Isn't Javier guapo!

I really want to incoorporate some sort of blogging into my classroom curriculum. Here's my latest idea. I think I could have a similar set-up to Dawn's where students can visit other students blogs and makde comments, but I would keep it closed so that they weren't visible to the outside world. It would be a Finding Real Spanish blog. They would post on ways that they've used or seen Spanish in the real world.

Today they would all be saying, Did you watch the Oscars? Did you see Javier's speech where he accepted the Oscar for his mom--- IN SPANISH? And wasn't he cute...

RSS Feed, Ohhhhhh

I was reading the Richardson book, and just happened to come across the line that encouraged teachers to have students blog- and then use an RSS feed to monitor their work. Wow! I only have the slightest of clues as to what that really means, but I am smart enough to know that it answers one of my previous posts. How do you monitor all of those posts? Brilliant!

Oh, and why not do an Electronic Portfolio blog style? You can attach pictures and slide shows...
I wonder if anyone has ever experimented???

PB Wiki

This week I'm thinking about PB Wikis and Electronic Portfolios. I have spent the last semester working with my AP Spanish students to set up Portfolios of some of their work. I have used Power Point which works pretty well, especially with the ability to link and create a hypermedia display.

But now I'm wondering about PB Wiki. The main limit of Power Point that would be remedied with Wiki is access. Students could very easily access their sites from home. With Power Point, they can only see their portfolios when we go to the lab together. Could they post homework on their wiki? Would they put pictures on it? Would they be more excited about blogging if it was linked from their wiki?

Definitely something to think about...

90 minutes every other day

Today I'm thinking about time... the time it takes for me to get to the computer and blog.
Maybe the little hurdle that I'm experiencing to get to this step isn't something the digital native would experience... but time is an issue.

I have 90 minutes of classtime. The amount of time it would take to get everyone blogging is an investment. And I'm not sure that I have that kind of time to invest.

If only... everyone had a computer to blog from... if only the blog experience was in the target language...if only it were faster...

I am wondering if making the blog format optional would work. Students could either turn their reflections in through a hard copy diary format or turn in the link to their blog.

I'm scared!

I didn't want to start the blog out on a negative note, but I am scared to start this project. I know that I do not have time to monitor all content and I'm afraid that something inappropriate would appear and that I would miss it! Right now there is a Facebook Page attributed to me that I have yet to see. Apparently a couple of my AP students have created me and there are numerous comments. It is all in Spanish and I understand that it is harmless, but..

I guess what must happen is a more controlled blog. I experimented last semester with a ParaBLOG where students post paragraphs (the learning process) but I didn't like it and I see that I realy doesn't qualify as blogging! I used 21classes which is pretty good (for free stuff)!

Right now I am thinking about have them Think About their Thinking in Spanish. That might help control content, but it probably won't inspire anyone to look at anyone else's blog.
Again, not really taking advantage of its potential.

Guess I will have to keep thinking about it...

Let's Get the Blog Rolling!

I have to say that blogging in the Foreign Language Classroom has awesome potential. Remember, that to create learning the first requirement is simply use the target language. Create the blog in Spanish = LEARNING. I love the idea of letting them blog about life in general or life at Briar Woods. It would be such a good learning experience for them.