Podcasting Possibilities

The podcast can be a powerful tool for the language learner. I listen to Russian and French podcasts in my car, on the way to work. It's a great way to make productive use of your time and with a 30 minute commute, 6 days a week; I get 6 hours of language listening practice a week. The podcasts are constantly updated so I never get bored of a topic, and I practicing speaking by repeating the dialogues. Strangers may think you're crazy for talking to yourself, but its totally worth it.
So it makes sense in a language learning classroom that I would use an English learning podcast. Students can find one to download to their iPod or mp3 player, listen on the bus or commute to school and be asked to write about it in their journal once weekly. This promotes listening, pronunciation and writing skills.
Since podcasts are easily made by anyone, all over the world; there are endless possibilities. I chose to search itunes, because I am most comfortable with itunes and already subscribe to several podcasts. I found this ESL podcast that deals with Describing Distances. This podcast starts with a realistic dialogue read slowly, then explains the expressions, slang and even some historical information on these expressions, then the dialogue is read at a normal pace. There are a wide variety of topics so students can customize their lesson by choosing which to write about. The distance podcast included expressions like "stone's throw", "read my lips" and "out of your mind". As a language learner, I understand how difficult expression and idioms can be in a foreign language, so I find these elements particularly useful.

The Global Learner

Global connectivity has become an essential component of a modern teacher's curriculum. As teachers, it is imperative that we expose our students to many cultures and ways of life, so that we can move away from the notion of  American exceptionalism.  When students are taught compassion and understanding, they are more likely to become life long learners who will find value in cultural diversity.
It is becoming clear that the future of education must embrace technology and join the global community. There are many resources online designed for teachers to incorporate a global component to their curriculum. Some of these are  Taking it Global, iEARN, NEA, Global Education, and of course,POV on  PBS  for wonderful documentaries.
The site I focused on was epals. They feature a "Global Community Project", which encourages students to upload a video showing what it means to them to be a global citizen. This type of project can be integrated into any classroom, quite easily.
These websites can also be used in a diverse classroom, to teach understanding and acceptance. It can also help a student feel more comfortable and instill pride in their own culture when they have a chance to share it in school. In an ESL classroom, I could see using the feature on epals called 'country investigation'. This could be used as an interactive classroom project to explore the students' home countries while practicing writing facts on a map. The site also had world language activities and information on bilingual blogs. An interesting idea for a project outside the classroom is called 'my community" where students are asked to look around their world and find influence from other cultures, examples being food or architecture.
With so many resources available it is easier than ever to educate and instill passion in our students for the world around us.

Comics in the Classroom

Everybody loves comic strips. And as teachers we want out students to enjoy learning. So another tool that can be used in the classroom to make learning fun; is the comic strip. There are many ways to use this. A simple idea would be to bring the comics section of the newspaper into class,students have fun and practice reading. To practice writing, you could have your students create their own dialogues and paste them over the text boxes. If you have some tech savvy students or you want to create your own custom lesson, there are several free options for making a comic strip online. Goanimate is the site I tried. It took a bit of time and a lot of patience, but totally worth it if you have a particular message or lesson you want to show.
I attempted to illustrate how an outsider might feel when attempting a seemingly simple task of ordering at a  Donut Shop .  The language is only the first hurtle you must jump when coming to America. Many foreigners are overwhelmed at the choices offered, the stream of questions,the special offers and even mundane small talk. These can all lead to a person feeling confused and leaving without buying anything in an attempt to save face. These feelings can be addressed or even avoided with the right tools and explanations. In my classroom, I would use these comic scenarios to prepare students for situations they are likely to encounter, while exposing them to typical conversational phrases.

Digital Storytelling in the Classroom

How I would use digital storytelling in the classroom:

The assignment: Pick two different countries and show me a connection between them. It can be a similarity, a common food or cultural practice, two places you have been or read about or two places you would like to visit. Use Animoto to create a free 30 second video illustrating the connection. Feel free to use your own videos, photos, and songs or use the ones available on the site. Get creative and share with the class!

I started with my favorite recording artist Regina Spektor, she sings in both Russian and French; two countries and languages that I love to study. I shared my personal travel photos and uploaded the Russian/French version of the song "Don't Leave Me".

Here it is!
Russia and France

The Digital Story

I love documentaries. I would watch them all the time, if I had the time. I think I enjoy them so much because they can bring you anywhere you want to go, make you feel like an expert on any topic, and can be made by anyone.
Digital Storytelling is a sort of extension on this idea of a documentary, but shorter and even more accessible. As explained on 7 things to know:Digital Storytelling; start with a script or story you want to share, add music, pictures and/or animation, piece together, edit and share. Typically short in length, but its up to you how long your story takes to tell.
Digital Storytelling is a great way for students and teachers alike to share their human experience, promote cultural awareness, and introduce a new topic in a fun way that caters to your visual learners. The possibilities are
endless because anyone can create one.
I watched several on this website that focuses on Digital Storytelling and the educational uses. The topics ranged from a Japanese student adjusting to American life, decision making, and the Holocaust. I was able to watch several because they ranged from four minutes to nine minutes in length.
This could be a wonderful tool in an ELL or any multicultural classroom. The act of sharing your history and background with classmates would help create a sense of community while getting students to think critically about what they are publishing online.

Serious Play

Want to teach your students real life lessons and expand their awareness of global struggles? Try introducing them to  a serious game. This task can be assigned as homework or simply suggested to sprout a classroom dialogue. These games typically follow a story line and involve strategy and critical thinking, so they are best for students to do outside of the classroom. So many games are available online for free. Students can learn about refugees,environmental issues, budgets, etc... if you want to expose them to a serious concept in an engaging way; there is a game for it.
I played 3rd World Farmer six times and managed to starve my family each time. It reminded me of playing Oregon Trail; which i loved as a kid, but never was very good at. This game is not hard to play though, each time I got a little better and learned from my mistakes. However, theft,wars and general unexpected events are thrown in often and I'm never prepared. This game utilizes the same repetition and vocabulary expansion that you would find in a casual game, but with a deeper message. After a couple of plays, students would have solidified their farm animal, tools, and food vocabulary. Also encountered were some scenarios that involved tourists coming and weather events. I would ask students to write down unfamiliar concepts for a classroom discussion. This could also be a good way to assess the individual understanding of each student. The objective is frequent exposure to vocabulary with a conceptual framework for global issues, a pretty meaningful homework assignment that students will enjoy.

Playing is Learning

As teachers, we need to always be thinking up ways to make learning more fun. Especially with ELL teachers, who have the enormous task of teaching something that most people haven't had to (consciously) learn. Some students may also oppose learning a language forced upon them or find the task too overwhelming. One tool that will help is Gamification; simply put, using games to teach. the wonderful thing about games is that people want to play them. Imagine a classroom of self-motivated,eager learners. An easy to use computer game can solidify and teach vocabulary while giving individual encouragement and assessment. This video explains all the wonderful ways games can reward your brain.
I played Griswold the Goblin 2 three times and once I understood the role of the walkthrough, I began to get the hang of it, and started to make some progress. The images were really cool and the walkthrough and playing the game; with the teacher available to translate unfamiliar terms and help give walkthrough instruction. The game was fun and had simple point and click motions with an interesting plot and images to keep me engaged. I knew I was getting better by how far I had gotten by my third try. Language students would be focusing on a set of 10-15 frequent vocabulary words and by one turn on the game and one as walkthrough coach, they would have seen the words dozens of times and have a visual attached. 
use of repetitive vocabulary would be very useful in a language classroom. I could see two students working in a group together, taking turns reading the