Mini Lesson on The Sagrada Familia, Barcelona Spain

Teaching about culture!

I'm currently teaching my Spanish II students about their travel vocabulary and we're talking about Barcelona, Spain. One of the topics we've talked about is the famous architect Antonio Gaudi - this video is about "La Sagrada Familia" Gaudi's masterpiece which has been under construction for three centries.

This is a video about "the collapse of the Sagrada Familia" but its a video that was created to help gain support for people to complain about the government approving the construction of an under-ground train system, which would run right under the Sagrada Familia.

I could show my students this video and use it to spark a class discussion and even possibly have them write a e-mails supporting this organization.

They could find more information about this cause and the Sagrada Familia at: sossagradafamilia.org

Flickr Photo for a mini Spanish culture lesson

Happy New Year Lesson Idea:

I could use this photo I found on Flickr to start a lesson on Plaza Mayor in Madrid, Spain. I could have students come in and describe or write about what is going on in this picture and where in the world they think it is. We could use this as a conversation piece and it would be a great lead into a mini cultural lesson about different plazas in Spain and Plaza Mayor in Madrid.

Photo By: Urugallu

The photo was taken by Jose Rodriguez who also has other similar photos and his website that I could incorporate into the same lesson.

Texting and Tweeting and learning reading and writing?

Excellent and very insightful video regarding the common myths about texting and tweeting!

Ideas for a place for Twitter in a Modern Classroom

Ideas for a place for Twitter in a Modern Classroom

I recently joined twitter and i'm excited about incorporting it into my classroom!

Here are a few of the articles and websites I checked out for suggestions on how teachers can incorporate Twitter into their classrooms.

Integrating ICT into the MFL Classroom

Langwitches Blog: The Magic of Learning

The Ultimate Twitter Guidebook for Teachers

21C Tools "Twitter"

Learn It In 5 - How-to videos for the Technology Classroom: "Twitter"


Ideas for using Twitter in a classroom:

1) A devise for communicating with students or parents
2) A tool to search for content & organize and filter the information
3) A way to search for current and recent events or news
4) A way for students to engage in conversation
5) Daily lesson summaries
6) Collaborative planning (Teachers - students and students - students)
7) Teacher collaboartion (lesson plans, teaching techniques & tips, etc.)
8) Practice learning a Foreign Language by using "twitterlearn" or just practicing conversation skills with other Twitterers around the world
9) Connect with other classrooms around the world (modern-day pen pal)
10) Use as a poll (student opinions or getting feedback)

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!