Un Pour Tous et Tous Pour Un*

*"One for all and all for one" is the famous motto from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.
How do you ensure that students have completed the reading and are ready for class discussion?
In creating this wiki project, one of my goals is to guarantee that my students come prepared for class discussion, having read the literature and answered the questions. But just as importantly, my goal for this project is for students to learn to work collaboratively.

As they take turns playing the roles of writer, editor, and proofreader; students collaborate on a common product. Collaboration is essential as I believe that students learn from each other. It also forces students to communicate their needs and expectations with each other-in French. In French B, I really encourage students to understand that communicating in French isn’t one way (student-teacher) anymore, but they need to take on every opportunity to communicate in French with everyone in their immediate environment, including their classmates (student-student).

Collaboration also means helping each other become stronger French speakers and writers. Peer-editing both the content of the text and the language in the answers will hopefully reinforce the importance of proofreading. Too often, students turn in “completed” work without checking. It takes commitment to take the time to self-evaluate, but when they work on a public project, students tend to care more about the results because others will be reading and evaluating their French skills.

Maintenant, à l’attaque!

Photo: The Musketeer at the bottom of the Eiffel Tower by Matito

Peripherals In A Language Classroom

How do you manage the use of technology peripherals with students?
What are some things you've learned and hope to implement?

I usually have been the one handling the tools as I feel responsible for the material I have checked out from the library. Also, when it comes to projects involving cameras and video cameras, students usually have one at home that they can use or borrow.
Here are some basic peripherals used regularly in my French classroom:

-Video cameras (and tripod): record students dialogues and oral presentations.

-Digital Camera: to capture moments in the classroom or material created by students/teacher.


-smart board: To teach and for students presentations. When students are handling the smart board, I usually ask them to take turns and we may need to make a circle around the board to give enough space to watch and participate.

-Phone: We’ve used phone for a project where students had to call a restaurant (the teacher) to make a reservation. I’d like to be able to use their phone (or skype) to have live conversations (maybe 3 way conversations) in an authentic situation more often.
[I read a blog post from one of my classmate on the use of cellphones in the classroom. Our middle school policy prevents students from using their cellphones during the day. However, their cellphones never stay in their lockers. They are in their bag or in their pockets. MS students see the HS students using their phones everyday and all day. Why couldn't they? Students don’t go to the office to call home if they need to. They use their cell phone. Their parents call them in the middle of the day. Students play their music plays on them. They text their friends or even go on the internet. I agree that we may need to rethink our position "against" cellphones in the classroom. There could be many uses for them. Why not try to use them as a learning tool?]

Back to the tools currently used in my classroom. This year, the school has acquired new peripherals that I have used or plan to use more with students:

-Snow ball microphone: I discovered this new microphone in one of our COETAIL class earlier in the semester. Jeff used it to record a class discussion. This is very useful when recording dialogues in the classroom. The microphone from a regular camera or video camera are never strong enough to pick up the conversations clearly.
I usually record the students dialogues so that they can view/listen to themselves, and also to grade them. For grading purposes, I need to hear everyone’s voice, including those timid students. The snow ball microphone has been really helpful in recording the sound(s) at a higher quality. I haven't used the snow flake microphone, but plan on using them next semester to record an oral assessment (student & teacher).


-flip cameras: These new little video cameras make it easy to record a short video and then transfer the data into a computer. I plan to use it soon with students, giving them a chance to do their own recording and uploading. However, these cameras are in high demand, so I will wait until our department can have it's own stock to use them in my classroom.

Laptops in the classroom

What are ways you manage the use of laptops in your classroom and what additional best practice ways might you add?

As a coetail class, we used voicethread to discuss and share many techniques on how to manage “technology tools” in our classroom.

I know I have learned lots of new ideas from this discussion.

Here are some easy practical steps I follow:

-Timing: Allow enough time at the beginning and at the end of class for students to save their work, log off their computers and return them to the carts. If you can’t manage time well like I do, ask a student to remind you of the time.

-Computer: Assign a computer to a student at the beginning of the term. They will be responsible for plugging the computer and keeping it in good shape.

-Saving work: Create a personal folder for your class on their flash drive as well as on the server and teach students the mechanism of saving in both places. They will lose their work, so teaching them the mechanism of saving in 2 places will pay off some time or another.

-Focus on instruction: One thing I have learned from experience…you can give students instructions orally over ten times and they will not follow it if they are engaged on something, especially if there is a computer in front of them. I usually count down and ask students to lower their screen while I give instructions. One thing I learned in the Coetail class was that you can use your fist to measure how much one can lower the laptop screen without shutting down the activity.

-Peer helpers: It’s nearly impossible to answer all questions at once. As long as it doesn’t become a distraction, I encourage students to help each other. They are great with problem solving.

-Instructions: As mentioned in my peer language educator’s blog, giving instructions in the target language when it involves the use of technology can be challenging for students and teacher! Of course, breaking down the steps and the language of instruction as much as possible is essential. Other technique I have used have been to provide students with specific checklist for each step they need to accomplish.

Photo Pudú Introducing OLPC by: Lizette Greco

How relevant are the NETs for Teachers and Administrators to being a "Good Educator" today?

Encouraging teachers and students to learn more about how to use new technology is one step, but the administrators of a school also need to be on board with the learning (After all, they are the ones who will hire experienced teachers). Over the past 5 years at ISB, I have seen a clear commitment from the school to educating everyone about technology. For example, we have gone from one technology coach to having 3; one for each school (Elementary, Middle, High). Another example has been to offer professional development like the COETAIL class and opportunities to attend many technology related conferences.

Teachers and Administrators should understand and promote the vision of education technology, but they should also lead by example. In particular, I would expect that as a school, all teachers and administrators should all be reminded regularly to apply the standard of “digital Citizenship”.

Digital Citizenship (NETS for students )
Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. Students:
a. advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.
b. exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity.
c. demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning.
d. exhibit leadership for digital citizenship.


Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility (NETS teachers)
Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices. Teachers:
a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.
b. address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources.
c. promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information.
d. develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital-age communication and collaboration tools.

5. Digital Citizenship (NETS for Administrators.)
Educational Administrators model and facilitate understanding of social, ethical and legal issues and responsibilities related to an evolving digital culture. Educational Administrators:
a. ensure equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources to meet the needs of all learners.
b. promote, model and establish policies for safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology.
c. promote and model responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information.
d. model and facilitate the development of a shared cultural understanding and involvement in global issues through the use of contemporary communication and collaboration tools.

When It Comes To Instructions: Is Less More?

How can teachers and schools ensure that their students are learning what they need when it comes to Technology and Information Literacy?

I have used the program movie maker in French class for 3 years. It allows students to create neat video projects using voice and text over still images or even video clips. The students are usually proud of their projects and more willing to show them to their peers. Every year, I revise the project to match the students' ability level.
In the process, I also refine the instructions, breaking it down into small steps, allowing more classtime, giving more details about due dates and providing more specific checklists. However, it seems that every year, the projects are more and more difficult to complete a) following the instructions b) on time.

This year, for the final project of the semester, I met with our MS tech coach, Ms Cofino , asking for suggestions on how I could present and organize the project to ensure success. I tried to apply the following:

1) Presentation of the project in class, providing some examples and stressing the details of the calendar.
2) Brainstorm of ideas (on paper)
3) Story board (on paper)
4) Script (Online, using google docs to allow students to work simultaneously and the teacher to oversee participation and collaboration)
5) Checklist for the script (to allow student the time to reflect on their script, making sure that the CONTENT of their project demonstrated mastery of the new language skills)

Then we moved on to the project on the computer program (movie maker). I had a check list for this section as well.
1) Demonstration of how to use the program movie maker (if necessary)

2) Import and organize all images, using transitions.

3) Add subtitles & record Audio

4) Finalize the movie and publish

Final stage: presentation

1) Complete the final check list for the entire project and turn in the project on stushare.

2) Present to classmates and peer evaluate the projects.

After 7 classes, all broken up stages, 3 checklists, class time and 2 weekends…still, students don’t read the instructions, nor do they use the check lists to ensure that they met the requirement for the CONTENT of their project.

So I thought I had covered all the bases with a structured project, but maybe less instructions is more for this generation of students? I would agree that students today can figure out how to use any tech tools by trial and error (vs. reading instructional manual), but how do we ensure that they follow instructions and meet the requirements for the content?

I am open to suggestions. What works for you?