My personal research preferences

I must admit - I like Google. And Yahoo. And their Russian equivalents. At home they are my preferred search engine. Of course, you get a lot of "junk". But I am usually searching for something home-related, like Irish dance shoes or dresses... As a teacher I use National Geographic a lot. Our ESL curriculum is published by National Geographic, and I feel that their resources complement the curriculum very nicely. They have a great site for kids with a lot of multimedia resources that I absolutely love! And if you are looking for great articles check out National Geographic Explorer magazine - great readability high interest articles for students. I think that these are my favorite websites for all kinds of resources. National Geographic Rules!!!

What is Literacy in the Digital Age

I received my new issue of NEA Today Magazine. Cover story - What is Literacy in the Digital age. It reiterates all of the ideas we have been discussing - motivation, creativity, ability to collaborate across the globe. What struck a chord with me is the argument whether technology is distracting young people from reading books and taking time away from learning proper grammar and"smart" writing. Sometimes I wonder when it is a "good" time to bring in technology to the classroom. Is technology complimenting my instruction or takinig time away from teaching students to decode text and practicing essential reading skills? Do I need to first get a student to a certain reading level so that he/she can more comfortably navigate the ever-changing world of Web 2.0? I really like to use multi-media resources in my classroom - not only do they break up the routine, but they are also a great visual tool for my students. Creation on content on the web is another story - much more time consuming, and that is where I start debating how much time I should (and could) devote to that. Well, I guess, I will keep thinking about that...

Using Blogs in the Classroom

I think that I would like to try to use the blog in my classroom for literature discussions... It would have to be an in-school type of work (most of my students would not have computer access at home), but I think that we could spend 30 minutes once or twice a week working on a blog... Fictional blogs sound interesting too... It is so difficult for my students to bring their own voice into writing. Role-play would provide this opportunity.
What I am wondering about is this. I can see how a group of kids (30 or so) could get into a nice discussion on an issue. My classes are a lot smaller, and I am worried that they will be very self-conscious about publishing something with spelling and grammar mistakes. I have kids who have great ideas about something, they get ready to write, they can easily tell you what they want to write down... But when it comes to the actual act of writing, they can't do it.

Digital Note-Taking Tools

I need to figure out how to use them... How many times have I seen students take notes on paper, lose them, search for information again and lose the notes again? Also, my students often struggle with reading their own writing... Digital writing tools will not only offer a better way to store information, but also practice summarizing and paraphrasing and they search and gather information.
I am also kind of excited to read about searching for information in general. That whole idea of narrowing the topic goes hand in hand with the new writing curriculum that we are using. It is nice to reconfirm that what you are doing has a solid and sound best practice base behind it.

I have to check this out:

Literacy, ELL, and Digital Storytelling: 21st Century Learning in Action
http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/2790

I am really excited about this idea of learning through play. It just makes things so much more fun. And a lot more engaging.

I would like to check this out:


Dialogue on Writing: Rethinking ESL, Basic Writing, and First Year Composition. Edited by Geraldine de Luca, etc.

http://books.google.com/books?id=i_Ceiee_a7cC&dq=writing+in+esl+classroom&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=iy-xSsCXE5PIMfzY7PIN&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=11#v=onepage&q=writing%20in%20esl%20classroom&f=false

Digital writing course

Hmm... What are some things that I would like to learn in this course? I am hoping to get some useful ideas on how to use digital writing in my classroom. My students' language development is at such different places right now, so I am not really sure how to include everyone in this exciting adventure. I actually talked to my students about the possibility of digital writing in my class, and they are more apprehensive than I am. The funny thing is that most of them don't even want to do it. Younger students have a more positive attitude. I was really surprised by this.
As far I my own personal use... I don't know if I have a great interest in doing digital writing for myself. I am more of a private person, I don't need to share things with anyone on the internet... So I am really not sure.

Hello from Natasha

Hi,
This is Natasha. I teach ESL at Valley View Middle School in Edina, MN. I teach students in grades 6-9.