Teachers Talking Through Podcasts

Podcasting is a way of getting information to others, whether it be at the time of filming or at a later time. They can be video or audio episodes, depending on what the creator wants. This creator becomes a podcaster. These podcasts that are created can be directly downloaded or streamed. When downloaded, they can be put onto multiple devices, such as Ipods, phones, and tablets. They have many different kinds of podcasts available, for multiple purposes and interests.

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As teachers, we can utilize podcasts in our classroom. There are many different podcasts out there for different fields of study. Teachers can find episodes on what students are studying in the classroom. Teachers can also have their students create their own podcasts for projects.

One podcast I found was on ESL Teacher Talk. The website had a lot to offer ESL teachers. They provided a lot of activities and games that could be used in the classroom. They also provided a lot of resources for teachers to use as well. The specific episode that I will be discussing is called Dolch Sight Words- Using them in ESL classes. ESL teachers would find this extremely useful when they are thinking about teaching sight words to their students. They talk about what sight words are for those who are unfamiliar with the term. Matt, who is the teacher who is talking during the podcast, then moves into talking about his class and how learning sight words helped to sped up reading and the learning process. Matt modifies the original list for his ESL class and the list is available for teachers in the resource section of the website. They also talk about when to start using sight words, the importance of knowing the word before memorizing the spelling, using a book to create a list of sight words and then immediately applying knowledge to context to inspire the readers, and then games and activities that can be used to practice the sight words. Podcasts like these are a great way for teachers to get ideas about what to do inside the classroom.

Let's be ePals

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While browsing through the ePals website, I have found a lot of resources and ideas that are very useful for teachers.

The first thing that I noted was the program called in2books. In this program, students in 3rd to 6th grade are connected with an adult pen pal. They then select and read 5 books closely throughout the year. The pen pals also read the same book that the student is reading. The student and the adult pen pal then exchange 6 to 10 online letters with each others. Through this program, students are able to
get encouragement from caring adults. They are also receiving instruction and guidance on how to read, write and think. Through this interaction with peers, teachers, and adults, ideas are able to be exchanged while being intellectual relationships with each other. Students are building a support group that is there to motivate the students to perform to the best of their abilities. Students are also able to express ideas and learn and learn about different points of view in real-world situations.

Another aspect of the website that I enjoyed was the teaching resources that it provided. This section was labeled Tools For School. They sectioned this off into best materials on the web and education insights, inspiring ideas, latest tools blog. They included free material and material that could be purchased. They also have sections for different grade levels and subject areas. They also included different languages as well. It is nice to have material available that is provided by teachers in your fields. That way you know that it works. The blog is also very informational. Hearing about your profession for others in the field can always allow you to grow. It also allows you to communicate with others and get feedback and information on things going on in your own classrooms.

Animoto in the classroom

Thanksgiving Vocabulary

I created a video on Animoto previously in my undergraduate studies, for my English education methods class. I used this to make a book trailer for a lesson where I was introducing students to the book we were going to read in class. I was really proud of my video because I thought it came out so well. I would use this in the classroom for students to present material that we have been learning about in class. I would also use it to deliver information, especially for gaining interest on what we would be learning in class. Digital storytelling sites like Animoto can be very useful to teachers.

Educational Comics

When I used GoAnimate, I was a little confused at first. After I fiddled around a little and explored the website, I began creating a comic strip. It was actually a lot of fun. I think this would be a  great tool to let students use. Differentiated instruction and assessment is a crucial part of being a teacher. By letting students create comics, you can allow another medium for learning to be expressed. I believe that students can use this to create real-life dialogue situations. They can practice making sense of the language that they are learning.

This is the video that I created. It was meant for the teaching purposes of discussing idioms. I would show my students the comic and then we would discuss what those idioms meant.


English Idioms by laura.walker1990 on GoAnimate

Telling Your Story Through Digital Storytelling

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I enjoyed reading the article "7 things you should know about Digital Storytelling", by EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative. I originally had no idea what digital storytelling was, but I feel that  the definition that was given in the article was very informative. That is that, "digital storytelling is the practice of combining narrative with digital content, including images, sound, and video, to create a short movie, typically with a strong emotional component". I have seen different kinds of various digital stories without even realizing that they were forms of digital storytelling. I think in a world where technology is continuously growing at a rapid pace, this format of storytelling can be beneficial to use as teachers. Many times we play long movies or documentaries, but we can no use digital storytelling to convey information to students. In the article, they state that, "digital stories can be instructional, persuasive, historical, or reflective". This means that teachers could use them in a variety of contexts and even give students the opportunity to create their own as well. When creating a digital story, the article says, "a digital story typically begins with a script. The storyteller then assembles rich media to support the ideas and emotions in that script, including music or other audio effects, personal or public-
domain images, animations or video, and other electronic elements". I believe that students have become very creative and innovative with their technology uses. Every time I work with someone on a computer, I always feel that I am learning something new to use or do on the internet. Digital storytelling can be used in a variety of ways, and can "let students express themselves not only with their own words but also in their own voices, fostering a sense of individuality and of “owning” their creations". It is important for us as teachers to provide our students with a learner centered environment. When students take their learning into their own hands, they are able to explore and create in a positive environment.

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The website "The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling" provided a list of 7 elements of Digital Storytelling that I believed to be beneficial for those who were planning to create their own digital stories. When having students create their stories, it would be useful to go over these elements and why they are important to incorporate in to their stories. The 7 elements are; "1. Point of View (what is the main point of the story and what is the perspective of the author?), 2. A Dynamic Question (a key question that keeps the viewer's attention and will be answered by the end of the story), 3. Emotional Content (serious issues that come alive in a personal and powerful way and connects the audience to the story), 4. The Gift of Your Voice (a way to personalize the story to help the audience understand the context), 5. The Power of the Soundtrack (music or other sounds that support and embellish the story), 6. Economy (Using just enough content to tell the story without overloading the viewer), 7. Pacing (the rhythm of the story and how slowly or quickly it progresses." Going over these elements could be a useful lesson for students.

Serious Gaming

Looking at games to use for educational purposes, there are a great deal to choose from. One game that stuck out to me because of the current government shutdown, was the game Budget Hero. The game has a lot of great information in it, and I was learning new things as well, playing it the two times that I did.

If I were to have my student play this game at home, they would be more advanced speakers because they language would be very difficult for low or intermediate students. In class before they would play we would go over the vocabulary that would be used in the game. We would also have a walkthrough of how to play so that students knew what to do on their own.




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My language learning outcomes would be: Students will be able to define the following vocabulary: budget, deficit, interest, fiscal policy, debt, surplus, taxation, prioritizing, trade-off, and recession; students will be able to become and expert on a certain topic (defense, education, science, housing, miscellaneous, infrastructure, health care, social security, interest on debt, taxes) and will be able to defend their choices on that topic (what is necessary to cut or add); Students will be able to orally represent their ideas in English.

In order to assess my students, the next class day I would have them present to me on the topic that they chose based on the game. They would elaborate on why it would be important to cut or keep certain components of the topic. They would have to use the vocabulary correctly, and show that they understand the concepts that were discussed. They would be provided with a rubric of what would be expected of their presentation and could even use the game in their presentation to illustrate their points.

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Don't Forget to Play Your Video Games

Most parents are trying to get their kids to lay off the video games and do their homework. However, what if playing video games was their homework?

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Gamification, according to the article 7 Things You Should Know About Gamification, is "the application of game elements in non-gaming situations, often to motivate or influence behavior." Gamification provides students with a fun filled environment while learning material. The article also states that gamification "offers instructors numerous creative opportunities to enliven their instruction with contests, leader boards, or badges that give students opportunities for recognition and a positive attitude toward their work. Students enjoy friendly competition that allows them to work together or separately toward attainable goals. Gamification is a positive way to motivate students into doing work while they are under the allusion that they are playing and having fun instead. Using games in not a new concept to teachers, it is a great way to get all students to participate in class. This is especially true in the language learning classrooms of ESL because constantly going over vocabulary can become boring and rudimentary. Games give a new level of creative learning that can occur in the classroom. When talking about the benefits of using games in the L2 classroom, it can be beneficial to discuss the article A Comparison of Computer Game and Language-Learning Task Design Using Flow Theory, by Stephan J. Franciosi. He talks about Digital Game Based Learning (DGBL) and Task-Based Language Learning (TBLL) and how in both, "skill are learned and/or improved through participation in activities that require that application of those skills." The article discusses how in order to provide a beneficial DGBL experience, there needs to be three conditions meet; goals, feedback and skill/difficulty balance. "Goals should be concrete, quantifiable objective, and appeal to learner interests; feedback as a means of fostering flow should be considered in addition to feedback as a means of supporting reflection; task difficulty and player skill are ideally balanced moment-by-moment as the individual level." Using DGBL in a language learning classroom can be beneficial to students, if teachers keep in mind these features.

Looking at games for the ESL classroom, there are a great deal of games that can be used. One genre of games that I am focusing on is Escape the Room games. According to the post Focus on genre: Escape the room games on the blog Digital Play, Escape the Room games are "point-and-click adventure games where players have to escape from imprisonment by exploiting their surroundings." One the blog, Larry Ferlazzo's websites of the day..., I read the post The Best "Fun" Online Video Games For English Language Development and played the game Phantasy Quest. I played the game the first time without reading the walkthrough and died swimming around in the water. I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing or where I was supposed to be going. I feel like the game is a little difficult at first, especially to someone who is not a constant gamer. However, once I read the walkthrough and followed the directions, it was much easier and I was able to complete my quest. It was fun and I believe students would enjoy getting to play a game like this.

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If I were to make a lesson based on using the game Phantasy Quest it would have the following language learning objectives: Students will be able to learn the vocabulary coconut, bottle, ladder, telescope, island, waterfall, stick, tree, lantern, plank, skull, cave, boulder, sand, crab, berry, pirate, boat, hut, village, fishing pole, beach, gold coin, skeleton key, rope, and sword, and students will be able to follow directions instructed by the teacher in English.The students would all be on their own computer, playing the game independently. The teacher's role is to function as a mediator and tell student directions. I am imagining that I would be working with very low level students, so I would be using the walkthrough to tell the students where to go and what to do. I would tell each step to the student, and they would (try to) appropriately follow them. We could use both pictures from the game and other media to show images for the vocabulary they are learning. We could add the images, along with the words to our classroom word wall. I would assess students on if they were able to follow directions correctly, of if they needed more mediation and guidance through the game. If students could do the game on their own, I would allow them to play on their own for next games. if students had a great deal of difficulty following my directions, I would change the wording of the walkthrough, or I would give them games where the vocabulary is easier and more familiar to them.