Marilyn Bolton's Digital Classroom

Marilyn Bolton's Spanish III classes truly have moved into the 21st century.

Recently named the 2008 Kansas World Language Association Teacher of the Year, Marilyn proves daily that the teacher is the most crucial element in a meaningful learning environment.  

With her typical self-deprecating humor, Marilyn admits to being "low tech" herself, but she knows that her students are digital learners who thrive when provided with digital learning opportunities.  She also knows that students can be self-directed with technology, so she does not have to "know everything" in order to create content- and technology-rich lessons for her 21st-century learners. Finally, she knows that Mary Frazier and I are available to brainstorm ideas, plan projects, and help in the classroom to ensure that projects go well.

Let's take a quick tour of Marilyn Bolton's Spanish classroom:

Exhibit A:  On her blog entitled Conversacíon Española, Marilyn posts a new topic each week, with students writing their responses in Spanish.

Exhibit B:  BHS Spanish students are creating podcasts on different topics using their cell phones.  For example, these poetry readings are amazing!

Exhibit C:  Marilyn's Spanish students are communicating and collaborating with a class in Argentina.  They "met" this group of students through ePals, which is now available on the KanEd desktop.  In fact, since all of our Buhler students already have KanEd ePals accounts set up by the media specialists, it is easy to find a classroom for communication and collaboration. 

Exhibit D:  After deciding that most of the YouTube videos on Spanish grammar were "boring," BHS Spanish III students created their own videos and posted them to YouTube. Their "Hammer on the Grammar" videos on the present subjunctive tense are included below and also are available here as the first two on the list. (Note:  If you are reading this in one of our school buildings, you will need to authenticate to view these YouTube videos.)

This ends today's inspirational tour of Marilyn Bolton's classroom. In future posts I will be featuring other Buhler teachers who are making a difference. And of course, I would love to help you move forward in creating a digital classroom for our 21st-century learners!