New Ways to Incorporate Technology into the Classroom
Happy Wednesday! I hope you all are having another great week! This week has been very similar to the last one. This is the second week that the teachers in my district are back in the building and we are preparing for our students to start a hybrid model in the beginning of November. Today, I started working on the schedule for my special education student based on how many minutes of support they need when they are back in person. Even though we are transitioning into a hybrid model, students still have the option of remaining completely virtual. So far, only four out of my twelve special education students are coming back in person. I am extremely excited to meet some of my students in person soon!
This week I came across a wonderful article about a determined,
kind teenager. This article was about a teenage student named Palo Gupta who
created a program that helped his ELL classmates improve their English skills.
This student noticed that his ELL classmates were struggling with the language.
One student almost hurt themselves during a weight lifting class because they
did not understand the teacher’s directions. Gupta decided to help his classmates
by talking to high school teachers and creating an afterschool tutoring
program. This program helped ELLs improve their language skills and gave them
more confidence to take AP and higher-level courses. Gupta also created an
online ChatBox on the school’s website to help students practice conversations
in English. I think this student is amazing for helping his classmates and that
more people should be like him. Utilizing a resource like a ChatBox is a great
idea to help ELLs at any time. This online feature is very beneficial and
should be made available for ELLs students at all schools.
Another interesting article I came across this week was
called “9 Unique Ways to use Technology in the Classroom.” This article is can
be super beneficial for all educators especially during virtual teaching. The nine
different ways to use technology according to the article are:
1. Digital space trips
2. Gamified learning
3. Incorporate social media
4.
Generating digital content
5.
Collect pupil acknowledgment
6.
Using a sorted, online classroom calendar
7.
Survey and critique webpages
8. Integrate video and multimedia into lectures and presentations
9. Online actions for pupils who complete work first
When keeping ESL students in mind, I think these particular
students would definitely benefit from the use of digital space trips, social
media, and integrated videos into lectures. Incorporating digital space trips is
a very engaging way to help ESL students learn more about national and international
landmarks. Next, since social media is very popular and well used, the article
mentioned how educators can use social media platforms such as Facebook and
Twitter to help create study groups among the students. This can be very beneficial
for ELLs who enjoy studying and collaborating with other classmates. This week my
graduate class discussed the benefits of including digital storytelling into
the classroom to help ELLs. Using videos and pictures can be helpful for ELLs
when they are learning new vocabulary and content. Having a visual right in
front of them can help them connect to the new content they are learning.
I hope that you all can benefit from these ways to
incorporate more technology into your classroom!
Sources:
https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/10/14/peninsula-teen-starts-program-to-help-esl-students/
Hi Natasha,
ReplyDeleteThat story about Palo Gupta is so inspiring. I love that he is thinking of ways to help his peers. It is so great when students want to help other students, especially in a case like this where it is helping give students confidence to try more challenging courses!
I agree with your points about digital storytelling as well. Applying that visual component to their writing is very beneficial for ELL students. The process of creating a digital story also encourages ELL students to practice communication skills.
Hey Natasha!
ReplyDeleteI saw this article too and thought it was truly inspirational how Palo created an after school tutoring program to help his classmates. I think this article shows how important it is for teachers to be aware of the language barriers and challenges that ELL students face everyday in our classrooms. Many teachers just ignore these issues because they do not want to deal with it. It is very sad to hear this story where a student almost got hurt because of a language barrier. As educators, we should be looking out for all of our students best interests. Teachers need to realize that even though it is not always easy, it is important to support language learning students in any way we can in the classroom!
I think online study groups are a great way to support ELL students! Providing opportunities for students to collaborate with their peers that they feel comfortable with is very beneficial to creating a safe and supportive learning environment.
Nice post!!
Shannon
I also read this article and thought it was fascinating. ESL and language barriers are such a prominent issue in our schools today, but they seem to be ignored far too often. Using all of the techniques you mentioned to assist ESL students and language development is a great idea. This comes back to the digital storytelling concepts from this unit. Taking ordinary classroom activities and bringing them to life can be such a huge advantage and should be used as such! Nice work!
ReplyDeleteHello! The story you shared about the boy Palo helping his classmates was such a touching story. I could only hope that one-day, all students would be that kind and generous. I always worry about how my students will “survive” the rest of the school day when there is no one looking out for them and their success. I think educators as a whole just need to be a little more sensitive and understanding to students and their languages. There are things as teachers we can do to help our students understand, instead of just thinking they do or don’t.
ReplyDeleteThe ideas listed to create virtual learning more exciting was a great tip. My favorite one is the virtual field trips! I think this is something that can even be used when in school. A lot of students don’t have the opportunity to leave the town they are living in, so giving them the opportunity to go out and explore is very exciting!
-Mrs. Yanik-