Sunday, April 19, 2009

Visit my Professional Portfolio

See my Master's portfolio and download unit designs, view other resources including my Action Research on wikis, podcasts and blogs.

http://web.mac.com/maryewindsor/

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Great Resource with Loads of Info

I have linked below another great resource with loads of good links and connections. The link below is the html site but the resource is actually in a Power Point file. If you're interested in saving the file, I would go to the site and download it. In this blog site, there is no way to upload a file. There is only the ability to link a website as a hyperlink.

I am intrigued after reading this article and looking at all the different links from it. This article discusses many sides of portfolios and has a really great link with Web 2.0 tools used as a form of an electronic portfolio.

http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:o3IwGtwMFSYJ:blogs.edutech.nodak.edu/westcentral/files/2008/12/electronic-portfolios-presentation.ppt+Danielson,+C.,+%26+Abrutyn,+L.+(1997).+An+introduction+to+using+portfolios+in+the+classroom.+Alexandria,+VA:+Association+for+Supervision+and+Curriculum+Development.&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a

Additional Resource

I have been researching my next AR and I have been finding a plethora of resources. Here is the latest resource I found. In this article, the process for researching and developing electronic portfolios is explained. I found this article very helpful in giving background information and some in-depth explanations.

http://www.cjlt.ca/index.php/cjlt/article/viewArticle/92/86

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Curriculum Implementation

I have been asked by my department chair to investigate the probability of integrating electronic portfolios in the world language department for either next year or the following. I'm excited to try out the portfolios in Spanish 4 next year.

Monday, March 23, 2009

MOOs?

Here is a link to an article that I found describing the use of online portfolios and using the portfolios for cultural studying. This idea would significantly increase the incorporation of the cultural component of language teaching and learning.

http://web2.adfl.org/ADFL/bulletin/v32n1/321018.htm

Webquest

In Spanish 3, we just tried doing a webquest for the movie, Maria Full of Grace. We included a variety of questions in the webquest. We used prior knowledge questions, basic knowledge questions and higher-order thinking questions. So far I've been impressed with the students and their ability to do a webquest in the target language. They are to research the ten questions, answer them in Spanish with as much detail as possible, and then write a short profile including three important facts from their research. This is the first time that I've used a webquest in this manner. I've used them in the past for different vocabulary themes like clothing, travel, etc.

Here's the link to creating a webquest of your own or finding ones already made.
http://webquest.org/index.php

In the Classroom

As part of my action research and also as part of my professional goals this year, I have been implementing more technology in my classes. In the last few months, I have had my students use their online school "wiki", Edline. Edline allows my students to upload their work and for me to upload work to be downloaded. I have assigned my students homework assignments, essays, writing projects and other assessments to be uploaded to the website. I have saved all of these assignments on the wiki. My plan is to use these assignments to form an online portfolio for each student. I am still in the process of researching what the best sites for online portfolios are but am hopeful of finding a site to host these portfolios by the end of the year. If successful, I plan on implementing a form of online portfolios in the future.