Interactive Inventory

	I enjoyed working with this activity. I though that it was interactive and a great way to keep the student engaged. In regards to the informal inventory, I totally agree with the results. At first, I was a bit skeptical when I started to respond to the questions, at the end it was interesting to see the results. I am glad to find out that my practices in the classroom are more student-center than teacher-center. Blogs and student-centered classroomsJose Salas Jun 26, 2012 9:48 AM
After reading the articles assigned for this week, I have come to the conclusion that “blogging” is a great tool to utilize in any type of class, whether this class is being taught face-to-face or online. Blogs provide an opportunity to create student-centered classrooms, it also allows the students to interact with each other and share their different points of view in regards to the topic being addressed. I have not incorporated a blog in my class yet, but after reading these articles and seeing how much students can benefit from them I will plan to create one for my students to stimulate collaborative work in the class. I can definitely see the benefits of a blog in a foreign language class. Personally, one o f the most relevant points of the reading was the implementation of the six complementary “blogging practices”. a) Share resources b) Post students’ responses to prompts c) Record lessons’ highlights d) Post learning challenges e) Reflect on what was learned f) Engage in online conversations Source: Classroom blogging in the service of student-centered pedagogy: Two high school teachers’ use of blogs April Luehmann (University of Rochester) and Robyn MacBride (Greece Arcadia High School) I am not a blogger per say, but after reflecting in these complementary “blogging practices”, I feel that to start a blog with educational purposes is not as intimidating as it was before. Once the purpose and the learning opportunities of the blog have been identified, it is time to foresee some of the challenges that I might encounter along the way. Introducing this new mindset to the classroom culture, however, has its challenges, as Mary Kalantzis pointed out in her dialogue with Cope and Lankshear (Cope, Kalantzis & Lankshear, 2005). Some of the challenges that I might have to overcome as an instructor in my classes are: Lack of participation from some students Technical difficulties, such as access to the Internet and not being familiar with the use of bogs Lack of “netiquette” from some students In order to avoid or find alternative solutions to some of the road blocks mentioned earlier, I will keep in mind the following quote as a reminder throughout the blogging experience. Cope, et al (2005) warn us to remember that it is not the tool that affords these new forms of participation; instead it is how this tool is employed by specific users in a specific context. The instructor’s ability to recognize how this tool could be best implemented in the class will ultimately lead to a more successful learning environment. José A Salas (McKinney, TX) For more tips and e-Learning tools click on the link below. Top 50 Blogs for e-Learning Tools and Tip