Tool #11

1. There are so many tools I learned that I liked! My favorite couple were probably online timelines, wordsift, and any type of picture presentation. The ultimate site I plan to use this year will be lingt.com. I plan to start with this one first because it contains reading, writing, and speaking Latin. Students will be able to work on these in class with the netbooks, or if they are a more reluctant speaker, they can work on them in the library or at home. It has a variety of tasks that the teacher can develop, and it holds every student accountable, but they can work at their own pace.

2. I didn't think that this would change my way of thinking, but I was wrong (and it didn't even take my wife to tell me). When I first became a teacher, I loved setting up stations using equipment that was old even then. Students responded very well and enjoyed the class. As technology in the school waned, I drifted away from this style, as technology outside of school vastly outpaced school districts. I am very excited that we are now "caught up" to outside technology! I was afraid I wouldn't find it easy to learn or even useful, but I was certainly wrong. I won't necessarily need to make changes, just return to the way of teaching I enjoyed years ago. Students will create a variety of products using reading, writing and speaking, which have never before been possible using this much technology.

3. I think the most unexpected outcome was how much this has excited me thinking of the new possibilities in teaching Latin! I expected to learn new skills, which I did. They will be very useful, but I am looking forward to increasing student interest and excitement to the level I now feel.