Tips and Tricks for web-based teaching: Websites you may find useful
Doane College Mini Tech Fair
Cara Heminger
Discussion about cleaning up your web-based sites (Facebook, twitter, tumblr, etc.)
How can you use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc., for professional reasons?
Twitters to Follow: Quotes of the Day, Dept. of Ed, Teaching Associations, master teachers, teachers of the year, your school counselor, sports teams, etc.
IDEAS FOR TEACHING AND ACTIVITIES…
Google sites: Each student makes a google site and links it to yours. Students add all their assignments and videos, podcasts, etc., to their site. Students also come up with a “mascot” (like a duck or teddy bear) and do things from their perspective in order to write about it or speak about it. Rebecca Gill-Renken at Palmyra has been doing this a lot and has had great success, but it took 3 years to really take off and be successful. So far, no privacy problems because the kids give her their passwords and they are only allowed to link to her and each other. She is willing to talk to you about how she goes about this.
Great free pictures to use in presentations: http://www.picsforlearning.com/
Learn any language – games and practice: http://digitaldialects.com/
Student-friendly relevant French topics: http://www.frenchified.com/
Spanish activities: www.zachary-jones.com
Easy assignment organization/blackboard/polls/pose a question – “Facebook for Teachers”: http://www.edmodo.com (Have kids set alerts to come to their cellphone so they know there’s something they need to check. Make sure what you post is important so they know it’s worth going to the site.).
Record your voice, or type a message/assignment and have it read by an animated person on http://www.voki.com
Instant screencasts for Twitter. http://screenr.com/
Insta-worksheets! Great supplementary material when you need just a LITTLE more practice! Also, it links to Twitter or your website, and the kids could see the answers after if they do them online.
http://www.worksheets4teachers.com/languageartsheets.php
Find out where your favorite artist or author hung out, or where an historical event took place: http://maps.google.com/
WorldBook Online: http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Login?ed=wb&subacct=N7584
Great, up-to-date games, word of the day, mini-lessons with themes (holiday, etc.) http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/
Digital Citizenship we ALL need to teach our students:
https://docs.google.com/present/view?skipauth=true&id=ddz28tpf_35g7g26zcm
Larry Ferlazzo’s daily website and up-to-date foreign language teaching methods: http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/
Ideas for making a magazine. Consider putting online. http://french.about.com/cs/teachingresources/a/magazine.htm?nl=1
Could Twitter be good for your class? You can make it private and only invite your class or colleagues. http://www.slideshare.net/sharpjacqui/twitter-i-just-dont-get-it
Glogster for Comics http://www.glogster.com/login/
Texting in class: http://textthemob.com/
Digital safety for all ages: Google Netsmartz or go to: http://www.nsteens.org/
Easy slideshows with great pictures and music: www.animoto.com
Some good ideas if Skype is your thing! http://blog.learningtoday.com/blog/bid/41726/10-Ways-to-Use-Skype-in-the-Classroom?source=Blog_Email_[10+Ways+to+Use+Skype
Toni Theisen is the 2009 US Foreign Language Teacher of the year. Her wikispace is full of great info and positive thoughts and ideas about being a teacher. I also recommend you follow her on Twitter. http://tonitheisen.wikispaces.com/
Feel like you’re standing right there – anywhere in the world!
http://www.360cities.net/
This French site has teenager-friendly topics but a fast pace. Great for listening activities. http://www.monjtquotidien.com/
TV5 – Subscribe as a teacher for free daily news emails and weekly games and newscasts with printable worksheets in easy, intermediate and hard levels. http://www.tv5.org/
Use downloaders for YouTube and Vimeo videos… or store online. ALWAYS PREVIEW! Also, search a topic and if you find a teacher’s site you like, bookmark it!