How can you use Glogster in your classroom this school year to foster the development of the creating mind? Elaborate on the instructional purpose and the standards you will address.
As
a Spanish language teacher, my job is made up of three main elements: vocabulary, grammar, and the tools to put the
two together to effectively communicate.
With twenty years of classroom experience, I truly thought I had figured
out the best way get this information across to my students. Then I was introduced to glogster!
One of the hardest tasks for a teacher is showing
students how her content relates to their everyday lives. When I began teaching, I gave students a
vocabulary list with English on one side and the corresponding Spanish on the
other. From there I moved on to blank
lists where one language was given and the other list had to be filled in by
students. Next came pictures. I painfully searched through magazines to cut
out pictures that represented the vocabulary. Many times I would bring in actual items. The
internet then introduced me to the world of clip art and the dawn of Power
Point.
But all of these tools were presentation tools only. Students looked, memorized, and then
reviewed. There was very little interaction.
Glogster allows me the opportunity to
search interactive sites that review the content in an authentic way and then
embed them into one easy-to-use site. Students
can hear the correct pronunciation, see the vocabulary in action, connect the
terms to their own world, and then review through games. Students can work at their own pace from
anywhere with an internet connection.
Gardner (2007) shares his correlation between the
synthesizing mind and the creative mind.
Both minds need a baseline of knowledge.
My students need to be taught the vocabulary before they can begin to integrate
it into different activities. “Both
(minds) benefit from the provision of multiple examples, exposure to multiple
role models, and the construction of multiple representations of the same
general topic.” (Gardner, 98) The difference between the two is that the
synthesizing mind looks to organize the information before using it while the
creative mind wants to simply experience it and then extend knowledge.
Glogster easily welcomes both types of minds
simultaneously. Depending on how students
set up their glog, their creativity can either follow a natural flow or be
specifically guided from one activity to another. Videos, images, audio, assessments, and interactive
activities join together in an easy to view format that presents the content
from a wealth of perspectives.
Under the ACTFL World Language Standards, Glogster can be
used to reach all five areas: Communication, Cultures, Connections,
Comparisons, and Communities. Our goal
is to teach students how to communicate in an additional language with people
from other cultures and backgrounds. We
connect content to what is familiar to them and then compare and make
associations. Together we become a
community of learners.
Glogster gives students the forum to creatively show the
connections they have made to the required content. Instead of a summative essay, exam, or
report, students can create an interactive exploration of content to demonstrate
what they have learned. They can
communicate with others through sharing their glogs. I am very excited to see what my students will
create and what aspects they will find most interesting to share.
http://profewert.edu.glogster.com/necesito-ropa-nueva
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