Spanish III chapter 4a practice

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Junior VoiceThreads 2017

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Junior VoiceThreads 2016

Paste your link and write the first names of all group members (no last names!) in a comment under the entry “Junior VoiceThreads.” 

To paste, press Ctrl + V or click on paste. 

Technology Standards

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has broken down what skills students should have at a variety of ages. You can check out these standards here.

Communication and collaboration are a great foundation for these standards, as they allow students to maximize their learning and growth potential while they work toward the other standards: creativity and innovation, research and information fluency, critical thinking, problem solving and decision making, digital citizenship and technology operations and concepts.

I think that creativity without collaboration is limited. The best work that I see from my students is when they are working together. (If I have any students who end up reading this, feel free to comment on times you really benefited from working in groups in my class or other classes!) Likewise, problem solving and decision making lean toward being better activities that are done with others.

Web 2.0 applications allow for seemingly endless creative productions and collaborative and critical thinking options. As long as teachers take the time to think through what their goals are and to thoroughly explore the web 2.0 tools, they will find a perfect tool (or combination of tools) to suit their task.

I was amazed at what even the youngest of students (ages 4-8) are expected to be able to do when I read through the Profiles for Technology Literate Students (to view these, use the same link as above, but click on “ISTE Standards Student Profiles”)! The action words of what they are supposed to do (such as research, justify, evaluate) are very intense! Learning these things at such a young age allow for increased skills at doing those actions as they grow as well as movement into very advanced tasks in high school, such as configuring hardware.

Additionally, collaboration can help all students to meet the NETS-S by allowing students that are more fluent in using technology to be a great asset to those who are not, as long as they work together and the stronger one helps the weaker one learn.

The opportunities that technology affords today’s students are very exciting!


References

ISTE Standards for Students. (n.d.). Retrieved June 7, 2015, from http://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards/standards-for-students

Project Based Learning

This week, I read three inspiring articles about schools that incorporate project based learning (PBL).

"More Fun Than a Barrel of . . . Worms?!" - Diane Curtis, Edutopia
http://www.edutopia.org/more-fun-barrel-worms

Geometry Students Angle into Architecture Through Project Learning" - Sara Armstrong, Edutopia
http://www.edutopia.org/geometry-real-world-students-architects

"March of the Monarchs: Students Follow the Butterflies' Migration"
- Diane Curtis, Edutopiahttp://www.edutopia.org/march-monarchs

In Newsome Park Elementary School in Virginia, students explored the topic of cystic fibrosis (among other projects that were mentioned). In Mountlake Terrace High School near Seattle, groups of geometry students designed plans for a new high school. In Rockledge Elementary School, the class investigated the path of monarchs. Listing these projects in this way makes them sound very simple. However, they are anything but simple!

As is inherent to PBL, in each of the examples, the students did not learn information in a void, but rather, they immersed themselves in projects that evolved from real-life issues that connect them to their school, as a whole, and the community. The students at Newsome Park had a classmate with cystic fibrosis and wanted to learn more about what was happening to their peer. At Mountlake Terrace HS, students met with, and were critiqued by, local architects. In Rockledge Elementary, the class was able to go outside and spot the monarchs on their path through their state.

These projects were designed so that the students were incorporating a lot of content into their work. “Math, writing, reading and other subjects are interwoven into classroom projects and applied just as they would be in the real world. Use of spreadsheets, Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, computer slide shows, drawing and word-processing programs and digital cameras and scanners become second nature to the students” (Curtis, 2001).

Teachers must spend significant time thinking through the dynamics of the projects such as what the expectations are for the project and group work, timing, length, group size and any extra costs. In some cases, they must arrange to have community members assist. Teachers play an initial role of helping the students to become interested in the project. They must be flexible. As indicated by Patty Vreeland, educator, teachers have a responsibility to incorporate the standards and know them very well.  Vreeland also notes that teachers using PBL must work harder than traditional teachers who have a set lesson plan each day (Curtis, 2001). Alternately, when students are working on projects, they are going to be at different phases and also are susceptible to questions arising that could take them in a new direction at any moment.

In PBL, though the teachers are working hard, the students are working even harder as they are the ones doing the creating instead of the teacher being the center of the class. In the articles, among dozens of other things, students are making drawing and scale models of the future high school, recording temperatures leading up to the arrival of the butterflies and compiling information about cystic fibrosis. The busy students are in charge of their education! They are active and engaged. Equally important, as mentioned by teacher Eeva Reeder, is the process of reflection (Armstrong 2002).

The hands-on work required by PBL creates true learning and understand. With traditional learning, repetition of information is important to shift data from short term to long term memory. But by creating meaningful activities through PBL, the information makes such a big impact that true learning occurs as things naturally shift to long term memory.

Arguably the best part of project based learning is that students are interested, invested and engaged while in the classroom (and out of the classroom)! In the video about designs for the future high schools, one student was so excited to present his group’s design to the architect that he was inspired to work his best. So many students do not have the intrinsic motivation that in necessary for traditional learning, where learning for learning’s sake can be meaningless to some. With PBL, however, children aren’t learning for learning’s sake, but rather they are learning because they (and possibly their school, community or world as a whole) can benefit from their final product.

This blog post is not about me or my feelings, but I can’t help but comment that this kind of learning is the learning I long for my students to experience.      

References

Armstrong, S. (2002, February 11). Geometry Students Angle into Architecture Through Project Learning. Retrieved May 9, 2015, from http://www.edutopia.org/geometry-real-world-students-architects

Curtis, D. (2001, October 1). More Fun Than a Barrel of . . . Worms?! Retrieved May 9, 2015, from http://www.edutopia.org/more-fun-barrel-worms

Curtis, D. (2002, June 6). March of the Monarchs: Students Follow the Butterflies' Migration. Retrieved May 9, 2015, from http://www.edutopia.org/march-monarchs

Week of May 11, May 18 and May 25!

Week of May 11

Spanish I
Monday-today is the book check
Tuesday-today is the notebook check for quarter 4--it's a good grade booster, but it's voluntary!
There is no homework the rest of the week. Continue to study the present progressive. Keystone Exams are during period 4 on Wednesday and Friday.

Spanish II
There is no homework this week and no tests or quizzes (other than the Keystone Exams). We will be practicing with the vocabulary from chapter 14 and probably beginning to review for the final.

Spanish III-As of now, there is no homework scheduled this week other than to study for Thursday's quiz on the present perfect.

Spanish IV-No homework! We are going to be finishing the book's video series and watching a movie.
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Week of May 11

Spanish I-As of now, there is no homework this week. Practice direct object pronouns!

Spanish II-There is no homework this week. Tuesday there is a quiz on vocabulary for chapter 14. It's a voluntary quiz!

Spanish III-There will be some homework on por and para this week.

Spanish IV-We are finishing last week's movie and then going to the assemblies on Thursday and Friday.
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Week of May 26

Spanish I-final exam on the 26th and 27th during class
Spanish II-final exam on the 26th and 27th during class
Spanish III-final exam on the 26th and 27th during class

Week of 5.4.15

Spanish class final exams will likely be the week of the 18th the 26th and 27th. Study all notebook entries!

Spanish I-
M-as of now, there is no homework scheduled
W-write vocabulary 6B notes and do handout 6.3/6.4  and p. 532 #1 bottom; p. 524 #2 top
T-F-practice vocabulary and present progressive

Spanish II-
M-p. 544 1 and 2; handout 13.3/13.4
As of now, there is no homework scheduled for the rest of the week

Spanish III-
M-Amazing Race-no class
T-p. 197 4 and 5
W-past participle crossword
T-exercise 10-8, as well as a few other practice questions for the present perfect
F-finish any work we did not complete in class

Spanish IV-
M-p. 401 5-9, choose 2; handout 12.1/12.2
T-study for tomorrow's quiz
W-notes, p. 561 #1; p. 405 #13 and 17

T-12.3/12.4 and other vocabulary sheet
F-prepare for "day at the airport"