The first part of my GAME plan was to find a way to make learning a more creative process for my students, more specifically through using some sort of technology. I started searching the Internet a little in hopes to find something that could make vocabulary acquisition a more creative process, and I came across a Spanish for Beginners drama called “Mi Vida Loca” on the BBC website, which looks like it might be a great resource for me. This mini-soap opera is divided into episodes by topic, and could be a great way to introduce new topic to my students, as it is seems interesting enough to hold the attention of my students, but also has enough supports, such as Spanish subtitles and options to stop for mini-lessons, that my students could benefit from watching these. Before providing new vocabulary, I could have my students watch the episode and see what they might come up with as important terms for the unit. To carry out this part of my plan, I would need an LCD projector (available for me from the library media center), or, to have students do this in small groups, I would need to sign out the computer lab.
The second part of my GAME plan involves using technology to communicate with students, parents, and peers. So far, I have signed up on my schools Google account to create my own website. I have a skeleton of a website so far, and I would like to develop this more so that from this site, you can go to a separate page, depending on what section of Spanish the student in taking. I am really unsure of how to navigate the creating of a website, so the resource that I need to carry out my plan from here is the help and expertise of the library media specialist at my school. I really enjoy this kind of collaboration with my colleagues, and so I am looking forward to working with the specialist to help me carry out my GAME plan.
It sounds like you have some excellent resources available to help you pursue your second goal of creating your own website. My school has neither a website which can facilitate teacher-created pages nor a media specialist (sigh). What does your "skeleton" look like so far? Will the Google site allow your readers (students/parents) to post comments or questions to your site as a blog would? Or is it a one-way communication tool?
ReplyDeleteI've had a peek at the BBC link that you mentioned and it looks quite good: easy to navigate, relevant topics, accessible for both beginners and intermediate learners. Once you get comfortable using video as a tool for creative and context rich vocabulary learning, perhaps you might begin to explore creating your own video material to link with the topics that you are covering in class...
Jenine-
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I am very impressed with the work you have done already. It seems that we always have so much going on and it can be hard to find the time to explore. I love the idea of using the soap opera and letting your students see the vocabulary words in real context. It might also be fun if you could let your students create and film their own soap opera or "reality" TV show using the vocabulary words as well. I imagine that they would get into that and create some great skits!
Jeni