Mod 9- Podcast Series and Single Podcast!

As I was searching for different podcasts I could use in the classroom, I came across "Finally Learn Spanish". This group creates podcasts concerning different grammar topics. They have a nice way of organizing the information and giving really good examples. I figure I would use these in an intro to Spanish or Spanish 1 class, since many of the topics are taught in English. After Spanish 1, students should be getting most of their instruction in the TL, so these would become a little too easy, but could be used as good review. They are constantly updating with new podcasts, so I'm sure they will continue to grow as a resource as I grow as a new teacher.


One example of an episode from this series is their podcast on "Ser v. Estar". I think they do a great job of quickly and perfectly describing the different ways to use the two verbs for "to be" in Spanish. They use lots of examples and many different reviews. I think this would be a great tool so that when the students go home from school after learning about the two verbs, they could listen to this refresher and then work on homework.

Mod 8- Global Cooperation- Site from Mod 7

As I was learning about the global cooperation site, Gabcast.com kept coming back into my mind. In association with epals.com, I think you could have a very interesting learning experience for children. Once you have an accredited class from another (preferably for myself, a Spanish speaking) country, you could work on writing penpals letters for awhile. Then, your students could record messages at Gabcast.com for the class you are working with and vice versa. Students need to hear speech from native speakers and this is an amazing way to do so. Obviously you would need approval from your principal and I would even write to epals and let them know you are taking your pen pals to the next level, but all the work would definitely be worth it for you students learning abilities.

Mod 8- Global Cooperation- 2 sites

The two sites I enjoyed most from out list of global cooperation sites were epals and Global SchoolNet. Both websites seem like great tools in our world of education.


I remember in high school my Spanish teacher tried to set up penpals through a magazine. We were all very excited, but it never worked. A few kids got letters, others got inappropriate letters and the rest of us got nothing at all. Epals is the solution to all those problems. The site allows you to monitor everything your students send and receive. You can block suggested words and/or create your own word list. The site is run by fellow teachers who okay everyone who is participating on the site. You are able to find cooperating classrooms in the Target Language. They can practice their English, while your students practice their Spanish/French/Portuguese/etc. It seems like a very exciting way to introduce your students to the outside world.


The second site I really enjoyed was Global SchoolNet. This site has tons of activities and the first thing that came to my mind was the standard of connections. Here, not only do they have activities for a Spanish classroom, but they have tons of activities for every other classroom. Given time and a little elbow grease, I can imagine a teacher being able to connect her students to many other disciplines in the TL. I think the thing I want to try the most is the expeditions. Students are taken along side of adventurers and receive emails and updates about where the explorer is going and what they are learning. They can go anywhere from the silk road to the Great Wall of China.

Mod 6- Plurk v. Twitter

I have to say I didn't like either of these micro-blogging sites. They remind me of checking away messages of friends on AIM. I can't seem to make them relevant to a classroom, unless you were working on simple sentences and had the students write a certain number of posts. If there is a way to respond to other people's posts I couldn't find it. I thought it lacked variety of things to do with the program.

If I had to pick either Twitter or Plurk, I would pick plurk because it is more visually appealing with the time line. I also found Plurk to be more user friendly and intriguing with things you could do.

I did like that you were able to make you posts private.

However I did find another micro-blogging site and I fell in love with it! It is called Edmodo and if you watch the video in my post below you will find a video all about the features of this site. You can set up classes, discussion boards, homework calenders, places for absent students to find work, upload your worksheets to the site, etc. I found this site to be far more helpful in the classroom setting than either Twitter or Plurk.