Viva+Mexico+Page+3

1. Why did you choose this lesson? Brief summary or original lesson plan design/goals of lesson. I studied in Mexico 2 times and I used to be a Spanish teacher at a private elementary school. The purpose of this lesson is to embrace the Mexican culture and have students design a web poster, reflecting various hi-lights of Mexico, from history to art, from religion to dance, from food to attractions. The original lesson plan was old and involved making several hard copy post cards. Today, our world is cyber, and so embrace the old and embellish it with the new to include some technological tools would result in a web poster.

2. Define new lesson plan design/goals of lesson The original lesson plan was old and involved making several hard copy post cards. Today, our world is cyber, and so embrace the old and embellish it with the new to include some technological tools would result in a web poster.

3. Which tool or tools did you choose to incorporate into this lesson to potentially improve it? Tools suggested to create the web poster are as follows:

// **Joongel** // [|http://www.joongel.com] "Joongel is a simple web application for searching and navigating through the most popular sources on the Internet in different categories. Our search method is based on the geographic location of the user and traffic ranking analysis from Google, Hitwise , Compete , Comscore , NielsenNetratings , Quantcast and more. We created Joongel while thinking about how to make the Internet easier for you. We believe that just like us, you find the Internet to be from time to time a little bit like a jungle. Instead of presenting you with an enormous amount of scattered results from different subjects and websites, Joongel provides direct search results from the ten most viewed websites in a specific subject or subcategory. The Joongel application can be used in different platforms such as search plugins, expert websites and the Joongel main website. By using the Joongel application you are given the skills of a search expert without a learning process, you save time and you find the highest quality of information that is 100% relevant to your needs. The Joongel websites are currently running on a beta version." - Joongel Website

//**teacher TV!**// //[]///

"Following the closure of Teachers TV, the Department has signed a number of non-exclusive distribution agreements that will ensure that the 3,500 15 minute programmes in the archive will still be available to watch on-line. You can watch Teachers TV programs by clicking on one of the links below. This will take you to a distributer’s website where you will be able to stream the programme free of charge." - Teacher TV Website

//**BlinkX**// //[|http://www.blinkx.com]/// "Over 35 million hours of video to search." - BlinkX Website

//**DebateGraph**// //[|http://debategraph.org/home#61932_5]__1// "Debategraph lets us visualize and share networks of thought – making our reasoning transparent and open to collaborative and iterative reflection, questioning and improvement. Our collaborators so far include: CNN, the White House, the Prime Minister's Office, The Independent, and the UK Foreign Office." - DebateGraph Website

//**Webposter Wizard**// //[|http://poster.4teachers.org]/// "Quick and easy online school projects and short reports. Web Worksheet Wizard and Project Poster have combined to make Web Poster Wizard. This FREE tool allows educators to create a lesson, worksheet, or class page and immediately publish it online. Teachers can also set up classes and assign projects to students. Students complete the assignments by creating their own online projects or reports. Teachers and students can even add images and links to their pages. New Features: Centralized login for better teacher organization. Student and teacher information now in one account. Archive option keeps student projects longer than one month. Teacher Feature option creates one Web page of class' archived projects." - Webposter Wizard Website

4. Why did you choose this tool(s)? These tools are unique. They are also free. They are fast and user-friendly.

5. What standards were you using to guide your decision on this? NETS?


 * NETS Teacher Standards: #**2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS·S. a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity


 * NETS Student Standards: #**3. Research and Information Fluency Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. a. Plan strategies to guide inquiry b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks d. Process data and report results

6. Do you feel this will improve your teaching? If so, why? Hard copy post cards are outdated with today's social media outlets. It's also very snail mail. The web poster is very vibrant. It can be sent electronically in seconds. Also, unlike hard copy postal mail artifacts that cost money and time to deliver, web posters are free and fast!

7. Do you feel this will help improve student learning? If so, how and why? Yes. The internet is not only the new wave, it's revolutionary and it's the future. It's important to have students know how to access, upload, design, transfer, build, etc. knowledge online and get away from the hard copy paper trails that have limits. Online does not have limits.