Since I'm leaving on June 15, 2008 to teach English as a Foreign Language in the Galapagos Islands, 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, for two months, I thought it might be useful to find out the history of the islands and useful information cultural information that I could use to integrate myself into their culture and use in my teaching while I'm there. Searching on Google, I first entered: "Galapagos Islands" OR "Islas Galapagos" (as they are called in Spanish) so I could get a full listing of both English and Spanish websites available to me because I am able to read both languages fluently.

Using this search only, of course 241,000 hits came up on the web with this criteria. The first four were Wikipedia, but I didn't want to use that material, so I browsed through other websites and came across the Ecuadorian Ministry of Tourism, and looking further into the website even though it contained solely things for tourists (of which I will not be because I will be living there) I did find a Ecuadorian dictionary of slang words they use there, something very useful to someone in my situation!

I know Charles Darwin had a lot to do with the Galapagos Islands, but I wanted to find out more about his studies there, specifically when he was there and what he found. So, I entered "Charles Darwin" AND "Galapagos Islands" and found this video where I learned about the Charles Darwin Foundation and all they are doing to save the tortoises and other plant and animal habitats throughout the islands in the name of Charles Darwin.

Being able to use the specific operators helped me to narrow my search functions significantly and did not bring up the usual "Visit the Galapagos Islands Today on our cruise ship vacation websites", which is very comforting.

Finally, I wanted to find the famous book that Charles Darwin wrote on his experience in the Galapagos Islands on natural selection, called: On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. This book was published in 1882, but that's all I've ever known about it. When I typed in, "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection" into Google, the entire book came up! You can read the entire book on Google Books. I thought this was remarkable.

Thus, my search of The Galapagos Islands is not over, but I feel confident that I am more prepared to go and teach, and search if I have to, information on the subjects that I will need to if need be!

Using RSS Feeds, students have the opportunity to track changes in the political reign of a country throughout the marking period, semester and year, in this, news on Cuba*. This will lead to a better understanding of the country, discussions on comparisons and contrasts between countries in Latin America and Spain, as well as using the RSS Feeds to create a final project.

There are many newspaper websites available to students that give up to date information about Cuba and it's political stability, or rather, instability, depending on how you look at it. There are also many blogs available, which offer a real perspective on native views (uncensored) to what is happening in Cuba at the moment. Blog for Cuba is a good starting point for students searching for political information that is uncensored by the government.

The best news website that was found is Granma, a Cuban newspaper based in Habana, the capital of Cuba. They offer good information on the politics of Cuba, as well.

The final project will focus on creating a presentation of their findings throughout the year, which means they will have to keep track of the articles throughout the year to use them as a reference to be able to showcase their knowledge gained from this exciting adventure.

*Note: Because BBCMundo.com can not be specifically searched for Cuba, students will gain an understanding of how to use RSS Feeds and search for topics using titles of articles of interest. This will provide more ample opportunity for learning.




Using RSS Feeds in my Future Classroom

When thinking about how I could use RSS Feeds in my future teaching, there were so many opportunities that came to mind!

From a teacher standpoint: I am able to post items on the blog for my students to keep up to date with such as homework assignments in case a student is absent, so they don't always have to come to me and ask me what is due; they can just get the update themselves (I won't have to hold their hand!) In the same manner, I can post these homework assignments for the parents to get the update if they are subscribed to my RSS Feed and see what is due in the future, so they have an idea of what their students should be working on. This is ideal so the parents can stay up to date and happy, and won't be contacting me to make sure their student isn't lying to them every day because they don't have any homework (so the student says!)

Also, I am able to professionally keep up to date with other teachers from around the world through other's blogs and professional websites and get ideas for classroom activities as well as express my opinions on a variety of topics such as classroom management, discipline, teaching methods, etc. It allows me to connect to certain areas of websites that I'm interested in, instead of having to connect to the entire blog I may be able to just be a part of certain threads that I am interested in.

From a student standpoint: The students are able to use RSS Feeds to their advantage when doing research projects and homework, as they can search for items of interest and keep up to date with information at the click of a button. Also, as I said before, the students can subscribe to my blog to get updates, as well as other students blogs or the school blog to make sure they stay up to date with class work, get necessary information about important dates in the future, and get all the juicy news that I'm sending out that they'll want to be the first to know about!

I'm also very excited to say that students are able to subscribe to Spanish speakers blogs using RSS Feeds and anytime they are interested in posting something back to them they can do so. This may be considered extra credit in my classroom, or just highly looked upon in it.

There are many, many ways that blogging can be effective in a Spanish classroom! I plan to use a few of these ideas when it comes to my own classroom and I hope that you can benefit from them, as well!

A teacher can create a blog, and students can post and tag (so the teacher knows who posted and can keep track) the blog in Spanish and respond to each other's posts in Spanish. This promotes a strong classroom community as well as a writing and communication skills between students. This will also allow students to get to know each other better. It's good to allow the students to create their own topics so they will stay interested in keeping the blog updated and active.

Another good way to utilize a blog in the classroom is to for the teacher to post homework assignments and updates on what's going on in the classroom or several classrooms for the parents to check for their students so they can stay up to date, as well. I believe that the parents will be grateful as long as the teacher keeps the blog up to date with the assignments and classroom information. For example, if there is a project due in a month, the teacher can let the parents know so they can get a jump start on it.

Finally,  students can read the blogs of Spanish speakers as an assignment and hopefully become intrigued and continue to read them and comment on them as well. Here is an example of one of these blogs that I have read and sometimes respond to. It is very interesting to get a discussion going with a native speaker of Spanish! I hope my students can benefit just as much as I have and continue to do!

I have been reading up on some of the blogs that other folks have been writing around the world, and I discovered one that is very interesting! A young boy, a 15 year old, writes on technology he finds interesting and how it could be applied to the classroom. He is so intellectual and his writing is very, very mature for his age! I find it supremely genuine that he is interested in bettering the public school system with technology. His blog, Newly Ancient, is clean-cut, easy to navigate, and he also includes a lot of personal information about his life, which is typical for a young man of his age. He also raised money for a cause he believed in and I find that very admirable.

Over winter break, I was able to visit Key West with mi novio (¿Cómo se dice en inglés?) , who's from Tampa, FL, where we celebrated New Year's on Duval Street. On the way down to the centro of Key West, we met a man on the bus from Mérida, México, located in the Yucatán Península, and he told us all about his life and how he came to live in Key West.

Right before midnight came, there were over 10,000 people on la calle! Key West is known for their conch shells, so there they drop a gigantic conch shell for New Year's Eve! We were standing outside the restaurant/bar where they did it and it was amazing! You can see the photo to the left  after the shell dropped. Afterwards, it was mayhem getting home!