ErinEA

11-19-10 Hola

My name is Erin and I am a Spanish teacher. I enjoy traveling, eating sushi, and history. While I do enjoy being close to my family here in the states, I often think of moving to a tropical island and adopting a monkey. I love my job, animals, nature, and foreign films. It is nice to meet you.

11-20-10 **__5, 4, 3, 2, 1__** 5 new technologies to try: [|www.wiggleworks.com], clozeline activities (  __ zachary-jones.com/Spanish __), [|www.goanimate.com], [|www.glogster.com], [|www.polleverywhere.com] 4 ideas to share with others: focus on both strengths & weaknesses, do not go cold turkey when transitioning the classroom from text based to technology. 3 principles of Universal Design for Learning: representation, expression, engagement 2 changes in your teaching to reach all learners in the Digital Age: Be more flexible (offer online and text readings to all students), and promote connections and interactions to allow the students a chance to make what they learn in school more relevant to their own lives. 1 BIG idea to implement “on Monday”: For the next reading, I will create a wordle ([|www.wordle.net]) and show the students the words that appear most prior to reading the story. They will read and translate the words, then make inferences as to what the story may be about.

11-21-10

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5 new technologies to try: [|www.prezi.com], [|www.search-cube.com], [], [|www.wordle.net], [|www.teachertube.com] =====

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4 ideas to share with others: the positive and negative aspects of technology, the information available online through teachertube, and how to create an introduction for a story with a wordle. =====

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3 principles of Universal Design for Learning: representation, expression, and engagement =====

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2 changes in your teaching to reach all learners in the Digital Age: I will use more online short videos to present information in a song or video format and I will use the Pete's PowerPoint ([|www.pppst.com]) website to prevent me from having to create all information by myself when it is already done for me. =====

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1 BIG idea to implement “on Monday”: Orangize the guidelines for the next project (post-reading) which will include several options, and technology incorporated in all options. =====

__** Using Flexible Technology **__ After reading the article and discussing what technological tools are available in high school classrooms with other secondary teachers, many ideas came to mind. First, graphic organizers should be used for all readings due to the fact that they help the students directly identify the major parts of the story, characters, and underlying meanings as well as create for them a study guide in preparation for the test. Second, having a website for the students to access can give them information they may not have time to ask you during the school day, or they are too shy to ask. The kids do enjoy using technology and should have an opportunity to show their creativity and understanding of the material in their own way, giving them justifiable control and power. Also, sites such as [|www.google.docs.com] and [|www.prezi.com] allow the student to present information to the rest of the class in a way that an educator may not anticipate or contemplate. The students could teach one another as well, if not better, than a teacher in certain situations. There is nothing better than being witness to an “Ah-ha!” moment when one student succeeded in educating another.

In the next few weeks and distant future, students will be incorporating technology in the classroom in both teaching one another and being taught. They will view a “wordle” prior to reading the next story then create a story of their own on [|www.goanimate.com]. Afterwards, students will create a “wordle” of their own prior to presenting their story to the whole class. When we finish our second reading, which will be prior to the holiday break, students will be grouped and asked to summarize the story (characters, theme, setting, climax, resolution, etc.), then present their summaries in [|www.google.docs.com] or [|www.prezi.com] and present that to the class. We then will compare and contrast what each groups presented in order to look for a common thread that all students took from the story. After the holiday break, students will begin the food chapter, which is by far my favorite. They must choose a recipe, translate it to Spanish, then cook it for the class, or create a scrapbook showing them cooking it at home. I am considering having them post their recipes on my Wiki site for comments and others to try cooking the dish. Lastly, students will create a workout video for the subjunctive tense and exercise vocabulary. They will film themselves in groups of 2 with one being the trainer and one the trainee. I would like to post those videos to my website so all can see their ability to speak Spanish as well as their dedication and creativity when completing the project.

12-04-10

==__5, 4, 3, 2, 1__ ==

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5 new technologies to try: [] (world news in Spanish) ===== [] (go to “free tools for teachers on the right hand side column, then “free ways to engage” in the bottom tabs) [] (digital storytelling) [] (insert questions or a poll in the PowerPoint presentation to make it interactive) [|www.zotero.org] (online management of resources when creating a project – citations, notes, collection of data, etc.) FREE – click download

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4 ideas to share with others: know what the assessment is measuring before implementing it, give the student an option as to which type of assessment he/she would best succeed in completing, digital learners need to be challenged within the classroom using technology, and lastly, have the students reflect on a project completed with technology versus one completed without and which they felt best accommodated them. =====

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3 principles of Universal Design for Learning - representation, expression, engagement =====

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2 changes in your teaching to reach all learners in the Digital Age - allow more use of personal technological devices in the classroom (within reason) and create more interactive lesson plans. =====

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<span style="font-size: 1.03em; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">1 BIG idea to implement “on Monday” - students will watch the news on Monday (in Spanish), then create their own news program (in the target language) about what is taking place in their community (weather, sports, uncoming events, etc.) =====

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Erin Alderfer <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Spanish Teacher: Level 3 Honors <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Unit – Stories <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Dates: December 6th to January 6th <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">OBJECTIVE OF LESSON, “Students will be able to apply and demonstrate their understanding of the differences between the preterit and imperfect tenses by reading four stories in Spanish. They will analyze the literary concepts of each story and practice adapting to the use of new vocabulary. Students will be expected to make inferences based on context provided in the sentence, and remark on the life choices of the main characters. Once all stories are read, students will break into groups and choose one of the three options provided to complete the final project of the 1st semester.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Goals: <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">1. To combine two and a half years of Spanish grammar and vocabulary into one application. <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">2. Analyze the stories (theme, plot, character development, climax, and resolution) <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">3. Apply what they have gained from this activity by creating a unique project that expresses their understanding of literary and grammatical concepts in Spanish. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Strategies: <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">1. Students will complete each story in sequence, beginning with the hardest two and ending with two that they are already familiar with in English. The partners for stories 2 & 3 are chosen by the teacher. For the final project, students may work with whom they please. <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">2. The first story, “Popocatepetl” will be read as a whole class. Students will each take a part and read the story to the class. We will analyze the events that take place together. <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">3. The second story will be read in groups of 3. Each group member will be pre-assigned a specific part of the story. Each individual will read that portion of the story and then describe to their group members what took place. As a group of three, students will analyze the story as a whole. <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">4. The third story “Caperucita Roja Moderna” is “Little Red Riding Hood” in Spanish, with a very different ending. Students will be placed in groups of 2 and asked to read the story in pre-determined sections. The students will present each day to their partner what happened in their specific section and how the story progressed. <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">5. The last story, “Superhombre”, is a shortened rendition of the Superman comic. This story is the shortest of them all, and will be read individually. Students will be asked to read as well as fill in the blanks of those verbs missing in each sentence. They are to practice placing the verbs in the story in the proper tense (preterit or imperfect - based on context). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">NOTE: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">I. After each pre-determined break in each story, students will work in partners to answer a set of 7-10 questions regarding what took place on that particular day in the story. They will receive the questions via the school website and will be posted on my homework board. Students will be asked to e-mail me their answers. The next day in class, I will choose several answers at random to be discussed, corrected, and critiqued by the class. The student who wrote the answer will not be identified. <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">II. At the end of each class period, students will update their character tree analysis. <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">III. At the end of each story, students will create a graphic organizer based on each individual story. They may work with whomever they please. All stories are located on the midterm exam at the end of the first semester. The students will be encouraged to use the graphic organizers as study guides for that assessment as well. <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -0.5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">IV. Prior to beginning each reading, I will present the students will a wordle of each story so they can make inferences in regards to what they think the story will be about. Students will also take time prior to reading the stories to read about and the discuss the life of each author. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">A sample lesson plan – Day 3 of Story #2 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Pre-class: Each day, students will take a moment to ** __quietly__ ** read over the material covered the day before to get them back into the right mindset. / (5 minutes) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">MATERIALS: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">NEW CONCEPTS AND SKILLS: Students will… <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">1. Read answers to the assigned questions regarding the story (from the night before) on the Promethean Board. They will then analyze, correct, and critique them as a whole class. / (10 minutes) <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">2. Meet in their groups and discuss the last section of the story. / (10 minutes) <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">3. Finish their character trees and begin the graphic organizer in partners of their choice. / (15 minutes) <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">4. Receive the final set of questions (located on homework website – presented via Promethean Board). Students are to take this time to ask for help if they are having difficulties with the story, the organizer, character tree, or the questions themselves. / (3 minutes) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">HOMEWORK: Finish the last set of questions. Students are to e-mail me their answers. Those students who do not have Internet access may hand me a hard copy of their answers at the beginning of the period tomorrow. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Assessment __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Once all stories are read, all questions answered, and all character trees/graphic organizers finished, students will then place themselves in groups of three or four (depending on class size). They are also to come to an agreement as to which project option they will complete. They will have one week to prepare, and will be notified of their presentation date in advance. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Option #1: Create your own fairy tale. Students are to use a digital storyboard to design and write their fairy tale. Being as there is no site (that I can find) which contains a storyboard that pronounces words in Spanish, they will also be responsible for presenting their story to the class. The story must contain an introduction, main character(s) description, problem, climax, and resolution. ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">[|www.storyboard.com] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Option #2: Present a summarized version of one of the stories via a project presentation website ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">[|www.google.docs.com] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> or <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">[|www.prezi.com] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">). Students will be responsible for condensing the story (in Spanish) in their own words, and present that to the class. The group who chooses to do this option is also to create their own activity to assess the students’ understanding. It may be in the form of a game (jeopardy, place the sentences in chronological order) or a short written or oral quiz. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Option #3: Choose a pre-existing fairy tale and change the ending. The alternate ending must capture the attention of their classmates and contain a lot of imagery and unexpected events. Students will be using a website (like <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">[|www.photopeach.com] )<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> where they will create their own photo album of the alternate ending with them as the characters. They will read over the story board in Spanish while presenting the project to the class. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Important Reminder: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Each student must contribute equally to the group project. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">All students will take one day to go to the computer lab and play with the software (create samples, read tutorials, etc.) they will be using for the project option they chose. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">