Using Technology in the foreign language classroom

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Permalink Reply by Julie Baird on September 3, 2011 at 7:26am

Are you a member of the AATG listserv?  This topic has come up there and there are also some examples of SmartBoard files on the GermanShare site. 

 

I have a SmartBoard and would never want to teach again without it.  Some of the activities we do regularly on the board are:

1) after teaching new vocab, I put a bunch of pics on the page and make them small. Students come up to the board, enlarge a picture and then tell me what vocab word it pertains to. The upper level kids need to use the word in a sentence to describe the picture.

2) German word order - students move the words to put the sentence in correct order

3) German move sentences around to put them in the right order for a story we are reading

4) Using the infinite cloner, students conjugate verbs by dragging down the right ending for the verb

5) By ordering objects, I have students select the right word to complete a sentence. They drag the word to the empty line. If they pick the wrong word it disappears behind the line.

6) I attach sound files to a lot of different graphics. For example, when we are learning the countries of Europe, students can tough a country and hear the German name for the country. 

7) For homework that we grade in class, I take a picture of the worksheet and have students write in the correct answers. I prefer to do this in a SmartBoard file instead of using the InkAware option because we've had problems with InkAware disappearing before students could correct their own mistakes. 

 

When I know that I'm going to be gone for a day, I still  "teach" the class by recording my voice and attaching the file to a picture of me.  I tell the sub to click on my picture to play the audio. I also record videos of grammar concepts such as how separable prefix verbs work so that my students can see them in action. Seeing how they work, i.e. the prefix gets pushed the end of the sentence is better than reading about it. Since we don't have any German speaking subs in our district and I expect learning to still go one, videotaping the lesson has kept my students on track. 

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Permalink Reply by Tracy Henderson on September 3, 2011 at 9:17pm

Julie, thank you so much for the great suggestions.  I do a lot of these things now (only on notecards), and I am excited to be able to use the technology to jazz things up a bit.  I love that you can still "teach" your class through the board.  We also do not have any German speaking subs, so it is almost like losing the day when I have to be gone.  I am sure it is going to take more time to prepare these activities up front, but it will definitely be worth it in the end.  Thank you also for the suggestion to check the AATG listserv.  I have not been there yet.

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Permalink Reply by Julie Baird on September 4, 2011 at 5:21am

It does take time to put sub plans in SmartBoard files but if I know ahead of time that I'll be gone, I can plan for it.  Even though you can create manipulatives for students to work with at their desk, there is something better about having them all looking up and at the board.  I  don't know why.  Maybe it's because I can see their eyes and see who gets it and who doesn't. Or maybe it's because they're all looking at the same thing. I still  do some manipulatives at their desk but that is after we do it on the SmartBoard for initial instruction. 

 

Have fun with your IWB and if you haven't had any training on it yet, talk to your adminis and or tech person and get to a training. You'll use it more effectively once someone shows you the little tricks and stuff. 

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