Celebrate AI Literacy Day!

It’s time, friends!

If you have questioned and wondered what is ALL of this spotlight on Generative AI in language education, I welcome you to begin your journey this week! AI Literacy Day will be on Friday, April 19th and as part of the mission within Lo Logramos, we are all about supporting and ensuring that teachers feel ready to explore with the right tools and mindset! This is our unique opportunity to dive into the transformative world of Generative AI and this adventure should definitely involve your language learners!

As part of the fun, we have designed an AI Literacy Bingo Board and we encourage you to cross of the each of the boxes – and let us (@team_lologramos) know how you are doing by posting to your own social media accounts and tagging us! For example: I post a short video with my colleagues, chatting all about AI in our classrooms – and later post/tag @team_lologramos to help showcase my growing AI Literacy!

Your Bingo-related post will also enter you into a raffle to win a free seat to the AI Prompt Design class taking place on Friday, April 19th at 7pm EDT, exclusively designed for all language educators.

Leading up to AI Literacy Day, we have special chats, workshops & discounted courses, designed just with language teachers in mind!

🦋On Monday, April 15th – 3pm EDT – Join us with your questions about Generative AI in the language classroom with a fantastic YouTube LIVE opportunity with Joe Dale (@joedale) & Noemí Rodríguez – just tune in & ask away!

🦋 On Friday, April 19th – 7pm EDT – the AI Prompt Design Class for Language Educators – We’ll delve into the fascinating world of AI prompt design. You’ll gain valuable insights, practical strategies and step by step instructions to enhance your Generative AI prompt creation, teaching toolkit and effectively integrate AI into your language instruction. And it’s only $19 for the 19th! (*recording will be shared)

🦋 ALL WEEK LONG! 50% OFF! 🤯 AI Tools Institute for Language Classrooms- An Asynchronous Course with seven classes to help guide your progress as a Beginner to Intermediate User of AI!

-Access to the AI Tools Private FB community
-Monthly invitations to join our virtual check in meetings, ask questions and gain support in AI
-Resources such as video tutorials, links, a growing AI prompt collaborative library
-Around the Clock support
-Earn your Digital Badge as an AI Tools Ambassador *upon course completion & project submission
-Professional Development Certificate for (7) hours

Use CODE: AILITERACY50 for 50% off April 15th-April 19th!

https://lologramos.thinkific.com/courses/ai-tools

🦋 And up ahead on May 4th & May 18th at either 12pm EDT or 5pm EDT – Join Joe Dale (@joedale) and Noemí Rodríguez for a two-part webinar series: AI Tools for Student Language Skills

This webinar series will provide language educators (World Language, ESL, ML, Bilingual, Dual Language) with a comprehensive overview of how to effectively integrate a variety of Generative AI tools into their teaching practices.

Participants will gain valuable insights into enhancing language skills and meeting communication objectives, leveraging the power of AI in language education!

*To celebrate AI Literacy Day, we are offering 10% off this series by using CODE: ailiteracyweek10

Register on Eventbrite

And, if you are also not sure where to begin with building AI Literacy in your school community- there is a guide for that! It’s so important to discuss the ethical & responsible use of AI in our schools, together. Head over to Lo Logramos to download your free guide – Critical Conversations: Navigating Generative Artificial Intelligence in our Schools, with Faculty and Student Use with important questions and step by step school-wide AI Literacy phases!

If you have hesitated in the past or haven’t been sure of where to begin with your Generative AI learning journey, I do hope you seek at least one opportunity to begin and explore! There is an incredible amount of potential in using this technology to assist teachers and students. Are you ready dip your toe in or DIVE into Generative AI? 🙌🏻 Let’s S.O.A.R with AI this coming week, team! 🎉

And the Stars Align…. Combining AI + CI

If you are a language teacher, then you are probably using comprehensible input teaching methods (repeat, recycle, repeat) or have heard about them – it is not a surprise that by adjusting language strategically and providing input (either spoken or written) that is tiered to only include words, phrases and structures that students comprehend – students will be able to make meaning of the language and in fact, acquire. Which is how and why Acquisition Driven Instruction works so well. Our goal as language educators is to fill our student’s minds with lots of useful language, so they can USE the language in the future in their presentational and interpersonal communication. This is also why I believe WE (the people who use languages) keep the languages alive- and languages do in fact change and evolve over time, thanks to all of us!

As Generative AI begins to take over how we “do” our day to day tasks – let me attend that meeting but have my AI assistant take notes, let me figure out what is for dinner tonight or let me write that important letter of recommendation – it also makes sense to look at how this incredible technology can assist language teachers with designing resources and activities with comprehensible input at the heart of the design. And, in addition to a CI lens, can we also harness the power of Generative AI to focus on true intercultural aspects of the target language (products, perspectives & practices) AND design lessons that meet ALL of our student’s needs? My friends – the answer is YES!

Let’s begin with THE PROMPT! The most important part of using any Generative AI tool is how descriptive you are with writing your prompt. Chat GPT is continuing to learn YOU and understand who you ARE – and as a result, you must specify with your language, level, proficiency target(s), students (general information*), content, delivery of content and potential modifications in mind.

I’ve designed the below guide to assist language teachers create a well designed prompt, with the intentionality of having the “export” align with your expectations. I’ve also created a collaborative prompt library for language educators, which is one of the many perks in joining the AI Tools for Language Educators Institute community. When designing your prompt, consider all of the different important elements that you would like to include. A simple rule of thumb is understanding the better the prompt provided, the better the output. Chat GPT or other LLMs of preference can truly serve as your thought partner, brainstorming buddy, content creator or my favorite role- your new personal assistant. Consider the possibilities!

So, how do we merge the world of AI with CI? It all goes back to your well designed prompt! By specifying the type of language instruction model you are using, reference using cognates in your language (hopefully they exist!), frequently used words from the target language and specific targeted vocabulary (not sheltering grammar & treating expressions as vocabulary words) – the content created by Generative AI will align to your ADI expectations. Not convinced, plug the following prompt into your LLM and see what it can do!

You are an acquisition driven instruction teacher of Spanish, which means you focus on delivering comprehensible input and making language easy to understand and comprehend for beginning language learners. You teach a group of 7th grade students in a suburban middle school and they are currently discussing their school schedules and day to day activities using Novice Mid or A1 language. Can you write a paragraph (no more than 150 words each) in Spanish in comparing and contrasting a typical school day in Spain with a typical school day in the United States. Include information about schedules, subjects, and extracurricular activities. Repeat and reuse the following vocabulary expressions at least three times in this paragraph: tiene, empieza, termina, es aburrido, es interesante. In addition to cognates and the vocabulary provided, use ONLY the most frequently used vocabulary in the Spanish language. You can reference this website for the top 100 frequently used words in Spanish to assist you with your development of this reading passage: https://spanishforyourjob.com/commonwords/, use cognates frequently. For this paragraph, create at least five follow up comprehension questions based on this paragraph in Spanish and one open-ended prompt for beginning level language learners to respond. Create a simple table with a typical school schedule with start/end times using military time and specific classes at each time in both countries, in Spanish. And design a simple dialogue between a teenager from Spain and a teenager from U.S.A. discussing the key information from the paragraph about their school days.

I used Gemini (Google’s LLM) and it provided the following Google Doc ( *asked if I could export the schedule/table into a Google spreadsheet as well). The fascinating part is that designing this initial resource for me took a matter of seconds. And of course, I can look at this “School Life” reading as an initial draft and go in to make modifications to further customize it, understanding that my students should comprehend at least 90% of this reading. I can also have the LLM create “tiered” versions of this text, further simplifying it or making it a bit more challenging, to allow for students to read the text at their individual reading level. And – to take this reading passage and use an AI tool to design a slideshow export – head over to Diffit.me and copy/paste your text into the third section labeled “Any text or excerpt” and let the magic happen! Diffit.me can also export into Google Docs, Google Forms, pptx or PDF files.

Another great way to merge the world of AI with CI is with chatbot design and providing a low-stakes environment for interpersonal practice! I had previously blogged about using chatbots in the language classroom as conversational partners. Remember, your chatbot can be ANYONE! So who would you like your students to chat with? Someone famous? An artist? A musician? An athlete? And the same goes with WHAT your students are chatting about with their chatbots – you can ask your chatbot to target specific vocabulary and adhere to the provided conversational rules. Similarly to those reading passages, you have to set the specific parameters with language use and level to ensure that the chatbot adheres to your expectations and truly becomes a great language practice partner for your students!

One more tip considering how a CI-focused teacher can leverage the power of AI tools – Generative AI can also design images, change backgrounds and create videos for you! So, if you have a fun story that you were never really able to locate the right pictures to match the storyline – check out Canva, Magic Design and see what image(s) or video can be generated for you. Here are some neat images that I generated this afternoon while working with a fantastic group of language teachers!

Canva also now has Dall-E (OpenAI’s Image Generator) and as teachers, we receive premium access to this incredible platform. Canva has so many neat capabilities, I continue to enjoy exploring and experimenting- check out their “AI-powered” apps!

Looking to dive in deeper? Here is where I would love to continue to help support your journey as a language teacher! I have designed an asynchronous course as mentioned before: The AI Tools Institute for Language Classrooms (with monthly support built in*), host free-virtual meetings often for the Team Lo Logramos FB community, and will present a two-part webinar series in May with the incredible Joe Dale (@joedale) ! Please also do follow @team_lologramos to stay connected! And, if you are hoping to further your own CI Strategies, join us for our two-day summer camp in Montville, NJ! We accept POs!

I hope this post has given you some great ideas on how to leverage Generative AI with a CI focus in the future! 

Chatbots in your Language Class

After several months of highlighting different Generative AI Tools for the language classroom, the most exciting has been with using conversational chatbots. The idea that students can practice their language skills in a low-stakes, non-judgmental, available at any time and personalized to fit their language level is quite revolutionary. AI has the power to enhance our students’ language learning experience and also provide limitless opportunities to practice speaking in the target language.

As with any AI tool, language educators must design prompts that are specific to the task and adhere to the intended learning outcome. Within your prompt design, it is important to share who the chatbot IS, the language students are learning, language proficiency targets and specific key phrases/vocabulary you would like to chatbot to use. You can also set up your chat bot to be engaging, kind, funny, creative, etc. For example, with your novice learners, tell the chatbot to limit the questions and responses to a certain numbers of words for a student who is learning another language, repeat & recycle high frequency vocabulary and be supportive & helpful in the replies provided.

In what ways can our students practice their language learning? Here are a few scenarios, prompts and a Chatbot Choice Board for you to copy and share with your language colleagues (or students!).

Chatbot Uses & Sample Prompts

Language Tutor – Consider designing a tutor for your students to practice their conversational skills or be provided with direct feedback given your language class, level and current unit of study.

Sample Prompt – You are a friendly Spanish tutor, ‘Srta Bot’. Engage the student in a simple dialogue in Spanish and discuss what the student is like, characteristics about themselves, family members, basic greetings, foods, preferences in activities, clothing items and weather conditions. Limit your questions and responses to simplistic, no more than 30 words. Repeat and recycle frequently used vocabulary in Spanish. Be funny and engaging.

Role Play – A chatbot can be anyone….no, really….ANYONE! Who would your students like to speak in the target language with? Anyone from the past, present or even future can “come to life” as an interactive chatbot. Or how about a particular professional to interact with like a nutritionist, an astronaut or a climate change activist? You can also transform your chatbots into animals – imagine what your dog may say to you if they could?

Sample Prompt – You are Greta Thunberg, climate activist, engaging in a discussion about the Amazon rainforest’s climate crisis with a novice French learner / student. Use simple sentences and questions to discuss the climate change effects on the rainforest and its inhabitants. Repeat and recycle cognates from the Spanish language related to the Amazon rainforest such as desforestation, climate change, animals.

Debate Partner – Having students engage in a lively discussion about a topic that is relevant to your unit of study can be exciting and the chatbot can point out some important points that students may have not considered before!

Sample Prompt – You are engaged in a debate about education. You will play the part of a debater who supports the opinion: not everyone should have access to public education. The student, who is learning Spanish, will play the part of a debater who supports the opposite opinion: everyone should have access to education regardless of age or gender. State your opinion and ask simple follow up questions, limit your questions and answers to an A2 or Novice High proficiency level.

Design A Story! – Students can work one on one with a chatbot to come up with a story, together! A creative way for language learners to design a story about any topic of study, create an engaging story for an intended audience and consider questions as well – to design their own adventure within a story!

Sample Prompt – You are co-writing a narrative story with a student who is learning the Spanish language and has an A1 or Novice Mid proficiency level. The story involves three to four characters, a plot, conflict, rising and falling action and a conclusion that resolves the conflict. Be creative and original in storytelling. Provide helpful feedback to help correct grammar and/or spelling mistakes.

Assessment Prep/AP Lang Practice – Before an upcoming performance assessment, design a chatbot to serve as a conversational buddy to review essential questions and unit performance objectives.

Sample Prompt – You are a teacher of Spanish who is assisting a student practice their language skills before an upcoming integrated performance assessment. You review the following essential questions by engaging in a dialogue to help the student practice respond and share their thoughts about: What makes up a balanced lifestyle? How do you define wellness in your community? What routines, habits and foods contribute to healthy living? Be sure to keep the conversation all about a balanced lifestyle and how we maintain wellness in our daily lives. Repeat and recycle key vocabulary that involve cognates from the Spanish language. Be supportive and provide feedback related to the student’s use of grammar and spelling when appropriate.

With these different chatbot uses in mind, there are two platforms (please do share below if you have others that you have used & loved!) that I have used which allow language teachers to generate these bots for students and they do not require any identifiable personal information from the student, such as emails or full names. The student is an anonymous participant but perhaps uses their initials only or an assigned numerical code, so the teacher can later review the conversation on their end once completed.

Chatbot Design Platforms & Resources

Mizou – It allows teachers to design their own chatbots, search within a community of available chatbots, set their own to “public” or “private” and students are provided with a link to access the session, once the teacher has made it “live”. You can view tutorials on their site.

SchoolAI – This AI tool has MANY capabilities, as they are considered an “all-in-one” platform for educators. The site has “spaces” available for teachers to set up for students to practice their language skills.

*For both of the above tools and many others, I have created and shared simple five minute or less tutorial videos on the Lo Logramos Youtube Channel, be sure to subscribe to stay connected to future AI Tools tutorial videos for language educators & language instruction!

*To learn more about how to transform your language classroom with AI, you can check out my newly launched asychronous course: The AI Tools Institute for Language Classrooms to assist language teachers of any language! A seven session journey with guiding slideshows, resources, guides, helpful reflective questions and many videos, all in one space!

Chatbot Choice Board

To receive your own copy of the handy Chatbot Choice Board, please head over to the private Team Lo Logramos Facebook Community. There you will be able to request to join our community and later, access the Chatbot Choice Board for use in your language department or with your language students!

Thank you for reading and visiting my blog! I hope that you keep experimenting, sharing and learning about how Generative AI can help transform your language classroom and your students’ language learning experience! I do hope we stay connected and feel free to reach out with any questions, wonderings or comments!

@team_lologramos

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Let’s S.O.A.R & reach new heights, together! Lo Logramos Consulting LLC

What’s next? Generative AI in our Schools & Language Classrooms

Hello 2024! Our schools continue to thrive, change & adapt, and with Generative AI – the wheels are certainly in motion! Navigating this new space with more questions popping up daily can be really difficult. We are learning about incredible opportunities mirrored with complex difficulties. Schools leaders, teachers, students and community members have a lot on their minds with using Generative AI as a learning tool in our schools. There is fear, hesitation, uncertainty – to say the least! But how can we shift our perspective towards Generative AI — instead of considering the risks, trepidations and harm, can we look for opportunities, benefits and potential learning outcomes thanks to this revolutionary technology?

Generative AI Technology can…

Personalize: One on one learning & tailored to student learning needs

Equity: Access to quality education & language barriers

Efficient Use: Efficiency and productivity

Thought Partner: Brainstorming & engaging learning experiences

Preparing for the Future: Lifelong learning and application of skills

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Building AI Literacy

With fear, it is difficult to begin this new endeavor. And there are certainly SO many questions surrounding the use of Generative AI. It has been over a year that our students have been using Generative AI, so how can we all get on the same page with understanding its ethical and responsible use? How can we move optimistically and cautiously in utilizing the incredible capabilities in our schools and classrooms?

We have to continue to listen to ALL members within our school communities- administrators, teachers, staff, parents, students – everyone can provide their input, ideas and questions in a meaningful way. A simple place to start is by surveying your school community and consider an AI Literacy Committee with several branches but yet, with ONE common purpose- Define Generative AI use in our schools. What does it look like in our classrooms, hallways, during lunch? How can our teachers feel empowered by AI? How can content be delivered? How can lessons feel different when students ask questions of a historical figure? How can all students access one on one assistance? These questions, along with hundreds of others, are what come to my mind with the future of Generative AI. Unlocking these types of possibilities, wonders and functionalities feel like just the beginning of the positive impact GAI may have in our school communities.

It is also wise to consider a model that implements AI Literacy phases within your school community. Below is a sample of three phases and depending on your school community, each phase may be a few weeks or a few months, depending on everyones’ level of AI readiness & willingness.

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School Policies & Student Use

Which policies are in place regarding GAI? In U.S. schools, many have no current policies or are starting to have conversations about the use of GAI in school. UNESCO published “Recommendation of the Ethics in AI” and many countries such as Australia are developing guidelines for education. Implementation is the goal for many, however – how can we get there? is the constant question.

School leaders, below are some key questions to ask when it comes to newly navigating GAI policies:

• How can our policies effectively balance the integration of generative AI tools with the ethical considerations surrounding student privacy and data security?
• What measures should be in place to ensure that the use of generative AI aligns with educational goals and supports diverse learning needs within our schools?
• How can school policies encourage professional development for educators to enhance their understanding of generative AI and its potential impact on student engagement and academic outcomes?
• What strategies should be implemented to involve parents and guardians in the decision-making process regarding the integration of generative AI in the classroom, addressing any concerns or questions they may have?
• In what ways can our district policies promote transparency and open communication regarding the types of generative AI tools used, functionalities, and the intended educational benefits to foster trust among all stakeholders?

With student use, how can we ensure ethical and responsible practices that do not jeopardize academic integrity and we continue to foster an inquiry-based approach to learning? Instead of thinking how do we stop students from cheating (because let’s be honest, unfortunately, students have always found ways to cheat before these tools existed*) to How can we use Generative AI Tools to improve the educational experience? Let’s consider how we can c0-create classroom guidelines with our students and a student use agreement form, together. *Please review some of the examples below. Students utilize Generative AI Tools in many different ways- brainstorming, presentations, tutoring, speaking practice, feedback, revision, research, and SO much more! Students should also be guided to fact check and evaluate information, as AI hallucinates and can sometimes misinform.

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Tools for Language Education

Once your school community begins to feel that Generative AI Tools can be used in the classroom ethically and responsibility, which tools do we want to utilize to enrich our students’ language learning experience? There are SO many, but here are a few of my favorites, based on each mode of communication!

Interpretive (Reading & Listening) Chrome Extensions available with the below tools*

MagicSchool.ai – Youtube Summary Tool (and a TON of other capabilities) – Aids in lesson planning, differentiation, assessment creation, Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) drafting, and clear communication. (Website: MagicSchool.ai & MagicStudent.ai coming soon!)

Briskteaching – Brisk is an all-in-one solution for teachers to speed up grading, course creation, and feedback. Works with Google Docs.

ReaderGPT – Have every webpage summarized, breaks down what you want to read instantly.

Interpersonal (Two way- spontaneous*)

Mizou – Create AI Chatbot based on your instructions, resources, and rubrics, while protecting student data.

SchoolAi – Spaces feature* Designed for K12 students with built-in monitoring & controls for teachers.

Presentational (Writing & Speaking- rehearsed)

Canva – Magic Design Tools* the possibilities are endless within Canva

Curipod – Plan and deliver interactive lessons on any topic – with help from AI

Helpful Resources

AI for Education

TeachAI

AI Educator Tools

If you are interested in accessing a helpful slideshow created to navigate Critical Conversations surrounding Generative AI in your school community, created with the assistance of ChatGPT, please head over to Lo Logramos Consulting & subscribe to receive your copy!

Join our Team on Facebook or follow us on Instagram or LinkedIn to stay updated!

Globally Grooving: Using Authentic Music

I LOVE using music in my classroom with students. How about you? Music is engaging, helps with retention of key structures & vocabulary and provides a great lens into the target language and culture! Between the awesome, dance-promoting beats, incredible repetition and cultural connections, music is an easy way to check off several boxes as a world language teacher! Here are some of my top ways to globally grove with your students!

Use Music to Investigate Target Culture

Using music goes WAY BEYOND just the lyrics! Before listening to a song with students, why not delve into a musician or band’s background- who are they? where are they from? how long have they been making music? what kind of music do they make? Play the music video – without sound – and ask students to make observations about what they see. Can students create a list related to our 3Ps: practices, perspectives, products from the target culture or write a simple story around what they see? Would you, as the classroom teacher, be able to design a Movietalk around this music video? Please see this previous blog post to learn more about the Movietalk technique. In the music video, is there dancing? Can students in your class try the dance from the music video? Or can they create their own dance? If you can get your students moving – sometimes my high school students were a bit reluctant – dancing to music can be SO FUN!

Competitions

Whether you have students compete in a dance off, lip sync battle or karaoke competition, using music each week can be incredibly engaging for all learners. By assigning a new song each week to your groups, students listen to the song for a few minutes during each class, with lyrics provided and if you want to infuse some gestures to match the lyrics – why not? On Fridays, I would host our weekly music competition towards the end of our time together and we had a “batalla” between each of the classes. Would Period 1 sweep the competition this week or perhaps Period 4? I kept a simple tally of “points” for their combined efforts in singing, dancing and overall enthusiasm with performing our weekly song as a class. The class that “wins” for the week would receive a certificate of musical talent (template here)- which all students would sign – I laminate and would proudly display in our classroom. For my weekly music competitions, I used authentic music and sometimes, music made for students learning a language – Señor Wooly and Canciones de HipHop by the textbook series: Realidades were easy to use with students for their catchy beats and simple lyrics. Señor Wooly also has a great website with a ton of activities embedded around his catchy tunes! And if you can – pick up some of those inflatable microphones, it can really inspire students to sing!

*Señor Ashby hosts two annual music competitions known as “Locura de marzo” and “Locotubre” – in the Facebook community, teachers are so incredibly generous with their creative creations and I SO appreciate that all of the authentic songs are carefully selected by educators – so you know the songs are a-ok to sing with students! Leading up to each competition, teachers share activities, readings, slideshows- all connected to the songs that as deemed the “sweet sixteen”. Voting takes places on a GLOBAL level and students can predict their winners from the very start- just like a March Madness Basketball Bracket! Locura De Marzo 2024 starts February 26! There are plenty of Spotify playlists too, and here is one by Cassie Molloy that has all of the previous songs in one place, over eight hours!

*Maniemusicale is available for my French teacher friends.

Cloze Activities

An easy way to have students listen to the music is to create a cloze activity, as they listen, they fill in what is missing from the lyrics! A great website that can help students listen for what is missing is lyricstraining.com. I’ve had one student volunteer sit and fill in what is missing, as the class sings the song out loud, filling in what they believe is missing and music videos are available from all over the globe!

There are also many teachers who have generated AMAZING Music Activities for the WL classroom. Here are some of my favorites from the Spanish teacher community – Bertha Degadillo shares ideas on her blog & resources on her TPT page, Kara Jacobs has resources on her blog page: CEAuthRes, and Allison Wienhold has competitions during Hispanic Heritage Month, as well as música miércoles on her blog & TPT store .

Extension Activities

–Draw images to represent the lyrics/chorus in a song, have students compare & contrast.

–Lyric scramble – students put the lyrics in the correct order after listening.

-Create (or have students create) true/false statements or guiding questions about the lyrics.

-Use a word cloud (generated from the chorus or lyrics) to either pre-teach vocabulary or help prompt a post-viewing writing activity.

–Change it up! Have students use the melody and create their own song / change the lyrics.

-Use music as a timer for your Daily Do Now or Classroom Activities.

For my Elementary Friends

Having time with my almost nine month old, I have enjoyed singing along to several songs in Spanish made for young children! We dance, move around and sing to the tunes every day- many involve animals! Here are some of my favorites {so far!} for the little ones!

Tortuga, Tortuga La Vaca Lola Susanita tiene un ratón Los pollitos dicen pio pio Veo Veo

I hope you are inspired to use music with your students this week! If you have any other ideas or resources for authentic music in the language classroom, please feel free to share below!

AI: Your New Personal Assistant 🥳

There has been so much buzz (and controversy!) over the past few months regarding AI or Artificial Intelligence and how it will change education. I played around with Chat GPT a few weeks ago and realized that I had just met my new personal assistant! Anything that I asked Chat GPT to do, create, modify- it was able to do it within seconds! It can create lesson plans, speeches, rubrics, draft letters to the community, write emails, break down steps, write code, create questions based on a youtube video, and the list GOES ON! I also recently joined a Facebook group started by Joe Dale titled “Language Teaching with AI” and I have learned a great deal in a short amount of time- thanks Joe!

As an educator who values tools that make our lives easier when it comes to planning & preparation, here are a few of my favorite AI apps/tools (so far!) that may also make your head spin! 🤩

diffit.me

Friends, look no further for great leveled texts with summaries, questions, prompts, etc in ANY language! You select to either type in a topic of choice, copy/paste a URL to an article, or add a PDF file of any text – the drop down allows you to choose the reading level (by grade 2nd-11th+ perhaps this will be by lexile level in the future?) and language of your choice! Yes, they have almost every language, it seems to good to be true! With a few simple ideas like “How is Day of the Dead celebrated in Mexico” or “How do Spaniards enjoy the annual Tomatina” – the site will generate a text based on your grade level of choice and a bunch of follow up activities based on that same text. I created this two minute video overview to help you navigate, but I promise it’s so simple! Talk about such an easy way to differentiate for your learners in seconds! This is what I like to call a total game changer when seeking a particular interpretive resource, no more wasting hours hunting down that great article at the appropriate level for your students, diffit.me just made it WAY easier by creating it for you! And as an added bonus – you can export it right into a Google Doc! Here is a 2nd grade level text all about how Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico in Spanish! 😃

Canva – Text to Image

#realtalk moment, I could probably spend a full week exploring Canva and learning all of the cool tricks the site does! It such an AWESOME tool! I stumbled upon a new feature using AI called “Text to Image” available within the Apps section. See the image below, top left corner but don’t you just want to click on everything?!?

Canva has come a LONG way in just a few years! Once you select the type of design, it will bring you to the editing space and let you type in whatever you would like to see on your screen. I went with “A cartoon bull wearing sunglasses at the beach” and here is what Canva created for me:

Think about all of the neat images you’ve always wanted to find online but had trouble, now that is no longer an issue! Any image you would like to see, it will design it for you based on your specifications! I envision students using this to create their own digital stories with some unique images thanks to AI! And another AI site: onceuponabot.com helps you create children’s stories!

magicschool.ai

As an educator, this feels like a one-stop shop for all things related to teaching and the sometimes piles of paperwork! And yes, it can complete tasks in multiple languages, just ask! Check out the list below of all of the ways this tool can help you! I was able to generate text dependent questions from an online article excerpt, write an IEP report, compose an email, and provide rich feedback- in seconds!

Within a short period of time, I SO appreciate these time saving AI tools! Teachers deserve a personal assistant and here we finally have one at our finger tips! It also seems that it is only the beginning for {language} teachers- I am curious, which is your favorite?!?!

Please share with me below! 🙂

*We will be exploring this technology further with our theme: Leading with Culture through CI at our Lo Logramos Summer Strategies Virtual Camp beginning in August!

To learn more & reserve your spot, please visit: tinyurl.com/lologramos23

Mix it up! Let’s play some games! 🤩

No-tech games are a great way for your students to review, connect and learn with one another. Chances are if you add a game element to anything that you do in class, it will immediately spark some curiosity and enthusiasm amongst your students! In addition to the many online game platforms (some of my favorites include: wordwall.net, quizlet, quizziz, blooket or peardeck flashcard factory), taking a step away from the screen is also a good idea.

Sticking to some fundamental topics, I have created the following “game boards” with lots of images and opportunity for open-ended responses & ways for students to “level up” their language use! They are available on my newly created TpT page ☺️

La hora / Telling Time 🕟

Mis emociones / Emotions 🥺

El tiempo y mi ropa preferida / Weather & Clothing Preferences 🌦

Mis actividades favoritas / Favorite Activities ⚽️

Lugares en mi comunidad / Places in my Community 🏦

*Running Dictations for all of the above units

Each packet comes with a game board full of images (Spanish/English), 20 vocabulary flashcards with “bombas”, a “roll the dice” page, a few extension activities and individual flashcards of each of the images. I also created a “bundle“ option if you are interested in downloading all of these topics!

Here is how I like to use each:

GAME BOARDS (you will need dice*)

Working in groups of at least three students, students roll the dice to move their “chip or token” on the board to a different spot. Once they land on that box, they can use the vocabulary in different ways, here are some suggestions:

Novice Mid: Identify the vocabulary word

Novice High: Use the vocabulary word in a sentence

Intermediate Low: Create a question for the group based on the vocabulary word

Intermediate Mid: Provide a definition of the vocabulary word

There are some spaces where students can lose a turn or jump ahead on the board. You can set a timer for seven to ten minutes and whomever is furthest along/reaches the end, is your winner!

BOMBA (you will need empty tissue boxes*)

Students can play in groups of three to four and you will need to print the cards/cut out the individual cards in advance. You can throw in a few or many bombas or bombs to keep the game interesting.

Using an empty tissue box, students must grab one of the cards and correctly identify the vocabulary word. And, also similar to the game board, you can have students level up their use of the target language by trying any of the above in addition to simple vocabulary identification. If the student identifies the image correctly, they get to keep the card and that equates to “one point”. If the student draws one of the bombas or bombs, they have to put all of their cards back into the tissue box and start from zero points. For this game, I like to set a timer for at least ten minutes to give everyone an opportunity to go at least a few times & win back their cards if they lose it to a bomba/bomb pull.

*An alternate way to play if you are unable to locate enough tissue boxes is to have students simply pile up all of the cards (mixed up) and have them face down. As they turn over each card, they must identify the vocabulary word correctly & can keep the point. But if a bomb is drawn, they have to put their cards back into the pile, face down and start again.

ROLL THE DICE (you will need dice*)

Rolling both dice at the same time, students will “land” on a particular image and can identify, create a sentence, create a question or provide a definition of the word. They can also describe the image using context clues as an additional way to practice the vocabulary. You can also have students practice writing instead of speaking with this activity and the goal may be to create at least ten sentences using the images.

BUZZ IN, PARTNER/PASS, TRUE/FALSE, RELAY RACE, RUNNING DICTATION or UNFAIR GAME with INDIVIDUAL FLASHCARDS*

BUZZ IN: Divide the class into two teams, each team sends up a representative for each round. Students place their hands on their head and there is a buzzer located between the two students. They must “buzz in” the correct response to win a point for their team. The teacher displays one flashcard, the students must either identify, create a sentence/question or provide a definition to earn a point for their team.

PARTNER/PASS: I like this game as a simple warm up or closure activity. Each student has their own individual flashcard and they must rotate around the room, identifying what they see displayed by their partner and then swap (as long as they both correctly identify the image). Students try to swap as many times as possible within a five to seven minute time limit.

TRUE/FALSE: The students are divided into four teams and they each have their own stack of individual flashcards. They hold up their flashcard to the class and make a statement (it can either be true or false) about the image. Their peers can “buzz in” their response or use wipe board to reply with either true or false to earn the point for their own team.

RELAY RACE: Students are divided into at least four teams, each team has one marker (*different color) and each team has their own individual flashcards (5-7 cards). Students must race to different areas of the classroom (I recommend hanging up the long post it paper) and create sentences using their individual flashcards. The first team to create all of their sentences (and they are correct) win!

RUNNING DICTATION: Students work with a partner and must correctly identify what is posted in the hallway. One student is considered the “runner” while the other student must remain in the classroom & scribe. They can also swap roles after a few minutes, so each student gets a chance to go in the hallway or write. The student in the classroom has six or eight blank boxes that they must correctly fill to match what is in the hallway. The teacher can post the individual flashcards with different numbers outside of their classroom. Make sure you keep your doors wide open, as students tend to bump into each other with this game!

Running Dictations: Various Themes/Template

UNFAIR GAME: I learned about the Unfair Game thanks to attending one of Martina Bex’s workshops. You can also learn more by visiting The Comprehensible Classroom.

Divide the class into two, three or four teams. The teacher holds the stack of individual flashcards face down and shows one team one card at a time. *Behind each card, the teacher has added a stickie note with either + points or – points. If the team correctly identifies the vocabulary word (uses it in a sentence, creates a question, provides a definition, etc.) they can either choose to keep the points or give the points to another team. Regardless if the students keep or give the points away, they have the chance of either ending up with positive points or negative points, which is why this game is so unfair! Make sure you have a student help keep track of all of the points for each team, it can become a bit confusing!

*Each game packet contains some extension activities as well, to help reinforce the vocabulary and give students the opportunity to use the vocabulary with target structures and in new ways!

I hope to have given you some new ideas or perhaps helped remind you of the many fun ways you can repeat & recycle vocabulary with your students but still keep it interesting, fun & engaging!

Please feel free to share any other no-tech games that you enjoy playing with our own students and add to the comments below! 🙂

Bitmoji Classrooms?

Each summer day, I explore more questions than answers with starting the new 2020-2021 school year. It has become increasingly difficult to plan with so many unknowns, however- we can all agree upon- continuing to have some form of instruction, virtually. I consider very closely how we will all keep ourselves safe, how we will engage students in meaningful language learning experiences, and which {virtual} classroom routines will become our “new normal” for the following school year.

With these wonderings, I opted to join a variety of Facebook educator groups. There was tremendous insight & sharing that I kept seeing amongst educators and I felt inspired to catch up within these forums. I also considered how an asynchronous platform would work within a Spanish class and what benefits would come from allowing students to explore a virtual space (similar to a choice board) with meaningful learning immersion opportunities for self-guided & self-paced learning.

Joining the Bitmoji Craze for Educators Facebook group has been amazing! I quickly learned that the folks within this group are incredibly creative and collaborative.  Each day, hundreds of educators share their creations & links to download/copy. I began to compile all of these shares & presentations within a Google Folder. And, I kept reading about how educators were using Bitmojis with a future virtual class setting in mind.

Here are some ideas/presentations that I have seen, thanks to the group! *Please provide credit to the Bitmoji Craze for Educators Group and do not attempt to profit by selling their (our) work on TpT. Also, please MAKE A COPY! 

–Bitmoji Classroom for Students (imagine anywhere in the school that comes to life! Culinary Arts, Music, Gymnasium, Main Office, etc.)

–“Meet The Teacher” Bitmoji Classroom 

–Classroom Libraries (with themes!)

–Virtual Field Trips / Around the World 

–“Meet the Student” Bitmoji Virtual Locker Shares

–Choice/Menu Board Spaces (Choice Board Folder)

–Bitmoji Virtual Art Gallery

So…after all of a lot of viewing examples and great ideas, I opted to create my own with the purpose of creating an asynchronous learning platform for Spanish II students at the beginning of the school year, with our first unit: Exploring Our Interests. I created a quick overview video of my below steps as well.

Step 1: Since I already had the Bitmoji app on my phone, I went to the Chrome Store and added the Bitmoji extension to my browser. This allowed me to search for my Bitmoji and later add it to my classroom space.

Step 2: Using the resources compiled from the Bitmoji Craze for Educators Facebook group, I selected a classroom background. I opted for a traditional classroom space but there are SOOOO many other great options!

Step 3: After selecting a background, I began to add furniture, posters, plants, rugs, books, etc. I wanted the space to replicate what my actual classroom may look like.  Thanks to the Bitmoji Craze for Educators group, I had a bunch of items, ready to go- without backgrounds! I compiled those generous & general resources here.

Step 4: After the new virtual space seemed to be coming together, I began to add links to the different items around the room. This would send students on virtual journeys all around Spain with what may/may not interest us in mind! I added links to articles, music, podcasts, and videos,  I’m still working on the books/library portion! Teachers have also included direct links to different online activities for students to complete. Either way, I am continuing to lead this unit with culture!

Here is my sample Spanish II classroom, please make a COPY! 

So, the “hard” part felt like it was over- my classroom space had been designed, and now, from week to week, I could make a copy and invite students to a different virtual exploration based on our unit of study, independently. I am also continuing to follow the buzz on both Facebook & Twitter with the intention of making these spaces more personalized, I would like to use unscreen.com to put my actual self into the classroom space (#BeTheBitmoji)! I so appreciated the shares & video tutorials on Twitter by Esther Park! And, I am still designing a few general options for self-paced, guided instruction through the help of SlidesMania templates such as this template…..or this template. There are so many options out there– selecting ONE and sticking with it is KEY!

Regardless of what you select as your tool for asynchronous instruction, be comfortable with using it as part of your weekly routine! Whether you select to create a Bitmoji space, weekly Google Slide agenda, or a learning module platform, be consistent with how you deliver your asynchronous expectations/ instruction and make sure your students feel comfortable accessing this space as part of your classroom routine.

Best wishes in your creative design & planning! Please feel free to share your creations below or within the Bitmoji Craze for Educators Facebook group!

 

Virtually Ending our School Year

Last week, New Jersey’s Governor Murphy announced that we would not return to our schools due to health safety concerns with COVID-19 continuing to take the lives of our loved ones across the state, the nation & around the world. It was a sad day to receive this news, but the creative brainstorming started soon after!

How can we best highlight our students & all of their progress this past year in each of our courses? 

Understanding how different our typical “end of the year” activities and celebrations would be this school year, we started sharing ideas as a team this past week. It was important to start to discuss how to conclude our courses- with reflection, growth & feedback at the heart of our conversations with students and culminating tasks demonstrating their abilities in each mode.

We opted to plan backward, with the final school “day” June 16th. Here are some ideas we came up with, please be sure to make a copy first (all documents are in view mode) and then appropriate edits to better match your course.

(1) Self-Reflection Survey (Example Document/Google Form): Many teachers connect with their students mid-way through the year and again, at the end of the school year to check-in & also have students think back on all they have learned over the course of several months together through a survey. This survey asks students to identify what they felt proud in accomplishing over the past year, which areas they would like to improve (goal setting over the summer) and also provides the teacher with feedback as to which activities students felt most successful.  Teachers also discussed adding components to the survey to share “best works” or add in speaking or writing prompt based on a past unit. This survey can be modified and you are welcome to make changes & re-share your new & evolved version of this self-reflective end of year WL survey. 

(2) Small-Group or Individual Conferences (Example Document): The one on one discussion or small group conference is an important way to connect with students, although it will have to be over a video conferencing tool such as Google Meet or Zoom. By setting up a time to connect with each of your students before the final day officially gets here, this interaction fosters the students to reflect on individual growth, progress, and their own goal-setting for over the summer/into the next school year. Consider asking students: How have you improved this year? What are you most proud of? What did you enjoy most about learning {insert language}? How do you plan to use {insert language} over the summer/in the future? What would you like to improve upon? What goals can you set for yourself that are manageable and achievable? *Students can also fill out a self-reflective survey prior to joining the conference with their teacher- if you select in the Form that the respondent always receives a copy of their responses (under settings), they can come to the meeting with that copy & you can collaboratively discuss their previous reflections. 

(3) Asynchronous multi-modal slideshow (Example Document): Let’s not call it an IPA but it does have the components of an IPA! 🙂 Wrapping up the end of the year by assessing students’ interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational skills is a great way to see how much progress they have made- given the units & topics studied throughout the year. Since trusting grade-worthy submissions can be incredibly hard right now due to our unhelpful amigo Google translate, providing tasks that students should be able to do with ease & comfort is the way to go.  Feedback through a voice recording file (tools like Vocaroo or Kaizena, Slides add-on) is also wonderful, so students can hear your feedback & hear your comments about their demonstrated progress. 

(4) Choice Board– in the modes! (Example Documents): Teachers have been creating really neat choice board activities for their students during remote instruction- Leslie Grahn (@grahnforlang) and Liliana Lopez (@senoralopez) inspired me to create a Pascack choice board (in the Google Folder). During our past team discussions, we brainstormed creating a Choice Board with each column (three total) with different activities for students to do/submit in each of the modes. Here is a Level I example below of an end of the year-mode specific choice board for students: 

Interpretive *Listening/Reading Activities	Interpersonal *Two-way speaking  or writing Activities	Presentational *One-way speaking  or writing Activities
Submit a screenshot of your top Duolingo score by Friday, June 12th!  Continue with your multi-day streak this summer!	Call a classmate using Google Meet (coordinate a good time) and record your conversation all about your family.	Create an Instagram story video highlighting how you spend your school day from home!
Select three videos to watch on LyricsTraining & submit a screenshot of your final scores.  Spanish     French   Italian   Chinese	Start a conversation using G-chat with one of your classmates, discuss your favorite activities, and what your plans are for the upcoming weekend.	Create a flyer about our school using Canva– share all about school life, classes & activities.
Go to: Audio Lingua and select at least two recordings in the target language.   Create a list of keywords from each of the recordings and write short summaries in English	Use the Flipgrid prompt provided for June 2020 and record your video response to the questions provided.  Comment on at least two classmates  videos by Friday, June 12th!	Using Google Arts & Culture, take an Art-Selfie! Install the app, click on the camera option and then select “Art-Selfie”.  Share your new selfie with your teacher and write a short paragraph about the original work of art in the language you are studying.

Additional Culminating Activity Ideas:

-Divide students into small groups, assign a review topic, students create an online game to share with peers (to play either synchronously or asynchronously)

-Collaborate by creating a Class Blog Post/Reflections/Website to end the year based on different topics

–ePortfolios : select three to four of your best work from the year, add to Google Folder, write a reflective paragraph about these best works, reflections for continuation in the language- set learning goals) 

-Letter to Ourselves: Write a letter (template thanks to SlidesMania*) to yourself in the language you are studying- all about the past & present school year, digitally submit, the teacher provides feedback

With so much going on, thank you for taking the time to read these end-of-year ideas & feel free to add comments below or share any great document back my way!

 

Virtual Learning: Here we go!

For some time, we have been amidst a culture where learning from home is becoming more common. While I appreciate learning from the comfort of my own home, the socialization piece and interaction that we get with actually connecting in person can never truly be replaced by technology. However, when schools are faced to close but still anticipated to keep students engaged in learning, teachers can continue to be highly effective in a virtual setting.

Great teachers ARE great teachers- no matter what! 

Like many of us, we are in preparation mode of what school may look like from a virtual platform. Bloggers such as Martina Bex (@MartinaBex, The Comprehensible Classroom,  SOMOS) and Samara Spielberg (@SamaraSpielberg) have started to spin their wheels and share with our online #langchat community.

Martina has shared a recent blog post titled, “Lesson plans for COVID-19 school closure / 10+ days of Spanish ” where a Spanish teacher can download a ten-day outline for their classes while Samara has put together a GoogleSlides presentation via Twitter outlining an opportunity to create an activity portfolio by earning points!

Thanks to them, I was inspired to create this presentation to highlight both synchronous & asynchronous opportunities to use technology with students.

In both 2014 and 2016, my district (@pvrhsd Pascack Valley Regional HS District) held classes virtually. Dr. Barry Bachenheimer (@drbachenheimer) and I presented about the PVR Virtual Day and our reflections on moving forward.

In 2016, the district elected to take two virtual days on Feb 2nd & Feb 3rd in between semesters. Here is an outline of what the creative teachers throughout the Family & Consumer Science, Music and World Languages department organized for students learning from home.

I’ve also conducted online World Language Methodology courses both synchronously and asynchronously throughout different semesters when teaching at Rutgers, The Graduate School of Education in New Brunswick, NJ. Here were some of my “virtual” classes using Google Slides. (Spring 2017 // Spring 2019)

Although school may not in session, the goal should continue to be an immersion of comprehensible input for students. Whether you locate the resources or create short videos/readings, students should still engage their brains in the target language for at least ten to fifteen each day and provide feedback to the teacher that they understood.

For World Language teachers, some general ideas for several weeks of a school closure:

Viewing a Show/Series or Listening to Podcast Channel: Whether you’ve located an amazing video series or a podcast channel, students can continue listening to the target language at either novice-intermediate-advanced levels. As their teacher, you know what students can handle with independence, therefore, similar to how we select novels (“easier” is always better!)- 90% of what they are listening to/watching should be understood. The activities selected to share how well they understood what they heard/watched can be tailored to their level through “choice boards“.

Authentic Videos         Videos for Children.       We Listen.

Let’s Read! Select either a whole class reader or select their own reader of choice (Free Voluntary Reading). Each day, students provide a summarization of each chapter through a written discussion post using Canvas, Google Doc, Padlet OR a video summarization through FlipGrid or Extempore. If novice students are unable to share a spoken or written summarization, students can create a visual depiction of the beginning-middle-end of the chapter and upload a photo to Google Slides or their individual Padlet space. 

As of March 10th*, I created a generic reading log for chapters 1-6 of any reader. You can view the presentation/make a copy here. Please modify to better suit your students & their reading level. I hope this helps in your planning & preparation! 

Readers from Fluency Matters, TPRS Books            Children’s Stories

Research, Reflect, Respond! Consider using the United Nation’s 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development and a Project-Based Learning model with students- engaging them in solving a real-world problem or answering a complex question. Students can decide in advance which topic is of most importance to them and opt to work collaboratively with their peers in small groups, partnerships or on their own. Either way, they can log their progress with researching the issue, reflecting on possible solutions and then using a collaborative platform to share their thoughts/responses to the problem. 

World’s Largest Lesson.      Social Justice Standards.      PBL Works.

Laura Sexton’s PBL in the TL Blog (@SraSpanglish) 

I hope that this blog is helpful for those of you who are exploring ways to transform your physical classrooms into new virtual spaces with potential school closures. Should you have any questions about any of the technology tools, ideas or information highlighted, please reach out. We are all here to support one another and work together! 

@SrtaNRodriguez   //  nrodriguez@pascack.org //  srta.nrodriguez@gmail.com