ESL 509

So this is my final required posting for this course in my blog. My normal tone would be peppy and exciting but right now I can't seem to find the pep. As many have been saying online, "Can we unplug 2020, wait 10 seconds, replug it in and start again?"  https://www.scarce.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/unplug-300x207.jpg Friday afternoon, I stood in my classroom with my kindergarten bunch, and laughed to myself. All that we have learned in this class (remote learning, online applications for language learning, blended models, etc.) could potentially become my current situation within a few hours...A few hours later, Governor Wolf announced that for the next two weeks schools would be closed. However, what that looked like or looks like is TBD in most situations. Article after article has appeared on Facebook, Twitter, Google Alerts, etc. talking about the overnight transition from traditional brick and mortar schooling to the online environment. Discussions have a...

Intrigued? As was I...as my Google Alerts took me off on a new path, a black hole of sort. Language Learning MEETS Nintendo Switch. I typically do not spend much time reading my Google Alerts about Language Learning Games because they are not particularly useful in the realm of technology and ESL; however, this week, I came across this article: Trancelation, a Duolingo-meets-arcade-action game, hits Switch this week If your students are anything like mine, you probably hear a lot about videogaming (more so than you might want or more so than what you might be familiar with...like me who knows very little about the gaming world). I do know though that Nintendo Switch has been quite the popular gaming system and topic of numerous conversations amongst my elementary schoolers over the past few years (especially around the holidays). Keeping this in mind and hearing their conversations play over in my head, I needed to know more. How could a program like Duolingo be converted int...

Blog Humor: I am a robot…(not really but it is a cute phrase my 3 year old likes to say with a robotic voice as she pretends she is a robot. To be honest, I do not know how she came up with the saying? I might have jokingly talked about robots or we may have seen a robot on a show, video or in a book but I am not sure she really knows what a robot is!?).   https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1061/1924/products/Robot_Emoji_Icon_7070a254-26f7-4a54-8131-560e38e34c2e_1024x1024.png?v=1542436000 Children are drawn to robotics, robots and artificial intelligence. The idea that an inanimate object can communicate, interact and move fascinates any age learner. Taking this into consideration, there has been a rise (in my opinion) of the use of robots and other artificial technology in education and why not!? (aside from the cost…)  In my district, our technology coordinator has discussed ways to incorporate AI (Artificial Intelligence) into the classroom and his dream for ...

Blog Post Disclaimer: I have mixed feelings about posting this blog as the article I found in my Google Alerts was an interesting read!  After reading the article discussed below, I decided to search online for supporting materials that could supplement the information provided. I had hoped to find the actual app that is discussed so I could use some screen shots to give readers an example of what the app looked like that is described. However, I found that while this particular article was written February 25, 2020 but other online sources show similar articles to this one dating 2017 (example:  https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/news/view/babbel-and-cambridge-english-set-the-pace-in-online-language-assessment/ ). Nevertheless, I found the concept of the described app to be interesting and an important share. https://d540vms5r2s2d.cloudfront.net/mad/uploads/Learn_english.png Cambridge University and Babble App Come Together for English Test With the rise of ed...

Blogging Problem #2:  Thinking you have formatted your blog correctly when all of a sudden it is a mess! Why am I having trouble formatting my blog posts? Words everywhere they should not be! Colors a mess! Note to self: when teaching students how to blog, don't just teach students how to write in the blog, teach them how to format the blog. Why emojis and #hashtags should be part of language learning https://blog.emojipedia.org/content/images/size/w2000/2019/09/openmoji-emojipedia-2019.jpg Emojiis, hashtags, grammar, OH MY! What do these things have in common? And what do they have to do with language and technology instruction in the second language classroom? When this article appeared in my Updates section of my inbox, I instantly wanted to read more as my curiosity struck and I wondered how the two questionsI posed would be answered. I love seeking language learning apps and finding ways to incorporate the apps into my teaching or ways to share the apps w...