How can I be listening to all of the students' conversations at once??
Technology allows me to do this!!
I will have students use their cell phones to record their conversations.
In my lesson plan, first I will have all students find a partner. This solves the problem of not all students owning a smartphone because they will only need one smartphone per partnership. Students will be given a certain topic to talk about. They have to create a dialogue and then film themselves speaking the conversation. I am not exactly sure what the topic will be right now, but I think this method of having the students film themselves can be applicable to most units.
I want to implement this type of speaking activity that uses smartphones because I want to insure that my students are practicing speaking Spanish. When we do normal speaking activities in the classroom, it is impossible (not impossible but very time consuming for one person) for me to go to each pair of students and listen to their conversation and give feedback. When students film their conversation, I know that they are practicing because I can listen to each individual conversation. Also, students will be motivated to speak Spanish, even when I am not directly next to them, because they will be turning in the video as an assignment.
Lastly, students love to use their phones, so I might as well use them to improve their Spanish skills!
Anna, I think this is a great idea!
ReplyDeleteIt is certainly a challenge to monitor a classroom full of students and I can see how important this would be in a language classroom where speaking the language is essential to learning. I am happy to see that you found a possible solution that allows you to hear all of your students speak. Additionally, I like that you decided to use the students' own cellphones. Hopefully this will inspire your students to see their device in a new way - as a tool for learning!. I thought it was very thoughtful of you to anticipate that some students might not have their own device and plan your lesson to accommodate those students. Finally, I am wondering if you could use this as a way to monitor growth as well? For example, would it be possible to keep the recordings as a sort of virtual portfolio that students use as evidence of improvement of their speaking skills?
What a great idea! I had never even thought of this :) I personally have tried learning another language, and found it very difficult because I was self-concious to speak in front of the teacher. So I think having the students record their conversation does a couple of great things: 1) Since they're only speaking in front of a peer, there is less pressure 2) They have the chance to record start over if they mess up, also reducing the pressure. I honestly believe this will boost your students' confidence, and encourage the students to keep repeating the conversation until they get it just right!
ReplyDeleteAnna,
ReplyDeleteI really like this idea you have for your class and the numerous teacher moves you address within your lesson plan. For example, you realize that you couldn't do self assessment on each and every student within the classroom, so as a result you switched the lesson to have a peer assessment focus. Furthermore, instead of trying to recreate certain technology resources you decided to utilize what the class as well as the students already have. Additionally, by having students in groups, you also solve the problem of certain students maybe not having the necessary features on their phone but having the ability to use someone else's. Finally, I really like how students will have something viable and accessible to asses their level of proficiency that will in the end allow those students to get to the level of truly being able to speak the world language.
I share the enthusiasm of your colleagues for your idea, Anna. I think that this is one connection where mobile technology serves the teaching and learning needs of world language teachers better than it does anyone else. I also like the idea of having the students film their dialogues, though it occurs to me that, on a day-in, day-out basis, that you get all the benefits from *only* having the kids audio record themselves (easy for you to organize and retrieve MP3 files), rather than adding the video-recording aspect. I think that you're quite right to identify in the smartphone a powerful formative assessment tool.
ReplyDeleteAnna, I really like this idea. I think it solves a real problem, and has the potential to really improve the speaking of students who might not get the opportunity for individual feedback, due solely to time constraints. Depending on how far down the rabbit hole you want to go with this, I could see you using this for a summative assessment as well, and using an app like audacity or garageband to actually insert your own comments or pronunciation corrections into the original audio recording, almost like an annotated version, allowing students to just plop on a pair of earphones, sit back, and listen to your dulcet tones give your feedback in a much more immediate way, with your comments actually following with what they are saying, almost like a conversation. (You could also use this as a tool for those students who might be a little shy about speaking in class in front of their peers, or as an extra credit assignment if they end up using Spanish in their every-day lives... the possibilities are endless. I love it!
ReplyDeleteAnna!
ReplyDeleteooooooooO..... this post gets me thinking! I'm brewing a fusion lesson between your idea and Muneer's. Let me digest it while I give you laud for your intellect! I love the point that you start out with about how you wish that you could listen to all of your students at one time... I can imagine that that is often a difficulty in a world languages classroom. I remember quite often having to turn to another student and clarify things in English, even though I knew that I was not supposed to do that when I was taking French classes back in the day. I like your proposition of having the students record themselves, but to me, that seems like it might be a bit time intensive. How long are you thinking these conversations are going to be? One minute? Five? Ten? Twenty? TWO WHOLE HOURS!!?? Then you're going to be stuck there watching a classroom that you were in for like three weeks straight!
Okay, I'm playing. I know it won't be that bad, but that was just a fear that I had. And when that happens, I start brainstorming!
So here's my suggestion, take it or leave it, or whatever. I mean hey, our ideas aren't mutually exclusive.
Maybe have them all participate in a Google hangout... You would be involved in each one, and you could check in at any moment... allowing you to monitor at a moments notice! Give them the feeling of surveillance! Or... another kind of idea all together.... You have them do a google chat, in text. you can see each post made. They're just typing them instead of writing them.... gives them a chance to brush up on their writing skills, too...
Just a thought!
Elliot
Anna,
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I'm mimicking all the responses that come before this, but I think this is a wonderful idea! I very rarely remember my high school Spanish teacher taking the time to come around and listen to all of us speaking in our groups. The only time I remember her monitoring our speaking at all was when we gave presentations or dialogues, which the majority of us memorized and performed. I think that this is a wonderful way to capture how students are actually speaking day to day. Additionally, as you said, students love to use their phones, so I doubt that you will receive much pushback for this exercise. It also gives those students a low stakes way to speak and be evaluated that doesn't involve getting nervous and butchering the language in front of everyone...just a trusted friend or partner. I'm excited to see how this works for you. Good luck!
Anna,
ReplyDeleteThe use of the cellphone for classroom purposes is an amazing idea! We all know that our students main accessory is the cell phone. It is permanently attached to their hands! I really wanted to use my students cell phones in the classroom to redirect this distracting behavior, but my mentor teacher is giving me a lot of backlash because she hates the use of cell phones and thinks students will not use it for the purpose of the class. Although this might be true, I don't think there's harm in trying.
For you, I think your idea is totally accessible to all students! What might make your life easier is if you have some application or platform to collect all the videos. Maybe you can try to use Vine to collect short video clips--easier to grade and students can get very creative. I think Muneer did something with Vine for a class lesson, so you might want to check with him. Also, if you wanted to get fancy, you can even use Skype or Oova and have students pretend like they are from another country and act that out, while using the language of your choice--that being spanish. I know Skype and Oova are applications on the phone, but this is just a side rant thought.
Good luck with the amazing teaching.
Or should I say Buenas Suerte!
Anthony