Rounding Third

And heading for home! We are closing in on the end. As I mentioned previously it has been one of the most informative courses I have ever taken.One of the projects that we completed that I didn't expect to be as useful as it might be was the audio recording/Screen Cast. After completing the assignment, my head definitely filled with possibilities for using more audio lessons in my classroom.  Teaching ESL,  I can easily see the benefit of students learning how to record themselves and using each recording they make as benchmarks in their progress. I am considering getting the students to record themselves on a weekly basis so that at the end of the two terms they can see if they have made any improvement in their pronunciation, intonation, and fluency. I like the idea of using Screen casts a bit more than just plain audio as I think the students will have more to say if they can play off the visual cues provided by computer screen. Along the same lines, having my students do a video project will also provide them with an opportunity to reflect back over time to see if they have improved.

I also see myself making more audio recordings and screen casts for my students. I can set up a Dropbox or Google docs site so students can at anytime go into it and view or listen to pre-recorded lessons. I can provide my students short lessons( couple minutes) and they can review these lessons at their leisure. Our students are beginner level so they can benefit from having access to the materials at home. I also sometimes have students tell me that they have problems with the speed of my voice or my accent. Making recordings that they can review will allow them to listen to me more frequently which will hopefully lead them to understand me better in class.

There are many ideas floating around in my head to improve the quality of my classrooms lessons, I am going to be stuck for time to get everything done. But, after seeing the way my students have reacted to just a few of the tools we have learned over the duration of the course, I am determined to totally revamp the way I approach my classes.