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no, it's not my accent. it's my mood. my smartphone feels like an insufferable taskmaster - never leaving me room to even breathe before updating me with news of this, reminders of that, posts about OMG, and messages from people, groups, extended groups, groups i don't know how i got to be a part of, some of which i don't even know what they are. emailed reminders from school can be included in this list (though they are most useful in keeping me from falling behind) and so, here i am, with my phone next to me on airplane mode, so i can just catch up.

i just breezed through a unit on making good use of smartphones in school. with the stat of "94% of students check social media during the school day" supposedly inspiring an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" mentality, i took the bait and watched a whole 6 minute video on how embracing the use of (multiple!) devices during the school day encourages responsible use of devices and helps the students feel the 7 hours of school aren't so disconnected from the other 14 hours of their day, which, presumably, are spent "device in hand".

call me crazy but i enjoy sitting with my teachers and talking, discussing, reading, learning, and, specifically, NOT HAVING MY PHONE IN MY HAND. not to mention that, even at my slightly more mature age, i find it impossible to look at my phone (say i'm looking up something or translating something for class) and completely disregard the messages coming in from my kids, my husband, my mom (what sized snow boots do i need from Costco? she's waiting for an answer. she's in the store!), about comments on my facebook posts, whatever. i also didn't see (in the video) how these inevitable distractions are avoided or minimized. i'd love to spend a day in that school district and judge for myself. not based on the 6 minute video. call me cynical. or chalk it up to my mood.

something i learned this semester which i really took to heart was a chart about effective time management. it was divided up like this:

Not Urgent                                                                     Urgent
___________________________________________________________________________
activities that instill values;                                         unanticipated emergencies;
preparedness activities (dental visits,                          exam tomorrow (forgot to study);
studying for an exam next week, etc);                         other 'lack of planning' emergencies 
quality time spent with loved ones                              (flying tomorrow, forgot to          Important
                                                                                     update passport, etc)
                                                                                                                                       

____________________________________________________________________________

pretty much all internet surfing;                                  time about to expire on
social media (FB, instagram, etc)                                the WORDCRACK game          
video games                                                                 i started last week;      
                                                                                     halftime show at the superbowl about to start;     
                                                                                     new alert on the smartphone  begging to be                                                                                                                                                            checked                               Not Important                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

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needless to say i'm that mom who brought the lesson home and taught it to my teenage kids. now, every once in a while when it's not clear they are making the best time management choices i ask them if we are hanging out in the not-urgent/not-important corner? they absolutely love this

(*insert eye-roll here*)

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Week Ten

As the semester starts to wind down, I find myself wondering just how I will best integrate technology into my future classroom. Thinking back on some of the classes I've taught in the past, I'd say self-grading on-line quizzes to prepare for vocabulary tests would probably be well received. As would many of the great and creative tools we've covered so far.

Of course anything that gets the kids listening to English, reading in English, and writing in English would be great for fluency. Perhaps an English TV series with subtitles (like how they showed us "Srugim" with Hebrew subtitles in my Ulpan)... I'm thinking Brady Bunch with follow up questions about the moral dilemmas faced by kids in the 1970s.

Speaking of the previous century...

I searched my name on Google Scholar to make myself feel good - more than 30 citations of some riveting economic research I was privileged to be part of!

Back to the current day and age, inspired by the United Nations lack of understanding about the Middle East, and Israel in particular, I used the "Simple English Wikipedia" tool to see if maybe a search about Israel could help them. In fact, I think it could help them. A lot.

Until next time....

(Go on, click on it)

But wait... there's more. Raised in Israel, on Brady Bunch episodes and lots of Google Searches, my very own English speaking daughter has helped me with one more fun tech tool.... Prezi.

Week 9 - A Top Ten List

Top Ten Things I Love About Learning English In An Israeli Teaching College for Women

10. Is anyone old enough to remember that thing about getting 200 points just for bubbling in your name correctly on the SATs? I am a native speaker of English in a program filled with non-native speakers. 200 feeling smart points every day, baby. Every single day.

9. Lot's of young newly married classmates means sometimes during attendance this happens:
"Yael?"
"Yael's not here - she gave birth over the weekend"

Even better is that during break, in the atrium, in any direction, I get to see babies. Babies! All around me! If you know me, you know that my Achilles Heel is babies.

8. My awesome teachers teach English using Supertramp and Rod Stewart Songs, Land of the Lost Pakuni linguistics, and classic I Love Lucy clips.

7. Being that Israel officially teaches British English, I often feel like I am learning (British) English as a Second Language. I am storing up expressions like "dead lucky" and "I could do for some more tea" alongside my cache of unused present perfect sentences (I've just seen the Queen!) for that inevitable moment when I am tested in "British". Also, I now feel the pain of anyone learning any kind of English as a Second Language. Ouch!

6. I get to send great YouTube clips like this one to my Phonetics teacher. Class participation was never so fun!

5. Special family time (check out my little story builder exercise starring some of my crazy kids)

4. Doing my part for the neglected step-child of Israeli English with my "Make American English Great Again" grammar quiz

3. gurgling baby noises in class. this comforts me when when my classmates make fun of the way I say "IMPORTANT". For the record, I do NOT speak like this!!!

2. fun homework like writing this blog

1.  did i mention babies?