clicked "continue" too fast before you realized you hadn't unchecked the box that said "I would like to get e-mail updates about news and special offers." Therefore, clearly, I had never considered it an asset to "subscribe" to something for updates until now! (Except Groupon - Groupon is awesome)

I excitedly told my husband about it, and to make myself feel even more out-of-the-loop, he already knew about it and used it regularly. His favorite blog, Barstool Sports, comes regularly into his Google Reader, and half the time if I hear him laughing from another room, it's because he's catching up on its latest updates. (BE CAREFUL if you choose to check out that particular blog - highly inappropriate and NOT safe for kids!!! I purposely chose NOT to include a hyperlink).

I have now subscribed to several blogs, including my colleague's blog "Little Bytes" that I included in a previous blog post. Now the next step is remembering to check for what's new!

Farm Animoto - great idea!

I have been looking at Animotos made by pre-school or young elementary school teachers because they are usually used to introduce basic vocabulary words. Although my students are middle & high schoolers, I introduce basic vocab in a very similar way. When I checked out Nolia's Blog, however, she had something different that I also want to use. She created an Animoto about a class trip to the farm. I think this would be great for the upcoming field trip I will take with my students to Quebec. Parents send their kids on these immersion experiences, and I'm sure they hear some stories from their kids, but as we all know, teenagers don't tend to "gush" to their parents about all the cool experiences they had. Putting together a short Animoto with pictures and blurbs about our experiences would be a great way to let parents know about the experience their child had (and precisely what they are paying for!). My husband chaperoned this trip with me last year - below is a picture of us at Montmarcy Falls - a partially frozen waterfall in Quebec City.

Check Out "Little Bytes" - A Colleague's Tech Blog

The former 7th grade Social Studies teacher at my school was appointed to a brand new position this year : Technology Supervisor. My colleague, Scott Conway, has created a tech blog called "Little Bytes" for his co-workers to follow, keeping us up-to-date on what new tech tools are out there and how other teachers in the building are using them, updates on our technology policies, etc. . Scott is fantastic at what he does and does a great job explaining a lot of these tools. While it is specifically directed toward teachers at my school, don't hesitate to check it out anyway. I'm sure you'll find something useful there!

I'm actually proud to say that I made it onto Scott's blog in his post "Teacher Showcase." Since the World Language department was granted iPads this year (YAYY!!), I had been playing around with different apps and tools. I found a great one called EduCreations that I have been using as supplementary material on my website. Instead of explaining it in this post, click here to check out Scott's explanation of it. He also has a link to my website where you can see some examples.

Classroom Blogging and Multiple Literacies

This article was well-organized in that it listed the NETS standards along with things that real CT teachers are doing to meet them. This is great for those of us who are unsure how to incorporate technology effectively into our teaching, or may think we are but are still somehow not meeting standards.

I love the example given under "Writing Across the Curriculum and Multimedia" of the students doing "news casts" for their classmates about topics they are learning in class. I could easily do this in my own classroom, whether in English about a cultural or research topic, or in the target language using basic phrasing on topics we are studying such as weather, food, etc.

What really excited me was the use of Skype mentioned in the article. Students took part in a Skype Literature Circle to discuss and get excited about reading. The website gives a quick video showing the end of a Skype call. It's easy to see how excited the kids are to talk to someone about their reading, and it's not hard to imagine how this might encourage a struggling reader or a student who does not like to read might get pulled in through the dialogue via Skype. Personally I have been in search of a way to use Skype with my students. I REALLY hope I can connect with a French-speaking classroom somewhere someday! I know my students would love it.

Animoto uses?

I watched Beth's animoto at Staying Alive in Room 5. She used it to introduce new vocabulary which is exactly how I plan to use it, so it looked like a good start. I really liked her demonstration of the two meanings of homonymns with pictures, and animoto was a great tool to put it in. I'm actually really looking forward to playing around with animoto and finding uses for it in my classroom.

Personally, I plan on using Animoto for introducing French vocab at the beginning of a unit, and then talking about the definitions and differences in expressions with my students. I'm racking my brain for a way to give students the opportunity to use it themselves. Any ideas? My colleague does a whole section of the year where she has small groups of students teach a unit themselves, but my curriculum doesn't really allow for that. I'd love to find ways for students to use it but in my subject area that can be a bit difficult. Class tends to be quite teacher-driven because students are obviously still learning the beginning stages of language acquisition. Any brainstorming ideas are welcome!

Blogs vs. Wikis - A Matter of Preference?

I had done very little with Wikis before this class, although I had heard of them and knew roughly how they worked. The video we watched in class explaining how they worked "in plain English" was eye-opening. Even though they told me what I already knew, the creator put it in such a way that showed me I most likely could use these relatively easily and effectively. I may even create a Wiki with my sisters to plan my parents' 30th wedding anniversary party :)

As for use in my classroom, however, I have to say I am much more partial to blogs. Its incredibly structured format give students very clear guidelines on how to use it and what we're using it for - and we all know how much kids NEED structure! The possibilities with wikis are endless, but that's what concerns me. Students who are still learning technology are often overwhelmed by the possibilities and don't know where to start. That being said, I can see its use within a classroom, if a teacher is present to guide students through its use and give them very explicit instructions, starting them off with basic structured tasks. I may be exploring this more in the future!

Twitter in the classroom

I love the idea of using Twitter in the classroom, simply because I feel any connection you can make in the classroom to students' lives outside your room, particularly their ever-important "social lives," the more enthusiastic they become about school in general. While I don't feel Twitter is a great venue for my beginning French classes, for reasons I mentioned in my previous post, I wanted to share something my colleague has developed in some of his lessons.

My colleague across the hall teaches 7th grade Social Studies, and because we leave our doors open (and he is incredibly loud), I typically overhear his entire lesson. When I heard him do this, I ran across the hall to ask him about it. Instead of using Twitter as the online tool that it is, the teacher took advantage of the fact that almost all students know Twitter, understand how it works, and are familiar with its features (hash tags, "what's trending," etc).

When his students are learning a new topic in class (for example they just began their unit on religion in society), the teacher will have them do an "exit tweet" on their way out. The question will be something like "What religion are you most interested in learning about and why?" Students will then write on their exit slip (keeping their response under 140 characters of course!) an answer to their question, as well as one or two "hash tags." A sample response might be:

I can't wait to learn about Hinduism bc they have many gods. #hindu #polytheism

This particular teacher has a whole section of his board where he lists "what's trending" after looking over students' responses and hash tags. Cool, huh??

Blogging - Sadly, not for my class

Now that I am officially enrolled in this course, I need to catch up on my blogging!

Richardson's discussion of how prevalent technology is and can be in education was interesting. Although I consider myself relatively advanced with my use in technology, I do tend to pick a few tools that I like and stick with them. This allows me to use these tools to their full potential, but sometimes I forget to stay current on what new tools are coming out and give them a chance.

This year I did decide to try blogging with my students, and quite honestly I decided I did not like it. However, this is not blogging's fault ;) I teach introductory French, and to have students who are barely learning to string sentences together blog with one another in the target language was just a goal that was just a tad out of reach this time around. I tried one in English in response to a video we watched in class, but that seemed a little superficial for middle school/high school students. I may have them blog more in-depth in English about some culture-related topics in the future. We shall see!

Feel free to click here and see the blog I tried (and abandoned) with my students. If you have any suggestions for salvaging the idea, I'm all ears!