WEEK 3: TASKS 1 & 2

TASK 1:  Visit the various sites related to teaching listening skills.  (See the USEFUL LINKS page.)
We were to set a time limit of 30 minutes to look at the various sites related to teaching listening skills.  However, I had some computer challenges and it took much, much longer than that to visit all the sites. I still feel like I need to go back and spend a lot more time to get a better sense of what each site offers.


TASK 2:  Compare and contrast some of the resources you came across.
Many of the sites looked very interesting. However, my students are at a false-beginner level and, as a result, I had a difficult time imagining them using most of them. Many seemed geared towards more advanced levels of English, or assumed that students had strong enough English skills to read and understand directions. (For the most part, mine do not.) In addition, some of the sites were not so straight forward and it took me a bit of trial and error to figure out how they worked.  (In fact, I ended up watching a YouTube tutorial for one because I just could not figure out what to do.) I also had some technical problems.  For example, despite downloading various software I am still unable to view any of the videos on the Backbone site.


However, although the sites with content did not seem so useful, the final two sites introduced some useful tools.
1) Woices introduces the idea of making audio guides for a particular location.  These audio guides are then uploaded to the site and made available for others to listen to.  I think my students would enjoy introducing the local areas.  
2) Mediabistro gave some very interesting advice about how to record, edit and publish audio using free software and I think this is something my students could do.  (Of course, they would need a workshop on how to use the software.)


(I usually use English Central and manythings.org with my students.  I highly recommend them both!)

Week 2: Task 4 Further Exploration: Research Projects and Other Writing-Related Sites (optional)

Thankfully, Task 4 is optional because I don't really have time to do this assignment.  However, I did look at the various writing-related site that were posted and added several to my USEFUL LINKS page.


However, while looking at these websites I discovered  Spelling City, a spelling and vocabulary site, and I am SO excited!  (In fact, once I realized what it did I think I let out a shout!) Not only can you type in the words you want to learn and tested on, it will also read the words out loud. You can choose to hear the word alone or in a sentence. This will be perfect for my students!  I am so happy to find this!  YAHOO!

Week 2: Task 3 Collaborative Writing

I added the second paragraph to something Marie started on Google Docs. Although I have certainly heard of Google Docs before I have never used to for collaborative writing so thought it might be a good idea to see how it works.  Easy to understand and use.


Below is the story so far.  Click on the title below to go to the original document. I'm hoping others will add more!

WHAT A SHOCK!

1)  Marie
What a shock! I had been looking everywhere to find Vicky & she had been hiding in the water all along... She seemed to be so scared and mysterious... I had to pretend nothing had changed & make her change her mind. But how could I after what had been going on? How could she ever trust me again? How could I win her back?

2)  Rebecca
I had promised myself from the very beginning that I wouldn’t lie to Vicky. And yet, I had lied.  And not just once. I had lied to her again and again and again and now she knew.  Not all of the lies, of course. In fact, she only knew of one but that was enough to make her run away and hide. I hadn’t done it to be mean or malicious, of course. I was trying to protect her. But how was I ever going to make her believe that? And how was I going to make her believe nothing had changed when, in fact, I knew nothing would ever be the same for either of us.

Week 2: Task 2 Creative Writing Tools Review

Out of all of the creative writing tools available, I choose Storybird.

1) What is Storybird?
It's "a service that makes it simple for families and friends to create short, visual stories together that they can share and print."  There is a large selection of artwork to choose from (much of it absolutely delightful) and from there you can create each page and add your own words.


2) How would I use it?
I don't teach a writing class. However, I could imagine writing stories for students to read that recycle vocabulary and grammar that we had studied in class. The assignment could be included in the last page of the story (as in this story that I just created).  Or, students could complete a worksheet with questions based on the reading. Of course, I could ask students to write simple stories as well but unless we are in a computer lab and we can go through the process together, I don't think this is realistic.


(Just in case the link above doesn't work, below is a screenshot of my story. The cover is to the left and sample pages are to the right.)

3) What age group?
I think almost any age can use this site either to write stories or to read them. I think a more important consideration would be computer literacy. Because of this I don't think my students could this site to write stories on their own. However, they would certainly enjoy reading stories made on this site.


4) What is unique about this site?
The artwork is exceptional and the finished product looks very professional.  Also, it is possible for teachers to set up classes on this site.


5) Possible problems or limitations?
The process was quite slow and I had to wait a bit after I dropped photos onto the page before I could write anything. Also, I'm a bit unclear about their private/public policy. I'm not quite sure how to share the story with students only.


Verdict?
A very addicting site! The artwork is delightful and greatly encourages creating stories and exploring. My students would love this site.

Week 2: Task 1 Creative Writing: Character, Setting and Plot

My choices; Pictures 1D (a dog swimming off land), 2D (a beach on an island), 3D (a trainer riding a dolphin underwater)

"They'll never find us here," she had said. The island was completely isolated and if anyone tried to arrive by boat we would be able to see them from far away. And yet, they came. We hadn't considered them coming from under the water and so the trained dolphins were completely unexpected. And the trained dogs? Who could have known they could swim so far?

Week 1: Task 5 Action Time!

EDOMO

We were asked to think about how we would use one of the tools we were introduced this week with our students.  I'm still figuring out how to navigate Edmodo but I think it is very useful to have a virtual classroom where students can explore and share their ideas.  One of the first things I would do is have them introduce themselves using Voki.com.  I would post the following as an assignment on Edomodo. In fact, I tried to do this but although I set up a class I have no students so it wouldn't allow me to send it.  (Yes, I'm basically doing what we were asked to do but it was so much fun and I think my students would love it!)

Introduce yourself to the class.
1) Click on the Voki.com link.  (This would be linked below.)
2) Join Voki.  (Top righthand corner.)
3) Click on the CREATE tab. (Top lefthand corner.)
4) Click on CUSTOMIZE YOUR CHARACTER.  You can change the face, clothes, style and so on.
5) Click on BACKGROUNDS. You can change the image behind the face.
6) Look at GIVE IT A VOICE.  You can choose a) TYPE (type your message) or b) MICROPHONE (record your voice).  Choose one.
7) Tell us your name and 3 things about yourself.
8) When you are finished, click PUBLISH.
9) Copy the URL and paste it below.
10) Listen to your classmates' introductions.
11) Click on reply and write comments!

My Voki!

Took a while but finally figured out how to add my Voki to this page.  Whew!

Week 1: Task 3

I decided to make a page on flavors.me since it was something I was already familiar with. Very simple but it's a start.  (My own photo too.)

http://flavors.me/nonbirira

Then I saw that some people were introducing themselves using voki.com.  What a hoot!  First you choose an avatar and then you either type in what you want it to say or you record your voice (up to 30 seconds).  My students would love this.  I just need to think of how best to use it...

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=5121671&height=267&width=200

Having trouble connecting them to this page.  Will have to work on this more...

Let's Play!

I joined the Classdigitools class and am quite excited about all that can be done online!  However, I am also feeling completely overwhelmed.  So many interesting things!  So many learning curves!  So much other work on top of it all!  However, I will do my best to keep up.

In this blog I will add useful resources and experiment with what can be done.  In other words, let the play begin!

Here is the link to the Classdigitools homepage.  <http://classdigitools.pbworks.com/w/page/44702717/Welcome>