High Tech/Low Tech: Ideas for Every Classroom
Activities for Doodles & Scribbles
By Deana Zorko
There aren’t many favorable definitions out there regarding doodling and scribbling. As teachers, however, we see it day in and day out on homework, warm ups, tests/quizzes, journals and even desk tops. It can be destructive and even annoying at times, but I’m sure all of us can also provide anecdotal evidence of how it can actually help students retain information, be focused and calm and be especially creative in the classroom. Here are some interesting and informative videos and tools that discuss how doodling and otherwise creating visual representations of information can actually increase comprehension: Doodling. Read more. |
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How dual-language programs are shaping schools
SOURCE: ASCD SmartBrief
Research shows benefits for students learning in multilingual schools. Some states have taken steps to introduce more dual-language immersion programs, but some say a growing demand for such programs may be creating inequity. The Atlantic |
High school student teaches Spanish at an elementary school
SOURCE: Education Dive: K12
There was a picture of an old woman on a video monitor in the brightly decorated third-grade classroom.
“La abuela.”
Brianna Aubrey, a Hartford High School senior, read the picture caption aloud to the young children seated around her in the U-shaped arrangement of desks.
“La abuela,” repeated the third-graders.
But what did the word mean? A few hands went up in the air.
Aubrey, eyes bright with interest, pointed to a girl.
“Grandmother?” the girl asked.
“Sí,” said Aubrey, beaming. “Grandmother.”. The Seattle Times
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Sorry STEM, Google just made the case for more foreign language education
SOURCE: CSCTFL
In the last decade, American education has been increasingly concerned with promoting STEM subjects. Between 2000 and 2010, the number of students enrolled in STEM degree programs increased 36%. Then-President Obama asked Congress for a $4 billion investment in computer science in K-12 schools. States like Michigan now allow high school students to fulfill foreign language credit requirements by learning to code. Government officials in North Carolina and Kentucky have proposed defunding non-technical majors in state universities, on the basis that they “don’t get someone a job”. Transparent Language Language News Blog |
Wisconsin students create trilingual book for kids
SOURCE: ACTFL SmartBrief
Fifth-grade dual-language students at a Wisconsin elementary school recently celebrated the release of a 34-page trilingual children's book about the Ho-Chunk Nation that they helped create. The students started the project as third-graders and worked with their peers at a Ho-Chunk language school to translate a traditional Ho-Chunk story into English and Spanish. La Crosse Tribune |
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