Bienvenidos!

by Colleen Worrell, Secondary Technology Integration Coordinator

Hola by ~MtDex

During a recent conversation veteran Spanish teacher José Barretto gave a warm bienvenidos (welcome) to the HS’s 1-1 laptop program. Señor Barretto pointed out two main reasons for his enthusiasm: time and flexibility. Instead of booking the language lab once per week, he is able to plan learning experiences that give students interactive, online vocabulary and grammar practice on a daily basis, simply by having student go “lids up” on their laptops. “Before,” Señor Barretto explains, “it would take up so much class time to move from the classroom to the language lab, get students set up, trouble-shoot, and get started. In the end, it would leave us with only about 30 minutes of lab time each week.” Now, with every student having access to a laptop, he and his students can weave digital learning into any given day, more than quadrupling the opportunities for listening and reading activities on a weekly basis. Moreover, his classes move seamlessly between in-person instruction and online learning with relatively few hiccups, which translates into more effective learning. ¡Que buéno!

I had the opportunity to work with Señor Barretto and his Spanish II students on their final project a few weeks ago. Students created a visual autobiography using Powerpoint, which they presented in Spanish to their classmates. Not only were students able to practice their Spanish and demonstrate mastery of the language, they also learned about digital copyright, design principles, and best practices for delivering oral presentations (without the aid of notecards!). Both Señor and his students found the project engaging and meaningful, and look forward to exploring more ways of making the most of the 1-1 environment over the Spring semester.