Technology reflections...

Week one is done and the UbD has been going well... I planned too much for especially the first day... so I've had to do some rearranging... but otherwise it's good. In reflection, though, I'm seeing that until this point, it is heavily focused on technology and learning and perhaps less so on language usage. This will be a place for improvement for the unit, and those to follow.

So some quick notes on technology:
*PowerPoint: as we still don't have our "smart classrooms", I checked out an LCD projector from the media center. I have been doing the notes, agenda, city presentations and a bit of internet on PowerPoint. It has been beneficial to kind of keep me on track, and one student mentioned on the first day (before we even talked about learning styles) that he really liked the PowerPoint things because he is a visual learner... so he hoped we would have more of these. :) I think it's going well. It forces me to at least preview the plan for the next day and get things together and going.

*Audacity: We recorded our voices for the audio vocabulary section of the UbD. I exported it to mp3 and published it online. It took a bit of time to do the recording (just because there were so many people who needed to get up and to the microphone)... but once I had the file cut and exported, it was about 4.5 minutes. Everyone's voices sounded really good and I was inspired to do more with this because it truly is an authentic means of assessing their pronunciation and understanding (especially if they recorded conversations on it). I loved it. The kids liked to hear themselves and many mentioned that they downloaded it and "didn't sound as stupid as I thought I would". This is good. Step one in preparation for the podcasting. It should prove to be super beneficial for me... and they like it too! What else can you ask for? Great for step one!

*StudyStack: For our visual practice, I inputted the vocabulary into StudyStack for the students to be able to interact with online. We'll see how many actually put this to work and how seriously they are taking this.
Which brings me to some reflection about the quizzes...

Will the students actually take this seriously if they are not being graded on the quizzes? Do we need to have a discussion about the purpose? Is the purpose meaningful enough for them? I think it is interesting and good, but do they? And will a grade motivate them anyway? Should we have the discussion that a language is nothing without vocabulary?

I don't know. I was a little concerned about all of this tonight as I was thinking about the 120-240 words they will be studying for tomorrow... and how some might remember that just tonight... and then, instead of studying, just tell themselves that it doesn't matter anyway because they won't be graded...

that just might break my heart.

Online Portfolios and other ruminations...

Blogs as online portfolios... Hm... I like it.
I like the authenticity and I like the availability and I like the opportunities for reflection and sharing.
But how to do it authentically while maintaining privacy?
I thought dialogue journals online... but quickly dropped that because I would hate to put something so private into an online setting.
But perhaps the secondary one... the "buddy journals" could be online... Hm... Then they comment online and do so in their own time. Here's the question: how can I be sure they're not just using an online translator? I want it to be authentic... and it won't be if they use the translator... yet the anxiety for some to put it online might force them to translate. Hm.
Needs more rumination.

So I'm working on my opener for the weekly "In der Deutschklasse" podcast! I think it's going pretty well... I'm going to shorten it up a bit. It took me a while to figure out what to podcast about, but I think this "weekly letter home" template will be a great jumping off place.

Back to the virtual grindstone (as, of course, I continue "sharpening my axe"!) ;0

My newest technologies...

After much procrastination, I started futzing around with Audacity today. I was perhaps a bit afraid of hearing my voice on the software... unsure of what it would sound like... and perhaps worried that it would take SO much work to make it sound good that it wouldn't even be worth it. But alas. That was not the case.
After figuring out the crazy new way to do audio inputs with Vista, I first tried the Bluetooth. It worked! However it did not work well. So then I tried working with Shawn's Plantronics headset. It was most amazing. I sound like I'm in a sound studio and my voice sounds, excuse me saying so, amazing! It is actually so much fun! I've figured out cutting the audio file (to get rid of those onesie-twosie words that clutter an audio file), how to record:pause:record and how to place underlying audio tracks with other words or even music. Very exciting stuff. I think I will be doing the "audio track" for students to use for studying as their first podcast. Then they can see how easy it is. That way when it's their turn to record podcasts, they can do it super easy and should enjoy it! I'm excited. Now I just need to get something worthwhile recorded as my first podcast... and then work with uploading and publishing it so I can seem like a seasoned veteran when I do it in front of the kids. This is SO exciting. I find it exciting to hear my voice... I can only imagine how this excitement can spread when 25-35 kids have the same opportunity!

Well, once I had Audacity figured out, and had all of the audio input devices figured out, I figured I might as well sign up for Skype as well! So I did! Whew!

I'm pretty excited about the idea of "getting a Skype call" at any point (like I often hear happens to speakers at the educational technology conferences). Okay, I know that I probably won't have people calling me "at any point"... but the dream is there!

SO here's the exciting part: I was futzing around on Skype and found "Skypecasts". These are opportunities to set up a time (or find a "cast" of interest) and talk with people from around the world! I see definite possibilities in this for my German students. How cool would it be for them to talk with real Germans in this venue! Also, I could set up a Skypecast, plan it ahead of time and students could join as we talk. What would we talk about? I don't know... How to change the world? What about a "Stammtisch"? That's cool! How about a review session from our homes? I wonder if I will want to create a school account if I'm going to do that...

Nah.

Very exciting stuff. I hope I remember to use it all! (And I hope I get technology IN my classroom one of these days!)

UPDATE: I set up a Skypecast for Monday, September 17 at 8:00 PM! Everyone can log in and speak/practice German! Is this going to be a cluster...? Who knows! It's all worth a try!