The Light Bulb Just Turned On

I was just listening to the the clip from Wesley Fryer and am so incredibly excited about the possibilities that he spoke about. The idea of having my students see 5 minute clips about a topic that they are learning about or need to review is amazing. I really like the concept that they can have the opportunity to do this outside of the classroom and at the same time encouraging their curiosity in such a way that only they need to know. Middle school age kids are so concerned about what their peers will think of them if they want to either know more about a topic of if they just don't get. Through the use of teachable moment videos their classroom just grew as big as their desire to learn and push themselves. I also can't help but think about those lessons that are really challenging for me to teach. For years I have been thinking that there must be a better way to reach some students and now WHAM it's right there in front of them. The opportunity for kids to learn something and review it in a new and different way is a truly powerful tool. It refers to where Wesley spoke about having a lot of people working on teaching one idea. Eventually someone will touch the topic in such a way that every student will be able to grasp the concept.

Being a LOTE teacher the idea of Global View is incredibly powerful. We have such a struggle providing our students with authentic material that is current and a true representation of the culture which they are studying. By having access globally everything just got a lot easy and better. I now can have the kids experience the culture through videos and experience the thoughts and values of other cultures in our global community with such ease and effectiveness. I can see again where the students can be the teacher in finding great places for all of us to look into.

Reflections from a baby blogger

When I reflect on blogging in general I must admit that I am both amazed and overwhelmed by the possibilities that it offers me as an educator. I am still pretty unsure about all of the details that are needed to effectively blog but I am glad that through this course I will be encourage to stretch myself outside of my comfort zone with regards to the technology available to myself and my students. I feel as though this is one area for sure that the kids have the upper hand. I know that I have let technology fly right by me. Now that I am learning about the possibilities available to me I am excited about where this can take me in my career as I make connections with other teachers. I plan on using this tool to learn about what other LOTE teachers are doing to help their kids discover and appreciate languages and cultures. The interconnectedness (is this eve a word) is mind boggling. Blogging is such an easy tool to use to make the connections that otherwise would require hours of research and being glued to a telephone. This way I can collaborate with people who share the same goals and interests as I do while at the same time it may encourage me to think about and explore new ways of teaching to help me grow professionally. I am hoping that this will in turn lead to me better support my department. With blogging we can all review topics and share ideas simultaneously so the feedback can be much more relevant. This will allow us to begin to share a common strand which will only result in us working more collaboratively.

It's funny because after just a few minutes working with this reflection in my blog I find myself feeling so much more confident. I guess that the saying isn't necessarily true because this old dog is indeed learning a few new tricks.....Happy blogging!