Sunday, June 9, 2013

Reflection on Group Assignment

To begin with, I would like to thank the group members for their collaboration and patience.

I joined the group discussion for a short period of time and two of the group members took over and decided everything for the group without everyone getting a fair say ; this seems to be due to the fact that there wasn't very much time for communication between everyone. I would like to thank James for his patience and understanding and for helping me with the Voicethread recording, which I was struggling with. I liked the topic and I think that our recording was clear and to the point. Without reading the notes from the technical support from another classmate, I wasn't able to download the necessary programs to use the recording software.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Group Activity: Group 9 Reflection

Group 9 chose the target language of Chinese, with an interpersonal mode of communication, and a novice level. They use culture and comparisons in their goals. Their topic is food description. I was able to listen to sections A, C, and D, but section B was too low to hear. One of their objectives is to help the students practice using "like" and "don't like" using different foods. The tool they use are Skype for the students to chat and communicate and they want comparisons so that students can say "A is more is more [insert adjective] than B". Section C addressed the assessment and said they depend on work comparisons. Their example was using 3 Chinese foods and comparing them to 3 American foods. What I would change in this activity is to use pictures or have the food to show over video for these comparisons, as well as ask my students to search online the common culture associations with each food. Also the activity to practice the new vocabulary should include a different technology tool, like Tagxedo to aid in the writing practice of the words. I do like the topic that Group 9 chose. It's popular, interesting, and students would engage in it quickly using the comparisons. The assessment should not depend only on one worksheet because note every student will acquire writing one sentence in the same time frame that this assessment will take. I suggest that the student can use their Voicethread or Vocaroo to record their pronunciations during this activity in addition to the written part. It would also be nice if the teacher found a kids song that related to the topic, because it'll help the student remember the pronunciation and stick with it. 

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Reflection on Modes of Communication

Hello, It is going on two years since I start using different types in technology with the ACTFL standards.For me, understanding the modes of communication helped me to support my students to acquire their goals in the target language. At the beginning, I was not fast and comfortable using different devices in classroom. Now, after couple courses with startalk,I became more familiar and everyday I learn something new. Thanks. 

Monday, June 3, 2013

Connected teaching




Hello,
connecting with other educators Twitter, Diigo, and Facebook are awesome, however I like Twitter because of the hashtag that allows fast response. For professional development plan Diigo will be the best choice for me since teaching Arabic language needs lots of resources.















Sunday, June 2, 2013

Distance Learning-1

Hello,
 I am glad to participate in this course. I saw in the list some names that I meet before and new ones that I hope to know them. I had some difficulty accessing hangout because I was not careful reading the instruction. Now I know (: