Curating Online Conversations: Your Students' Works of Art

Many already know the educational benefits that podcasting offers within the classroom as well as how they can be used to aid professional development. There are so many podcast sites out there that offer videos as often as every week on specific themes and topics.  One such podcast that I found that I feel will be be beneficial for my future ESL teaching is How to Curate and Foster Online Conversations.  This podcast talks about the importance of finding a way to not only engage learners in online conversations for learning purposes within the classroom, but also how teachers can archive and save these conversations to return to at a later date and to just re-visit for learning purposes.  This podcast is beneficial for me as a future teacher because I never really thought of the dilemma of starting/initiating an online conversation with my students on a particular topic, but not having enough time to complete the topic/conversation.  Also, how do I make that conversation readily available to my students to finish at a later date as well as for students who would like to revisit it for personal learning purposes?  Though this podcast does not come up with a definite solution on how this can be done, it does pose many options as well as offers a colorful conversation on the importance of fostering online conversations so students can get all there is to offer out of such a learning tool.  One important point that is brought up during this podcast is that online conversations with students on certain topics may continue for a long time, and is it fair/appropriate to cut the conversation off for time purposes and leave it at that, or how can the teacher save or "curate" that conversation so the students can continue it at a later date?  I thought this to be a beneficial video that really made me think about the online learning component of teaching and how I can make it a better learning experience for my students.

From Pen Pals To Epals!

Project based learning, specifically the Project Approach is one of the prime teaching strategies of the 21st century.  Learning through projects creates a collaborative classroom community that allows students to engage in active learning as well as participate in creating something unique and meaningful with their peers. There are many educational organizations that give classrooms the opportunity to collaborate with other classrooms and students around the world.  One particular site that I have explored is epals, a global classroom that give teachers access to educational tools and the opportunity to connect with classrooms all over the world to engage in collaborative project based learning.  One tool that this site offers teachers is a wiki.  "A wiki is an [online] place where students work collaboratively with other students, adding and editing subject related content."  An example of a project approved by epals that uses a wiki is Collaborative Detective Story--A Community Inspired Project.  This project was initiated by a class in Pakistan who wanted to collaborate with another class from any where in the world to write a detective story.  This is a year long project and it begins with the students from their respective classrooms getting to know each other through a questionnaire and emails posted on a specific wiki.  Once the students get to know each other then one of the classrooms, preferably the one who is learning the language of the other students ( for example English) will write an opening paragraph for the story.  The other class will then proof read and edit the paragraph and then brain storm ideas for the next paragraph.  The process will continue until the story ends.  A wiki is a great tool to use for any classroom because it allows students to communicate on group projects outside of class.  Another project featured on this site is a Level 2 French class in Missouri looking to collaborate with a
classroom in France in order to complete a comparison of a high school in America with one in France.  The completion of the project will involve the students in America creating a video showing the different parts of their high school.  This site also offers a media gallery which gives teachers a place to upload digital files such as word processing files, pictures, power points etc.  This is a great tool to use as an archive of students' work that was completed throughout the year.  This site is amazing and allows for so many learning and teaching opportunities, specifically the opportunity to learn with and from other classrooms all over the world!

Unlock The Story Inside, Unlock The English Inside Yourself

There is no doubt of the effectiveness of internet storytelling tools to facilitate learning in the ESL classroom.  One such site that provides a great way to teach students English is storybird.  This tool is not just helpful for learning the English language but it also gives students practice with creative writing and the components of writing such as sequencing of events, writing/reading for meaning and using the correct story format of beginning, middle and end.  A unique feature about this site is that it provides pictures so all the author has to do is add text; as the site states "Storybird reverses visual storytelling by starting with the image and unlocking the story inside."  This is great for beginning learners of English because it helps guide their story and thinking of ideas and story lines.  This site provides free sign up and use and is really easy to learn how to use.  This is a link to an adventure story I created, The Land of Crystaline.  I hope you enjoy and have as much fun as I did exploring this site!

Thirty Second Stories in the ESL Classroom

In my previous blog I talked about the benefits of using digital storytelling in the ESL classroom and I talked about one site in particular that I have used called zooburst.com.  In this blog I would like to talk about a new digital storytelling site that I have explored called animoto.  This storytelling tool is a great tool to use in the ESL classroom for many reasons as it allows the creator to insert photos, videos, text and music.  It is also very easy to use and to navigate around the site and it gives very clear instructions on how to create stories. This site also allows for free 30 second stories which makes this tool great to use as assignments for students to make their own stories or as mini lessons on particular topics or to supplement in-class lessons.  When I was thinking of a topic to use for my free story that could benefit my ESL students, I remembered an issue we discussed in my LAI culture class about how it is very common for ESL students in immersion classrooms to not be familiar with specific culture references that may be incorporated into daily lessons.  The one instance in particular that I am referring to is from a transcript we were analyzing about how the topic of popular television shows became a part of a current events discussion in an immersion biology class.  The ESL students in the course were unable to participate in the discussion because they were not familiar with the shows being referenced such as The Simpsons, therefor they felt outcasted and inferior.  Our challenge was to try and come up with ways to inform

these students about these culture references.  I felt that animoto is a great way to introduce English culture topics to students so I created a short video exemplifying how this tool can be used for such a purpose:  An Introduction to American Pop Culture.  Not only was I able to insert pictures of popular American singers and actors but I was able to include popular songs that students would be listening to and talking about.  This would even be a great tool to just use to create these mini stories in order to help ESL students become familiar with topics such as American pop culture so they do not feel left out in class and become discouraged from participating. I really like this tool and I feel I will get a lot of use out of it within my classroom. 

It's Your Story Tell It Your Way!

I never would have thought that using digital storytelling within the ESL classroom could help facilitate

learning for my students until I explored its history, uses, and one particular digital storytelling site.  As a matter of fact, I was not aware of this educational practice until only recently; to be exact my first semester at the University at Buffalo about five months ago.  So for anybody who is new to this practice, like me, and is interested in exploring its educational benefits some more you can find information through many sites.  One site I enjoyed, The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling, explains clearly what it is, some history and gives a clear definition.  Basically digital storytelling is "combining the art of telling stories with a variety of multimedia, including graphics, audio, video, and web publishing."  There are many ways to use this tool within the classroom to facilitate learning.  Teachers can create their own digital stories and use them to supplement lessons to make them more meaningful and interesting to the students or to present new material; these stories can also be used as a way to enhance a discussion about topics within a story.  Teachers can also use this tool as an assignment and have the students create their own stories.  Of course it would be vital for the teacher to first present this tool to the students and show them how it works and give them some examples.  This is a great tool to use for ESL students because it can help them practice how to write creatively as well as

informative writing; they can create fictional stories as well as non-fiction stories based on historical and/or scientific information for example.  This would also be a fun assignment for the students as they are able to insert pictures, videos and audio depending on the site that is used.  They also have a unique finished product to be very proud of and that is published to the web for their friends and family to view whenever. I have experience using zooburst which is a very fun and easy site to navigate.  I created a "story" for my educational psychology course in which I was instructed to use the information from specific chapters of my text.  My story is Classroom Assessment, grading and Standardized Testing.  One feature about this site that makes it interesting and fun is the images pop out of the book.  This was a very easy tool to learn to use and I feel it will be very beneficial in the ESL classroom to use as assignments for my students and to facilitate learning the English language.  I am glad I was exposed to this classroom practice and learning tool and am exciting to incorporate it in my future classroom.

Mission: Conversational English

My previous post discussed the potentials of using games in the ESL classroom to meet learning objectives; it focused on casual games.  This post is going to discuss the benefits of using serious games, specifically for individual learning outside of the classroom.  The game I chose to use as an example is Mission US; it is a series of interactive games that are based off of various events from United States history.  The game that I have experience playing is Mission 1:  For Crown or Colony?  The premise of this game is a 14 year old boy named Nat Wheeler in 1770 Massachusetts who is forced to go apprentice for a news paper right before the revolutionary war breaks out.  He has various tasks he has to complete through out the game as an apprentice along with making the choice of which side to take during the war.  I would introduce this game to my ESL students as supplemental learning material during a conversational unit. This game incorporates the skills of listening and reading, however I would use it during a conversational unit because the main character (the student) interacts with the surrounding characters through dialogue/conversational format.  The other characters actually respond based on what Nat chooses to say (options appear on the screen).  This type of game is also good for an ESL class because it incorporates American culture into the learning of the language.  My language learning objectives would be:  Students would demonstrate language skills necessary for effective communication:  such as listening comprehension skills and

control of English grammar.  I would encourage my students to play this game in pairs and each practice taking on the roles of the main character and supporting characters and reading the dialogue out loud each turn.  I would assess their ability to communicate effectively in English a couple of ways: First I would ask them to create a role play as an assignment initiating a conversation based on the premise of the game.  Then as an in class assignment I would have them pair up and carry on a conversation taking turns initiating and answering/responding.  This would be a good game to use when first introducing conversational skills in the class, it's a good starting activity to get the students used to the "flow" of English conversations.

A "Walkthrough" of the English Language: A Game Play Approach to Language Learning

ESL teachers are always looking for new and exciting ways to present material to students that will facilitate language learning within the classroom by engaging them in the lesson.  Another major obstacle for teachers is creating fun and meaningful lessons that will entice students to become willing participants in the language learning process; to find games and activities that also provide learning contexts.  Gamification is one such teaching technique that allows for a solution to each of the problems listed above.  The idea behind gamification is the application of game techniques and the use of game thinking in non-game contexts to aid people (students)  in solving problems.  One type of game, casual games, specifically Escape the Room games which is a genre of casual games, is especially useful to facilitate learning in the language classroom.  According to Graham Stanley, Escape the room games are effective teaching tools to use in the language classroom because they provide "good live listening skills" through the use of walkthroughs. I have had experience with one Escape the Room game in particular, Mystery of Time and Space (Motas) which involves the gamer completing various mini tasks in order to complete the larger task of escaping from a particular room.  I played about five levels of this game.  The good thing about this game is it has a lot of levels that increase in difficulty and you do not have to play all the levels in one sitting. After reading an article on this game and playing the game for myself I realized the potential for this game in the language learning classroom.  My language learning objectives for a lesson involving Motas would be: learners would demonstrate an understanding of everyday household vocabulary through the successful completion of the mini tasks involved in this type of game; and students will demonstrate the ability to listen to and follow directions in English by making visible progress in the game as they successfully move from task to task and/or room to room. The mini tasks would be dictated by the teacher which are incorporated in the walkthrough for Motas.  As the teacher, my role would be to mediate the students' comprehension of the purpose of this game through giving them detailed and specific directions on how the game works.  Once I am sure that all of my students have a grasp on the purpose of the game I would then shift my role to guide, as I guide the students through the mini tasks presented in the walkthrough making sure to use appropriate vocabulary and give feedback through clarification of steps when needed. Stanley even suggests that the teacher adapt the walkthrough to meet the specific vocabulary needs of the learners.  The role of the students would then be to listen carefully to the directions being dictated by the teacher and try to complete the puzzle or escape from the room through recollection of the vocabulary and completion of the various mini tasks.  One suggested warm up activity, which I really like, before having the students play the game is to show them still images of some of the rooms and ask them in pairs or as a class as a whole to name objects in the room.  I will be able to tell which students understand the target vocabulary and which students are having trouble with it by who is able to complete the tasks and who is not able to complete the tasks.  Another good way to assess understanding is to give the students a printed copy of the walkthrough and see who is able to escape from the room with little to no help from the teacher.  I honestly never thought that this type of game could be seen as a learning tool until I explored and researched the benefits of it in the classroom.  And I have concluded that this is definitely a teaching tool I will take advantage of in my future ESL classroom.