Culture is my Daily Catalyst!

Posted on by Vicky Masson
culture

by Noemí Rodríguez (LTL Contributor)

How can we lead with culture on a daily basis in our classrooms?

Culture can serve as your daily catalyst, as it did for me! A few months ago I had the opportunity to teach a High School Spanish Level III class and we began with the unit, “Stories of the Past”.  The unit’s communicative functions & essential questions are: -How does our past define who we are? -How does our present shape our future? -Recount the past -Describe how life used to be -Compare/contrast life in the past to the present

Working with department colleagues, we established that we would utilize the reader, “La Llorona de Mazatlan” and backwards planned our unit with the reader in mind, with a focus on Mexican culture, stories & legends.

As I began with this unit, I had an approximate window of when this unit would conclude and the different points of entry that I wanted to explore with students, based on the upcoming reader, vocabulary & structures necessary to address these communicative goals. I also started the school year with this unit and chose to focus primarily on describing past events & actions. So I began to plan out my weeks….

Week 1/2: Getting to Know Each Other, Establishing a Classroom Community/Goals & Descriptions of Summer Vacations  (Google Slideshow) 

Getting to know students and establishing a positive classroom culture is a key ingredient from day one. One way I approached this concept was doing a “Breakout” with students. Thanks to Kristine Keefe-Hasan (@kkeefe_hasan) aka LaProfeAlta, I was introduced to her breakout, Gozadera, which had the students working in teams to try to unlock the puzzles! It was neat to see them working together to build our classroom community during the first few days together. I also used Canva to design my Spanish III syllabus, which was a different way to approach the typical first-day class outline. (rodriguez syllabus espanol iii)

I started off by describing what I had done in the summer and ironically, I had recently taken a trip to Mexico with my family. I was able to provide input through images and video of my experience and as a pre-assessment for students, asked that the students share the same through the creation of a Screencast video of their summer vacations. This provided me with immediate insight as to how well the students could describe past events and from this, I changed my instructional practices to further emphasize descriptions in the past. 

Week 3: Highlighting Famous Spanish-Speaking Individuals  (Google Slideshow)

After the first class meeting, I knew the students needed way more input! I selected the biographical reader, Vidas Impactantes, and broke the class into six different groups, to allow students to become “experts” on a particular Spanish-speaking individual and to also highlight Hispanic Heritage Month.

Students read in class and I utilized the technique of “Reciprocal Reading” as students alternated which role they played as they read in small groups. As a follow-up assessment, students created informative Google Slideshows about their individual to be shared with the class. They were also given an interpretive reading and presentational writing assessment/quiz focused on key vocabulary. This key vocabulary pulled from Vidas Impactantes had a direct correlation to the unit’s essential questions & the upcoming reader: La Llorona. 

Week 4/5: El Pasado: Leyendas Mexicanas (Google Slideshow)

These weeks served as recycling vocabulary from La Llorona, so I continued with my emphasis on input by providing students with (4) Mexican legends that we would read together and discuss. I also provided vocabulary lists through Quizlet, which students practiced with vocabulary both in/out of class. I displayed these lists for students to view & we also “acted” out the words as a whole group.

I utilized different reading techniques such as volleyball translation, whole group reading, popsicle stick reading (randomly calling on students to continue), paired reading and stop/summarize reading. Each legend that students read was read differently. After reading and discussing these different legends, students discussed which was their “favorite” and interviewed my sister-in-law via Skype, who happens to be from Mexico. I also used the song & music video, “Robarte un beso” to emphasize my sister-in-law’s favorite legend: El Callejón del Beso. 

Week 6/7/8: La Llorona, Our IPA, The Reader & Mexico: El Presente (Google Slideshow 1 , 2 ) 

Before diving into the reader, “La Llorona”, I wanted to build background knowledge for the students about this legend. Students completed an EdPuzzle activity for homework and I conducted a MovieTalk narrating the legend using a Youtube video. I posted the La Llorona vocabulary in the back of the classroom, so as I retold the story, I could continue to recycle/emphasize certain words.

At this point, I felt the students were ready to engage in a summative Integrated Performance Assessment with the emphasis of Mexican Legends. Students were provided a different version of La Llorona to read & respond to questions as their interpretive portion, students engaged in a Writers Workshop process by re-writing their own version of their favorite Mexican legend and finally, students had to re-tell their stories/ask questions about one another’s favorite legends for their interpersonal portion via Flip.  Questions posed to assist with their conversations were as follows: 

  • Describa tu leyenda mexicana a tu compañero. 
  • ¿Quién es parte de tu leyenda?  ¿Qué pasó?
  • ¿Cómo terminó tu leyenda?  ¿Te gustó la leyenda? ¿Por qué?

We began to read the reader as a class and at this point, because of the backward design process and all of the “preloading” of the important vocabulary that was coming up in this reader, students were able to comprehend 90-95% of the story. In one of the beginning chapters, a discussion between the main character and her father takes place about whether or not Mexico is a safe country. We paused as a class to explore this question and I used materials created by the wonderful Kara Jacobs (@karacjacobs) to discuss narco-violence. 

Taking it a step further and hoping to have students further connect, my brother who is a police officer shared via Google Hangouts how widespread Mexican cartel violence truly is as he described some of his experiences with local gangs and hostage situations. Please know that my intention was not to scare these 10th/11th-grade students but to ensure that they are aware that these crimes are happening globally and also, affecting our communities locally in New Jersey. 

Hagan ahora.png

Culture Daily

A wonderful aspect about these culturally relevant readers is that it does provide a teacher with moments to transition for a bit outside of the reader and dive into a topic that is compelling/interesting for the students to explore & discuss. 

My short experience with teaching Spanish III proved that you CAN utilize common curriculum documents, essential questions, and communicative functions but still allow culture to guide the path & planning of daily lessons. I chose to emphasize Mexico, Mexican culture and legends but there are many different ways one can go to reach that same goal of utilizing a culturally relevant reader with students for communicative purposes!

DER: Gamifying Your Units with Digital Escape Rooms

Posted on by Vicky Masson
DER

by Victoria Berasaluce Guerra (LTL Contributor)

If you are reading this article, you might feel intrigued by using digital escape rooms in your World Language classroom. Whether this is your first try at digital escape rooms or a returning fan, here I share some ideas and steps that might be helpful

Starting with…why even do a digital escape room (DER)?

Digital escape rooms are basically an activity online where there is an imaginary room you and/or your group must escape from by solving several clues that will finally release you from the room. Physical escape rooms also exist, and you can try them in your class or with friends at a special venue. It’s fun!

So what are the benefits of DER?

For starters, their versatility for any unit of your curriculum. They help boost collaborative work and engage students through problem solving and critical thinking. They are also easy to tailor to your classroom’s needs and a novel way to incorporate culture. Last but not least, they prove engaging for educators looking to be creative with their assignments.

When to use DERs

You could create a DER for the end of your unit to review the contents seen in class, or you could incorporate them as an introductory activity (keeping in mind that students should be able to tap into their background knowledge in the target language).

As a plus, digital escape rooms engage students in all core language skills: reading from the clues, listening to audio resources and instructions, writing to solve the clues and speaking between peers and with their teacher, using the target language.

A teacher can also differentiate through escape rooms by incorporating:

  • different modalities of resources: text, auditory and visual
  • different roles of the players to exploit their talents
  • design an escape room where different paths lead to the same goal

Next is…brainstorming DERs

The sky’s the limit when designing a digital escape room. You could base them on any unit you taught, in any language, for every level of language.

Before starting the building process, teachers need to consider the backwards design planning. This stage can be exhilarating and creative, but you need to be crystal clear on what your objectives are before starting to plan the storyline.

Some questions to ask yourself:

  1. What are my objectives? Your escape room might be based on a unit or a reading you did in class.
  2. What skills do you want your students to have mastered or practiced after the activity?
  3. Storyline? What narrative are you thinking of?
  4. What rules will I establish for my escape room? Will I give limited attempts to help each group? Will I let them use any resource from the class material? Will it be a collaborative or individual activity? F2F or fully virtual?

Okay…now how do I actually start a DER?

To introduce the technical content, I will clarify that even though there are many ways to create DERs, I will focus on the steps to follow when creating them on Google slides. And don’t worry if your school or institution does not use Google. 

Step 1: Set the room and the mood

On a blank Google slide, choose your background by clicking on “Background”, then choose an image from your computer or search the web. To add any elements into the room, insert an image. When searching the web, you can add the words “transparent png” to the search to make sure the image does not have a background when you add it onto the slide. You can also add yourself as an emoji from the Bitmoji Chrome Extension in your browser.

Step 2: Create locks

You might create your lock/s in a separate Google form. You can customize the header image, add a title and introduction. Remember to click on the three-dot menu to turn on the option “response validation”. You might add a final message once the lock is “opened”. Another way is to use an external tool to create the actual visual locks, such as Flippity.

A screenshot of a computer Description automatically generated

Step 3: Construct clues

You can choose if you want to set a path of linear clues or let the students find clues randomly. Finding clues randomly will make the game more complex and test their collaboration and communication skills more. You also must decide if you will add any “distractions”, so elements that don’t really lead to anything. This will also add a level of complexity to the game since students will have to discern what elements serve them for their mission and which ones don’t.  You will need to produce links from the elements in the room to the different clues (external sites or Google forms for example).

A screenshot of a computer Description automatically generated

Step 4: Set a timer and make it competitive!

To set a timer, click on “add video” and search Youtube for a timer specific to the number of minutes you want. Just make sure to watch it first to ensure it is appropriate for school.

A screenshot of a library Description automatically generated

Step 5: Share it and have fun!

After testing the DER, copy the URL of the slide and paste it into a blank slide. Change the “/edit” in the URL to “/preview” and hit “Apply”. You will have to allow access so that anyone with the link can view. You can find these settings under the “Share” button on the upper right corner. To make sure your slide gets published and seen, click on “File”, “Share” and “Publish to web”.

Feel free to reach out and share your DERs!

Here is an example of a final DER that I created for a unit based on “Agentes secretos y el mural de Picasso” by Mira Canion:

DER

Give it a try! Click on the picture or check this link. This is an example so that you get an idea. Please, do not get discouraged if you cannot advance much.

Enjoy!

Imágenes en mente – AI y cultura (in Spanish)

Posted on by Vicky Masson
Imagenes

by Ramón Clavijo (LTL Contributor)

Hace un año, un usuario de Instagram le pidió a la inteligencia artificial 🗣🤖 que generase imágenes en las que se representara a las comunidades autónomas de España 🇪🇸 como si fueran personas. Después, compartió los resultados a través de su cuenta y las reacciones no se hicieron esperar: se abrió un debate respecto a si reflejaban o no la realidad de cada comunidad 🗨🗯.

En efecto, ¿por qué se habría elegido, para representar la esencia de una determinada región española, a una persona de un género, edad o rasgos concretos? Bueno, se supone que dichas imágenes fueron generadas después de que el usuario en cuestión hubiera introducido datos relativos a aspectos geográficos, culturales e históricos que, si bien no han trascendido, en algunos casos pueden intuirse 🤔. Así, por ejemplo, Galicia está representada como una mujer mayor, de mirada desconfiada y vestida de manera tradicional 👵. Tal vez de esta forma la inteligencia artificial haya querido reflejar el envejecimiento progresivo de la población gallega y su condición históricamente rural.

Ahora bien, si el algoritmo que da las instrucciones no deja de ser una producción humana, es lógico pensar que estará sometido a la condición humana, incluida nuestra tendencia a interpretar la realidad en forma de ideas preconcebidas, estereotipos y, especialmente, imágenes mentales 🧠💭.

Y aquí es adonde queríamos llegar: a la importancia de las representaciones mentales en cuanto formas de ver el mundo y entender la realidad, así como de reflejar nuestras expectativas, deseos y, por qué no, nuestros prejuicios.

¿Y a qué viene todo esto? Pues a que, debido a su potencial, también podemos echar mano de las imágenes mentales en nuestras clases 👩🏻‍🏫👨🏻‍🏫. Si no sabes por dónde empezar para poder implementarlas en el aula, te recomendamos un libro 📖 con un título muy directo: ¡Imagínate…! Imágenes mentales en la clase de español, de Sgel.

En él se plantean una serie de actividades ✏️ cuyo nexo de unión son las imágenes mentales, usadas como catalizador para desarrollar las distintas destrezas del lenguaje. Así, en palabras de los autores, “trabajar con imágenes puede aumentar la fluidez tanto en la producción oral 🗣 como en la escrita 🖋, porque si los alumnos tienen una cosa en mente que quieren decir, quedan liberados de la necesidad de encontrar un mensaje que transmitir, y pueden centrarse en encontrar la forma de expresarlo” (página 18).

Así pues, seas una persona 🙋🏻‍♀️ o Terminator 🤖😎, nunca está de más recurrir a la introspección, generar como resultado imágenes mentales y expresar con ellas el mensaje que quieras transmitir 🗣🥰.

Nota: te dejamos los enlaces a la cuenta desde la que se compartieron las imágenes, para que puedas valorarlas:

Starting Strong: Portfolios & Learner Profiles

Posted on by Vicky Masson

by Noemí Rodríguez (LTL Contributor)

As we all continue to get to know our new groups of language learners, I have been working on different systems to set up the school year for success and highlight language proficiency along the way. I believe that implementing portfolios, self-reflection surveys and having constant communication are solid ways to begin the school year. 

Portfolios: A Window into Student Growth

Portfolios serve as a valuable tool for tracking student progress and showcasing their achievements. By incorporating a variety of artifacts such as writing samples, audio samples, projects, and reflections, students can develop a sense of ownership over their learning and see their language growth over time. Ideally, if these portfolios can be a part of their World Language program from year to year – what an incredible way to see students grow along the proficiency continuum. 

Here are different ways to utilize World Language portfolios:

  • Goal Setting: Encourage students to set personalized learning goals at the beginning of the year. Discuss the WHAT & HOW behind the goals they set. 
  • Showcase Achievements: Celebrate student accomplishments by featuring their best work in their portfolios. This boosts language confidence and encourages future effort. I love being able to pull a students’ portfolio during parent-teacher conferences! 
  • Self-Assessment: Incorporate opportunities for self-assessment throughout the year. This allows students to reflect on their growth and identify areas for improvement. Here is a self & peer assessment for the writing prompt: Who Am I? 
portfolios

Digital portfolios offer an easy, personalized space to showcase their growth and achievements. By collecting a variety of writing and speaking artifacts digitally and having students reflect on their learning journey, they can develop a much deeper understanding of their progress and look back at any time. I like to use a Google Form to collect all of the URLs of my students and you can view a sample here. Make sure students change their digital portfolio sending to “anyone with a link can view”. 

Learner Surveys: Understanding Individual Needs

Are your students auditory, tactile or visual learners? Surveying students can provide insight into their different learning styles, interests, and goals. By gathering this information, we can tailor our instruction to meet their individual needs. Here are a few websites that I have used to determine which type of learner I have in my class. This is one way to collect data about your students and as a result, monitor & adjust my future lessons according to these learning styles. 

Another way to learn about your students is to simply administer a survey to “get to know them” and their preferences! I like to learn about a students’ interests, self assess on their Spanish speaking/writing/reading/listening abilities and any obstacles and/or future goals they may have for themselves at the start of the school year. I also like to tap into which units of study are of interest and certain in-class activities they prefer. 

Here are a few sample Google Form surveys to get to know my students throughout the school year and gather insight on their preferences. 

By starting off the year with a language growth goal in mind, at the midway point in the year, I like to one on one conference with students to see whether or not they have met the language goal they had proposed and if they haven’t or are still working towards it, they are then asked to state at least two actions that are reasonable and realistic to help them attain this goal by the end of the school year. It also provides insight to administer a similar survey at the midpoint in the school year and again at the end of the year. 

One on one conferencing or conferencing with students in small groups can go a long way. I highly encourage you to set up appointments with students during the first three weeks of school, mid year point and again at the end of the year. I ask students to schedule themselves over that time period using a Google Doc (sample). Even if this means that I only meet with one or two students each time we have class, this ensures that I dedicate quality time in getting to know my students and discussing their progress in my class. 

Building Relationships Through Communication

Effective communication is essential for building trust and rapport with students. Here are some strategies to foster positive relationships:

  • Open-Door Policy: Maintain an open-door policy to encourage students to seek help and support whenever needed.
  • Active Listening: Practice active listening to demonstrate that you value students’ perspectives and concerns.
  • Ongoing Written Communication & Reflection: Students have composition notebooks that serve as a weekly reflection. 
  • Positive Reinforcement: Provide positive feedback and encouragement to reinforce students’ efforts and achievements.

Students also have composition notebooks that serve as their “Yo aprendí” journals. These notebooks are used at the end of every week and students reflect about their progress in class. They add to these notebooks on a weekly basis (beginning classes in English, one paragraph) and I am able to communicate with students directly by adding my own notes and insights on their reflections. We go back & forth each week – so I am always corresponding with students in a low-stakes way about how they feel, what they did well and any goals they have for the next week ahead. 

We all understand that it is important to get to know our students and begin to forge relationships right from the first day. By developing strong connections with students, classroom teachers are able to establish climates of respect and mutual understanding in caring, nurturing environments, where student success is celebrated {no matter how big or small!} and learning becomes contagious.

How will you start strong this school year?

Headin’ Back-to-School with GenAI

Posted on by Vicky Masson
GenAI

by Noemí Rodríguez (LTL Contributor)

The title of this blog post may make you feel like an actual person is walking alongside you – as you re-enter the school building in the coming days or weeks! The truth is, Generative AI has so many possibilities to ASSIST educators, it is no longer an option to ignore it.

Those first few days back can be very stressful and while Generative AI (GenAI) can’t set up your classroom for you – it CAN design a welcome letter, back-to-school night presentation or set up a solid seating chart! Generative AI just tipped it’s hat forward, did a little dance and walked in as your new, powerful, strong ALLY {*cue the visual in your mind} – helping to navigate the complexities and many tasks in preparation of a new school year.

It’s Time to Train Your GenAI Ally!

Generative AI (GenAI), with its ability to process information rapidly and generate human-like text, offers a wealth of possibilities for educators. Let’s explore how this technology can revolutionize your back-to-school preparation in the coming weeks.

Streamlining Classroom Management

  • Seating Charts: First and foremost, our student’s privacy is of utmost importance. When writing prompts or asking your LLM of choice to assist you with a task- DO NOT INCLUDE IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION! Use initials or first names only! The key is not to provide any of these LLMs your personal information or anyone else’s – be strategic in the precision of your prompt! When designing a seating arrangement for your classroom, you need to consider each of your student’s learning styles and ensure that they are seated to succeed. You can provide a general overview of your class such as: “Create a seating chart for a Spanish 2 class of 25 students, considering language proficiency levels and learning styles.” or provide a specific parameters to include a fairly anonymous student list, classroom layout, student preferences such as: “Arrange my students in a 5×6 seating chart in a table format, considering the following preferences amongst my Spanish 2 students- special seating requirements include: AG needs to sit near the front, BB and CH do not work well together, DP needs to also sit near the front near AG, HD is chatty and should not sit near GR, AG or JV, PR requires a door nearby.” Using a LLM like Gemini makes it easy to export into Google Sheets for future reference and or/adjustments in the future.
  • Attendance: Avoid the traditional roll call in those first few days of school. Instead consider a fun, easy warm up for your students to introduce themselves to the group. This will allow students to say their own {preferred} names AND it gives you a chance to hear how they would like their name pronounced. As someone who dreaded the roll call – class after class – it always felt like nails on the chalkboard when they mispronounced my first name {or sometimes made a joke about “never winning an Emmy“} A student’s name is tied to their identity and it is so critical to ensure that they are made to feel welcomed and valued in those first few days together. You can ask your LLM of choice to provide a variety of fun ways to introduce one’s self on the first few days with this prompt, “It is the first few days of school and you are a Spanish teacher, getting to know each of your new students. You would like for students to quickly go around the room to state their name and introduce themselves by selecting ONE word that best describes themselves, their interests, their summer vacation, etc. Come up with a list of at least twenty different fun introductory topics for students to highlight something about themselves using just one word.“

Building Community and Engagement

  • Welcome Letters: Wondering how to jazz up your “welcome back” letter? AI can help draft a general welcome letter that you can customize. Try this prompt: “Write an engaging, kind and sincere welcome letter to Spanish 2 students emphasizing the importance of language learning in today’s globalized world. Outline the course’s focus on conversational fluency, cultural competence, and critical thinking skills. Clearly communicate expectations regarding class participation, homework completion, and assessment methods. Include a brief overview of key course themes or units to generate excitement and anticipation. Limit to 500 words.”
  • Syllabus Development: While your expertise is invaluable in crafting a meaningful syllabus, AI can assist in generating initial drafts. Head over to Canva (snag your free educator account if you don’t have one yet!) and browse through their array of templates. You can also provide your LLM of choice, your course goals, learning objectives, and grading policies, and it can create a basic outline. “Write a syllabus for a Spanish 1 course focused on conversational skills, with a grading breakdown of 20% daily preparation, 60% evidence of learning through the modes of communication: interpersonal, interpretive, presentational, and 20% Integrated Performance Assessments”
  • Get-To-Know-You Icebreakers: Building strong relationships with students and building a community in your classroom from the start is crucial. Generative AI can provide a variety of icebreaker ideas tailored to your class level and interests. For example, “Create 5 icebreaker activities for a French 3 class focused on getting to know one another, discussing summer vacation and personal interests.” Check out this Would you rather? (English / Spanish) resource created thanks to Canva + Bulk Create.

Enhancing Back-to-School Night

  • Ideas for Back to School Night: If you are looking to change up your upcoming Back-to-School night presentations with parents & guardians, why not ask your personal assistant to help brainstorm new ideas? Try this: “Provide at least three different back to school night activities (no more than 3 minutes) each that I can facilitate with my group of parents and guardians from my German 2 High School Class.“
  • Presentation Slides: It’s easy to create a captivating, informative slideshow! There are many AI slideshow tools out there to help educators, such as Canva, SlidesAI, Almanack.ai or Gamma. Provide AI with key points and desired visuals, and it can generate a basic framework – it provides a wonderful starting point that you can refine and make your own. For example, “Create a PowerPoint slides outline for a Spanish 1 back-to-school night presentation highlighting course goals, materials, and assessment methods.”

Tips for Using Generative AI (GenAI)

It’s essential to use GenAI wisely and begin training. You can ask your LLM of choice – “Ask me 20 questions to better understand my role in education.” Once your LLM poses the questions and you reply thoughtfully, it will have this very insightful information moving forward.

Here are additional tips when prompting your LLM of choice:

  • Provide Clear Instructions: The more specific your prompts, the better the AI’s output. Strategic precision is key.
  • Review and Edit: AI-generated content is a starting point or a first draft. Always review and refine to ensure accuracy of what is created and alignment with your teaching style- make modifications to better fit your needs.
  • Maintain Authenticity: Use AI as a tool to enhance your work, not replace it. Avoid blindly copy/pasting.
  • Ethical Considerations: Be mindful of copyright and plagiarism issues when using AI-generated content. Cite AI

By harnessing the power of generative AI, language teachers can reclaim valuable time and focus on what truly matters: connecting with students, ensuring that classrooms are a source of joy and designing incredible learning experiences with language acquisition at the core.

Remember, it’s essential to maintain our human connections in our classrooms. Your passion for language learning and your ability to connect with students are qualities that no AI can replicate.

GenAI

Looking to dive in deeper with GenAI?

Here is where I would LOVE to continue to help support your AI literacy journey as a language educator! I have set up a membership-based learning community exclusively for language educators: The AI Innovator Community for Language Educators (with monthly GenAI workshops, access to five asynchronous courses, a quarterly newsletter with insights, private Innovator community discussion space), I also share often within our Team Lo Logramos FB community, and designed a variety of courses.

Take advantage of this partnership between Lo Logramos Consulting and Language Teaching Lab – Get a $5 off discount when you use the code LTL5 at checkout, exceptions may apply

Lo Logramos does accept School POs, so feel free to reach out! team.lologramos@gmail.com

El poder de la colaboración a través de murales colaborativos (in Spanish)

Posted on by Vicky Masson

by Ramón Clavijo (LTL Contributor)

No vamos a descubrir nada nuevo si afirmamos que saber colaborar es fundamental para la formación integral de nuestros estudiantes 🤝. Sin embargo, a veces no es sencillo desarrollar y saber llevar esta idea a la práctica 🤔🤯.

Para conseguirlo, es preciso que los alumnos se impliquen en las distintas tareas y proyectos del aula. Y obtener tal implicación pasa, en primer lugar, por darles a conocer las diferentes herramientas colaborativas que la red pone a su disposición 🛠💻.

Hoy hablaremos de tres de ellas, que sin duda podrán servirte para que tus estudiantes puedan intercambiar puntos de vista respecto a la manera de enfocar las tareas que estén realizando en ese momento. Su rasgo en común es la idea de mural colaborativo ✏️🧱🖊, si bien cada una de ellas está “especializada” en un aspecto concreto de dicha colaboración. Todas ofrecen versiones gratuitas con restricciones en cuanto al uso de sus funcionalidades, que se pueden desbloquear accediendo a las versiones de pago 💳.

Plataformas de colaboración:

Padlet

👉 Así, por un lado, tenemos Padlet, quizás la más sencilla e intuitiva de las tres. Puedes asignar a cada grupo de trabajo un padlet desde el que podrán subir los resultados de sus investigaciones 📝, compartir recursos y enlaces 🔗 y comunicarse entre ellos y contigo 🗨.

Stormboard

👉 Si prefieres hacer mayor hincapié en las lluvias de ideas 🌧, tu plataforma es Stormboard, ya que está especialmente diseñada para ello. Con ella, podrás no solo plantear dichas tormentas de ideas ⛈️, sino también organizarlas y administrarlas (si bien las funcionalidades superiores están reservadas para las opciones de pago).

Mindmeister

👉 Y si lo tuyo son los mapas mentales 🗺💭, te recomendamos Mindmeister. En efecto, con esta última podrás generar mapas mentales en línea a partir de las aportaciones de tus alumnos. Se parte de una idea principal, desde la que se pueden crear subtemas ilimitados ♾️, que además se pueden ir enriqueciendo con archivos adjuntos 📎 o recursos multimedia 🔊🎞.

Además, la versatilidad de estas plataformas hace que no se ciñan a un contexto concreto. De esta manera, seguro que les encontrarás un hueco en cualquier punto de la secuenciación de tus clases: para introducir un tema, como repaso de contenidos ya trabajados o como actividad final.

Lograr la colaboración entre los estudiantes

Lo importante es hacer de ellas una herramienta con la que conseguir que tus estudiantes se impliquen en todas aquellas tareas que les propongas 🙋🏽🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♂️.

El poder de la colaboración

Educator Wellness & Generative AI

Posted on by Vicky Masson
Educator Wellness & Generative AI

by Noemí Rodríguez (LTL Contributor)

Wellness goes beyond simply being healthy – it’s the active pursuit of physical, social, emotional and mental well being. This can mean many different things – and ultimately, it comes down to what works for YOU! In my opinion, mindfulness is a key component of mental wellness and involves cultivating present-moment awareness without judgment of yourself and/or others. I appreciate and respect both the difficulty and clarity when practicing daily mindfulness. And now, at no cost, we can harness the power of Generative AI to assist us with our daily balancing act of all the things that consume our day to day and sometimes interfere with our wellness.

So how can Generative AI help educators gain wellness in their daily lives?

Large Language Model as Personal Assistant

First, a LLM (Large Language Model) can become your new personal assistant! There are many out there such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Anthorpic’s Claude, or Microsoft’s CoPilot – they can prove to be very useful in both our personal and professional lives. By training your new assistant in learning YOU and your priorities- whether personal or professional- you are taking a necessary first step to allow this technology to begin to acclimate itself to you.

A simple way to connect is by asking your LLM of choice “Ask me twenty questions in getting to know me, my role in education and my focus for this school year.” Once you receive those questions and provide responses that are unique to you, the LLM will remember, recall and use this information going forward with the content that is uniquely designed for you. You are in the driver’s seat, controlling the outcome based on how you train the model.

Weekly Guidance & Planning for Wellness

If your home is anything like mine – there are many schedules to coordinate and a lot to keep track of, which can often cause stress and miscommunication. In tasking your LLM to assist you with coordinating schedules, consider a Sunday preparation system of communicating with your LLM, “what’s the best way to manage “x, y and z” this week based on these times and create a Monday to Friday schedule, in a table format with this information outlined” or “we have “x, y, z” in our fridge, plan out at least 5 evening meal recipes that are less than 20 minutes to make with these ingredients and consider the following dietary restrictions: _______.”

Whatever it is that you have on your horizon this coming week, see if a LLM can assist you with time management, planning and scheduling.

Coping Strategies & Self-Care for Wellness

That sudden feeling of overwhelm can take over quickly. Ultimately, it is always important to seek assistance from a mental health professional and check with them first. In a time crunch, when I feel unsure how to bring my anxiousness down in that present moment, I can ask ChatGPT for coping strategies for anxiety, stress, apprehension, etc. depending on what I am feeling. I can also ask ChatGPT to provide strategies for my own self-care.

For example, “Plan out at least three movement activities to help me take a five minute break at various points in my work day.” However, please remember to always check with your mental health professional before including ChatGPT suggestions in your strategy repertoire.

Meditations & Mindfulness for Wellness

“Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.” (Source: mindful.org) Mindfulness has positively impacted me in many ways. By setting up a Mindful Bot in a platform like Mizou– you can interact (or your students) and practice daily mindfulness in this space, without fear, judgment or criticism. Remember, a chatbot can be ANYONE, learn more in this previous blog post dedicated to chatbots.

Imagine being gently led through a meditation session, with a calming voice providing instructions to relax your body and focus your attention. That’s exactly what guided meditations can offer. I’ve always appreciated using apps like Calm, Headspace or Simple Habit.

With the help of ChatGPT and an AI recording, you can explore different techniques such as deep breathing, muscle relaxation, and visualization. Using an AI Tool such as TTS Maker or Narakeet – you can transform any text to speech, in multiple languages too. By first prompting ChatGPT to design a guided meditation “Create a five minute guided meditation for me that discusses the power of positive thinking and provides lots of breathing techniques.” Here is what Gemini designed for me, instantly.

Five-Minute Guided Meditation: Cultivating Positivity Through Breath

“Find your calm: Settle into a comfortable position, sitting or lying down. Close your eyes or soften your gaze. Take a few moments to become aware of your breath and any sensations in your body.

Deep cleansing breaths: Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose, feeling your belly rise. Hold for a count of two, then exhale slowly through your mouth, releasing any tension. Repeat this breath three times, focusing on the rise and fall of your abdomen.

Breathing in positivity: Imagine yourself surrounded by a warm, golden light. With each inhale, picture this light filling your lungs and spreading throughout your body, replacing any negativity with confidence and peace. Exhale slowly, releasing any worries you might be holding. Repeat this breath visualization for a minute.

Positive affirmations: Silently repeat these affirmations with each inhale and exhale:

  • Inhale: “I am strong.” Exhale: “I am capable.”
  • Inhale: “I am worthy.” Exhale: “I am loved.”

Bringing it back: Gently bring your awareness back to the present moment. Notice the sounds around you and any sensations in your body. Take a few final deep breaths, inhaling positivity and exhaling anything that no longer serves you.

Ending with presence: When you feel ready, wiggle your fingers and toes, and slowly open your eyes, carrying this sense of calm and positivity with you throughout your day.

Remember, even five minutes of positive thinking and focused breathing can make a big difference. Make it a daily practice to cultivate optimism and inner strength.”

*An audio recording of the above thanks to TTS Maker.

Combating Procrastination

Guilty as charged – procrastination is real in my life. With tasks that I often dread or do not want to finalize, I sometimes wait and wait until the last minute. And, the anxiety builds and the looming deadline is mere hours away.

Where can I turn for assistance with designing a step by step plan to manage these tasks?

AI assistants can offer strategies for breaking down tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. They can also provide motivation and accountability strategies to help stay on track. A free tool such as GoblinTools can assist – providing a helpful “to-do” list. It requires no identifying information, so it is also a safe tool for our students to use. There are several helpful tabs to check out!

I also appreciate using both ChatGPT & Canva to design slideshows! By using the “bulk create” app within Canva, you can create a slideshow full of motivational tips for educators!

How can Generative AI assist you in the coming days, weeks, months either personally and/or professionally? 

My hope is that you will take that next first step and begin to experiment, play and develop your own system to harness its incredible power. Could you imagine other ways ChatGPT or other LLMs can assist you with your wellness & well being? Feel free to share below!

I invite you to say goodbye to those endless to-do lists and that feeling of racing to always catch up! Generative AI isn’t here to replace you, it’s here to assist you and work with you. I hope you will consider welcoming this technology and all of the amazing capabilities it has to assist you with your wellness.

*If you are interested in joining a unique community dedicated to exploring these ideas and many other topics related to Generative AI in language instruction, consider a membership to our AI Innovator Community for Language Educators.

A yearly subscription includes monthly themed GenAI workshops, access to several asynchronous courses dedicated to GenAI in the language classroom, a quarterly newsletter with the latest tips & insights and ongoing chats & collaboration amongst educators within the private AI Innovator discussion space. There are also several GenAI courses available to begin or continue your journey in learning about Generative AI as a language educator! Use LTL10 for $10 off!

Meaningful Feedback is Critical for All 

Posted on by Vicky Masson
https://languageteachinglab.com

by Noemí Rodriguez (LTL Contributor)

Feedback is essential to the learning process, whether we seek it or we receive it. 

Learning and teaching are incredibly dependent on feedback. What opportunities do you provide for your students to receive feedback and reflect? And, as an educator, how do you seek feedback from your colleagues, administration or students to enhance your lessons?

In my classroom, I create opportunities for students to receive feedback through individual conferences, peer review activities, and self-assessment exercises. This allows them to reflect on their strengths and consider actionable next steps to assist themselves in their language development. And, as a language educator, I actively seek feedback from my colleagues, administration, and my students to refine my teaching methods and ensure my lessons are engaging and effective.

https://languageteachinglab.com

Feedback for Teachers

Teachers can welcome their students at different points in the year, to share their own (anonymous) comments about how the class is organized and running. Teachers can set up online surveys or a Google form, to have this feedback take place in an environment where students feel comfortable to share their honest opinions.

Another idea that comes to mind is with a professional development model of teachers learning from teachers. Using whichever evaluation model a local district has put into place, teachers can observe each other’s lessons and provide realistic feedback as to what they feel went well during the lesson and what maybe did not go so well. Teachers can help each other by targeting specific goals that they may have for themselves. Teachers can also learn new strategies and techniques from each other, by watching model lessons and providing constructive criticism to one another. 

When you create an environment that is structured around meaningful feedback it also involves self-reflection. As teachers begin to reflect on their own practices, they can provide feedback to themselves by taking a closer look at their lessons, assessments and techniques used to engage student learning. Posing a different question/comment each month for a teaching staff to consider, may be a good starting point. Then, allowing for the articulation of these self reflective ideas & practices during department meeting time, may allow for these professionals to really make meaning of what they do each day and realize whether or not it is deemed to be effective or how it can be improved. 

*The TELL Project also offers an array of self-reflection tools for language educators. 

Feedback for Students

Providing one on one feedback to our students is so valuable to their learning and progress in language proficiency. In a world language classroom, rich feedback goes beyond simply correcting grammar mistakes. It offers specific and actionable guidance. When a teacher can pinpoint exactly where a student stumbles, they can provide targeted suggestions for improvement. This might involve recommending vocabulary that better expresses the student’s intended meaning, or suggesting alternative sentence structures for greater clarity.

I often ask students to be self reflective in their study of the language at the beginning and at the end of a unit of study. Rich feedback also acknowledges strengths and celebrates progress. By highlighting areas where a student shines, the teacher fosters confidence and motivates continued effort. This well-rounded approach to feedback empowers students to become more strategic and self-aware language learners.

AI Tools

There are now several AI Tools that can assist language teachers provide rich feedback to students. 

Briskteaching – Under the “Feedback” tab, teachers can use Targeted, Glow & Grow,  Rubric Criteria or Next Steps as different ways to provide feedback on written submissions 

Curipod  – Check out the AI generated feedback & reflection components that can be added to slides

Microsoft Immersive Reader or HelperBird Chrome Extension – Both tools provide students the opportunity to listen, practice reading out loud and gain feedback on their pronunciation skills

Mizou – Generate a language tutor chatbot for your students to connect in real-time about any topic and further their understanding. The same chatbot can serve as a rich source of feedback. 

Padlet – Students and teachers can use a tool like Padlet or Google Drive as a visual digital portfolio space for ongoing additions and collaborations throughout the school year. 

Students can self-reflect at several points in the school year as well. I appreciate when students set goals for themselves at the start of the school year, we have a one on one mid-year check in meeting and an end of the year student reflection. A student slideshow, Google Form or creating a vision board as language learners are all great ways to gauge self-reflections. 

Feedback acts as a personalized roadmap, guiding students towards fluency and accuracy. By offering specific suggestions, acknowledging strengths, and fostering self-reflection, teachers can empower their students to take ownership of their learning journey. A continuous cycle of feedback and improvement paves the way for students to confidently navigate the complexities of a new language. 

LoLogramos – Get a $5 off discount when you use the code LTL5 at checkout, exceptions may apply

And the Stars Align… Combining AI + CI

Posted on by Vicky Masson

By Noemí Rodríguez (LTL Contributor)  

If you are a language teacher, then you are probably using comprehensible input teaching methods (repeat, recycle, repeat) or have heard about them – it is not a surprise that by adjusting language strategically and providing input (either spoken or written) that is tiered to only include words, phrases and structures that students comprehend – students will be able to make meaning of the language and in fact, acquire. Which is how and why Acquisition Driven Instruction works so well. Our goal as language educators is to fill our student’s minds with lots of useful language, so they can USE the language in the future in their presentational and interpersonal communication. This is also why I believe WE (the people who use languages) keep the languages alive- and languages do in fact change and evolve over time, thanks to all of us!

As Generative AI begins to take over how we “do” our day to day tasks – let me attend that meeting but have my AI assistant take notes, let me figure out what is for dinner tonight or let me write that important letter of recommendation – it also makes sense to look at how this incredible technology can assist language teachers with designing resources and activities with comprehensible input at the heart of the design. And, in addition to a CI lens, can we also harness the power of Generative AI to focus on true intercultural aspects of the target language (products, perspectives & practices) AND design lessons that meet ALL of our student’s needs? My friends – the answer is YES!

Let’s begin with THE PROMPT!

The most important part of using any Generative AI tool is how descriptive you are with writing your prompt. Chat GPT is continuing to learn YOU and understand who you ARE – and as a result, you must specify with your language, level, proficiency target(s), students (general information*), content, delivery of content and potential modifications in mind.

I’ve designed the below guide to assist language teachers create a well designed prompt, with the intentionality of having the “export” align with your expectations. I’ve also created a collaborative prompt library for language educators, which is one of the many perks in joining the AI Tools for Language Educators Institute community. When designing your prompt, consider all of the different important elements that you would like to include. A simple rule of thumb is understanding the better the prompt provided, the better the output. Chat GPT or other LLMs of preference can truly serve as your thought partner, brainstorming buddy, content creator or my favorite role- your new personal assistant. Consider the possibilities!

AI @team_lologramos

So, how do we merge the world of AI with CI?

It all goes back to your well designed prompt! By specifying the type of language instruction model you are using, reference using cognates in your language (hopefully they exist!), frequently used words from the target language and specific targeted vocabulary (not sheltering grammar & treating expressions as vocabulary words) – the content created by Generative AI will align to your ADI expectations. And don’t forget to lead with culture in your CI lessons!

Plug the following prompt into your LLM and see what it can do!

Be sure to change the language and/or information that is underlined to make the prompt specific to you and your language class.

You are an acquisition driven instruction teacher of Spanish, which means you focus on delivering comprehensible input and making language easy to understand and comprehend for beginning language learners. You teach a group of 7th grade students in a suburban middle school and they are currently discussing their school schedules and day to day activities using Novice Mid or A1 language. Can you write a paragraph (no more than 150 words each) in Spanish in comparing and contrasting a typical school day in Spain with a typical school day in the United States. Include information about schedules, subjects, and extracurricular activities. Repeat and reuse the following vocabulary expressions at least three times in this paragraph: tiene, empieza, termina, es aburrido, es interesante. In addition to cognates and the vocabulary provided, use ONLY the most frequently used vocabulary in the Spanish language. You can reference this website for the top 100 frequently used words in Spanish to assist you with your development of this reading passage: https://spanishforyourjob.com/commonwords/, use cognates frequently. For this paragraph, create at least five follow up comprehension questions based on this paragraph in Spanish and one open-ended prompt for beginning level language learners to respond. Create a simple table with a typical school schedule with start/end times using military time and specific classes at each time in both countries, in Spanish. And design a simple dialogue between a teenager from Spain and a teenager from U.S.A. discussing the key information from the paragraph about their school days.

Tools to use AI

I used Gemini (Google’s LLM) and it provided the following Google Doc ( *asked if I could export the schedule/table into a Google spreadsheet as well). The fascinating part is that designing this initial resource for me took a matter of seconds. And of course, I can look at this “School Life” reading as an initial draft and go in to make modifications to further customize it, understanding that my students should comprehend at least 90% of this reading. I can also have the LLM create “tiered” versions of this text, further simplifying it or making it a bit more challenging, to allow for students to read the text at their individual reading level. And – to take this reading passage and use an AI tool to design a slideshow export – head over to Diffit.me and copy/paste your text into the third section labeled “Any text or excerpt” and let the magic happen! Diffit.me can also export into Google Docs, Google Forms, pptx or PDF files.

Another great way to merge the world of AI with CI is with chatbot design and providing a low-stakes environment for interpersonal practice! I had previously blogged about using chatbots in the language classroom as conversational partners. Remember, your chatbot can be ANYONE! So who would you like your students to chat with? Someone famous? An artist? A musician? An athlete? And the same goes with WHAT your students are chatting about with their chatbots – you can ask your chatbot to target specific vocabulary and adhere to the provided conversational rules. Similarly to those reading passages, you have to set the specific parameters with language use and level to ensure that the chatbot adheres to your expectations and truly becomes a great language practice partner for your students!

One more tip considering how a CI-focused teacher can leverage the power of AI tools – Generative AI can also design images, change backgrounds and create videos for you! So, if you have a fun story that you were never really able to locate the right pictures to match the storyline – check out Canva, Magic Design and see what image(s) or video can be generated for you. Here are some neat images that I generated this afternoon while working with a fantastic group of language teachers!

Canva also now has Dall-E (OpenAI’s Image Generator) and as teachers, we receive premium access to this incredible platform. Canva has so many neat capabilities, I continue to enjoy exploring and experimenting- check out their “AI-powered” apps!

Looking to dive in deeper with AI?

Here is where I would love to continue to help support your journey as a language teacher! I have designed an asynchronous course as mentioned before: The AI Tools Institute for Language Classrooms (with monthly support built in*), host free-virtual meetings often for the Team Lo Logramos FB community, and will present a two-part webinar series in May with the incredible Joe Dale (@joedale) ! Please also do follow @team_lologramos to stay connected!

I hope this post has given you some great ideas on how to leverage Generative AI with a CI focus in the future

LoLogramos – Get a $5 off discount when you use the code LTL5 at checkout, exceptions may apply

Chatbots in Your Classrooms

Posted on by Vicky Masson

by Noemí Rodríguez (LTL Contributor)

After several months of highlighting different Generative AI Tools for the language classroom, the most exciting has been using conversational chatbots. The idea that students can practice their language skills in a low-stakes, non-judgmental way, available at any time and personalized to fit their language level is quite revolutionary. AI has the power to enhance our students’ language learning experience and also provide limitless opportunities to practice speaking in the target language.

As with any AI tool, educators must design prompts that are specific to the task and adhere to the intended learning outcome. Within your prompt design, it is important to share who the chatbot IS, the language students are learning, language proficiency targets and specific key phrases/vocabulary you would like the chatbot to use. You can also set up your chat bot to be engaging, kind, funny, creative, etc. For example, with your novice learners, tell the chatbot to limit the questions and responses to a certain number of words for a student who is learning another language, repeat & recycle high frequency vocabulary and be supportive & helpful in the replies provided.

In what ways can our students practice their language learning? Here are a few scenarios, prompts and a Chatbot Choice Board for you to copy and share with your language colleagues (or students!).

Chatbot Uses & Sample Prompts

Language Tutor – Consider designing a tutor for your students to practice their conversational skills or be provided with direct feedback given your language class, level and current unit of study.

Sample Prompt – You are a friendly Spanish tutor, ‘Srta Bot’. Engage the student in a simple dialogue in Spanish and discuss what the student is like, characteristics about themselves, family members, basic greetings, foods, preferences in activities, clothing items and weather conditions. Limit your questions and responses to simplistic, no more than 30 words. Repeat and recycle frequently used vocabulary in Spanish. Be funny and engaging. 

Role Play – A chatbot can be anyone….no, really….ANYONE! Who would your students like to speak in the target language with? Anyone from the past, present or even future can “come to life” as an interactive chatbot. Or how about a particular professional to interact with like a nutritionist, an astronaut or a climate change activist? You can also transform your chatbots into animals – imagine what your dog may say to you if they could?

Sample Prompt – You are Greta Thunberg, climate activist, engaging in a discussion about the Amazon rainforest’s climate crisis with a novice French learner / student. Use simple sentences and questions to discuss the climate change effects on the rainforest and its inhabitants. Repeat and recycle cognates from the Spanish language related to the Amazon rainforest such as desforestation, climate change, animals.

Debate Partner – Having students engage in a lively discussion about a topic that is relevant to your unit of study can be exciting and the chatbot can point out some important points that students may have not considered before!

Sample Prompt – You are engaged in a debate about education. You will play the part of a debater who supports the opinion: not everyone should have access to public education. The student, who is learning Spanish, will play the part of a debater who supports the opposite opinion: everyone should have access to education regardless of age or gender. State your opinion and ask simple follow up questions, limit your questions and answers to an A2 or Novice High proficiency level.

Design A Story! – Students can work one on one with a chatbot to come up with a story together! A creative way for language learners to design a story about any topic of study, create an engaging story for an intended audience and consider questions as well – to design their own adventure within a story!

Sample Prompt – You are co-writing a narrative story with a student who is learning the Spanish language and has an A1 or Novice Mid proficiency level. The story involves three to four characters, a plot, conflict, rising and falling action and a conclusion that resolves the conflict. Be creative and original in storytelling. Provide helpful feedback to help correct grammar and/or spelling mistakes.

Assessment Prep/AP Lang Practice – Before an upcoming performance assessment, design a chatbot to serve as a conversational buddy to review essential questions and unit performance objectives.

Sample Prompt – You are a teacher of Spanish who is assisting a student practice their language skills before an upcoming integrated performance assessment. You review the following essential questions by engaging in a dialogue to help the student practice respond and share their thoughts about: What makes up a balanced lifestyle? How do you define wellness in your community? What routines, habits and foods contribute to healthy living? Be sure to keep the conversation all about a balanced lifestyle and how we maintain wellness in our daily lives. Repeat and recycle key vocabulary that involve cognates from the Spanish language. Be supportive and provide feedback related to the student’s use of grammar and spelling when appropriate.

With these different chatbot uses in mind, there are two current platforms that I have used which allow language teachers to generate these bots for students and they do not require any identifiable personal information from the student, such as emails or full names. The student is an anonymous participant but perhaps uses their initials only or an assigned numerical code, so the teacher can later review the conversation on their end once completed.

Chatbot Design Platforms & Resources

Mizou – It allows teachers to design their own chatbots, search within a community of available chatbots, set their own to “public” or “private” and students are provided with a link to access the session, once the teacher has made it “live”. You can view tutorials on their site.

SchoolAI – This AI tool has MANY capabilities, as they are considered an “all-in-one” platform for educators. The site has “spaces” available for teachers to set up for students to practice their language skills.

*For both of the above tools and many others, I have created and shared simple five minute or less tutorial videos on the Lo Logramos Youtube Channel, be sure to subscribe to stay connected to future AI Tools tutorial videos for language educators & language instruction!

*To learn more about how to transform your language classroom with AI, you can check out my newly launched asynchronous course: The AI Tools Institute for Language Classrooms to assist language teachers of any language! A seven session journey with guiding slideshows, resources, guides, helpful reflective questions and many videos, all in one space!

Chatbot Choice Board

To receive your own copy of the handy Chatbot Choice Board, please head over to the private Team Lo Logramos Facebook Community. There you will be able to request to join our community and later, access the Chatbot Choice Board for use in your language department or with your language students!

Thank you for reading! I hope that you keep experimenting, sharing and learning about how Generative AI can help transform your language classroom and your students’ language learning experience! I do hope we stay connected and feel free to reach out with any questions, wonderings or comments! @team_lologramos

LoLogramos – Get a $5 off discount when you use the code LTL5 at checkout, exceptions may apply

VideoAsk: Get Almost Face-to-Face Interpersonal Speaking with Video

Posted on by Vicky Masson

by Vicky Masson

“EdTech” is a column of Language Teaching Lab where we highlight the use of educational technology in the world language class

What is VideoAsk?

VideoAsk allows you to build stronger relationships with students by getting a personal almost face-to-face response from them. A wonderful way of capturing all your students’ thoughts and ideas at once, in video! Start video asking with your students right away. 

Why is it essential for language teaching and learning?

The VideoAsk widget lets you get a personal almost face-to-face response from students on day one and keep on building it. With VideoAsk you welcome students every day, every week, or every semester. It allows you to start an authentic dialogue with each student and add a more personal touch to any assignment. It engages your students with its welcoming and easy to use interface. Students get to know YOU better as well. 

Best of all, students do not need an account to answer your questions or give you feedback. In one click, they respond to your video and you get their answers by video, audio, or in writing. You decide. As an added value, you can organize the answers in different folders, name the folder and the video response and much more.

VideoAsk

How could VideoAsk be used in a language class?

There are many ways that you can use VideoAsk in a language class. The following are some ideas to get you started.

  • Respond to questions and ask questions, building connections from day one, even before your course starts
  • Use interactive video to communicate with your students in a personalized way. It’s almost like you’re face-to-face
  • Record your questions and share them with students so that they receive them on their own devices.
  • Evaluate students’ responses and track their progress.
  • Customize to only accept video, audio or text as an answer to your questions. You can also add a multiple choice option
  • Embed your VideoAsk on any web page and bring more life to your assignments
  • Connect VideoAsk to many apps you are already using 
  • Use VideoAsk in your own language with Multi-language support
  • Download your students’ videos and have them include them in their portfolios
  • Choose which steps go to which student. VideoAsk allows branching
  • Show students different follow-up videos based on their answers
  • Reply to your students from the VideoAsk inbox
  • Personalize instruction! Convert into text all video/audio recordings to find key points

If you want to have an almost face-to-face interpersonal speaking with your students, try VideoAsk. Connect, build relationships and trust!

Challenges of Teaching in a Pandemic Solved with Kami

Posted on by Vicky Masson

by Marcela Velikovsky

“EdTech” is a column of Language Teaching Lab where we highlight the use of educational technology in the world language class

To say that teaching with COVID-19 in 2020 was challenging is an understatement!

Whether you had to teach 100% virtually or a hybrid combination of online and in person, the challenge in the world language classes was how to address all modes of communication fairly equally. The Google Meet breakout rooms were okay, but I couldn’t get the whole conversation if I wanted to listen to all my students. Sometimes they would see me join the breakout room and become nervous so I felt I was disrupting their conversation.  I wasn’t sure how to get my students to do interpersonal speaking in real time, listen to them, give them feedback, and assess them without spending all my waking hours on the computer. I was becoming crazy with all the different tabs I needed open on my laptop in order to plan and teach my lesson.

One day, my prayers were answered. The Director of Innovation and Educational Technology at my school introduced us to Kami. My challenges were solved with Kami.

https://www.kamiapp.com/

What is Kami?

Kami is a digital classroom tool that helps teachers create flexible and collaborative learning environments. I just couldn’t believe my eyes when I tried it and discovered all I could accomplish with only one tool! It was amazing! Kami Interacts with any documents; it creates, sends, and grades assignments all from one place, it works online or offline, and enables students to interact with teachers, resources, and each other by using text, freehand, audio, voice-typing, or video.

https://www.kamiapp.com/

I’m including their video so you can learn a bit more about it.

How I Use Kami

For Interpersonal Speaking Assessments

First, I would create a document with the directions and prompts to assess interpersonal speaking and give it to the student-partners. One of the partners made a copy and shared it with his classmate so they could work together while maintaining the safe 6-feet-apart distance if both were at school and also if one partner was at school and the other was at home. Taking turns, they would use the voice feature to record themselves and complete the conversation. They shared it with me and I would give them feedback inserting an image of the rubric and using either the voice or text message to focus on their strengths and areas for growth.

Interpersonal Speaking Rubric

For Reading Aloud

I also use Kami as a practice tool for reading aloud. I can open any PDF text with Kami and I record my own reading aloud to model and then have students read aloud while they record themselves. This way I can see how they decode the text and what sounds give them the most trouble. In my feedback, I can share some strategies on how to articulate and connect sounds so the listener can understand what they say.

For Interpretive Reading and Annotation

When we read novellas in class, I use a digital copy of the chapter to project on my screen. This way, students can see when I highlight, underline and write as we read along so they do it in their own text. The writing tool allows me to write new vocabulary, but also to verbalize our thinking as we read and make connections to the text. Students write annotations in sticky notes that add to the pages in their book. This is an example of Brandon Brown quiere un perro, by Carol Gaab:

For Presentational and Collaborative Writing

I can open my students’ projects and see who wrote what and when. This helps me know exactly how I can better support them depending on their needs. I can also make a copy for each partner so each student receives individual feedback.

Why I like Kami

Being a language teacher, I design lessons that include all modes of communication, so having such a versatile tool that allows me to interact and use what I already have in one platform is my dream come true! In addition, I always have lots of feedback for my students and time does not allow me to conference with them in person as I’d like. So another perk of this fantastic tool is that it allows me to give them feedback right away and directly on the assignment that they virtually hand-in. I can underline or circle things in their writing at the same time I record or write my explanation.

This is an example of how I used Kami with my novice students

And you? How have you used Kami? If you haven’t used it yet, are you ready to try?

Credits and Resources

-https://www.kamiapp.com/

–Brandon Brown quiere un perro by Carol Gaab

Wonder.me in a World Language Class

Posted on by Vicky Masson

“EdTech” is a column of Language Teaching Lab where we highlight the use of educational technology in the world language class

by Vicky Masson

Wonder.me is the next Zoom/Teams?

I had the opportunity to attend the #HPTeachingFellow Summer Convening where I experienced Wonder.me first hand. I loved how I could easily navigate this site, forever changing the way I saw online meetings. I am looking forward to using Wonder.me in my language classes.

What is Wonder.me?

Wonder.me is a platform to connect with other people. This connection can take the form of virtual networking, virtual gatherings, and virtual spaces.This platform is simple to navigate and it gives you the freedom to move from one space to another by moving your avatar to another area or circle. Does it sound complicated? Watch this short video to see how Wonder.me works and what it looks like

Wonder.me Introduction

How does it differ from Zoom/Teams?

Zoom and Teams are great and they have their own purpose. I have used both of them when teaching, and depending on what I am planning to do I would choose one or the other.  My premise is to choose the best edtech tool for my students to thrive, and Wonder.me gives me another option to connect my students among themselves and to the world.

What do you need to do?

To use Wonder.me in a language class, you need to create an account with Wonder.me, which is free, and you need to become a host – you can also have co-hosts. That way you can invite guests to join your students and you to Wonder.me.

As a host, you set up different areas, decide the content for each area, and plan how students will interact. You decide how much autonomy you want to give your students and you also have the option of talking to all the groups/circles/areas by making announcements when needed. You can decide what background to choose depending on the unit of study. As a host you can include a question that everybody has to answer to join your Wonder.me space and much more!

This 5 minute video gives you an idea of what a host can do and how it is done.

When can Wonder.me be used in language teaching and learning?

Wonder.me’s mission, “to give the world a space where groups can meet and talk” goes hand in hand with the nature of a language class: to have students think in another language and communicate their ideas orally and in writing with others –the chat feature works great for this. 

As you can see, there are many possibilities to be explored in a language class using Wonder.me. Here are two examples of how I would use Wonder.me in a language class:

Book circles:

This applies when reading books in your own class or with a classroom partner 

  • When reading the same novel, have students choose or assign students to join different circles for each character in a book
  • When reading different books, each circle hosts students that are reading the same book

Collaboration Spaces:

This applies to groups in your own class or with groups between your class and a classroom partner. Students navigate to a circle in order to…

  • discuss topics
  • solve a problem 
  • provide definitions of their own
  • create a story
  • analyze an image using a PZ Thinking Routine
  • investigate and research 
  • prepare for an interview
  • Interview other students

One of the features that I like the most about Wonder.me is that you can see where every student is at any given time. That, to me, is precious!.

Do you have a favorite edtech tool to use in your language classes?