world language laboratory » Photos

First Film Project in the Lab

Allison Weiss — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:18:30 +0000

I’ve been hoping students and teachers would take advantage of all the cool iLife ‘08 technology we have here in the Project Area. Today, four of Ms. Spaltro’s Latin class students came up to edit footage from the assassinations of Ceasar before break. I can’t wait to see the results!

Singing in German

Allison Weiss — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 10:05:09 +0000

Frau Steinbarth’s class came in a few days before break to sing no less than 13 different songs in German that they had just learned the week before. They did an excellent job and we will be posting their songs shortly on WLDX. For now, here’s a sample.

zwei-zungenbrecherlieder.mp3

Think SUNSHINE

Allison Weiss — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 09:27:01 +0000

I can’t believe that just two months ago I was gah gah about the snow. I thought it was so BEAUTIFUL… silly me. The white stuff might LOOK harmless as it falls, but all it does is make it harder for school/business life to go on as usual. Athletic events are being canceled. Commutes are dangerous and tiring. People just want to sleep… And I’m told that Lab hasn’t closed for a single day in 19 years because… because… what would the parents do who work at the University? ummmm… okay. I can handle that.

STAY HOME. That’s right. Everybody just stay home. It would do us good. Even parents, teachers, and staff need an unexpected day off now and again. It’s high time. So if it’s going to keep coming, by golly, let it come. I want 20″ tonight.

This is me, dreaming in Caribbean Booth (roatanbeach.jpg image from flickr Creative Commons):

Lost & Found

Allison Weiss — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:27:46 +0000

It must be the snow. Or something. But we’re starting to see a lot of flash drives, text books, papers, and trash left in the WLL. I put a table of Lost & Found items out in the hallway last week and things are slowly disappearing - although I can’t tell if they’re going back to their rightful owners… Best way to avoid loosing something at the lab is to check your station carefully before you leave. For utopian results, remember your 3Ps…

St. Nick has a question for you!

Allison Weiss — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:27:45 +0000

Mme. Jackson had a very special guest last week. A Farver-St. Nick visited all the way from France! St. Nick had lots of questions and directions for the 3rd graders: What is 8+7? What is the color of your shirt? Your friend’s shirt? Your hair? How do you draw a picture of big lips, St. Nick, or Mme. Jackson? All the good kids got something special to take home. (Luckily, they were all good.)

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ComicLife Craziness!

Allison Weiss — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:40:12 +0000

Sr. Reubelt and his 7th Grade Spanish classes are having a blast with ComicLife. Soon, I will feature a whole collection of interesting comic strips made by students throughout the World Language Department.

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Spanish Class Idol

Allison Weiss — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 11:21:42 +0000

Ms. Susan Joseph did a listening comprehension song activity and used DiLL to communicate instructions to her students. I did something new by signing in as a student myself so that she and I could have a two-way conversation whenever she needed a little coaching. I’m not 100% computer geek, but I’d say I’m about 30%, meaning whenever I can avoid walking across the room by using technology, I do. =)

Here’s a screen shot of me talking to Ms. Joseph from my desk in the corner:

And here are some clips of a Spanish Class Idol:

spanishclassamericanidol2.mov

spanishclassamericanidol.mp4

I think this is going to catch on… stay tuned…

Classic Film Club

Allison Weiss — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 16:52:29 +0000

The Classic Film Club came in today to watch part of a film during lunch. They had a good showing: 17 students snuggled in the Welcome Area, munching on lunch and enjoying Chinatown. Presidents Emily and Sofia may be willing to add foreign films to their viewing program, which is great news, since I was hoping to get a group of students in here during lunches to familiarize themselves with French, German, Spanish, and Chinese cinema.

Meanwhile, Becky López’s class works on a class project in the Instructional Area…

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WLL eMac Display

Allison Weiss — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 21:05:52 +0000

I’ve been learning a little bit about qtz composer, enough to modify a few screen savers and spice up life in the hallways a little…thanks to support associates for getting me set up…and thanks to tumblr.com for making it easy to create RSS feeds of French, German, Spanish, Latin, and Chinese vocabulary…

Sun in the Corner

Allison Weiss — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 21:29:35 +0000

Several students, with the help of Computer Science teacher Baker Franke and Math teacher Farukh Khan, have been working on setting up a cluster of SunBlade servers that were donated by the Zoology department at the University. They’re starting the setup in the WLL until they can find a permanent home somewhere else in the school. The completed cluster will be able to compute prime numbers, run complex mathematical problems, and do supercool scientific computing. We hope that the Space Goddesses will look favorably upon them…

Halloween Parade: View From the Staircase

Allison Weiss — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 11:11:42 +0000

I think Lab has a monopoly on cute kids.

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Fun Internet Vocab Games in French!

Allison Weiss — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:21:45 +0000

Mme. Jackson put together a wonderful collection of internet games that help her 3rd graders practice the vocab they’ve been learning in class. Today they were practicing parts of the body. Take a peak.

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Famous Hispanics : Hispanos Famosos

Allison Weiss — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:00:15 +0000

Ms. Guerrero’s class created poster boards about various famous hispanic personalities. Check out their work below.

Moroccan delight!

Allison Weiss — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 12:44:33 +0000

Vicki Schneider and Diane Jackson’s 7th grade French classes met for a fabulous Moroccan meal prepared by each of the students. What variety of delicious and diverse platters! Kudos to teachers and students for all their careful preparation.

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October Faculty Development

Allison Weiss — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 23:06:04 +0000

WLD Faculty met on Tuesday for our first technology workshop. We reviewed how to use Spotlight, connect to the different file servers, and played with a program called Comic Life. We also played a game of Techno-Bingo to review important training items from the Fall Introduction. Where there is chocolate, there is joy.

Here are a few of the comic life strips we made as samples:

The idea is to have one from each teacher by the end of next week for their profiles on this blog - so check up on us in coming weeks to see fascinating interpretations of ourselves vis-a-vie Comic Life!

p.s. Students can play with this tool at any point during the school day to make target language comics in the lab…

help with the three peas, please

Allison Weiss — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:39:48 +0000

It’s a silly thing, but it’s so helpful when students leave their workstations as nice (or better) than they found them. I’ve come up with a 3P slogan to as a reminder that we can all leave a legacy of cleanliness [Congratulations! You found the clue. Now search for “how many computers are in the lab” in the blog search box].

This side of messy:

This side of nice:

This side of lovely (note microphones pointing up):

teachers & students at work

Allison Weiss — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:37:50 +0000

Here are some clips of teachers focused on planning great classes and students focused on learning through audio exercises in the lab. We had a very nice sub the last couple of days, stepping in for Becky López. She enjoyed the images on the AppleTV screen saver so much, she even wrote a poem and haiku about it! I won’t embarrass her by name, but you know who you are. Thank you for your reflections.

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MOVING MURAL

Upon the wall, the pictures dance,
I love the way the move;
Drawn from the museums of the world,
Art Institute, the Louvre,

Or other places where fine and
Beautiful things should be–
And now they’re in a language lab
On a wall screen TV.

Paintings and sculpture, photographs
Pass in procession here.
Calligraphy and pottery,
The images so clear.

Art has the power to free the mind,
to replenish the soul–
Even while kids sit at Macs
“Hablando español”

Such unexpected beauty here.
I hope the kids can see.
I hope the share some of the joy
These pictures bring to me.

==================

JUXTAPOSITION

(Haiku Sequence of Attention)

Masterpieces flash
On the wide screen TV.
Intent kids don’t see.

With their headphones on,
They hear Spanish in the lab
And they answer back.

Each has one small screen,
Access to the Internet;
Alone together.

Silently they change:
Paintings, sculptures, photographs,
Fine art of the world.

Still the children work–
Or they talk, oblivious.
Images move on.

This is how it is–
There is beauty close at hand;
Some will never see.

first day of school

Allison Weiss — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 19:46:23 +0000

Yesterday was a slightly unusual day, since classes were all 10 minutes long to accommodate the assembly and summer book discussion groups. But I did meet a few more World Language Teachers (I think I’ve met everyone now) and enjoyed listening in on one of the groups. Here are some pics from the first day of school in the lab. Becky López has already reserved the instructional area for this Friday afternoon and Annette Steinbarth for Thursday, so stay tuned for some shots of the World Language Lab in action. And I’m happy to report that several teachers have already approached me about getting together for one-on-one training. Fantabulous.