I was assigned to read a piece by Tsisana Palmer, titled "15 Characteristics of a 21st Century Teacher,"  that really hit home as a world language teacher. In November, 2016 I went to the ACTFUL conference in Boston. "Technology in the classrooms," was the buzz phrase. I knew my schools have little need or ability for my students to use technology because 1.) No phones allowed. and 2.) There are less than 80 Chromebooks for the entire school to borrow and those are primarily being used by the ELA teachers. So that's how I knew and I purposely avoided all tech classes, minus the one on plagiarism in the US. (Because it was my first year teaching in the US, and Japan's rules are not as strict.)

Half a year into my first, I already realized that what I knew was a bunch of poo!
     - I broke my first rule when I decided to use Chromebooks for pen-pals. Like they say, "When there's a will, there's a way!" I discovered how to get the Chromebooks for my students when I need them...no where near as difficult as I had set myself up to believe!
     - I allow my students to do quick look-ups on their smart phones.
     - I urge students to re-watch the videos I've assigned on their phones/devices at home.

Then I read Palmer's article for class and here are the notes and ideas I'm taking away:

*Read it for yourself first, take notes, and then compare to mine. What did you take away? How is it going to efficiently effect your role in your classroom(s)?

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Students these days are like free-range horses, they have access to everything! Technically speaking we don’t need to teach them anything. We just need to lead the students to the pool of knowledge as we observe how, how much, and which water they drink from. We sit back and make intelligent observations, then provide them with effective guidance to take them even further, based on their skillsets.

Wasting paper on the less necessary paper-based skills that the real world no longer requires. My students are going into a more technology strong world, therefore I must teach them how to advance themselves using useful and realistic tools and methods.

I’m setting up my students to create and maintain relationships with students in Japan by creating a Google Doc pen pal (JPP) project. My students are practicing using technology (Chromebook and Google Docs) and making relationships simultaneously as they learn to read and type in Japanese. I’d love the next step to be a trip to Japan to meet our JPPs.

Smartphones are banned from most classrooms. I’m now wondering why we’re doing this. Is it to curb the behavior or is there a better reason? If it’s the latter, then explain it to me. If it’s a behavior issue, can’t we just teach them cellphone etiquette, and then move on?  That’s a worthy skill they’ll need in the workforce as well. Why not start from their school days?

Not everyone has a smartphone. That’s okay. Chances are, they would be more than willing to share with a friend. If they learn with a willing friend, the chances are they will both learn more as a pair than flying solo.

Now, what can I teach my students about Japan and Japanese using their phones?

-          Translation sites/apps

-          Reading/writing quiz apps

-          Authentic videos (them finding them will save me hours +be interesting to them.)

-          NHK Easy New for Tadoku time

Blogs….I’m still not convinced. Yes, I see the importance of writing something for someone vs. writing for yourself, but sometimes that is extremely stressful for my students. Self-voice is scary when your peers are automatically trained to critic, and they’re still learning how to do that with the other person’s feelings in mind. Most public schools have strong privacy laws to follow, too. I do think something more private and more class focused would be great though.

I love student driven projects. I feel that here is where the students of all levels and mindsets are really going to go the extra mile. They will learn and experience more in researching, creating, and presenting a project than could ever be expressed or documented.

I do use a lot of videos in my class, and my students react well to them. I’d like to turn my reflection assignments from paper to tech. Any suggestions? I’ll research some as well.

Learning is the key. Never ever stop!!

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Reference:

15 Characteristics of a 21st-Century Teacher  by Tsisana Palmer

Palmer, Tsisana. "15 Characteristics of a 21st Century Teacher." Edutopia. George Lucus Educational Foundation, 20 June 2015. Web.