Monday, April 30, 2012

Quizlet for ELD Vocabulary


Oh, the beauty of flashcards.






I have been an avid flashcard maker and user for years now. I used flashcards to learn my multiplication tables, countless vocabulary words for language classes, review for my high school AP tests, practice for the English CSETS, memorize concepts for difficult math and science classes, the list is endless. 



Throughout the years, however, I found that flashcards are bulky and a hassle to carry around. I made the switch to digital flashcards about 1.5 years ago when I discovered Quizlet. It's amazingly easy to use and adds more bonuses to a study session: spelling activities, mini tests, and games. Although these features have not been fleshed out yet, they are very helpful when studying new concepts or vocabulary. 


I have decided to begin using Quizlet for my ELD 1 & 2 class. Part of the reason for why I decided to go with Quizlet is because the students have computers at home and would much rather prefer doing things electronically (hopefully this will get them to study!). Also, Quizlet has a feature in which you can hear the words and the definitions, which will help my students with pronunciation of the words. I just found out that Quizlet also has an app for smartphones, which means the students can even access it on their phones. I will continue blogging on the progress as my students begin to use it. For now, all I can say is that I look forward to seeing how it works out for them!


Check out Quizlet and some of the features for teachers by visiting:  http://quizlet.com/teachers/

I Don't Know How to Use Power Point But I'll Figure It Out




I am currently teaching ELD 1 & 2. Since we just finished reading The Skirt by Gary Soto, I asked the students to create a cultural presentation to share. The assignment required the students to create a Power Point presentation using net books that show us their presentations.


 I expected the students to all know how to utilize Power Point, since it is such a common tool to use. I was wrong. I had about one or two students who were not familiar with the technology at all. I prepared myself to teach them the ins and outs of Power Point but found that they weren't interested in my tutorials. They only wanted to know the basic parts and decided to explore it on their own, using their classmates as resources. 


Upon thinking about it, I realized that these students are part of a generation that does not read manuals. They do not sit through tedious lectures and ignore long texts (they are the tl;dr generation). They preferred to simply jump in there and figure out the technology on their own. They are used to seeing their teachers use Power Point, so all they needed to do was explore the tool and figure out how to manipulate the design, add pictures, etc. I was surprised and pleased with the final results. We had presentations on Mother's Day, Independence Day in Eritrea (country in the horn of Africa), Valentine's Day, Quinceaneras, Birthdays, New Years, The Virgin of Guadalupe, etc. They showed me just how much different it is to be a digital resident instead of a digital visitor!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

El Camino High School Classroom Visit: On iPads in the Classroom


As lover of books, pages, and binders (physical and tangible results of learning and reading) I must preface this blog post by stating that I am not enamored by the idea of iPads in a classroom. Initially, at the begninning of the semester, I disliked them. I thought they were great because they are portable, but they were not the first thing to jump out at me when thinking about bringing technology into the class. After learning more about technology in the class, I looked forward to seeing their use in a real, local classroom. We, CSUSM teaching credential studentes, arrived at El Camino High School with this purpose. Here are the details: 

The Class: Math

Student Activities: Review for the CAHSEE (the teacher had scanned in CAHSEE questions, hosted them on Moodle, and wanted kids to answer them as assessement).

On iPad Integration: The iPads were locked to trapezoid table desks. Students used the iPads but also had a piece of paper to work on their math concepts. Most of the students were working independently, though some worked in partners. The teacher circulated for part of the class then looked at student results on the computer towards the end of the period. 

My thoughts:
I wish we had gone to observe ECHS on a day when the iPads played a bigger role in instruction. We saw students using iPads as a review tool for the CAHSEE, which is great, but not very eye-opening. It felt like the iPads were being used as a personal computer that hosts Moodle and will upload quiz scores. I would have loved to see the innovative ways that iPads are brought into the classroom to help instruction. I would have liked to see how and why they are so important and so great that it is worth having them in a classroom. Reading articles about iPad integration is certainly interesting, but I can't help but to wonder at how practical some uses are in our area or in particular schools. I was really hoping to see iPads being used in a way that helped me see their validity in a class from ECHS. I was able to see some of their value, but not all (partly because of the observation day date).

I do have to say, however, that I was impressed by how well the students responded to the use of iPads in the class. They were  not goofing off; the students seemed used to having the in the classroom and using them for academic purposes. They still worked together, were social, and were in "school mode." I talked to a lot of students in two different math classes about their feelings and I received mixed reactions. Some of them said that they loved the iPads, others hated them, and some said that they didn't really feel they made a difference. One comment that struck me showed how well kids are able to gauge their teacher's use of the iPads. Most students were quick to say that teachers used it for testing and grading and only some said that their teachers used it because it made teaching easier. Although everything depends on the lesson, I liked seeing some of the positive reactions from the students. I would definitely love to go back and visit ECHS to see the iPads in more use and really get a feel for them in a classroom setting!