The Library of Congress...for teachers!!

The Library of Congress is, without a doubt, a phenomenal resource in general. However, the website offers a plethora of materials for teachers to use in their classrooms. The resources made available are perfect for teachers of all content areas even foreign language teachers. As a Spanish teacher, I was attracted to the Hispanic themed resources. I often struggle to find primary sources that are age appropriate for my middle school and elementary level learners, but the Library of Congress has made these sources more easily accessible. One of the resources I though could be adapted into my curriculum included the primary source set entitled Hispanic Exploration.

I found that the primary sources, although not in the target language, can offer my students more insight on the contributions made by Hispanics to America. My students are much more invested and engaged when they are introduced to new material that is visual. The Library of Congress' primary sources makes this possible by accompanying their sources with maps, songs, pictures, and other visuals that helps bring the content to life. I also plan to use the "Immigration Challenges for Americans" to supplement my unit on immigration from Latin American countries. I believe my students will get so much more out of seeing and experiencing the lesson through authentic sources rather than learning solely from my worksheets and presentations.

Second Life? Can barely manage my first!

Had my taste of Second Life, and I'm not so sure that I'm a complete fan. To be fair, I haven't completely opened my mind to it, but I gave it a shot. I wandered the cyber world to find my way onto ISTE island where I was to learn, network and collaborate with other educators around the world. I was alone for a good part of the time until a staffer came along and offered some guidance. I was pretty confused by all the directions for teleporting, saving messages, receiving gifts and other functions that I am still completely confused by. I tried not to come off as ungrateful or unengaged, but I was not getting it and I was pretty frustrated into my third hour online.

I think I need someone in my first life who has experience with second life to walk me through the process so that I can fully understand how to participate in activities and attend scheduled events. Until then, I can't say when I'll be visiting my second life again. Its causing me more stress than I can already handle with my first life alone.

Avatars and authenticity

Just read an article on the potential affects that avatars can have on peoples' real lives and peoples' legacies once they have passed. I guess I have never really thought of any of this before my social media class, but the thought of a computer generated image ruining your life even more so after death, is just unreal to me.

To be quite honest, I feel reassured in my decision to remain as low-key, out of the public eye, and off the net as much as possible. My course on social media in the classroom is actually working against me in this sense. If I had it my way, I would not have created an avatar in Second Life and the endless number of online profiles I've had to create would seize to exist.

I understand the benefit of all of it, and I can appreciate the push for incorporating social media into every classroom's curriculum, but there are so many cons in doing so. This article is just a glimse of the issues to surface as the rest of the world becomes enveloped by the "network." Avatars and "second lives" will begin to face similar problems that are dealt with in the real world. The "network" will eventually be the real world and life will be even more complicated than it already is.

I know this sounds like a bitter, older individual who is not willing to accept change and adjust to new things, but my opinion comes from my experiences in trying all these new things. And, so far, I have had more headaches than !Ah Ha! moments in experimenting with it all. Maybe I will have a change of heart, but right now, this article has reaffirmed my beliefs.

You Tube, Google Earth and Pixton

I was recently introduced to some new multimedia apps that I can use in my classroom, and I was quite blown away by some of the resources that are available to me and my students. I've used YouTube in the past to introduce Spanish soap operas and music videos of Spanish-speaking artists. I have also used Google Earth to lead my students on virtual tours through Latin America and Spain, and my students love it!

I know that my students are engaged when I make my lessons more interactive, and my lessons are more fun! With the help of resources like Pixon, Hulu and FriendFeed my students will be more excited to learn Spanish through media much like the resources they already use during their leisure time like MySpace and YouTube.

Pixton caught my attention the most because I can use the creation of comics as a new way to introduce new Spanish phrases, and I can incorporate a new way to create dialogues with my students. Each one of my lessons involves speaking, and my students write dialogues to present to their peers. I can continue to have my students doing this, but they can present their dialogues more creatively using Pixton.

I know that my students will love this, and it will be just as exciting for me to see my students' presentations. Pixton will allow my students insight into another application that they can use online and Pixton is a great way to reach learners of all types.

And away we go...

I just came across a lesson plan introduced by Google for Educators, which allows students the opportunity to compare and contrast places and images from the past to those of the present. “Post Cards from the Past” focuses on historical change and could ideally be used in a Social Studies classroom, but I can definitely use this plan in my Spanish classroom.

I should start by expressing that Google for Educators is a great resource overall. I highly recommend it to all educators http://www.google.com/educators/index.html You’ll find activities for your classroom, lesson plans, tools, and even a discussion group to network with other educators.

Although “Post Cards from the Past” requires that students take actual snapshots of historical structures and places in their community, I can have my students find photos of historical places in Spanish-speaking countries to compare them to places in the United States. By doing this, my students will be exposed to other parts of the world and will be able to see the commonalities and differences between them and the United States. This activity also gives students the opportunity to practice with the tools on Google like Google Earth. Google Earth is another really cool instrument that I could go on about, but I won’t

Please check out this activity on Google for Educatorshttp://gctgone.googlepages.com/home2222. It’s a great resource!

Tweedily, deedily, dee...Tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet

Jackson 5 knew it all along with their hit Rocking Robin...who'd a thought Tweeting would make it this far?! Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Michael, that's who! haha I joke

Actually, I thought Twitter was a big joke before recently. I mean, updating your "status" every five seconds to let your friends in on the new color of your toe nails or that you just love "so-and-so" with all your heart was not my idea of professional development. Truth of the matter was that I had no idea about all the good that came from using Twitter.

Twitter was forced upon me by the professor of my social media course at Hopkins. I didn't get it, and I wasn't willing to try. I hated the idea mostly because I didn't know what the heck I was doing. I was supposed to believe that "tweeting" was going to make me a better teacher for my students. HA!

Little did I know that Twitter would allow me to access so many more useful resources for me and for my students. To be quite honest, I didn't begin to feel this way until about two or three days ago. I was reading the conversations on Twitter from other teachers about their ideas and implementation of social media in their classroom, and I was inspired to do so much more for my students.

Unfortunately, my students don't all have access to phone nor the internet, but I want to give them as many opportunities possible to be a apart of "the network." Many of my students are already on the losing end of the achievement gap having had minimal resources and teachers who do not challenge them because they don't believe in them. By refusing to learn and incorporate social media into my curriculum, my students may fall even further behind their peers of more affluent communities.

My responsibility to my students is greater than having been introduced to Twitter. There is an entire world that my students need to experience and social media in the classroom brings the world to them. As difficult as it may be for me to adjust, I need to remember that I am very capable of doing this, and above all, I need to do it for my students' sake.

#EDCHAT...a great resource for educators everywhere!

#edchat is an amazing way for educators all over the world to share their ideas, ask questions of one another and simply connect in one place. I wish I would have know about this network of support last year as a first-year teacher. I often times found myself feeling overwhelmed, lost and confused with various issues that came up throughout the year, and looking to this network could have made my experience much less challenging. Whether I had a question about instruction, my content, classroom managament, or just needed general teaching advice, I could have posted my thoughts on Twitter for my more experienced colleagues.

I just recently learned about creating and developing my Personal Learning Network (PLN), and I plan on using #edchat to help me in my endeavor to do so. #edchat gives me the opportunity to interact with so many people who have much to share with me and can offer invaluable information and useful resources for use in and outside of my classroom.

I love that I learn new things daily by simply keeping up with #edchat. I can literally sit and read the conversations being had, and I'll inevitably learn something new. I feel #edchat has opened endless lines of communication for educators everywhere. I am no longer limited in my contacts for help, and I no longer attempting to find answers via random/blind internet research. Most everything, if not everything, that #edchat has to offer is something I can take away and as an educator.

Twitter Lists, Resources & How-Tos:

Tasty Tweets...mmmm

Love to eat, I'd especially like to be doing that now in fact. How great of Twitter to make it simple for me to access the ideas of professional/celeb chefs. It may actually just make me more hungry to receive multiple messages about food all day long. Maybe I shouldn't follow Foodies after all.

Twitter for Beginners:5 Steps for Better Tweeting

...AHA!!

Wish I would have found this sooner. I need to know the basics explained step by step. This is just exactly that--marvelous!

15 Must-Follow Comedic Film Actors to follow--

This is great. Laughing is a personal hobby of mine. This could be a good time...a lot better than those tweets from Shelly telling me about some other social media network that I need to join before I fall further behind in society. This is all a little much...just putting that out there (literally).