The Socially Bookmarked Teacher

There is so much information on the internet. Too much information. We are conditioned to believe that more is better and I suppose it is nice to have options. But how do we sort it all so it becomes less overwhelming and intimidating? How do we stay focused on a topic we want to bring into our lesson plan? And more importantly, how do we ever find it again?

And so we look to the source of the problem for the solution to the problem. And its the internet, so it has an answer for everything. And here we find social bookmarking. But I have a bookmarking feature on my computer, why do I need to sign up for another account?? Well social bookmarking is different...because it is social. That means you can access your colleagues' bookmarks too (this could mean less work for you).

 Not surprisingly, there are many options for social bookmarking sites. But I'm going to compare two, Diigo and scoop it. Both sites took just a few minutes to create an account, confirm the email and walk you through getting started. With Diigo, I just continued onto my usual google search methods and clicked on the digolet bookmark when I found an interesting site. I then added  tags to organize the information (the whole point is organizing!), and when I went back to the site there was everything nice and neat and searchable, like my own little relevant search engine. Diigo also allows you to highlight within an article, making what you want to find even easier.

Scoop It was more like a search engine in itself. As soon as I typed in keywords on the start up page I had related videos on my side bar. This was fairly convenient and I found myself using this feature to sift through information. Scoop It is also more geared towards specific topics to follow, as opposed to Diigo, where you would follow people. You have the option of liking a post on Scoop It, but you can only comment on Diigo.

So, I like both. I feel like Diigo would be good for following colleagues and Scoop It might be better for following topics from people around the world. I want a combination of the two, on one account.   It is the internet, so I'm sure that will become available in a week or so.

Beware! The future is here.

The introduction of technology to the traditional classroom is inevitable. We have all seen that our world is changing faster than ever before. It happens so quickly now that schools have barely been able to keep up. They simply introduce a new device to an existing,outdated curriculum. It is evident that something needs to change, but to what degree? How far should we take it and are teachers ready to learn and implement these new ideas?

 I recently watched the video  Future Learning and it definitely made me think about how I see technology in the modern classroom. This video convinced me that used correctly, technology could make learning much more efficient and fun. I think its a great idea to use video games as a way to reinforce concepts and apply knowledge in a relevant way. Some traditional methods have become outdated and time consuming, when you can access the answer to your question in seconds,you can learn so much more. Children in today's classroom are most comfortable in this medium, it is the administration that is resistant to embrace the change.

On the other hand, I then watched a video that made me feel like technology could take over the classroom and eliminate interpersonal aspect of school. Classroom of Tomorrow showed a lot of the possibilities of technology but I feel like a balance is needed. I think it is important for hands on, tangible learning as well as on the screen. It is important for writing to still be practiced, books to still be touched, and posters made without the use of a printer. There is an element of perfection associated with things produced and edited with computers, sometimes lacking creativity.  I think its important to also incorporate the hand made aspect into children's education.

Like all things in life, balance is necessary and change will happen. The students already know how to use it,the technology is already created, all that is left is to decide how much in the classroom and where to begin.

Outside the classroom

 According to Standards for Foreign Language Learning, there are several necessary components of language learning. These standards are called the five C's: communication,culture,connections,comparisons and communities. These are used as guides for educators to give students the best possible chance of acquiring a second language. For now, I will focus on culture and community.

 Section 2.1 refers to the practice of a culture, a sort of recognition of an accepted norm, referred to as "what to do when and where". 2.2 goes on to discuss the products of a culture. This is the aspect I find the most useful. A product or creation of a culture can be so telling. With this you gain so much insight into the belief system. In my classroom, I would encourage everyone to share a product of their own culture and I will share one of mine.  School house rocks,way better than any textbook grammar lesson.

Onto community, Section 5.2 deals with students becoming life-long language learners. I think of this part of the language acquisition process as the time when you get to sit back and reap the benefits of years of hard work. By this point there are probably several TV shows, songs, websites that have become part of your daily ritual. Second thing to share with students: proof that we will always need languages other than English, untranslatable words.

Get Excited!

Teaching and studying language is all about cultural immersion. This immersion doesn't have to be in the traditional sense...as in you don't have to fly to to Paris to be completely surrounded by French culture, you could just as easily have a French film marathon in your living room; complete with a wide variety of traditional cuisine, easily purchased at Wegmans.  To truly learn or teach a language, there needs to be a passion for the culture. I think a blog can be a tool used to do just that.

We all know that it is much easier to teach people that really want to learn. There are always a few students who just sit and soak up your every word. The challenge, of course is that learning a second language is tough,like really tough. Even for those few overachievers, knowing how to learn language is a new experience. Our native language was always just there, we knew it before we knew we knew it. So how do we keep our overwhelmed majority interested? I think the answer is: incite passion for the culture.

Adding an online component to the classroom is way to connect with students in a way they are generally more accustomed to. There is so much information swirling around that we need to tap into that stream and teach while they don't know they're being taught. Adding pop culture videos, interesting articles customized to a particular student's interest, or just getting them to check by posting a funny picture. A blog can be like a teacher-student networking site. 
And who knows...maybe they will really get into a song posted and will be studying language without even knowing it.