Introductions

Greetings!
For those of you who do now know me: my name is Dani Matern.  I am an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher Fitchburg, Massachusetts.  I have originally created this group as a forum for information that I will share based on the class that I am taking with the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL)--once the class is over I hope to continue this blog as I learn more about my trade.  In this class we have received some great information about technology that can serve us in the classroom for teaching, planning purposes, and collaboration with other teachers.  I know that many of you teach in a small school, but that does not mean that it is easy to get together to plan across domains or collaborate in your teaching.  Perhaps that is not something that you have considered in the past. As educators we know that our students need to make connections in their learning, they way that they need to make connections in their lives.  Some of this technology can help both us and them work toward the goals of a higher education.

Please respond with your thoughts on any post, questions about the post, or how you could apply the information to your practice.  You may decide that the information does not suite your students needs or your needs as a teacher. If that is the case, please share that information. Any and all information is welcome.

Thank you so much for participating! Here is your first post on technology:

Through CAL I learned about an interactive video conferencing website that allows multiple users to not only chat face to face on the internet, but view presentations, view webinars, and share documents.  I have discovered that this can be used when planning with colleagues from the comfort of my home and in my most comfortable clothes!  This web conferencing also allows those on vacation, sick leave, or maternity leave the option of participating in important meetings that they might have otherwise missed.  In addition, it can be used by students for collaboration on group projects, whether that be from the comfort of their own home, or collaborating in separate classrooms. 

Please check it out at the link below and share your thoughts in the thread!

https://zoom.us/