My blogspace will be dedicated to the trials and TRIUMPHS of using technology to teach middle school foreign language classes.
I am a STAR Discovery Educator since 2005. Last year I was selected to be the STAR ambassador to the NYSCATE conference held here in Rochester.
I strive to continue to improve my methodology by incorporating real technology into my classroom. I will be using podcasts as a very important instructional tool. Ask me sometime what I am listening to- I will know you read my blog. I am a very AUDITORY person(meaning I love to listen to things-music, podcasts, audiobooks). Listening is a VALUABLE skill for learning Spanish.
TEACHNOLOGY
My musings on using technology in the classroom.
1. A great way to end the year
I found this video online and it will make you smile and lift your spirits. I hope you enjoy it. I hope you dance.
2. Something to think about
I saw this at the NYSCATE conference presented by keynote speaker Milton Chen. He is the Executive Director of the George Lucas Education Foundation. He is an accomplished leader of educational media. You can read more about him here.(http://www.edutopia.org/milton-chen) Share your thoughts by commenting. The room of 400 educators was silent at the conclusion of the video.
4. by the way......
This is not my only blog. My much more insightful active blog is kept at http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/lbilak/ Hope to see you have wandered over there- there are many good bloggers writing about education and especially innovative teaching with technology.
5. Let me at it!
The presentation board newly installed in the Roth Lobby is just itching for some Spanish projects a la Bilak to help break it in. We are ready for some amazing projects and have some creative juices flowing on what we want to see playing up there! The World Wide Weather Watchers are ready to take up the challenge and creative informative weather vignettes to entertain the Roth community. Mr Davis- Here we come....psssst Spanish 7-I still have the digital video of you and the alphabet.....hmmmmmmmmmm
6. Tis the season to give-and learn too!
I found this link on another teacher's blog. I think it is well worth checking out since it benefits YOU by challenging your vocabulary(in English-lo siento-I don't know of a site to play and earn in Spanish). The best part is that for every word you correctly define you can earn twenty grains of rice to feed the hungry of the world. The donations are made by the United Nations. As we think of all the things we have in our lives-and may take for granted-let's help feed the world as we learn! http://www.freerice.com/
7. news from NYSCATE
I can't even begin to explain how exhilarating NYSCATE is for me. I went to workshops that were great, heard two inspiring keynotes, meet fellow DEN members in person and felt like we were old friends. All day long we heard schools need to change to address the connected world of our "millenials"(after Gen X comes the Millenials). I feel I have been moving in the right direction all along. Podcasting, wikis, blogging... were all the keys to Web 2.0 in the Differentiated Classroom. I am onboard with all of it! A fabulous learning day all the way around....
8. Sometimes life is good......
Well, imagine my surprise-Lenovo has decided to send all the finalists a brand new THINKPAD and also the replica torch as a way to thank us for the time and energy we put into the New Thinkers Contest. I am very pleased. I promise to run around the track here at Roth with my torch when I get it!
9. Where did October go?
Well I think I got caught up in the whirlwind of the Lenovo torchbearer contest. I was notified I was a finalist on 10/5, had to make the video on 10/6, watch my neighbors Jim and Jeanne edit and create my masterpiece by 10/7. Next, we watched the voting like it was the Presidential Primary elections. Now we wait to hear the results. My prediction- it will be CANADA, ARGENTINA, and BRAZIL. I did finish in the top 5. Quite a feat. I have found some great new tools for the bag of tricks-including pingme. Sent my first reminder to myself using that-after it reminded me 7 times to do something(make a dr appt for my son) I learned how to UNPINGME. CYBER-pestering is just as annoying. My email was bullying me. Well off to create some fun ppt slides for tomorrow's classes..... hasta pronto.
10. Week #1
Well, since the first day of class with my Opening Day powerpoint-we got the year off with a bang. Still figuring out the best way to incorporate the music(this year used my Ipod) to mix the music in with the visuals.....really need to get that tighter. Have shown all classes how to find my webpage-every day we will review that activity! Have listened to a podcast in Spanish 7 to practice the alphabet. Found some fun videos on Youtube to watch and practice the Spanish alphabet. Spanish 8 has been using electronic flashcards. Almost ready to jump back into the podcast pool Spanish 8 - here we come!
