District Administration - February 2009 - (Page 32)

Their Speaking Language “This helps them overcome their fear of speaking.” —Bertha Barajas, teacher, Corona-Norco (Calif.) Unified School District language-learning software options available on the market, including Auralog’s Tell Me More line and programs manufactured by Berlitz. The Corona-Norco (Calif.) Unified School District uses Rosetta Stone for its ELL students and at two schools with dual-immersion programs, where Englishand Spanish-speakers are taught together beginning in kindergarten, says Bertha Barajas, a teacher on special assignment for the district’s ELL students. As part of supplemental instruction, the Spanishspeaking students in the dual-immersion program use the English Rosetta Stone program, while English speakers use the Spanish version. The students do exercises on the computer “pretty much at their own pace,” though they must answer various test questions correctly before proceeding to the next lesson, she says. ELL students use microphones into which they speak answers, which are then assessed by the computer program for pitch, intonation and other factors. A meter on the screen indicates how well they have pronounced their answers, based on a computer analysis of the children’s vocal output. Students may feel more comfortable speaking into a computer than they would speaking in front of an entire class, where they may be shy and afraid of making mistakes. “This helps them overcome their fear of speaking,” Barajas says, which tends to be one of the biggest obstacles to language learning. MP3 Players When it comes to teaching the MP3 player generation, world language teachers can turn to Apple iPods. Brian Reynolds, a Spanish teacher at North Olmsted High School in the North Olmsted (Ohio) City Schools, uses iPod Nanos in his class for tests and during listening and speaking exercises. Reynolds loads audio CDs provided with the classroom textbooks onto his computer and downloads them to the students’ iPods. Each student can listen to the audio exercises, pausing them or replaying them, which is useful during a test when students can replay a portion of an audio prompt that they didn’t understand. In a class without iPods, the teacher would play the audio prompt over a sound system a couple of times, depriving students of the chance to control the audio sequence. “They claim that it really helps them a lot,” Reynolds says about the use of iPods. “If nothing else, it lowers testing anxiety” by allowing students to feel more in-control of the exam. The school also purchased special microphones for the iPod Nanos, which allow students to record their voices as they Students Complaining of Slow Internet? Combine inexpensive DSL/Cables broadband connections to accelerate your Internet with a Peplink Balance Multi-WAN Router. Enhance Students Learning Experience with Increased Network Speed. The Peplink Balance 710 can help your school to keep up with the increasing Internet bandwidth demand. Just add new DSL/Cable connections, and the Peplink Balance Multi-WAN Router will utilize all links to route traﬃc using Load Balancing Algorithms. Plus, your can optimize your network ﬂow by using its Traﬃc Manager policies. Now every student can work online more productively! Save Money without Losing Reliability. Lower your budget immediately by cutting your leased line or any other expensive Internet connections. Buy a Peplink Balance Multi-WAN Router, switch to a combination of low-cost Internet connections, and your Internet expense will be reduced dramatically. In case any link fails, the Balance will automatically reroute traﬃc to the healthy connections, giving you the Internet reliability your school has never experienced before. Even more aﬀordable with Education Discount! Please visit: http://www.peplink.com/edu-discount/ www.peplink.com 32 February 2009 District Administration http://www.peplink.com http://www.peplink.com http://www.peplink.com/edu-discount/

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District Administration - February 2009 Contents Advertiser Index Editor's Letter News Update Security Curriculum Crisis Response Supervisor's Opinion The Rise of the Virtual Teacher Speaking Their Language Alternate Transportation Routes Opinion The Aftermath of the New 403(b) Regulations How Well Does This Web Site Work? Problem Solution New Products Product Focus Professional Opinion

District Administration - February 2009

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