funny video

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Mini Project Tres Video

This video activity would be used in a second year high school Spanish class during a 50 minute block. It would be included in a unit where the students are studying daily routines which include reflexive verbs, which would have been introduced during the previous class period. The main goals of this activity are for the students to be able to interpret meaning in the video, be able to recognize the reflexive verbs, and be able to determine the appropriate uses of reflexive verbs. Also, the students will be able to compare the daily routines seen on the video with their own through communication in Spanish.

Activity – Reflexive verb video
(All to be completed in the target language)
· Prior to viewing: Students will be asked the questions “What is a reflexive verb?” “When do we use reflexive verbs?” and will be asked to jot down some examples of reflexive verbs. (5 min.)
· While viewing: Students will be instructed to jot down any and all reflexive verbs that they hear in the video. Video will be shown two times. (10 min.)
· After viewing: Students will write about the daily routine of the person in the video. They will then get in to pairs and discuss how their own daily routines are similar and different from the person and the video and from each other. (15 min.)
· Students will then individually create a story line including illustrations which will depict their own daily routines. Students must use a minimum of 5 different reflexive verbs. (20 min.)

Assessment:
--Active participation in class discussion/interpersonal task: 40%
--Completion of daily routine story line: 60%
- minimum of 5 different reflexive verbs: 25%
- grammatical accuracy: 25%
- original illustrations: 10%

My very first podcast

Mini Project Dos

Here is my Mini Project Two

My Thoughts on Intercultural Communication

This week we read about and chatted about intercultural communication in the classroom. I personally think that foreign language learners should be exposed to the culture that they are studying as much as possible. Through communication with native speakers of the language that they are studying they can also learn about cultural aspects that go along with that language at the same time. It would be interesting for language learners to ask the native speakers questions about their native culture. Through a asynchronic communication such as discussion board or email students can communicate with eachother about cultural issues that are in the news or they can discuss stereotypes that surround their own cultures and the culture of the language that they are studying.
I think that I would like to have some sort of intercultural communication in my classroom. I would like to set up my students that are Spanish learners with local students that are Spanish speakers and are ESL students. I think that through communication the students can learn about eachother's cultures while practicing the language at the same time.
To me intercultural communication is a "win-win" communication over all!

My video

Obama Video

Mini Project Uno

This is my first mini project. This project is about CMC in the foreign language classroom!!

CMC in the Classroom

Last class we dicussed the different types of CMC in the Foreign language classroom and the pros and cons of such tools in relation to SLA. I think that asynchronous tools such as emails/blogs/discussion boards can be great for students when learning a foreign language. It would be great to set up the students with either native speakers of the target language or with other students that are learning the language as well. I think it would be interesting and benificial for the students to read news articles in the target language and through email/blog/discussion postings they could dicuss the article with their partner that they have been assigned. Through this exchange the students would have the opportunity to not only practice their writing skills in the language but would also have a chance to discuss cultural viewpoints. It would be especially interesting to compare the cultural interpretations of the students that are learning the language with the students that are native to the language and culture. A pro for this type of activity would be that students have a chance to think about what they want to write before they write it and maybe less nervous as they might be if they were having a synchronous discussion through a CMC tool such as AIM or through video/webcam discussions.

What shall I research?

I have been thinking about what I would like to do for my final project. At this point I think that I would like to do research on pronunciation and linguisitcs. I would like to have students record themselves on Audiacity at the beginning of the semester and then through the semester they would learn about pronuniciation and linguistics of Spanish. As they learn about pronunciation they will create podcasts that will allow them to showcase their progress and will help them to practice their skills. At the end of the semester they will record themselves another time and we will check to see the differences in their pronunciation compared to their original recording and that of a native speaker. As an undergraduate and as a graduate student I took various classes on pronunciation and linguistics of Spanish and I found that through learning about pronunciation and linguistics my own pronunciation improved. However, I did not have many chances to practice what I had learned orally. So my questions would be...
1) Through learning about the linguistics and pronunciation of Spanish will the actual oral presentation improve?
2)Through practice of pronunciation will their pronunciation become closer to that of a native speaker?
These are just some rough ideas but I think that this is the direction that I would like to pursue.

Trying to Keep up!

Well I have been sick on and off for the past two weeks so I am trying to keep up with the technology stuff but its hard to do. Today I would like to talk about the over use of technology in the classroom. Last week I was observed by my supervisor as I taught a Spanish 1 class about descriptive adjetives and verbs. At the beginning of class as a very very very short activity (I wouldnt really even call it an activity) I held up three different photos of people that I had cut out from some magazines and I walked around the room and asked various students in Spanish "What is she wearing?" "What do they look like" "Who is tall?" ect... The students answered me in Spanish and we moved on. This little "activity" lasted about 3 minutes and it served its purpose which was to get the students thinking and talking. After the class I met with my supervisor and he critized me strongly for holding the photos in my hand and not displaying the photos on the Smart Board. I could understand why putting the photos on the Smart Board would be good for a different and longer activity but for a simple get started activity I feel that the photos in my hands is just fine. Also, I was trying to make it more personal for the students by walking up to their desks with the photos and asking them one by one about the pictures. I feel that technology should be used as much as possible but is it so bad when it is not used all the time???

Powerpoint on American Culture

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My Internet Use

I recorded the times I used the internet during the past week and I found that I do not use the internet as much as I thought I did. Also, I mainly used the internet to check my email, facebook, the weather, and to read celebrity gossip. :)
Monday:
(after class)
9:15pm-9:30pm
Checked email
deleted 54 emails from FL Teach Listserv
read 3 FL Teach emails
read 1 email from sister
responded to email from sister
9:30pm-9:52pm
read celebrity gossip on Perezhilton.com and TMZ.com

Tuesday:
3:55pm-4:07pm
Checked email
deleted 32 emails from FL Teach
read 4 FL teach emails
wrote 1 email to cousin
9pm
Checked local and Chicago's weather forcast for the weekend's trip to Chicago on weather.com
9:05pm-9:10pm
Checked Facebook
9:21pm-9:40pm
Read celebrity gossip on Perezhilton.com

Wednesday:
9am-9:06am
Checked email
deleted 26 emails from FL Teach
read 6 emails from FL Teach
9:10-9:40am
Read news on Yahoo.com and CNN.com
4:50pm-5:20pm
Read celebrity gossip on TMZ.com and Perezhilton.com

Thursday:
9am-9:10 am
Checked Chicago's forcast
9:15 am-9:21am
checked email
read 4 FL Teach emails
wrote 1 email to sister
9:30-9:40am
read news on Yahoo.com
8:07-815pm
checked facebook
8:15pm
Checked Chicago's weather forcast on weather.com
9pm
Printed e-ticket from Usairways.com

Friday:
9am
Checked email
deleted 72 emails from FL Teach
read one email from friend

My Friends and Me

My First Blog Experience

This is my first official blog posting. This feels very strange to be creating a blog but I guess I will get used to it. I will share a little about my self... My name is Maggie and I am a graduate student at the University of South Carolina. I am studying Spanish and Secondary Education and I am currently teaching high school Spanish at Blythewood High School. I have two cats that are like my children and their names are Mia and Stella.