IWLA annual conference

In October, I was honored to present at the Iowa World Language Association annual conference in Des Moines. http://www.iwla.net.  As part of my presentation, I wanted to give language teachers relevant and applicable technology lesson ideas that incorporate the National Standards.

As amazing as technology is, we all know that programs and multimedia are constantly evolving. Several of my technological tools have become obsolete or there may be better apps to convey the message. For example, Wordle.net is an incredible tool, however Tagxedo.com may have the tools to take it from good to great.




Enjoy!

Has it really been this long?

It was with my greatest intentions last Spring when I created Loving Lingo to craft a permanent record and organizational tool to showcase materials from within my classroom. Then, the expected happened: Life, the every day comings and goings, being a mother of 2, a wife of an administrator, 2 amazing dream jobs, graduate school, among many other amazing things, put a screeching halt to my blog.

Before I blog about the exciting things that 2013 has to offer, my goal is to reflect and document my highlights from the field of Foreign Language Education and ELA.

Upcoming blogs include:

• Transitioning from a secondary foreign language teacher to bring the exciting world of language to the elementary level.
• Incorporating TPR and TPRS into my curriculum.
• Integrating technology in the foreign language classroom.
• Inspiration from my adult ELL students at the college level.
• Promoting World Language at annual conferences.

Happy New Year!

¡Feliz año nuevo!

No space book shelves

I'm beginning a new job this year teaching elementary Spanish (K-4), so the ability to utilize and integrate childrens books is very exciting. My predecessor was organized and had all of the classroom books labeled into categories. Fantastic, but now I want to take the classroom library into a new, child-friendly environment. Are my students going to flip through a box of books to find something appealing? Maybe...but not likely.

I think about when I am standing at the checkout aisle. Inevitably, a toy, candy bar, or some other tempting 'money trap' will catch the attention of my children and I brace myself for battle. Amazing marketing strategy for the store? Most definitely. I decided to take this "marketing" approach into my classroom library. If the books are displayed, it will catch the attention of my students.

I typically do not enjoy DIY projects due to lack of time, resources, tools, or motivation to build something. However, I had a vision and decided to go with it. Here are step-by-step instructions on how I created a book display.

My classroom wall is fabric, so attaching velcro to the back of my shelf would be an easy, portable, and damage-free investment. I searched through the local home improvement store for different styles of trim. The styles of trim are endless, but knew that I needed something that would have an edge to attach to the wall and keep the book from sliding to the floor.

I bought 8' sections because they were on sale. (Plus, we were doing some home improvement projects at the house and had a miter saw readily available to cut in half.) I also bought several different colors of spray paint. I normally don't go for the multi-bright color paint, but knowing that this is going in my elementary classroom and learning colors are part of the curriculum, I gave myself a free pass. I cut each 8' section in half.

Then I spray painted the trim various colors.

In my classroom I attached velcro to the back of the painted trim, leveled, and attached to the wall.

The shelves do not hold all of my classroom books, however I intend on rotating the books depending on current curriculum, themes, and holidays.

***As a side note. The computer and table space is used for the "listening centers", as described in a previous post.

Listening Centers: Foreign Language Classroom

Literacy is just as important in the Specials rotation as it is in the classroom.  In my building, Spanish is part of the "music, art, p.e." rotation.  We embrace that we are an integral part of school and students' literacy success.

One way to support literacy is to create listening centers in the Target Language (TL). This takes some initial set-up, however once the books are recorded they may be used as often as desired. My library collection consists of many picture books because I teach in an elementary school.

The Internet has many books pre-recorded. A quick search can save you a lot of time on having to record the book yourself. If I can't find the book online, I record the book on my Mac computer using GarageBand. (There are many programs on Macs and PC's that can be used; iMovie, Photo Booth, Audacity.) At each page-turn, I added a "ding" for those emergent readers to help guide the students as they follow along. Once I have finished recording/editing, I need to save the recording so my students may access the file on various devices.  I have a folder in my iTunes account and "sync" the books to iPods that I purchased for my classroom.

YouTube has a very nice video of ¿Eres mi Mamá? por P.D. Eastman. I recorded the sound from this video onto GarageBand and exported into an mp3 file. It took a total of 10 minutes to record the book, download into iTunes, and upload onto my student iPods.

Flip Video - Basic Greetings

Technology doesn't scare me. Kids don't (typically) scare me. Technology + kids together???? Bring it on. Yes, many times I question my sanity at the end of the day when I pair the students up with any technological device, however when we view the final product, all of those frustrations, headaches, and glitches are thrown out the window. Student work on digital devices are phenomenal.

One of the first...and easiest... project is using the Flip Video Cameras to record student conversations.  I applied and was awarded a grant to purchase 2 Flip Cameras. Through the Digital Wish organization, I was able to match an additional 2 cameras. Having 4 cameras in my class definitely helped eliminate group wait time.

I want my students producing language on the first day of class and creating simple sentences/conversations within a week. My 7th grade students were in small groups and created a short dialogue with our new set of vocabulary (reading and writing). They recorded their conversations (speaking) and within 15 minutes we were able to view their final production (listening).  The students were allowed to use props from within our classroom to add to their theatrics, while others preferred the quick question and answer.

Students' ears are already trained within the week to catch their mistakes while listening to their oral presentations.  This informal feedback is imperative to error and self-correction.

Foreign Language??? Yuck.

I have encountered many people who contort their faces into interesting expressions when I share that I am a Spanish teacher. "I hated Spanish." "I don't remember anything from high school Spanish (French, German, etc)." "All we ever did in class was memorize conjugations and complete worksheets."

Yuck, you're right. Memorizing conjugations and completing worksheets day after day would be boring. I have set out to change that "yucky" foreign language perception. Successful foreign language learning should be authentic and engaging. It needs to incorporate all aspects of language learning: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Students should also understand why learning a foreign language is important and how it effects (and affects) them.

I share this glogster with my students on the first day of class.  It is important for them to understand why foreign language learning is important.