The following five tools I have been using and looking into are:
YouTube – I have personally been using YouTube for years,
but have not really incorporated it into lessons except for sharing the
occasional video. What I plan on the doing in the future is having my upper
level students subscribe to various German channels. I especially want to have
them access Deutsche Welle (a German news channel that posts several videos a
day). I would like to have the students get into the habit of choosing one
video post a week to blog about. The videos not only give them practice in
hearing the TL, but it also keeps them up to date on what is going in Germany
and also within Europe.
Blogs – Blogger – I learned about Blogger from taking this
class and am very glad that I did. I plan on making all of my students next
year create a blog at the beginning of the year that they will maintain
throughout the year. The blog will serve as a place to post all writing
assignments and also will serve as a digital portfolio of their work. It will
allow them to see how much their writing abilities improve over the course of
the year. It also helps to eliminate paper in the classroom and the need for me
to worry about having students turn in work. They can simply email me a link to
their posts. It is also an awesome way to share their work easily with the class.
Google Hangouts – I got to experience Google Hangouts via
our videoconference in the course. I was blown away with the ease of this
program. I have already started using it for purposes outside of school. I
would like to try to implement the use of Google Hangouts for speaking and
review opportunities. I could foresee a set of prompts that students would
prepare for ahead of time and then join the hangout to actually discuss the
topic with me there to oversee it. I love the ability to hold actual chat
windows as well as audio and video feeds. I also see the power of this program
with students who are out for extended time due to illness or medical issues. I
could also use this with potential homebound students that I might have in the
future. *** I plan to use this with my AP European History students in the
future as a way of reviewing outside of the class for the AP Exam.
Voki – I learned about Voki via our videoconference and a
post on Twitter. It really seems like a neat free tool that the students would
enjoy using. Giving students the freedom to create their own persona/character
adds so much ownership to the students. I envision using this with my lower
level students. They could create a Voki to introduce themselves and talk about
their likes and interests in the TL. I could envision sharing some of the Vokis
with the class. They could create and record their Vokis on their own at home
without worrying about classmates hearing them record the vocal parts. This is
helpful for students who are shy or reluctant to speak in class.
Weebly – I learned of Weebly through a Twitter post. Weebly
is a free website that allows students to create quick and easy websites for
presentation purposes. I found the program to be very user friendly, clean, and
easy to navigate. My German 3 students do a unit on the German Federal States.
I could see each student creating a Weebly for the state that they are
assigned. Weebly allows them to embed photos and videos. This allows the
students to find TL material to help in describing the state that they are
presenting on. It also gives them a clean and easy way to present and share
their information with the class. I already did a quick test run with the
program with a few of my National History Day students. They enjoyed using and
it really helped them produce first-rate presentations.
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