alice’s posterous

In an attempt to get my Spanish students to practice their Spanish outside the classroom, I decided to set up a blog for them to be able to view, read and listen good stuff related to Spanish culture and language. To also share and view their work. The main objectives of this blog are for more students to keep up with their Spanish and to also make them share their views in the "comments" section. Especially when they listen or read other students' works, they will be able to compare, assess and see how work can be improved.

At my last school, I already set up a school blog using Edublogs. I chose http://edublogs.org/ because it was free and I suppose their tag line "Blogging for students and teachers made easy"! drew the attention on me. Nevertheless, it was not that easy to set up and at times, it took a long time to download resources.

My personal blog is with http://posterous.com/ and I find it so much easier to use, especially if you're not a geek :)
All you have to do is to write an email as your post (as I am doing now) and send it to Posterous. Posterous takes care of the rest. If you want to send a video, you attach it to the email or copy the URL into your email and Posterous will show the video in your post. If you want to send a picture, just copy the image location or attach it to your email. Again Posterous will show the picture in your post. If you want to send a slideshow or a document, attach it to your email, Posterous takes care of the rest.
I did a lot a recordings this year with students using a little microphone plugged into my laptop and Audacity. I save the recordings as .mp3 files and attach them to the emails I send to Posterous. Posterous insert the audio files into the new posts and this way, students can listen to their own recordings (which they looove!).
So far so good... They are not many comments made by students yet, but I know it takes a while and it is a learning process. The blog is http://spanishblog.posterous.com/ and of course, your comments are welcome as well :)

What about you? which platform do you use to blog and why?

I am moving to Weimar, in Germany this Sunday and as you can see my house is pretty full with boxes!

So...I won't be blogging, tweeting, facebooking... for a few days until the actual moving is done and we get an Internet access (I have been told it should be quick :) I rely on German efficiency here ;)

Before I shut the Internet for a while, I just want to share a few tips I have learnt from moving. I have been moving around quite a few times in my life but this is the first time I move with a family of two little boys:

• Use a private wiki to list everything you need to do, i.e closing accounts (electricity, water...). My dear man set up a private wiki where we store all our personal/ private information.
  
• Keep all the cardboard boxes you used from your previous move. Six years ago, we moved from Zaragoza, Spain to Leicester, UK and we kept all our boxes in the attic. This time, we re-used our boxes, hence saving money and the time of having to collect new ones.
• When you pack stuff in a box, number the box and then record the number and what is inside the box in your private wiki. When you have finished doing all the packing, remember to print the boxes list (pack the printer at the last minute!). When you don't have the Internet, you still have your list printed so that when you are in your new house, you know to which rooms the boxes go.
• Send your children away! I don't know how we would have done without the help of my parents- in- law (Daniel and Nadine) who are looking after our boys in Brittany, France! They are having a great time with their grand-parents and we can pack everything on time. 

What about you? Do you have any useful tips about moving?

There are already great contributions with videos, poems, articles and websites, as well as ideas to implement reading strategies in the classroom. I have added my little contribution today with resources related to the 20th century's writer, Jean Giono and his book L'homme qui plantait des arbres (The man who planted trees).

I do believe reading books in a another language and understanding the literature of another country helps you to better learn a language and understand the culture behind the language.

So if you:

• need help with your plans for literature/reading in the classroom, click on the Discussion tab and start a thread with your question and/or comment.
• have a link to a video, song, poem, article, website, etc. for a reading, click on the century for which you have something to share and get started today!