Back to school night Power Point

This presentation introduces the 21st Century Skills and how they can be implemented in the classroom. Although there are many ways that I can many of the 21st Century Skills being used, I chose to do an activity that focused on the strand of Learning and Innovation skills, which I think are very critical in the foreign language classroom. All of the skills which include critical thinking and collaboration with other students are skills that will be used constantly in the classroom. Students will be challenged daily to think critically about culture and various points of views as well as many other issues.

The activity focuses on students doing some brainstorming prior to watching a short film on what they feel the traits are of a perfect/ideal mother. They are to analyze what mothers are like and what it means to be a mother. They will then watch a short film in which they will synthesize connections between what they said and what is shown and interpret the information being seen. After the film, they are to decipher what they saw and solve the character's problem which is presented at the end of the film. They are to do this in a group work which will demonstrate their ability to work collaboratively. I think this a great activity that not only involves critical thinking and problem solving but has the integration of technology as well. Lesson plans like these involving these skills would be common in my Spanish classroom and the use of technology only enhances the lessons even more.

Podcast response

For my podcast I chose to do a vignette of the book The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. I chose this book to focus on for the podcast because its one that is crucial that high school students read, whether it is in Spanish or English class, since it teaches the typical stereotypes and racial profiling that Latinos deal with in the United States. Its also one that is filled with small vignettes, which made it easier to choose one and read it on the podcast.

The podcast is in Spanish and what I chose to do was read a Vignette entitled "A Rice Sandwich" and have students listen to me read it. Students are to then put themselves in the same situation as the main character in the book. They are to write their responses and record their own podcast as to what they would do the same or differently from the main character in her difficult situation in that chapter. I think that this is such a good activity for the students because it allows to see things from a different perspective.  They can see what many latinos go through (their struggles, the stereotypes, etc) and learn that things are not always as they seem. It allows for them to integrate themselves more into the latino culture by allowing them to understand its citizens a bit more.

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