I follow @LanguageJobsUSA on Twitter. I think it's a good idea to know what jobs are out there for us language folks...plus, you never know, you might find a new job. :)
This is a "trilingual index of expressions with equivalent meanings" in English, Spanish, and French/Québécois. The colorful idioms are often difficult to translate directly, so this resource is very useful and fun!
Interesting 2008 article about teacher perception and usage with regards to technology integration. This is something that many of us probably see throughout our schools with the integration of more web 2.0 technologies in the classroom.
This tool allows you to create an online portfolio that your students can take pictures of their work and add it to their portfolio, which you can access for free online.
Thanks for sharing this Nick. I'm really considering how to implement online portfolios in my classroom next year and this looks like a wonderful site!
Nick, seems like a great tool that teachers could utilize easily. I tried to explore a bit to find information about cost and storage etc. and could not find anything. Do you know more about this?
Thank you for sharing. Portfolios have always been a great asset for our classes but online are getting even more relevance now as most departments are making them a priority for many languages and disciplines
Sabine,
With regards to cost, it is free. I am unsure about how much storage that they give you to use on the site. That was something that was not talked about at the conference where I discovered the tool.
This is a platform that will help students to make connections to native speakers around the world. It has a lot of resources for teachers as well. You are able to control who is in your class.
Through this website, teachers can have their students vote or submit short text answers or questions using computers or SMS messages from their cell phones without needing to purchase clickers.
There is no denying the fact that the type of students we teach today are completely different from last century. Today, we need to look at some of the skills we, as teachers, need to equip ourselves with to better live up to the challenge. Among all the challenges we have in education, we need to catch students' focus and get them engaged in the learning process. Here is a list of some important digital skills that you, as a teacher, need to seriously consider if you want to pave the way for the 21st century teaching.
My favorite one is the use of infographics to visually stimulate students! I am aware of the importance of such a skill and it is the only skill that I haven't tried to acquire yet! I hope that those abe will get me there.
Thanks for sharing.
Another gradebook you might be interested in is located at http://gradebookportal.com/
It is free and includes the following:
--Free Online GradeBook for teachers to easily customize. Build customized weighted grading from anywhere at anytime 24/7. Grade anytime & anywhere with auto calculation term and final grades
--Instant Progress Reports are intuitive and keep Students and Parents up to date
--Track attendance and alert parents on absentees
--Class Calendar keeps students, parents and teachers current on upcoming exams, meetings, events. Attach assignments, post homework and attach documents.
--Build user logic to send email and text messages based on grades and attendance parameters
--Communicate with all of your students and parents and build custom contact lists
--100% secure and safe environment with several layers of encryption
This very whimsical, yet well-organized and engaging website offers a variety of activities for learning Spanish. Zachary Jones uses songs, videos, graphics, and articles to make the learning process authentic and enjoyable. One also can follow Zachary Jones on Twitter to receive Vocabulary of the Day on @ZJonesSpanish
The easy way to create and share extraordinary videos of your life. Our online video maker turns your photos, video clips and music into video in minutes.
I can envision using Animoto in an Intermediate Spanish course and having students document - in audio and video - part of their day, be it what they ate for dinner in campus dining hall or a trip to a local museum, etc.
Storybirds are short, art-inspired stories you can make and share on any device.
I think the artwork might help inspire even the most tentative of L2 writers. I can envision using this in a beginning Spanish course, to get students thinking creatively.
A spreadsheet listing 1,195 (and growing!) songs in Spanish. Includes artist, title, grammar and vocabulary covered, culture, country of origin, and any other pertinent links to, for example, YouTube videos. Suggestions for songs not found here are welcome by site creator Sra. Birch.