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or at least, I’m more and more convinced that we should not rely solely on Twitter as the site for online PD or for online educator community. Both can and do exist online — PD and community — but I’d wager the best place to find both remain on educators’ blogs. I wonder if, in fact, “the future of professional development” might be a “return to blogging.”

posting a weekly question and having students respond

Insbesondere im Gesundheitswesen

eaching professionals have found ways to use Twitter to share resources and lend quick support to peers with similar interests

o build a

Also, you can discuss why certain companies make different products for different countries.  I saw one commercial for a lemonade made by 7-Up.  It is always fascinating the different flavors that each company makes worldwide.

Record an audio welcome message and put it on your blog (or wiki or web page.) Elementary students can practice their oral reading skills. You could even post them on your blog for parents and grandparents to hear. Each day have one student record “what we did in school today” and post it on your blog. Students in a foreign language class could record words or phrases and then email them to their teacher. Left your students with a substitute? Record a message to encourage your students to be on their best behavior!

October 31, 2011

trying to have a conversation with someone you have never met, over a low quality video connection, in a language you don’t speak very well, is quite challenging socially as well as linguistically.

A "text" isn't limited to something written down. A text can be a film, an artifact, anything in a language and culture that conveys meaning.

Created texts have long dominated the materials used in language classrooms. But increasingly, educators are coming to understand the need to bring more authentic texts into the learning environment.

let’s explore why blogging has lasted while other tools have come and gone.The simple reason is, a blog is more than a tool. It’s anything you want it to be. A blog is a blank canvas and a virtual home for you to set up however you like.Blogs are simply websites. The only real difference between a blog and a traditional website is that it is generally updated more frequently and usually offers interaction in the form of comments.

An unlimited number of users can contribute to a padlet at the same time, making collaborative work very easy.

  No account necessary to collaborate

adding example sentences to a shared class padlet

By Natascha Chtena November 22, 2015 5 Comments   .blog-spacer { display: none; } @media (max-width: 420px) { .blog-spacer { display: block; height:1px; clear:both; } }   googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("dfp-ad-story_level_pages"); }); Natascha Chtena is a PhD student in Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. You can follow her on Twitter @nataschachtena.       One of the challenges I face teaching a daily language class is finding novel and creative ways to maintain student interest throughout my lessons. One of my favorite teaching “tricks” is using music to motivate learning, improve concentration, create a sense of community and help my students absorb material.   Music is a wonderful tool to integrate into your teaching repertoire, especially if you are a foreign language teacher. It has a

The key is to not be too ambitious (unless of course you are teaching a language AND culture class) and to set realistic goals: one song one major point! I usually keep it to seven minutes max, which includes a song, a very short “lecture” and some time for student questions at the end.

One “choice” assignment I regularly offer students is letting them engage in a texting conversation in Spanish and send me the screenshots. This assignment seems more like fun than like work. Plus, students are able to use the language in an authentic, realistic way.

Connect students with another class and set up a virtual pen pal program. (Bonus points if you can arrange this with a class in a country in which the target language is spoken.)

Regardless of the tool or set of tools that you use, be sure your communication plan is clear to your students. Online communication does have rules, just like face-to-face communication. Set guidelines as well as expectations, and use only those tools that you’ve evaluated and which clearly enhance your teaching and student learning.