Technology Foreign Language Classroom

Region 5 of the New York City Department of Education has created a 13 minute staff development segment on using web sites created for native speakers as comprehensible input.  Eva Fernandez of Queens College and her student, Jassica Chan, present both theory and practice in this interesting segment that can be viewed by individual teachers or used as a basis for discussion in staff development meetings.

 

The segment is called "Technology Foreign Language Classroom" and can be downloaded from either iTunes.com by searching for "TECH IN FIVE" or from the Region 5 web site at www.region5nyc.org. Click on the tab "Tech in Five."  This download is free of charge.

State Ed helps with LOTE classroom planning

I was privileged to attend a workshop today with David Ashdown (dashdown@wswheboces.org), Coordinator for Instructional Technology Integration Programs for the WSWHE BOCES.

David informed my faculty that the State Education Department has created a Virtual Learning System website to assist teachers in integrating technology into their lesson plans.

These lesson plans have been prescreened and each one is aligned to a specific LOTE standard.

Now, this website isn't just for LOTE. There are lesson plans for every curriculum area and each one is tied to a specific learning standard in that content area.

The best part about these lesson plans is that they often take you to websites (off the State Education page) that allow students to interact with the topic currently being learned.

The Virtual Learning System website works hard to take ordinary lessons and make them extraordinary by adding a technological component to them.

David emphasized today that our students are "technology natives" while the teachers are "technology immigrants".

What he means here is that our students are clicking and surfing before they hit pre-school. Technology is part of their native tongue.

When did we start clicking and surfing? Most of us, probably not until our adult lives.

We have a lot to learn from our students regarding technology, and our students have a lot to learn from us (now that we have tools like VLS).

You're probably thinking that "The SED website is so complicated and enigmatic."

I've surfed fairly extensive through this VLS website and am happy to report it is "user friendly"! 

Where do you go for this information?

http://eservices.nysed.gov/vls

Visit it - browse around - enjoy creating new and improved lessons.

Remember, EVERY lesson you do EVERY day could involve technology in some manner. Start slow and build confidence.

Before you know it, you'll be using it all the time!

"Learn a Language" Free Podcasts

What is a podcast?

A podcast is a web feed of audio or video files placed on the Internet for anyone to download or subscribe to, and also the content of that feed. Podcasters' websites also may offer direct download of their files, but the subscription feed of automatically delivered new content is what distinguishes a podcast from a simple download or real-time streaming. (wikipedia.org)

How does LOTE come into play?

I've found a whole bunch of LOTE podcasts to enhance what you teach in the classroom, or to help you, yourself learn a new language!

I found these while on iTunes (Music Store > Podcasts > Education) and thought you might be interested.

You can then load the downloaded files onto your Mp3 player, like an iPod, and listen and learn whenever you want, at your convenience!

Here are some examples: (you can get these podcasts FOR FREE off of iTunes or probably from the website given)

French - http://frenchpodclass.com/

From the website: This podcast started because I was looking to improve my Spanish, and was looking for some class or else that was available in iTunes. By curiosity I looked to see if there were any in French. As you know, there were none. That is when I decided to make one myself. I am not a teacher but I like to share my knowledge and experiences with people.  I assumed that there would be at least 1 or 2 people that would be interested. There is no necessary language level to follow this podcast - I try to make it fit for everyone (the advanced, the beginner, the curious ...) - I also try to make it pretty accessible, so anyone can pick up it the middle of the course.

Japanese - http://japanesepod101.com/

From the website: Our goal is to make Japanese, easy and fun, while incorporating culture and current issues into our lessons. We believe the more you speak the quicker you learn, so we have designed our program to get you speaking right away. Situational Japanese is heavily stressed, and our 4-member team role play various situations to demonstrate what form of Japanese to use when speaking with friends, customers, executives, etc. Knowing which form to use, separates good speakers from great speakers.

Italian - http://www.learnitalianpod.com/

From the website: Learn Italian when and where is most convenient for you with free podcasts. Published every Monday and Thursday.

ESL - http://www.eslpod.com/

From the website: Are you looking for a fun, easy way to improve your English? Would you like to speak English more fluently? Would you like to increase your listening comprehension?

You've come to the right place.  With English as a Second Language Podcast, you will improve your English by listening to native speakers talk and discuss topics of interest to you.  You'll learn new idioms and expressions and learn to use them the way native speakers do.  No more "textbook English"!

Chinese - http://www.chinesepod.com/

From the iTunes site for this podcast: Learn Mandarin Chinese with free, daily podcasts and a personal learning center direct from Shanghai, China

I was also able to find podcasts that deal with Russian and German. 

Enjoy learning how to add to your lessons with this fantastic technology!

For those that are interested, I plan on doing a workshop at the Summer Institute in Oneonta on this, and other technology that I use in my classroom.