Languages from a Distance

Hmmm. How to create digital artifacts that would demonstrate all three modes of communication? That is the question! It is clear how to find artifacts for a) presentational writing and b)presentational speaking but for these other three not as obvious: c) interpretive reading d) interpretive listening e) interpersonal speaking.

Now I think I know what would be considered valid examples of c,d, and e. But how do I get evidence of them in a digital format? Any ideas?

I’ll brainstrorm a few but if anyone could help or steer me in the right direction, that would be great. Thanks!

interpersonal speaking
Student submits an audio file of a recorded, unscripted, unrehearsed conversation. Could be on telephone or on skype if not in person.
Student submits a video of such a conversation

interpretive reading
Student copies and pastes a real-world reading segment and his or her interpretive response to it.

interpretive listening
Student submits his or her response to a clip of spoken target language. The audio file is included.

These ideas (some more than others) require significant planning and legwork beforehand of course!

There must be a mistake. I’m a Virgo. Virgos are meticulous, neat, well organized and especially fastidious when it comes to finances. Ahmmm…that is –unfortunately– SO not me!

I’m a teacher. Another mistake somewhere? After all…teachers relish and excel at multitasking. I dread it and am less than stellar at it. I love a morning when I can think about ONE thing.

Why am I writing this? Well, I’m at it again. Doing fourteen things at once and feeling like I’m not quite covering the bases… The new course is coming out soon. And therefore when a little serendipity comes my way, it is most welcome!

I’m still working on a way to incorporate LinguaFolio into the plan. I was so excited about the prospect of being part of the LinguaFolio online pilot. It was the answer to my prayers I was sure. How much more manageable an online option would make incorporating LF in K12 Distance Learning courses! How difficult a paper-and-pencil LinguaFolio would be to monitor over the miles and miles that separate me from my students.

Well, I just learned today that the online LF is not gonna happen this year. And for the whole afternoon I was trying to figure out how I was going to make this work. Then I checked my twitter page and behold the following Tweet from Mandy Lindgren appeared before my eyes.

E-portfolios! That’s it! That’s what I need! I clicked the link and eventually found materials by Helen Barrett. Check out her blog entry on e- Portfolios here. She’s got an AWESOME slide show with step-by-step instructions on how to create an e-Portfolio. To access it, go here.

By referring to Helen’s instructions, I was able to develop a thinking guide (using Exploratree) that is helping me feel quite a bit more at ease with all of the concepts to consider when dealing with LF. The guide is still quite rough and definitely not finished (see below). But I’m beginning to feel like I can do this.