It has been 2 years, since I was in the classroom teaching Spanish to elementary school students. I am often asked  if I miss it. I do miss having classes on my own, where I am the one who can decide on a project and see it through from beginning to end. Do I still feel like that I am continuing to contribute to my students’ Spanish language skills as a Technology Integration Facilitator? YES!

As the Spanish teacher, I felt that not only the language itself was important to teach to my students, but also global awareness and specifically Hispanic culture were part of my job. My philosophy was:

• Being able to communicate is one of the primary goals of the world language classroom.
• Collaborate with others by being sensitive and aware of cultural differences
• Presenting opportunities in order to make connections to help my students understand the value, advantages and necessity of learning another language are always a priority.
• Teaching creatively to engage my students is a must, especially when being considered a “resource” teacher, not part of the core subjects.
• Allowing students to be creative in order to take the language out of the textbook and make it real to them in common situations.

Is it becoming obvious yet where I am going with this?

• Communicate
• Collaborate
• Connect
• Create

World Language teachers ARE teaching 21st century skills. Through web 2.0 tools it is easier, available and more affordable than ever before to bring the world, your language’s culture and people to your students. Technology is a World Language teacher’s best friend and ally.

As part of my Masters in Instructional Technology, Langwitches: The magic of Learning Languages through Technology was born in 2005. I started posting projects that would benefit the world language learner.

• digital recipes
• digital movies
• digital images
• webquests
• blogging
• distance learning
• puzzles
• podcast
• iPods

In 2006, I presented at the K-12 Online Conference iPods-iSpeak-iSing-iListen-iLearn

iPods and other MP3 players have revolutionized the way kids listen to and purchase their music. They are quickly entering the classrooms as a teaching and learning tool as well. The foreign language classroom can especially benefit from the possibilities the iPod opens up, such as podcasting, video capabilities, and audio recordings. The popularity of such devices directly effects students’ engagement in the learning process.Teachers will learn about ideas and ways they can easily create and distribute pronunciation guides, audio books, lectures, notes, and much more for their students.

A lot has changed since 2005/2006. If I were a World Language teacher in the classroom, what would I do differently today, ? I would continue to reinforce 21st century skills for my students. Some of the tools that I would use are different though.

• Communicate (Skype, blogs, VoiceThread)
• Collaborate (Skype, Google Docs, Mixbook, wikis)
• Connect (Skype, blogs, VoiceThread)
• Create (podcast, vidcast, online portfolios)

Seeing the impact the Skype Video Conferences has had these past few months on our elementary school students is encouraging. The easiness and normality Kindergarten kids use their Spanish to sing, play, listen and talk to other Kindergarteners in Lima, Peru is exhilerating and hopeful that we are on the right path.

We are hopeful that we are able to prepare those kids for a world where they will talk, work and collaborate with people around the world on a daily basis. This collaboration requires cultural awareness, language ability AND sensitivity as well as a global network.

Technology is just another language. Both of them fit together like Pizza and Empanadas, Peanut Butter and Jelly or Nutella with Pancakes. Pick the one that culturally seems to makes the most sense to you. 

Photo Credit:

Nutella by DTC Master Crew
Pizza & Empanadas by ricardo.martins
Peanut Butter & Jelly by iirraa

Posted: 29. November, 2008 at 5:33 pm. Filed under: 21st Century Skills, Tech Integration, Technology, World Languages.
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