mini-project #2

Here it is!

(if only I was happy with it...)

Writing this philosophy of teaching statement came at a busy time for me, in between working full time and trying to keep up with all 15 hours of classes I'm enrolled in right now. I wish I had more time to dedicate to each class, but for now....I'm doing my best. Even though sometimes, like with this one, I wish that my best could be a little bit better.

Intercultural communication

I think that intercultural communication done right is worth the effort. Done wrong, however, it seems like a waste of valuable time, especially considering the idea that it can reinforce negative stereotypes.

The research we've been looking at from various intercultural collaboration projects shows that the benefits of this type of collaboration can be multifaceted. With so many apparent benefits, it's hard to say that it could be a bad thing...Until one considers the examples of intercultural communication gone wrong.

We looked at several examples of what makes intercultural communication difficult, the tensions that arise from different expectations, time commitments, personal goals and motivation, and personal connections. Specifically, we looked at these from the side of conversations or projects that didn't result in greater cultural awareness, and then we talked about ways to start intercultural communication projects in a way that would have more potential for success.

The primary tenants for successful projects seem to be:
1. Make sure to introduce the project clearly. Be clear about expectations you have for students, and that students have for the project.
2. Communicate those expectations with the collaborating class. Talk about goals for the project so that everybody has a clear idea of the commitment required for the project.
3. Help students along the way. Expect to help students find a neutral or kind way to approach issues that they feel strongly about and help them to build a personal connection with their collaborating parter.
4. Introductory projects are a pretty good idea. Spend time letting students learn about who their partners are, what they like to do, etc. Value the non-academic as well as the academic aspects of the collaboration.

I'm sure there are more things to consider, but those were the ideas that seemed most important for ensuring the success of long-distance collaborative projects.

using video in the classroom

I'm sure everyone has seen videos used in class before....But has everyone tried making their own? Fortunately, the actual editing of videos using windows movie maker is something I'm pretty familiar with....But not so much the making videos in a language class. At least the software won't hold me back on this one.

I'm not really sure where to start for my video project. I've been focusing a lot lately on a unit about Spanish American poetry for another class, and my first mini-project went easily into that unit. I think this one will be a little bit more tricky, although, if possible, I'd love to have another activity ready to go for when I'm in my own classroom.

What I'm thinking about, for Mini-Project 3, at the moment, is to record rhymes/guessing games (adivinanzas) and to have a paused spot in the video where students are supposed to discuss and guess what the answer is. It would be neat for the video to have time-released clues....like giving little hints every 7-10 seconds until the answer becomes really obvious. I think it would be neat for students to have the chance, after seeing some of these, to write and then perform their own -- we could make a video as a class to be used with future classes.

I think this would end up working out ok as a piece of my unit on poetry, because the grammatical focus of that unit is asking and answering questions. Adivinanzas are definitely conducive to questions.

Another idea would be to film the scene of a mystery, and then to have a follow up activity about who did what, where, how, when and why. I'm not sure what I'll end up using.

I'm feeling antisocial.

From what I've seen so far of citeulike and del.icio.us, I am not a fan of these sites! I'm having a really hard time figuring out exactly how they work, and exactly what their benefit is!

I know, from the readings we did last week, that they are supposed to make it easier to have access to what other people have found relevant in relation to specific topics. To do this, people with like interests join a group where they can easily see articles or sites that other people have tagged.

I'm a little confused about how to do all of this tagging, and how to find other people's tags, and I'm sure that the system works for plenty of people....
But right now, I'm too busy to look for things that other people are interested in, and too busy to try to figure out how to tag things, and just because it is supposed to be a time-saving system that I can't figure out, it's making me cranky.

I did sign up for citeulike and found an article to start my library with. I tried to figure out how del.icio.us works, but had no luck there.

This looks like one technological tool that I'm not ready to use at all, let alone in a classroom!

One resource that I do enjoy, although it is not at all predictable, just for fun, is stumbleupon. I find that it is highly entertaining, although, again, I'm not sure that this would be a good tool for the classroom, unless there is a way to set it to only go to webpages in a certain language.

Mini-Project 1

I've been working on a thematic unit about poetry for a level one Spanish class, and integrating a SCMC activity seemed like a great way to help students prepare for an oral presentation about a poet they have been researching. You can see a copy of the activity I designed by following this link. The rubrics that the document refers to as attachments are included in at the end of the document.