Why are foreign languages looked over so much in the school system as well as society?

In my experience as both a soon to be teacher as well as a student, I have noticed that in American Society as well as the majority of schools systems that learning a foreign language is not something that is looked at to be important. In America where one is constantly surrounded by people of different nationalities under many different circumstances (ex: work, school, out in public, etc.) , it would seem that the knowledge as well as the teaching of a foreign language would be crucial in society. This is not the case. Many school systems in America do not start the instruction of a foreign language until middle school. Some school systems do not even make it mandatory to learn one at all. This is a real problem especially in comparison to Europe where it is mandatory to study a foreign language at a very young age.  I feel that the U.S should do the same because it would make the world in which we live in much easier, being able to understand a whole other group of people. It also stimulates the minds of young children and gets them to think outside the box. Therefore, it is forcing them to utilize a whole new set of critical thinking skills they would normally not be made to use until the age of 13.

Is being an E – reader a good thing?

I recently read an article in a magazine that talked about kids reading books on ipads, computers, etc. and the advantages and disadvantages present. One advantage mentioned was the fact that kids are being able to embrace technology at a young age that in turn sparks an interest in them to read. A disadvantage was if they do not gain any experience with reading regular books, they won’t know how to change off from technological to non- technological  sources in school that will as a result impede their learning. In my opinion, I feel that kids should be exposed to this type of technology at a young  age in order to spark their interest in reading. It is a known fact that getting kids to read is one of the most difficult things to do as a teacher. By presenting the information to them this way, it will help them to sustain their interest through adolescence and eventually into their middle school and high school years. The only problem that I feel may arise is when they are forced to use a regular book to complete assignment. They may feel that it is annoying to have to lug a large book around as opposed to opening it conveniently on their ipad. To avoid this, teachers as well as parents should expose their children to both e-books and regular forms of reading so they do not become dependent on technology alone.

ESL really looked at as a second language?

A few days ago, I got into a conversation with a teacher who told me many people that work at her school over look ESL and tend to not think of  it as a second language.  They simply think of it as a normal class and don’t really put much emphasis into it like they do with other foreign language classes. I told her that this was very interesting to me because obviously  people who do not know English and who are learning it for the first time would consider it to be a foreign language to them.  However, I do understand where this notion would come from. Because English for most of us is the dominant language, we naturally tend to think of it as “the norm” and not think of it as a foreign language for some. In my opinion, this needs to change. Just  like foreign languages help us to communicate with more people in our daily lives as well as give us a whole new outlook on a culture, the same goes for people who are learning English. They too are trying to communicate with us as well as gain an outlook on our American culture. This is important because when all is said and done, our actions as well as theirs all work together to unite us as one and when one group is singled out such as people in ESL classes, this is not able to happen. I think that people who feel this way about ESL should look into it again. It is just as important as any other foreign language.

Interactivity 5- A standards based approach to technology integration

            For this interactivity, I interviewed my past high school Italian teacher from the Wayne school district in Wayne, NJ. I started the interview by explaining to her a little about this course and the purpose of this assignment. I then asked her if she has ever heard of NETS-S or NETS-T. She responded that she has heard of them in passing but was not sure of everything they entailed. I then gave her my laptop which she then glanced over both the NETS-S and NETS-T. After reading them over, her initial reaction to these standards was one of surprise. She told me that she never realized how many standards teachers as well as students were to meet based on technology alone.

            I asked her if she feels that the school and district had  begun to implement NETS-T and NETS-S . She said she does not know for all subject areas but as far as foreign language is concerned, in her opinion the nets standards have existed for a while now but in an indirect way for both teachers and students. She explained to me that although the nets standards are not directly talked about , foreign language teachers in the school as well as the overall district are told at staff meetings both in the beginning of the year as well as quarterly that they must present some lessons to students utilizing technology and must give the students various projects, assignments, etc. throughout the year that require the use of technology in some way. By doing this, teachers are being observed by the district based on how they do this and we as teachers in turn observe the students on what they are learning both in the subject matter through the use of technology and how well the technology part of it is done which they will then receive a grade on.

            I was very surprised with her responses, specifically the fact that the nets standards are not directly discussed at meetings in the school or district. Having lived in Wayne my whole life and therefore attending Wayne schools, I noticed that technology played a huge role both for classroom instruction and for students to be engaged in while doing assignments, projects, etc. Specifically in my foreign language classes, we as students were required many times to do power point presentations, make videos, voice recordings. My foreign language teachers almost always used power points to present their lessons. Aside from these factors, Wayne schools in general are ranked very high in academic achievements. One would think that with a school system being ranked so high as well as already utilizing technology heavily in their lessons that the NETS-S and NETS-T would be talked about in great detail among board members. However, as we can from the interview responses, these “ standards” are not even presented as NETS-S/NETS-T nor are the lessons utilizing technology measured using any sort of standards specifically for technology use.

            As a future teacher, I am going to not only make sure I am up to date with all the NETS-S and NETS-T but also share this information with my fellow colleges and staff members. The information presented in these standards help to shape the learning experience in a positive manner, utilizing many different technological approaches that are not normally thought of . By reaching out to as many people as I can about these standards, the message will eventually spread and will make for an excellent learning environment for both teachers and students.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnKm6bRU2Ko0dHlzV2xjMHVndHdISmZxNFlxWVZNbVE#gid=0

Smart board vs. power point

Many teachers  think that the advantages of a smart board and powerpoint are the same for students but in reality, smart boards present a more hands on learning experience.  With powerpoints, students simply have to pay attention to the screen. Although they can become interesting with graphics, colored fonts, etc. they don’t help students  to really interact with the lesson. In foreign language instruction, this can become a problem because some students need to learn by writing. Smart boards allow students to interact hands on as a group and individually, writing in answers to sentences, paragraphs, etc.  It serves both the visual/ high graphic aspects that a powerpoint presents while incorporating hands on activities as well. Unfortunately many schools do not have these devices in their classrooms because of the lack of knowledge of the advantages. I feel that if more smart boards were put in classrooms as opposed to powerpoints , more students would be engaged in the learning experience.

Online Games helping in classroom instruction

Do online games really help students learn or are they a distraction? In my experience as both a student and a teacher, I feel that online games are a very good way to present as well as learn information. Students learn the information in an indirect way, gaining knowledge as well as skills to strengthen them in the subject matter. For example, in foreign language instruction, the utilization of games to learn regions and cities are very useful for students and teachers. Students gain a stronger visual learning experience having to  concentrate in a very detailed manner to map out the geography of Italy in a certain time period. As they keep doing this, their memorization skills become stronger as well. This is very good because games like these help to strengthen skills that can be utilized in all subject areas as well facilitate the foreign language learning process and present a fun environment for students

Email Exchanges in the classroom

Email exchanges in foreign language instruction seem like they would not serve any purpose but in reality they are very useful in the learning process. The exchange of emails between a native Italian or Spanish speaker with a native English speaker not only help each person learn aspects of the other language ( verbs,vocab, phrases etc.) but also learn how native speakers use these things in a natural way, without the proper, rigid instruction of the classroom. Many foreign language teachers especially at the hi school level do not do this because they feel it impedes the proper instruction  of language but in my opinion, it is good to teach both proper and improper ways of speaking and utilizing the language, especially when students for the most part will need to know improper / simple ways of speaking when they travel to the country with the target language. Aside from foreign language instruction, email exchanges between people in different schools, states, countries in other subject areas can be very useful as well.  For example, in math or English, email exchanges about how to do a problem or analyze a text can teach a student new ways of looking at approaches to the problem they may have never thought of before.