Casa Batallo - Barcelona, Spain

Casa Batllo by vgm8383 Attribution-NonCommercial License

This is a great image I could use with my Spanish II students.

We are currently talking about their travel unit and concentrating on Barcelona, Spain. I've already introduced them to Antonio Gaudi and he was the mastermind behind Casa Batallo. I could show them this image and have them write down any words they'd use to describe the picture and then if they liked the design or not. I could then show them other pictures of the house (inside, outside, roof, etc.) and have them make additional observations.

Next, I could show them a famous house from U.S. history and culture like the white house or traditional home and have them compare and contrast the two using a Venn Diagram.

Finally, I could have them have a class discussion where they will have to express their opinions and observations.

Social Networking

Alan Levine, Vice President for Community and the C.F.O. for New Media Consortium, made some interesting statements about how to view technology on his video he posted on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzYuFqC9VpA).



Overall he said to "establish networks of colleagues, experiment, play and try new things."

Alan commented on how establishing networks of colleagues in and beyond your field is a great way to have a network of people through which you could ask questions and stay connected about current practices. "We can't know everything," so why not surround ourselves with resources and tools to help us be more efficient and effective?



Alan also commented on how people should keep an open mind when approaching technology. We should put aside things we're comfortable with and try something new. Experiment and play with new things and to constantly try to get something out of what we're trying. It's impossible to become an expert on everything and to constantly be up-to-date with technological advances, but if we're open to dabbling in and trying new things we will continue to grow with technology.



To go along with Alan's encouragement for trying new things I was browsing through the social networking service called "Ning" (http://www.ning.com/ ) and I found a lot of interesting communities of networks I could collaborate with.



1) Teach with Internet: A site used by teachers to share ideas with other teachers, post videos, upload lesson plans, recommend materials, resources and learn from each other.

http://teach-with-internet.ning.com/?xp_search=Spanish+Educators&xp_search_page=3&xp_search_pos=1



2) iPod Teachers: A place for teachers who implement iPod's in the classroom to collaborate.

http://ipodteachers.ning.com/?xp_search=Spanish+Educators&xp_search_page=3&xp_search_pos=3



3) The Interactive Whiteboard Revolution: A place where teachers with whiteboards can collaborate about effective teaching practices.

http://iwbrevolution.ning.com/?xp_search=Spanish+Educators&xp_search_page=1&xp_search_pos=1



4) Hispanic Professional Network: A place where Hispanic Professionals can network about upcoming events, conferences or current events in Hispanic culture or society.

http://network.hispanicpro.com/?xp_search=Spanish+Educators&xp_search_page=1&xp_search_pos=5



5) Dance-tech.net, Interdisciplinary explorations on the performance of motion: A network where the art of dance is discussed, events are posted, and where students can research about different kinds of dances.

http://www.dance-tech.net/?xp_search=Spanish+Educators&xp_search_page=1&xp_search_pos=7



These are just some of the social networks that I found while exploring Ning. There can be tremendous value from establishing a core social community of professionals. The first step to becoming more technology savvy is taking a risk and not being afraid to try something new!