introducing: interpretive communication

I have never really considered the interpretive mode before coming in contact with this chapter. I know how to negotiate texts/media that require the use of the interpretive mode but I don’t think a teacher had ever used the term “interpretive mode” when we were doing such exercises. And honestly, I cannot say how much of my knowledge about using this mode is due to actual instruction or what I discovered from exposure.

http://policiasadolescentes.blogspot.com/2012_04_01_archive.html

Given my background with this mode, I think I will want to tell students what they are doing. I want them to know that they are, in fact, using the interpretive mode and working with texts where they cannot exchange information with the writer or speaker. Knowing the terminology of what you are doing can be very empowering.

The two things that were most poignant to me were: that the authentic text should not be edited and that understanding of input from L2 should be tested in the L1. I think many teachers would quickly assume that they need to edit the information they are giving to their students. They could do this by cutting the text given or by changing words within the text. Both of these actions are actually harmful to the student. I love the idea of editing the task, not the text. Additionally, why would you take the authentic words out of a text and replace them with your own? Much more can be gained by glossing the text and giving students a definition that they can understand in the L2.

With so much emphasis placed on using the L2 as much as possible in the classroom, I think most teachers assume that they should test understanding in the L2 as well. It makes sense to check understanding in the L1 because that is the negotiation that is going on in their head.  Often the test in the L2 gets in the way of showing what it is trying to measure. If the language in this test is too advanced, than it isn’t really testing what was comprehended but rather what it is saying. Likewise, the language can match too closely to the actual text that students will not read closely and just pick the sentences in the text surrounding the given phrase and assume that is the answer. By testing in the L1, higher level thinking is automatically required.

mgmt

I have really enjoyed the textbook so far – Conscious Classroom Management (Smith, 2004). It gives so many practical ways to structure your classroom and how react in certain situations. What I especially like is the emphasis put on your own expectations of yourself as the teacher and your students. If you view yourself as not only a teacher of Spanish but also as a teacher of behavior then it won’t bother you nearly as much when your students don’t act as you would like them too. A student acting out is simply asking you to repeat your lesson. I think if I put some kind of note to myself in my classroom to this effect it will help me not to become so discouraged or disappointed. 

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/100098.Conscious_Classroom_Mahttp://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171464491l/100098.jpgnagement

It was very interesting to note that good classroom management is essentially invisible. The teacher has already set everything up to run smoothly. (And when it comes to management the best defense is truly a good offense!) The question then becomes – how do we translate what we are observing into our own classroom? I wonder how much the dynamic of the classroom will shift once it is no longer Sra. Lewis up front. I definitely think that going over my expectations and rules at the beginning of my time as the teacher will be crucial.  Even if I don’t change anything from the way it is set up now it will be good to let the students know that they can expect the same from me. Also, they will have already been in school for half a year – I think it will be good to brush up on rules, procedures, and expectations anyways. I typically need to do so mid semester just to remember if my professor accepts late assignments or not. It is easy to forget so I will help them remember! :) 

A Spectrum of Students

I think that a typical classroom is going have this makeup: a spectrum of students with a wide variety of needs. I think one of the best ways to approach this situation is to pair students together. When the students who need more of a challenge in the class have the opportunity to aide a classmate they may feel a greater sense of accomplishment and be invigorated. The student who is struggling will have some one-on-one help from a more knowledgeable other (where’s this lingo coming from???).

http://www.maurilioamorim.com/2011/03/rules-for-successful-team-work/

I think the important thing to keep in mind is the sensitivity towards what group students are put in. Yes one student is helping the other but I wouldn’t want the student who is having difficulty to feel as if he is dumb or not as good as the other students. It would be important to me to create a community within the classroom. When it comes time for students to pair up and to work together there would already be a base of trust and openness. I wouldn’t want the student who is doing the aiding to feel overwhelmed with this task nor would I her to think too highly of herself. It would be a balancing act and I think at the center would be humility.

When I observed/aided in the Spanish I/II classes at The Potter’s House in Wyoming, Michigan the teacher I worked with often split the class into two groups and these groups varied from week to week, lesson to lesson. The group that had grasped the concept and showed that they were proficient at it would do some sort of culminating activity. Often, these students would construct a skit to perform for the whole class that encompassed the new skill that had been taught. The portion of the class that had struggled with the new concept benefited from extra time with the instructor, in a smaller setting, with new exercises and examples to help them master the topic.

I like this idea because the students who already mastered the concept are not expected to sit and be bored while the same material is retaught in a new manner. Instead, they get to show what they know. The students who need more time on that material are not penalized but actually get much more attention from the teacher. And the best part of all, just because a student is in the “review” group one week doesn’t mean that he will be stuck there the whole school year. There is the fluidity between the groups. Often when Christy (my cooperating teacher) thought a student was borderline between the two groups she allowed them to choose. And more times than not the student chose to review the material.

I hope that these and other ideas that you all have come up with will work in my future classroom!    

Perspectives, practices, products

The "Three Ps" - practices, products, perspectives: Integral to interacting within a culture

http://cliviavogel.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/cross-culture-communication-experiences/

Product: Spanish films by Pedro Almodóvar

Practice: Depicting Spain and Spanish life, especially marginalized groups, at the time when Spain was just beginning to “open up” at the end of Franco’s dictatorship.

Perspective: Making what is considered marginal or taboo – mainstream. Almodóvar did a lot of work to bring to light the lives of the gay community, the drug circles, and those seen as pariahs of society.  

Product: Names – María García Lopez 

Practice: Spanish naming system – García is her father’s last name and Lopez is her mother’s last name.  When María has children she will pass on the name of García to them. When a woman marries she does not change her name.

Perspective: I’m not sure what perspective this conveys, perhaps that there is a sense that a part of you comes from your mother and a part from your father. The fact that a married woman does not change her name communicates level of independence.

I like the idea of teaching students by using the three Ps. Students could pick an everyday normal occurrence in the target culture and use the themes of product, practice, and perspective. By looking at the occurrence in this way students will be able to better understanding the meaning behind it. Students will not look at the product of a siesta and attribute it to Spanish “laziness” but rather they will dig deeper and find the possible explanation of this practice and what perspective it expresses.

Why don’t you help me?

If siesta is the product then what are the practice and perspective surrounding it?

Film: American Teacher

Film: American Teacher

NR

2011

1 hour 19 minutes

“Profiling four extraordinary teachers from diverse parts of the county, this documentary feature examines the struggles of an underpaid profession.”

http://theprincipal.blogspot.com/2012/03/american-teacher.html

This film was absolutely wonderful and I think it is a must see for those considering the teaching profession. I found it on Netflix and it streams instantly – please contact me if you would like to watch it through my account.

The documentary highlights the struggles that many teachers face. While many agree that quality teachers are a necessity for our nation’s future progress there is no action to back up that claim. Teachers are undervalued and are often seen as the problem in the public education system. A good teacher can help her student achieve a grade level and a half of progress in one school year.

Even if teachers are not being casts as the villains in the public education system they are still not receiving the prestige that they deserve. Not only is it a low paying career choice but it requires long hours and garners very little respect.

Four different teachers from throughout the United States are featured throughout the film.  Jamie Fidler, a first grade teacher at Philip Livingston School in Brooklyn, New York shares some of her struggles as a teacher. In her first year of teaching Fidler spent $3,000 of her own money on classroom essentials. And this is not an uncommon practice.  Over 90% of teachers spend their own money on supplies. Teachers are willing to spend their hard earned money in their own classrooms. This is a testament to the dedication of teachers. Later in the film we look at the salaries of teachers and see just how many teachers take a second job in order to make ends meet for themselves and their families.

The statistics are shocking. 31% of teachers take a second job outside of the school system. If you include the positions of coach, advisor or tutor then 62% of teachers hold two jobs. Even still, teachers struggle to stay in the profession because the money isn’t there. Many teachers are living at the poverty level. And yet they are still willing to give up their meager wages for the future of their students.

Another issue that is talked about in this film is teacher retention. There are so many teachers who leave the field that really would love to continue teaching. They either leave because they cannot make due on the money that they make or they are burnt out. Often new teachers are given the largest and most difficult classes. This low pay and long hours work teachers to the bone. And when these teachers inevitably depart, it leaves the schools in a chaotic state.  46% of teachers quit before their fifth year and this is due to long hours, lack of support and prestige, plus the small salary.

One thing that I especially appreciated about this film is that it looked at the nations that score the highest on academic standard exams. It compared how those countries train and treat their teachers with the practices in the United States. After seeing this comparison it is no surprise that Finland does so well in Reading, Science and Mathematics when they are being taught by teachers who receive so much support and respect.

Please don’t read my summary and think that this film is asking for money. It’s not about that. It is about showing people how important teachers are and asking for action. I am obviously not going into teaching to become wealthy but I do want to be able to support myself and my future family. I hope you will watch this film and see how important it is that we value teachers in our society, that then in turn you will pass this film on to others, and we can start a revolution. This would be a revolution in which the public education system gets better, teachers are valued more highly, and our children are the real beneficiaries. 

First Language Learning Experience

In my school district all students took exploratory foreign language classes in 7^th and 8^th grade. Latin and Spanish were taken in 7^thgrade for a few weeks and then in 8^th grade we took German and French. I believe we spent a little more time in the languages in 8^thgrade. I was very excited about the opportunity to learn about these different languages.

http://maisie89.tumblr.com/page/2

As a child I had always fantasized about speaking another language. I had thought it very “romantic.” In my mind I would speak French because it was such an elegant and sophisticated language. When it came time to middle school I did very well in all four languages. Around the time of 7^th grade I began spending a good amount of time on the computer using a CD about French. It was interactive and had a lot of vocabulary targeted at travel.

When it came time to take French in 8^th grade I had some vocabulary under my sleeve and my pronunciation was decent. My French teacher complimented me on my success and encouraged me to continue studying French. That had fully been my intention until the day came to sign up for high school classes.

I have many fond memories when it comes to the French class. There was a film that we watched and one line from it really sticks out. The boy is supposed to be introducing himself in French by saying “Je m'appelle Pierre” but instead of saying it with French pronunciation he said, “JA MAPPLE PEE-AIR.” It was absolutely hilarious to our class. By making fun of speaking French with an American accent it made us aware of how to correctly go about pronouncing the words we were about to learn.

The only thing I didn’t like about the language classes in middle school was how short they were. I wanted to spend more time in the foreign language classroom. I was ready to devout myself to these classes. I think I was destined to continue language learning. I decided to go on and study Spanish because I enjoyed the language and there are so many people who speak the language globally. I have not regretted it for one moment. 

the brain vs. the setting

In the first chapter of Teacher’s Handbook: Contextualized Language Instruction many different theories, hypotheses, and approaches to language learning are discussed. I can find merit in many of these different methodologies. For me, it may be a little difficult to just choose one. The first step is to decide which camp to join; the brain camp or the social-cultural camp.

http://cdn.themogulmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/workflowy.jpg

I completely agree that humans are designed with language in mind. There is something innate about us that allows for us to communicate and at a higher level than other animals do. But I also understand that language acquisition does not take place in a vacuum, but rather in social and cultural space. This is where it gets tricky. Which direction do we choose to put the emphasis on? 

For now, what I think I may have settled on is the idea that Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory holds weight. One of the reasons I have arrived in this camp is due to the individual variability that occurs with language learning. The entire Spanish III class receives the exact same instruction (or input) from the teacher. They all read the same text and listen to the same recording of native speakers and yet their results or performance are wide-ranging. If the answer to the question of how do we learn language was simply “the brain” wouldn’t that lend itself to more uniform results.

Even with all this in mind I am not quite comfortable enough to go “all in” with Vygotsky. I feel as if there is more to know and understand about both camps before I can make a confident claim. But for now, this is my leaning. 

Pick an L2! Pick Spanish!

Background info: I am currently enrolled in a course entitled Orientation to Second Language Pedagogy. Within this course I am doing 100 hours of observation at Aurora High School, where I will be student teaching come spring semester. Here is my first blog post on the topic of advocating for my language - ESPAÑOL! 

http://miniproject1.blogspot.com/

The advocacy project enlightened me in many ways. I had never really considered the idea that I may have to defend or promote my language to “the powers that be.” If world languages or Spanish are on the chopping block then I may have to convince the administration in my school district why they should keep this subject. Or perhaps I will need to advocate for my language to get a program started. I can see this happening if I were to propose putting Spanish in elementary schools or beginning an immersion program.

I had considered advocating Spanish in the sense of promoting it to students so that they will sign up to take the program. In another class we had made posters to advertise our subject. This can be just as important as advocating to administration. Even if they give you the green light for your program, if you don’t have enough students enrolled, you may get the axe anyway. At Aurora High School this can be seen in the upper levels. There are six sections of Spanish III and only two of Spanish IV. (The numbers in Spanish IV are small that there had been a debate of whether to offer two sections or only one.) A lot of students drop off after Spanish III and the teachers were talking about why this is and how to keep the students in the program.  I definitely think advocacy will be a part of my life as a teacher in one form or another.   

I enjoyed hearing from the ladies with different language concentrations. I had never been particularly interested in Latin but I gained a better understanding of what the language has to offer. It was especially interesting to hear from the ladies in American Sign Language because I have not had much exposure to it. One conversation was difficult for me to wrap my head around. That is the value of one particular language over another. I definitely see the value in studying language, all languages, and any languages. But there is some strategy in selecting a specific language. I guess it depends on what the individual wants to do with his or her new language. I chose Spanish over French because I wanted to know the language that had more speakers globally. I would never say that French shouldn’t have a place in schools but I would also argue that we should include other languages, say Chinese and Arabic. I hope not to offend anyone by saying this. I, myself, am still trying to understand what I feel about this and how it works out.

But I will say, you should learn Spanish and speak it with me!!! 

Six Needs

Lisa Guernsay recently gave a presentation regarding digital media in early education. But rather than jump in and begin discussing the pros and cons of using media with young children she reviewed what she believed to be the six needs that students have. They are as follows:

• "attachment and security
•  conversational partners
•  early exposure to new words and ideas
• physical movement and hands-on exploration
• practice at self-regulating
•  deeper learning."

http://ispilledthebeans.blogspot.com/2011/01/improve-your-vocabulary.html

Many times we get so wrapped up in a debate about a certain topic, such as whether or not we should use digital books or only physical books with children, when the whole time we aren’t focusing on what the students need the most. Guernsay made a good point in calling everyone’s attention back to the basics. If we are not supporting our children with these fundamentals then how much does it really matter if they are using a Kindle or a paperback?

I think we can all take a page out of Guernsay’s book and take time to reflect about what is the most imperative for your students at this time. Perhaps setting aside a certain time of the year to do so would be beneficial. You could take Christmas break to really assess whether or not you are giving students the basics that they need and then work to improve upon them and add the icing on top.

I hope to one day work in a school where I am supported in my reflective process.

Guernsay’s blog is found here: A Modest Proposal for Digital Media in Early Childhood

Budget Cuts May Cost Disadvantaged

In my blog post found at Early Ed - NC on the Verge focuses on a current issue going on in North Carolina. The state budget is in the process of being ratified and early education programs will be getting the ax if the General Assembly overrides the governor’s veto. 

http://community.mis.temple.edu/stephanierobinson/2011/04/07/hello-world/

The program known as Smart Start currently services under privileged children and “focuses on improving the quality of child care in the subsidy system and provides services related to children’s health and family engagement.” If this proposed budget goes through the program may stay open but it may take cut backs. They may also have to start charging for what they are able to provide for free currently. That would mean that the children who need to be in the program the most would face the most challenges to do so.

I don’t have the solution for this situation because I don’t know the all the complex details that go into putting together a budget but I do think that money should not be taken from educational endeavors. How do we expect our country to go forward and be competitive if we aren’t willing to invest in our youth? 

I hope Smart Start can continue doing the good that it does in North Carolina.

Quality Early Education Programs Correlated with Low Arrest Rates

Lisa Guernsey writes in her post entitled “Study Highlights the 25-Year Impact of a Chicago PreK-3rd Program” about the long-term effects discovered through a study done by Arthur Reynolds, child development professor at the University of Minnesota. Some preschoolers were enrolled in a program known as “extended intervention” the control group was cared for their parents or relatives and around 15% did attend head start. 

http://www.globaldailystar.com/at-what-age-should-you-send-kids-to-preschool/7598/preschool-kids/

The advantages of the “extended intervention” are reported to be widespread and have shown themselves even 25 years later. Those who completed the program:
• “Stayed in school longer
• Completed high school at higher rates
• Graduated from high school on-time at higher rates
• Had higher socio-economic status
• Had a job with higher prestige”

It is also reported that the experimental group had less involvement in the justice system and fewer arrests. 

I think that this study speaks volumes for ways to assist inner-city children. School systems located in large cities should take a look at these results and see if it is possible to adapt such programs for their own populace. 


(http://earlyed.newamerica.net/blogposts/2011/study_highlights_the_25_year_impact_of_a_chicago_prek_3rd_program-52909)

Book vs. eBook

My blog (20) is Early Ed Watch and the post I chose to comment on is entitled "Learning to Read: Will E-Books Help or Hinder?"

(found at this site: http://earlyed.newamerica.net/blogposts/2011/learning_to_read_will_e_books_help_or_hinder-52170 and continued on the following link: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/printissuecurrentissue/890540-427/are_ebooks_any_good.html.csp)

The blog, overall, deals with issues surrounding the education of all American children from birth to eight years old. This blog post, in specific, is focused on the pros and cons of using electronic books with young children. The blog post is connected to another site which hosts the entire article that the author, Lisa Guernsey, wrote for the “School Library Journal.” 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Laptop-ebook.jpg

Many different teachers and reading specialists weigh in on whether or not eBooks aid students or just cause more confusion. One good point that is made early on is delving into the definition of “eBook.” An electronic book could be anything from a PDF file to an animated feature that is 75% or more pure animation with very little actual text. Some eBooks have narration and mark what word is being said at what time. Others include games, quizzes and activities.

An advantage of an eBook is that more students can have access to many materials. At the same time, many fear that eBooks will be the demise of the appreciation and understanding of physical books, as well as the books themselves.

The one point that really resonated with me was what Julie Hume, a reading specialist in University City, MO, stated. She said, “When students repeatedly have a strong model of fluency, the more they hear that, the better they get it.” For this reason I think eBooks would be a wonderful resource for students who do not have English speaking parents at home. It is a well known statistic that children do better at reading if they are read to at home. When that is not an option an eBook, with a narrator could fill in some of those gaps.

I am excited to see where the electronic book will lead us and what benefits all individuals can receive from it.

New Tech V: Proprofs Quizmaker

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/04/proprofs-adds-useful-tracking.html

Finally I'd like to quickly comment on ProProfs Quiz Maker. This site allows for you to create and take quizzes. I think this is a wonderful platform for teachers to use. I would love to have online practice quizzes available to my students to help them prepare for exams. 


There are so many options of what can be done. 


Quizzes can be multiple choice, fill-in the blank, true/false, or essay. You can then decided if you want the correct answer to appear after the question is answered or once the whole quiz is completed, if at all. An explanation of why the answer is correct can be provided as well. This feature would be great especially for practice situations. 


In addition the creator can track the results of the quizzes. I would then be able to see which questions many students struggled with. I could then assess it and decide if I need to go over that material again or if it was just a bad question. 


I would use this resource for all grade levels. And K-12 teachers get to use this tool for only $3.97/month whereas anyone else would spend about $40/month. A downside would be the cost although it's not very high. 


I can't wait to do a pre-test with my first year students to see what knowledge they bring with them to Spanish I.
. 

New Tech IV: Wallwisher

• List causes of the Spanish-American War.

• Rearrange the verbs so that they are in two categories: regular verbs and irregular verbs.

• List words in English that you are curious to know their Spanish translation.

• Give me topic ideas for our next unit.

What do the four previous sentences have in common?
They would all be good discussions to have on Wallwisher!

http://www.cnyric.org/teacherpage.cfm?teacher=1037

Wallwisher is an online notice board in which students can go on and add to the discussion. Each comment is like a virtual post-it note that can be added, rearranged, and deleted. Best of all it's completely free.


I absolutely love the idea of brainstorming via this tool. How many times are you asked a question on the spot and can't think of a single thing but then it hits you when you're driving home or in the shower? I would love it if my students could simply go online and post their idea without worrying about forgetting it before the next day of class. 


I think this also be a good tool for students to use to regulate their own time and learning. They could create their own wall as a sort of to-do checklist which would help them see everything they need to do and they could rearrange it according to priority. This would encourage my students to be self-regulated learners. (Holler to Dr. Was in Educational Psychology.)


I would use this tool with middle and high school students. I love that it's free but dislike that each post can only have 160 characters. But even that's not the worse thing in the world.


I think I'm going to start a wall right not to help me get through the last few weeks of this semester! 

New Tech III: Storybird

Many of the technologies presented in class allow for online interactions between students and teachers. Another platform that offers this is Storybird. 

http://wltechconsultants.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/storybird-needs-language-moderators/

Storybird is a collaborative story-telling tool. This free website allows teachers to create virtual classrooms and invite their students to join. Students do not even need an email to sign on which is nice for younger students who are not old enough to have one.  The teacher would create a username for the students, a password is created by the site and the student has private access to the site. 


Teachers can then create assignments which the students will see when they log on. Students can create stories to go along with provided images. The images give a professional feel to the piece and if desired the student or parent could pay to have the product printed.


I would use this site for creative writing in Spanish. In my high school Spanish class my teacher would give us a new prompt every Monday and we would spend time writing on that topic. This was an opportunity to use creativity in our thinking and not to be so bogged down by all the rules that go into learning a foreign language. I think Storybird would be a wonderful site to do something similar. The different prompts also allow for students to tell about their own lives or respond to current events. 


I would love to see Spanish IV or AP Spanish students (grade 12) do an end of the year project and create a book. If funds were available at the school I would love to then have their books published and given as a gift for their hard work in completing so many years of foreign language study.


I love the fact that the teacher is the moderator in everything on the site and that I would have the power to take down or delete anything the students posted that I did not agree with. A down side is the fact that the images are limited but hopefully this will be something that is added to as time goes on.


In addition I am weary to have students complete writing assignments solely on the computer. The temptation to use online translators and to cheat would be so strong. I need to research how other foreign language teachers integrate technology successfully. I want to know what my students think and that they know how to say not, what a computer can regurgitate for them. 


If anyone knows of any suggestions for this concern of mine I would love to hear from you. 


Gracias.

New Tech II: Prezi

Now I'm sure everyone is familiar with PowerPoint presentations. And there is always the class that you dread going to because you know that the presentation is going to be a total bore. Or worse Mr. Dzeda wants to show you slides with audio from the 1930s. Then there's the professor who packs way too much onto a single slide and then just flies through them (Ge). 


Prezi is a solution for the monotony of old fashioned slides.

http://prezi.com/

Presentations and games can be created on this website. They are immediately uploaded onto the internet for all to see. This, along with the difficulty in creation process, may be a downside to the technology. 

I believe that this type of presentation program could hold the attention of students of all ages. Young students might be more impressed with the twirling and zooming. I believe any subject could use Prezi and I would use it for showing historical or cultural aspects of Spanish-speaking people. 

The non-linear form of this tool would allow students to see how aspects of culture or history are interconnected and do not stand alone. The outlay of Spanish apartments (pisos) is related to how Spaniards feel about privacy. Points such as this and others could be presented in an interesting manner for a Spanish class.

New Tech I: WordQ + SpeakQ

In my educational technology course we each have to give a presentation on "new" technologies that can be utilized in the classroom. I signed up for the first round of presentations and I thought it went pretty well. Mine was over Ning - a social networking site where you can create your own social network and make it as private as you'd like. I think it has a lot of potential for classroom discussion/blogging.

My friend, Amanda, did her presentation on WordQ and SpeakQ. These are computer programs that aid the user in writing assignments.

http://www.goqsoftware.com/

They can be used together or separately. SpeakQ is used with a microphone and when a the user comes upon a word that she does not know how to spell she simply says it aloud. The application (which is used in conjunction with Microsoft Word) will then enter the word (or phrase) for the user. WordQ is similar in that it will give suggestions of what word the user is attempting to write. The user can then choose from a drop down list the word that they are looking for. You can also have it read back what you have written, which can be very helpful in locating errors.


A great thing about this technology is that it comes in Spanish!!! (It even breaks it down to Castellano - Spanish from Spain - and  Español.)


I think that this technology could be extremely useful for any high school student who struggles with language learning. Students who maybe don't take a language because of disabilities may be able to find more success with a tool like this.


I think a disadvantage would be the price of the tool (although you can get grants) and the fact that it works best when it is only dealing with one specific voice. Having multiple students use this program with varying accents may diminish its accuracy and helpfulness.


I would be interested in researching the current use of this technology in high school classrooms.


Please feel free to leave feedback. And if you have used either of these programs I'd love to know what your experience was like.


:D

well, hello there. come here often?

Well, what a lovely way to get started. Reminiscing over my class trip to a winery in Spain that took place nearly two years ago. This photo is of me, Meredith Wemhoff, enjoying a free sample of cava in a town an hour or so outside of Barcelona. Cava is Spanish champaign and was easily one of my new favorite beverages.  


You might be wondering what I was doing in Spain - a poor college student like me...Well, apart from spending a lot of money at a higher education institution, I was gaining the immersion experience for my Spanish major. 


Two years later, much poorer, (not to mention increased debt) I find myself at Kent State University as a transfer student - who still doesn't know how her credits will transfer, nor her class standing. However, this is my seventh semester.


I am enrolled in an Educational Technology course that aims to help me learn how to integrate technology into teaching and learning so that it will better facilitate the two. I am looking forward to the opportunities to learn new technologies as well as gain more understanding with the ones I currently implement. I am by no means tech savvy but I don't live under a rock either. 


And the reason I'm here in the first place: students. I have a passion for Spanish and a passion for people. I want to be an educator and I want to be a friend and advocate to every student who walks in my door. 


Well, there's a nice little introduction to me. I'd be pleased if you joined me in my adventures. :D


cuídate.