El repaso: Reflection of the Semester

I came into this semester skeptical of what I would learn and how useful it would actually be. I have never been very gifted at using technology (I spill drinks on phones and get confused with editing on Word!) but this class taught me practical skills that actually enhance the classroom. Once we walked through the steps, the projects that once seemed daunting and overwhelming became simpler and manageable. I never thought I would have known how to make videos, Spreadsheets and lesson plans with such intricacy and detail. Each project also made me excited to be in the classroom and get the chance to use them. I will definitely keep every assignment we did in this class, so that I may one day use them while I am teaching. Technology really is a helpful resource that makes learning more interesting by giving more options for lesson plans and activities. Technology is no longer my enemy!

Mis Manos! Powerpoint Activity

Today we made Power Point lessons, and after all of the projects I have done with this program, I never knew how much you could do with Power Point! I did my project as a review of the book, Here are my Hands, by Bill Martin and John Archambault. In my Reading Education 330 class I rewrote the book with a Spanish translation, Aqui estan mis manos. The new bilingual edition was the resource for this project. Each slide contained the Spanish word for one of the five senses, the part of the body that is used to do it, a picture, and an audio recording for how to pronounce each Spanish word (for example: los ojos/eyes are used for ver/seeing). It was so fun figuring out how to put audio recordings of pronunciations on it. That is definitely a tool I can use in teaching Spanish one day. I am very proud of my work!

Hablar: an Interactive Spreadsheet

Last week we finished up the Interactive Excel Spreadsheet assignment. It was so neat because it turned out to look very professional, especially after we got rid of the grid lines that weren't being used. I also liked how easy it was to set up the answers and points awarded. I never knew how to plug in formulas so that the computer calculates the right and wrong answers and does the grading itself! This activity will be so perfect for teaching verb forms in Spanish. I did mine on the present tense of the verb, "hablar." "Hablar" is usually the first verb teachers use to teach students how to conjugate present tense Spanish words, so this assignment would be perfect for any beginning Spanish learners. With verbs, Spanish learners usually have to take a lot of time and practice. The Interactive Excel Spreadsheet was easy to follow, and it seemed to turn a monotonous lesson into something interesting and fun!