Mobile devices Offer Choices for Students

One thing that I really love about having the Android tablets this year is the choice it gives to students!  Today, we are blogging about our "pasatiempos" or hobbies in my Spanish 3 classes and students are to include an image to represent their writing piece.  Some students are using creation apps to create their own, some are using Google Images, and some are taking photos/using photo apps.  This choice helps draw the students in and make their own connection with what they are writing about!  What a great thing as an educator to see everyone so engrossed in their writing assignment today!!

Paint Joy App - Student creates a new use for it!

Today, one of my students created a new use for the Paint Joy app.  Instead of using a sheet of paper to play "Lotería" or vocabulary bingo, he took a picture of his game board and used the writing tools in Paint Joy to check off the answers that he had.   This allowed him to have a clean slate when we started a new round of the game instead of using different colored markers or symbols to check of the words that he had.

 It is amazing to see all the new uses of the Android Tablets that my students find on a day to day basis!

Android Apps on our Tablets - Updated List

Earlier this school year, I had posted an initial list of Android apps that were put on the Xoom and Transformer Tablets .  Here is an updated list of the Android Apps we are using in my classes.  All of these apps can be found in the Google Play Market.

• Blogger
• Splashtop Remote
• Easy Voice Recorder
• Catch Notes
• Skitch
• Google Docs
• Firefox Web Browser
• Dolphin Web Browser
• Chrome Web Browser
• Word Reference
• Letrix (en español)
• Motivator
• QR Droid
• Barcode Scanner
• Prensa de España
• Pulse
• Spanish Verbs Pro
• Verb Conjugator
• SlideIT Keyboard
• World Newspapers
• Word Search (Spanish Version)
• Google Earth
• Genial Writing
• Free Pronunciation Checker
• PhotoShake
• Photo Grid
• Whiteboard
• Paint Joy
• Cartoon Camera
• Hidden Word
• Hangman for Spanish

QR Code to Access Performance Based Assessment Task

A QR Code, for a Google Form, was place on the student's quiz to allow quick access to that portion of the assessment.  Their Performance Based Task was to write a want ad for a personal item of their choice and to include 2 adjective clauses to describe the item they were looking for.

   

The QR Code allowed them to complete other portions of the assessment and then quickly go to the performance based task without having to type in a URL.  It made the whole assessment process very seamless for the students!  Take a look!

Using Google Forms to Reflect/Transition into a New Topic!

I have used Google Forms many times in the past for checking understanding of a concept, surveys, etc.  Today, I used them for a different reason.... to pre-check knowledge and transition into the next lesson.  I created a form with various multiple choice questions, open answer questions and a reflection piece to see how well students felt they knew the information related to the lesson we would be starting.  Then, I analyzed the  information collected by the Google Form and analyzed it to help me plan instruction to better fit student  needs.

Here is a video of students completing the form.

My Google Form -  This particular form was used to obtain info. on how well students knew and thought they knew the meanings of different conjunctions before starting a lesson on the subjunctive with adverb clauses.

Pick an App - Creating visuals for what we are reading!

Today, in order to help students read & understand the current chapter of "Don Quijote", we did the following activity ...

1.  Students were broken down into small groups.

2.  Each group was randomly given a section to read and tell the class about. (Jigsaw)

3.  Each group was directed to create a visual representation of their section to present with their explanation to the class using an Android app of their choice.

This activity worked wonderfully and I love that students are able to connect a visual representation of what they are reading to help in understanding/processing.  Here is one of the works of art my students created (In only 5 minutes!) using an app called Paint Joy.  This app is great because it records each stroke you make and plays it back to you in a video format  Other apps that were used today by different student groups included Whiteboard and Skitch.

This is how we read it!

Spanish IV students are reading their first mini novel (an abridged version of 'Don Quijote').  For today, students were placed in small groups and assigned a small part of the chapter.  They then read through it, looked up any words they didn't know and prepared to share with the rest of the class their section.  Tools that were used today.. 

• Special Don Quijote Timer (to help keep groups focused/on task) - See video below!
• Xooms/Transformers
• Word Reference App
• Abridged version of Don Quijote for Intermediate Spanish Students