ESL Pod: Podcasts for ESL Classrooms

Tonight I browsed through a site called ESLpod to find ways to incorporate technology in my future ESL classroom lessons. This website provides over a thousand podcasts, created and shared by a team of experienced ESL professors, with years experience in the ESL field.  The podcasts are provided in English use guarded vocabulary and recorded at a slower rate of speech.  Each podcast also provides a transcript of the conversation with specific new vocabulary words bolded that relate to the theme of the dialogue  The site provides foundational information of the ESLpod site stating why their podcasts are different from most listening exercises in ESL learning. "Well, first, all of our podcasts are free to anyone who wants them. Second, ESL Podcast uses a very different approach than other courses or websites. We believe the fastest way to improve your English is to listen to conversations and discussions you can understand. Many people try to improve their English by listening or reading things that are too difficult. They understand only 40-50%, which means they are wasting half of their time!

At ESL Podcast, we provide English at a slower speed and use everyday phrases and expressions. We explain what these expressions mean and how to use them. That’s all! It’s simple, it’s obvious, and it’s very powerful. WOW! It seems as if this group of educators have really thought out each podcast, making sure that the discourse is meaningful and authentic to help students succeed in their English language learning experience! I spent some time listening to different podcasts offered on this site and came across one that sparked an interest to me titled Types of Humor. In this particular podcast, the conversation is between a man and a woman describing their thoughts about sitcoms using idioms and metaphors.  

This particular podcast could be used in an intermediate advanced ESL classroom for students. With the transcript readily available on the site, I am able to give this to the students as a hand-out to complete a pre-reading exercise before they begin listening to the mp3, the possibly making meaning of the new words using the context around them. After the students listen to the dialogue, the host of the podcasts provides a mini explanation of the conversation and the meanings of each bolded vocabulary word. Here is the transcript below to check out!

Types of Humor Transcript

Kyle: Are you watching that sitcom again? It’s so stupid. There’s nothing witty or original about the humor. 

Paulina: I don’t need highbrow jokes. I enjoy all kinds of comedy. 

Kyle: You mean you like screwball and slapstick humor. 

Paulina: Yes, so? 

Kyle: So? It’s so juvenile. 

Paulina: I know that it’s hard for people like you who like satire to appreciate the more wacky kinds of humor, but you might try getting off your high horse once in a while. 

Kyle: I’m not snooty. I’m just discriminating. I like comedians with a dry sense of humor like that self-deprecating guy on that show I watch. 

Paulina: That show is a snoozefest. That guy bores me to death. 

Kyle: And this show does it for you? 

Paulina: You bet. 

Kyle: There’s no accounting for taste! 

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog and will consider using this podcast site in the future!

ePals Where Learners Connect: An Involvement of Classmates Around the World

Students today are not restricted to collaborating with the students physically beside them in the classroom, they are also given the opportunity to communicate with other students around the world! They can do this through the involvement of projects and activities that other students across the world are participating in. How is this possible?  A recent global community that I have explored, ePals, allows this interaction to effectively take place through their website which is safe, secure, easy to use, and manageable for educators. You are able to manage what children see, whom they speak with, and what they can post. 

Educators across the globe can add their project onto the ePals site to share and collaborate with other classrooms. You are able to read the objectives of the activity, the procedures they completed with their students, pictures of student's work, and the outcomes at the end of the project. Similar to blogging, you are able to filter through projects with tags to find an appropriate lesson to fit the needs of your students. A specific project I read was titled, Collective Detective Story and featured a 'Teacher in the Spotlight'. The following information about the activity was listed as such:

Description:

Students learned the concept of writing a short narrative detective story with twists and turns in collaboration with their foreign friends. The project motivated and engaged students in reading stories in the crime fiction genre. They used logical thinking and reasoning skills to brainstorm the future of their composition. They also learned about the culture of another country and gained an understanding of another countries' education system. .

Outcomes:

1. Students will compose a short narrative story.

2. Students will practice Netiquette skills.

3. Students will create a Wiki page.

4. Students will learn about the culture of another country.

5. Students will develop skills in recognizing relationships.

6. Students will make comparisons and inferences as well as reflect and interpret reading between the lines.

This description allowed me to quickly determine if this was something I would like to use in my future classroom. The format of each project on the site allows for educators to collaborate with other classrooms because of the detailed description and outcomes listed. 
As a future educator, I am excited to see that there are other opportunities for me to involve my students with not only through textbooks. I will be able to now rely on technology to share and reflect the activities I create for my own classroom, collaborate my students with classrooms around the world, and have a solid foundation of networking with other teachers. The more cultural involvement for me as an L2 educator, the better. This website has much more to offer than projects and collaboration.  It has a resource section for teachers that are also filtered through tags. I highly recommend visiting this site and signing up!

Short Comics with Idioms

Idioms are a significant part of the English language that many ESL students find hard to understand. By offering visual/audio short comic clips to students, it will provide a more meaningful and engaging language learning experience for the students. Too often do you see idioms presented to ESL students through textbooks, role playing, or 'out-dated' videos. By using this site, GoAnimate you are able to create your own comic clips and modify them to fit the needs of your current students interests and level.  I found this site very easy to use and immediately thought of idioms when creating a story line. 

The title of my comic clip is called Shy George. Just like my previous post using the Animoto site, you are able to create a free account using limited tools.  The pricing site is located on the, Our Plans for Personal Use Link where you can explore a variety of pricing plans to use personally or within a business or school district. I find this website to be very useful and engaging for students to watch and/or create their own! 

Animoto! A Great Digital Story Telling Program!

Recently I have been exploring Digital Story Telling! Digital Story Telling can be as simple or complex as you want to make it. However, to be able to use it beneficially in your classroom, I feel like the simpler you make it, the better. This will allow students in your classroom be able to learn how to use these resources on their own, and if they choose to explore more options to enhance their videos they can. I was introduced to a website called, Animoto.  This site allows you to sign up for a free version and create 30 second photo videos including music and text.  Your options are limited as to what you chose to create but sufficient enough to produce short video clips to engage students' learning. As an educator, if you feel as if you want to use this tool in your classroom at a higher level, you can purchase your own package on their pricing page here: Personal Pricing Plan.

When creating my own short film, I thought of using this video in my classroom as part of an introductory video of myself. (I would modify it depending on the age and level of my students). One of my favorite activities in life are spending time with my pets. I can foresee using this video in an EFL class, using basic vocabulary to enhance the students interest in learning the language. The students would also be given the opportunity to create a video of their favorite activity or pet, on their own, in the beginning of the year. The students could first create a video in their first language and as a mid-way or end of year assessment, the students can create their video using the English language to show their developing vocabulary and English language skills.The title of my video is called, Midnight and Shadow's First Christmas and was created through the free account Animoto provides.

What is Digital Storytelling? How Can I Use it in an ESL Classroom?

Digital storytelling is a way in which students or educators can create a story through technology using: audio recording, images, text, music, animation, videos, etc.  A digital story focuses on a specific topic, allowing the creator to reflect and share their work in a creative and unique way.  

According to The EDUCause Learning Initiative Site, they provide 7 things you should know about Digital Storytelling. The most informative part of the article is under the subtopic of 'Why is Digital Storytelling Significant' where they explain how digital storytelling is meaningful for students learning. "Digital stories let students express themselves not only with their own words but also in their own voices, fostering a sense of individuality and of “owning” their creations. At the same time, digital stories give students an opportunity to experiment with self-representation—telling a story that highlights specific characteristics or events—a key part of establishing their identity, a process that for many is an important aspect of the college years." It is crucial for ELL students to hold a sense of individuality and purpose of their learning experiences. Story telling in their L1 and L2 would give them a wonderful opportunity to reflect and share their journey of learning a second language, living in another country, and adapting to an entirely new culture. 

In the next section of this assignment, I will explore first hand how the process of digital storytelling works, and have a better sense on how develop, share, and utilize this tool in my future classroom.  What I read to be the finest aspect of digital storytelling is from a very informative website, Educational Uses of Storytelling. The site provided very convicing information regarding this educational tool in all levels of education. 

According to Bernard Robin, Ph.D., "Today the use of digital storytelling is being practiced in neighborhood community centers, schools, libraries and businesses, by novice technology users to those with advanced skills. In the field of education, teachers and their students, from early childhood classrooms through graduate school, are using digital storytelling in many different content areas and across a wide range of grade levels." The research and information on this site gave me a true understanding on how digital storytelling is used by many different individuals in various fields.  I look forward to creating my own! 

Gamification: Serious Games

For the 'serious game' category, I decided to try a game called, 3rd World Farmer. I had to play this game a couple times before I understood the complete object of the game. After I played around with this particular serious game, I browsed around some other ones on the website, Games for Change.  This website offers a variety of other games that are purposely created to relate to real-world events to foster learning in defense, scientific exploration, agriculture, etc.  

For this particular game, I would like to incorporate different language learning objectives. Due to the higher level of vocabulary used in this game, I feel that incorporating this lesson with another content area such as science or math would be more appropriate and meaningful to the students.  The language learning objectives would require the students to recognize and label farming/agriculture vocabulary.  I would like to later assess the students again by providing visuals away from the game, to truly see if the vocabulary is retained. Another language objective that can be incorporated into this game would be the use of their oral fluency. The student will fully describe the steps they used to complete and build their farm. This will build their confidence in speaking because they are able to describe something that will hopefully be interesting to them, while the teacher can assess at the same time. 

Gamification: Escape the Room Games

Educators are continuously trying to explore and implement new innovative ways of learning through technology. One specific example is, Gamification. According to a recent journal article I have read, Seven Things You Should Know About Gamification, "Many instructors implement gamification because they believe the rewards or the spirit of competition will spur students’ concentration and interest and lead to more effective learning"(Educase, 2011).  This new approach to learning can truly benefit the learner in their language learning skills including, listening, reading, and writing. Specifically in a L2 classroom, educators can easily incorporate gamification into their curriculum, and also modify the gamification process to meet the needs of their own levels of students. 

Gamification is a term which, I am sure, many educators will decide to look away from. However, after watching Tom Chatfield's video 7 Ways Games Reward the Brain, he emphasizes the notion of immediate feedback and the power it has on truly feeling and learning a lesson. To be able to rationalize gamification in the classroom may seem puzzling and distracting to many educators, but the way I see it, it gives students the opportunity for continuous rewards, immediate feedback, and keeps the students interested and engaged for the next level of learning.  According to Tom Chatfield, "It's very hard to learn, to feel a lesson. But if you can model things for people, if you can give things to people that they can manipulate and play with and where the feedback comes, then they can learn a lesson, they can see,they can move on, they can understand" (TedGlobal, 2010). 

A type of game that I recently explored was posted on a blog site written by Larry Ferlazzo, The Best "Fun" On-line Video Games for English Language Development.  The type of game is considered an escape room game titled, Phantasy Quest.  This type of game allows for the student to explore an island using strategic 'point and click' skills to help navigate an adventure. To complete the game, the student must be able to use their reading skills to unlock puzzles, and eventually, reach an end goal.  A great modification an educator may use for this type of game is called a Walkthrough, which often times is readily available on the website.  A walkthrough gives step-by-step instructions on how to complete the game.  Therefore, the teacher can read these instructions to the students to develop higher level listening skills or have the students read them independently or with pairs to further enhance their reading skills, too.

Personally, over the past week, I have tried to play and 'beat' Phantasy Quest more than five times.  By no means can I say that I am at all experienced with video games, so I struggled.  Once I realized that I could not navigate this adventure any further, I printed the walkthrough instructions and completed the game.  Boy did it feel good!  So I then thought about my future students and how much they would enjoy playing this game, or would they get frustrated too fast and give up? First, I took into consideration the language level of my students in an ESL classroom.  I felt that my students would have to be placed in at least an intermediate level to truly gain a meaningful language learning experience playing this game. 

Language learning objectives that can be actively involved in this game would be the use of vocabulary, listening skills, and reading skills.  By searching other escape the room games it seemed clear to me that modification of the game(s) can easily be achieved.  An educator can incorporate any vocabulary he or she chooses to adapt to the students' levels.  Another language learning objective could be listening for instruction. The student would have to listen for the next strategy step in completing the game.  Reading is the last language objective.  If the student is working interdependently, they must use the language clues that pop up on the screen each time they click.  

How can I assess my students while they are activity engaged in this game?  As the students are working independently, I would walk around the room to check for comprehension when giving them the next strategy step.  By utilizing the walkthrough in my hand, I am able to check to see if students are using their listening skills from my clues and if they are reading/comprehending the clues written on the screen. In a later activity, I would provide visuals/images of new vocabulary they learned throughout this game to better assess their level of understanding. 

"To Tweet or Not to Tweet"

As a visual learner myself, I always try and incorporate visual aides within my classroom instruction. Ten Great Video Tutorials on Using Twitter in Education, is a great article including informational videos to help me better understand the nuts and bolts of micro-blogging with Twitter. The video that captured my eye was titled, Academic Excellence in 140 Characters. They take a look on the usage of social media sites and the impact of learning. The engagement of students with each other were impacted. They felt as if they knew each other on a higher level. in and outside of their classroom. 

Twitter in the classroom included discussions on a relevant topic discussed further from class, assignments, and most importantly, a way for students to interact through what they love, social networking. Students are able to express themselves in 140 characters interacting with each other and support.  The teachers also put reminders on the Twitter page of upcoming assignments, office hours, and events on campus. I found myself really connecting with this video in relation to how they effectively used this micro-blogging tool in the classroom.

   

The second article I read was titled, A Must Have Guide When Using Twitter in Your Classroom. This intrigued my eye because I love when information is designed in a bullet point referenced way.  Educators of any field continuously have fast paced lives, especially when it comes to technology.  This article listed four sub-categories on implementing technology in the classroom including communication, organization, resources and writing skills. My favorite activity using Twitter that would be very appropriate for ELL students is having them tweet sentences using a specific word to build vocabulary.  As soon as I read this idea, 5 more ideas came to mind! This is only one of the many ideas on the Twitter Guide. This website 'sold' the use of Twitter in my future classroom! 

Teach Me Twitter

Tonight I participated in a live twitter chat; #ELLCHAT. It opened an entire new world for me. I have never explored my options through Twitter, the most used micro-blogging program today. Over the years I have had a pre-conceived notion that Twitter was only a gossip site. After tonight's live chat, that notion has been erased. 

The connections, ideas and reflections of past experiences were brought to the chat.  The topic was on bullying.  More specifically, bullying with ELLs. The best part about the chat was how serious other educators participated.  The chat begin promptly at 9PM and the tweets did not stop until 10PM. I truly feel that live chats on Twitter can benefit any educator with their professional development. It takes you out of your comfort zone and hear what other educators have learned and experienced in their school, and the steps they take to solve problems.  

Many of the educators shared resourceful journal articles on bullying as well.  One of the articles shared was very interesting and I saved it in my Diigo account titled, 8 Tips to Protect ELLs from Bullying in Your Classroom and school. This article provided 8 clear tips on how to protect ELLs from bullying.  This article can be passed along to parents as well. 

By attending this chat, I can now utilize this experience in my future teaching career. As educators we should never stop learning through each other.  Live chat provides a great support to keep the learning meaningful and engaging! 









Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

The Teachers Guide to Twitter

EFL Classroom 2.0!

A Great Home for Learning and Teaching 

Today I have joined a wonderful community on-line.  The community website page is titled EFL Classroom 2.0 !  I couldn't believe the resources before my eyes after joining!  The foremost greatest surprise about this new connection is that I haven't even seen everything it has to offer.  The depth of content materials, videos, blogs and mp3's are endless.  

By creating your own personal profile (which can be private if you chose) you are able to network with other teachers to share ideas of successful lessons and what I also call  "flop" lessons.  

From my past student teaching experiences, I found it absolutely necessary to reflect on each lesson.  Even if it was on a brief post-it note with 5 bullet points, listing what went well and what to change for next time. Reflection is essential to continuously learn as a teacher and building a network to share these reflections, takes it one step higher. You are not only helping yourself as an educator, helping other educators in your field, and you are most importantly, helping your students learn in the most meaningful environments, with the most advanced materials.

EFL Classroom 2.0 also provides monthly newsletters to help keep you informed with the most recent resources added to the site, along with special seminars and training's that are free! The professional development aspect of this website is current and readily available for their members. I am truly very grateful that my professor has provided this site for me to browse and join:)

Any questions?  Please comment! 

L

A Learner in the Modern World

For many decades learning theories have been studied, researched, and developed by theorists, philosophers and educators. Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism are the three widespread learning theories implemented through research.  "These theories, however, were in a time when learning was not impacted through technology".   Siemens has looked at these three learning theories and has added yet another theory to satisfy the technology, that is now intensively added into our learner's lives-Connectivism.  Connectivism continuously is moving forward at a rapid rate.  There are four principles that are integrated into this learning theory. Chaos, network, complexity, and self-organization theories.  How does connectivism relate with current technology in the learning process? First, lets look at the root word, connect. Beginning from when we were born, our lives have been filled through connection with others creating a variety of experiences.  

Today in the 21st century, our connections have changed and our social networking has expanded. Vieira, provides a brief explanation of the expansion of social networking through a Youtube video titled, The Network is Learning. Social software is one of the largest ways we network as adults through either personal or professional communication.  Children and adolescents network through social media using pictures, statues, text-messages, and blogs, only to name a few.  Educators are now enforcing educational learning through social software and is changing the way children learn.  Along with Vieira, George Siemens has posted a short informative sideshow audio on collectivism and the continual fluctuating space which learning occurs titled, What is Connectivism? After listening to both of these short videos I can positively say that I have a much greater understanding of Connectivism and how I can relate it to my networking through technology. 

"Our emphasis with collectivism is to recognize the continually fluctuating space in which learning occurs.  If we fail to account for those progressive changes, we will omit a good portion of what is critical in the learning process"-George Siemens Associate Director, R & D , LTC U of Manitoba.   

A learner is like a continuous and steady ripple affect. One small drop or change keeps the ripple going in the ocean and can be related to a learner and their knowledge/advancements. As experiences and connecting increases so does the affect and changes of learning. "A knowledge continues to grow and evolve, access to what is needed is more important than what the learner currently possesses". Now how does this work?  Does this mean the information I am learning today is not going to help me tomorrow?  As continuous learners, we need to focus on what we need to learn for tomorrow so we can keep steady with the developing changes around us. This is why as educators we truly need to evaluate our teaching styles to fit the needs of students today. "In order to better understand learning, we need to better understand how and why connections form.  We need to understand the nature of those connections, find how we need to use that understanding in forming how we design classrooms, how we create curriculums, and how we deliver or teach the curriculum".  With the literature and slide show videos that were given to complete this assignment, I now have a greater understanding of how I need place connectivism on a higher level of importance, when designing the environment for my students to learn.  21st century students of all ages need the opportunity to enhance through experiences, networks, and currency.  Relationships, decision making and maintaining connections are all important skills needed to be implemented in my curriculum planning.

Here is a little Vygotsky for thought :)
“The relation of thought to word is not a thing but a process, a continual movement backward and forth from thought to word and from word to thought. In that process, the relation of thought to word undergoes changes that themselves may be regarded as developmental in the functional sense. Thought is not merely expressed in words; it comes into existence through them. Every thought tends to connect something with something else, to establish a relation between things. Every thought moves, grows and develops, fulfills a function, solves a problem” (1986, p.218).

Diigo vs. Scoop.it

Diigo  and Scoop.it are both helpful and convenient social bookmarking sites to keep you organized.  Both sites offer many organizational tools that can help anyone in the professional or personal aspect of their lives.  More importantly these sites allow you to 'follow' other people who are saving and tagging relevant information similar to your own.  Educators of all fields will find that Diigo and Scoop.it are valuable and worthwhile to use.

Now lets compare the features!

Diigo 

• Create your own list of topics. Tip: You could organize each topic by a content area.
• Add your own personal comments through sticky notes and digitally highlight text! Tip: Add notes for differentiated instruction or what standard to apply to! 
• Ability to follow or follow someone else. Tip: Follow other educators and build a community! 
• Download an icon in the right hand corner of your browser for faster saving. Tip: Download it is worth it! :)
• Can use on your Ipad, smartphone, or tablet. 
• Add multiple tags to help find your sites easier in the future. Tip: Always add tags you will be happy later you did it!
• Copy and paste from original article to appear in comments about your site. 

Scoop.it

• Create your own list of topics.
• Ability to follow or follow someone else. 
• A great option of signing in under another social media site such as Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ and sharing your bookmarks instantly. Tip: Twitter is now used very often for education I hear! More information to come. 
• Add multiple tags to help find your site easier in the future.
• Comment on each article to provide yourself a summary.  People who are following you can comment as well!
• Offers hundreds of suggestions related to prior articles you have searched for!

Which one will I use?

After comparing and using both sites for my bookmark organization, I found many great organizational features from both.  However, my personal preference has led me to use Diigo as my main social bookmarking site.  I find Diigo to be much more user friendly and accessible. I really love the icon you can download in the top right hand corner of your screen.  It allows you to quickly save a site and digitally highlight important items you want to use later! I have highlighted the best features in both websites being in my own personal option. As a  future educator I want to be as fully prepared as possible.  Especially when there are millions of useful websites to learn from!  

Please feel free to comment or add your suggestions! 

Technology Transformation

When brought up in a conversation, the term technology can either do two things.  It can scare or intrigue.  Often times, there is a stereotype of what type of individuals are scared by this term.  There is also the stereotype that only the 'educated young adults' could somehow manage to understand this technological transformation.  Although, somehow this transformation has reached nearly everyone, somehow in some way. Today in the 21st century, there are moms, dads, and grandparents on Facebook, on-line bill pay users of the elderly, and young school-aged children creating blogs for literary work and checking their Twitter accounts regarding classwork.  From one end of the world to another, technology is transforming at such rapid rates, it is nearly impossible to steer clear from it.
After watching this stimulating video on YouTube called, Shift Happens, the statistics for future innovative and technological advances sent chills down my spine.  E-paper will one day be cheaper than regular paper?  So you mean to tell me, that paper and pencil that I have been raised to love and the smell of old books in a library will soon not exist?  Scary!  Nevertheless, while taking this on-line class to enhance my knowledge of  technology in the classroom, it truly has intrigued me in numerous areas. One day, I am sure to be 100% accustomed to it.
The video, Shift Happens provided statistics about jobs around the world and how fast they are advancing and improving.  In regards to education according to this video, "for students starting a four year technical degree, this means that half of what they learn their first year of study, will be outdated by their third year of study"!  I do not want to give too much information away, so please watch!  

The second video I would like to reflect upon is called Social Media Revolution which is also found on Youtube.  This video truly conveys the impact social media has on the lives of everyone in the world.  Kindergartners are now using Ipads to learn instead of blackboards, customers now rely on websites such as Yelp.com for recommendations, and most shockingly, 1 in 5 divorces are blamed on the partners use of Facebook.  The largest question I have a concern for, is the impact technology is going to have on future education, how I can be prepared for it, and most importantly, how I can use it effectively.

Throughout this course, I have learned, created and designed countless new ideas to build my knowledge of technology and incorporate it in my future classroom.  This video could be used in my classroom as well if I am working with middle or high-school children.  Secondly, it could be used as a great way to hook my students into learning a different aspect of technology.  However, I do not feel as if my students will ever not be intrigued in technology, and it is a wonderful tool to engage students in all content areas.

Using Blogger to Meet Appropriate Standards

Through past student teaching experiences, I found myself continuously asking these questions. "Am I meeting enough standards in my lesson(s)"? "How can I possibly make my objectives meet all of the standards"? "Will I hit every standard before assessments begin this year"? Every educator wants to go above and beyond in their lessons by being creative, engaging students, getting students out of their seats and most importantly, integrating technology.  Within the past couple decades, technology has spread all over the world and pushed its way into countless areas of our lives.  Starting with the World Wide web, medical technology, cars, machinery, cell phones, and educational tools such as the Smart Board.  Adults love these advances and try to keep up, but our lives are always pulling and pushing us in so many areas of responsibility.  Although, the best part of this dilemma is that there are children across the world who love these technological advances, get extremely interested and take so much time to learn the skills of new technology.  So in my mind, what educator would NOT want to use this to their advantage in striking that same excitement with learning in the classroom and at home.  

Over the past week, I have thought over how to use my blog in the learning and professional field as a teacher.  First, I thought of the importance with parent communication.  Ideally, I would like to work with ELL's at any age in an educational setting and communication will become very challenging with their parents.  Language is the key to efficient communication and I will undoubtedly come into a situation where I will not know a language of an ELL of his/her family.  This is where my Blog can come into play.  With the translation resources at our fingertips, I know I will be able to translate all of my monthly newsletters and announcements to any language.  The translation may not be 100% accurate, but any sort of communication is better than no communication!  The communication to parents in my blog will not only benefit myself and the parents, it will improve the student's overall success in my classroom.  An example of a great translation tool is Google Translate. 

Another way I can utilize Blogger in my classroom is to encourage students to check it for homework resources, lesson materials and reflection.  I find that students in elementary, high school, or higher education always benefit when they reflect on their work.  Either from a topic of discussion, a specific lesson from the day, or just a creative free write on something they are passionate about.  This gives the students the opportunity to write without the pressure of a graded assignment.  I would not use Blogger as a graded assignment.  I would assess on a pass/fail given if the student completes the written task or not.  Students will also be able to read what other students have written and comment.  I find that Blogger would be a great resource for the rest of my career as an educator! 

ACTFL Standards

Standard 1.1: Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions. 

ISTE Standards

1. Creativity and Innovation: Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.