Larry Ferlazzo writes a column for the New York Times about using the NYT for ELLs - but these ideas could easily be adapted for FL teachers using news sites, too. You should also check out Ferlazzo's blog.
Hitosugi, C. I. (2011). Using a social networking site in Japanese class. In E. Forsythe, T. Gorham, M. Grogan, D. Jarrell, R. Chartrand, & P. Lewis (Eds.), In CALL: What's your motivation? Collected papers on the cutting edge of language learning practice (pp. 72-83). Tokyo, Japan: JALT CALL SIG.
This is my article that I wrote a couple of years ago on NIng use. This is much shorter than the original one, but still conveys what I wanted; SNS has a place in classroom, students concern privacy.
Plickers might be interesting for quick multiple choice responses.
giving them opportunities to contribute to a class blog or something where their classmates will get to see their hearts and minds in this other forum. I think that really opens things up.
But Cain particularly feels for one group of introverts: the quiet kids in a classroom.
Our most important institutions, like schools and workplaces, are designed for extroverts,
why is it that kids who prefer to go off by themselves or to work alone are seen as outliers?
How about the very definition of “class participation?”
how best to cultivate the talent of those students.
a student who has one or two or three friends, and prefers to go deep with their friendships instead of being one of a big gang, there’s nothing wrong with that at all, in terms of it being a predictor for adulthood.
If the kid is perfectly happy the way they are, they need to get the message that the way they are is cool.
make sure to build quiet time into the school day, especially when kids are younger. Have 15 minutes set aside every day where the students just read.
maximize choice.
less group work in general.
do more work in pairs, which is a way that both introverts and extroverts can thrive.
challenge teachers to rethink what they mean by class participation and start thinking of it as classroom engagement instead.
account the research of Anders Ericsson, who invented the concept of “deliberate practice.”
tools that allow students to participate through their electronic devices as opposed to raising their hand.
Apps that allow students to contribute to class discussions, sometimes anonymously and sometimes not.
I agree this statement of "Number one would be to make sure to build quiet time into the school day, especially when kids are younger. Have 15 minutes set aside every day where the students just read."
Question: As a classroom teacher, I am with my students 42 minutes per day, how can I take almost half of this time for reading? Shouldn't this issue be addressed as a whole school wide??
I agree with you Diane - that would be way too much time for reading in just your class. In some classes, I do a 5 - 10 minute "free-writing" exercise that is individual. It seems like you'd need to scale the time so that it's appropriate for your class.
A lot of students who might be reticent at first will feel emboldened by having first discussed it with a partner.
Wow, just imagine how much calmer the world could be if classrooms were set up to allow for multiple temperaments as well as learning styles?!
Also, the think-pair-share concept is fantastic; I've been using the "alone-paired-large group" sequence for language learners in groups since I got my CELTA certification and it's been hugely successful. Nobody wants to be wrong in public, and when learners have a chance to discuss it with a partner first, they are more likely to share their ideas.
So many students are so thrilled when you start talking about Germanic culture with them--as if they've been starving for it all along and are just waiting for those insights! Using some asynchronous and some classroom-based synchronous activities could be an excellent way to provide some of this information while concentrating in class on grammar, vocab, etc.
Findings emerging from a constant comparison method analysis indicate that the CMC-embedded webquests played a significant role in advancing the online students' knowledge and understanding of German culture.
students appreciated and enjoyed learning about the target culture in way that they retained the information even two months after they were completed
they valued the opportunities provided by the two CMC-embedded webquests to interact with their respective group members in asynchronous and synchronous modes of communication.
synchronous online discussions evoke a higher `sense of community' and `groups', `sense of purpose' for online learners
higher frequencies of `Praise/ Encouragement,' `Task Regulation,' and `Challenge,' in asynchronous `e-turns' demonstrates that distance learners are able to produce more cohesive and detailed responses in asynchronous online discussions
culture, an often neglected aspect of FL instruction
I liked this blog. My textbook is older than my students!, so I don't use it for very much, and I can see that I will be looking at this frequently. Just added it to my Feedly!
I originally signed on to this blog (and downloaded the e-book) because I was so interested in teaching with technology. But Matt is a foreign-language teacher, and I'm really intrigued by the way he organizes his curriculum around Performance-Based Learning and questioning.
To truly assess proficiency, learners need opportunities to use their language in real-world situations, using authentic cultural resources (i.e., resources that are created by native speakers for native speakers).
ePals is the social network optimized for K-12 learning. Over half a million classrooms in 200 countries and territories have joined the ePals Global Community to connect, collaborate and exchange ideas. ePals now translates in 35 languages!
I've never tried E-Pals but it looks promising if you want to find a "sister" class to team up with your class to write/chat. Anyone with experience with this site?
That's so funny that you just posted this...I posted a question a little bit ago about the same thing. I have heard of EPals, but have never actually used it. I wonder if it would be a lot of work for us as teachers?
I want to say that they have been around in a number of forms over many years - maybe even started at St Olaf College as Classroom to Classroom Connections back in the 90's?? But they've grown into a huge corporation now! These kinds of projects are the ones I like the best - when you get kids talking to each other!
Very versatile. Good for recreating whiteboard assignments for an online environment.
any level of learner. As learners add their own posts, what skill they develop depends on what task given is to them. Learners can develop writing skills (e.g. write a short description of a person you admire) or speaking skills (record yourself telling an anecdote). They can also brainstorm vocabulary related to a topic to activate existing knowledge before a reading or listening text. As learners all type their ideas at the same time, it’s an inclusive and efficient way of collecting ideas.
Padlet allows for synchronous or asynchronous collaboration. Learners can share ideas, materials, audio and video. They can then comment on these.
For big classes, the right padlet activities allow the instructor to "eyeball" the content for grading.
For the teacher, Padlet helps them to better assess the learning of everyone in the class, something that can be tricky even with medium-sized classes.