o After viewing all web sites listed in Free Web Resources for Your Classroom link, which two web sites would you consider using in your current/future classroom? Please provide specific examples of how you would use those two web sites in your classroom. Please provide supporting details for your response to all questions
After examining the Free Web Resources, I believe that EPals would be a possible tool that would be relevant to kindergartners in a bilingual classroom. Specifically I would use epals as an opportunity for developing pen pal relationships using email with students from other parts of the United States or from other Spanish speaking countries. This would be a great opportunity for students to use Spanish in a meaningful way by communicating with students with similar cultural backgrounds. For example, a student in my class from Costa Rica would receive a self-esteem boost if we were to communicate with other students from Costa Rica. This would broaden our cultural awareness since not all Spanish speaking countries have the same cultural identity. In addition, practically speaking, students would be practicing constructing sentences that reflect what they are trying to say (in Spanish or English). This would cover noun verb agreement, spelling, vocabulary and fluency. Students would focus on their similarities and differences between themselves and their pen pals. While reviewing epals, I saw that there are several opportunities for this type of project at the kindergarten level.
Another possible tool that would be relevant to kindergartners is the Kindle, especially the Kindle Fire (newest version with color, touch screen, and free wifi as compared to the Ipad). I could see the kindle as another means for students to access stories. The advantage to the Kindle Fire is that the story would retain its colored illustrations which are important for comprehension with kindergartners. Also, the Kindle has a text reader feature, so the story could be read to the students by the Kindle, without needing another adult. The touch screen eliminates the students’ need for keyboarding in the traditional way. The free wifi would alleviate internet connection problems that we experience in my school system. Also, students would be exposed to a new literacy: reading digital books.
Carlos, I believe that your ideas with using epals and the use of the kindle would be two excellent ways for students in your classroom to learn through new technologies.
ReplyDeleteWhat seems to be a major problem for all teachers trying new technologies is the availability of computers in the school. This is one of the major challenges I face when trying to figure out ways to incorporate all of this exciting technology in my classroom. Would you run into the same challenge in your school?
Another possible challenge with new technologies such as epals would be safety. In my eighth grade class, there are many things I would consider using. For example, having my students create blogs and making digital stories would be great. There are so many things you can do with this technology but major concerns I would have would be things such as appropriateness of content the students use and cyber bullying. As a teacher, how do we police these things? How would you make sure your students are safe using epals? What steps would you take?
The use of the kindle would be excellent in my eighth grade language arts class. I work with a few students that speak no english and are receiving no modifications or help from an esl teacher. These students basically sit an learn nothing in my classroom. Does the kindle have a translation application? Would I be able to get stories/novels for these students translated in english? If so, that would be very beneficial for these students. What about funding for kindles in your classroom?
All great ideas but I struggle with the reality of it all happening (in my classroom) because of a major lack of funding and the availability of computers. What do you think?