R.A.T in my classroom

Currently I am teaching Spanish for students in grades 3rd-5th. I have exposed 5th graders to tech-tools and I am looking for better ways to expose them to Web 2.0 tools. Students getting feedback from more people than just me is a benefit I see on using Web 2.0 . Since I am a traveling teacher that goes to six different schools I been limiting myself on exposing the higher grade levels to technology. I only did technology lessons with my 5th graders for two years. Than I introduced my 4th graders, show are now my 5th graders and have a better understanding of our tech tools now. I also limit myself to one tech lesson per year, because other ways I feel I back away from teaching them Spanish.


Replacement
As a teacher I hate using my time to grade papers. Yes, sometimes I get good laughs, but it usually take more time than expected.  When I have students complete simple quiz, okay, I can live with grading. When it is larger assessments Google Forms with Flubaroo are my GO-TO tools. It is convenient using this combination of tech tools to grade assessments because Google Forms puts answers in a spread sheet, then Flubaroo does the grading for me. . In the near future I would like to get organized with using Plickers for quick formative assessments.

Amplification
This past three years I have had students present information on various platforms. There  was Animoto with a combination of DropBox . Students were placed in groups and they needed to create a presentation on a Spanish speaking country. Introducing two new tools at the same time to students was an interesting hassle that I will never repeat. The following year I used Thinglink. Students assignment for Thinlink was  to create an outfits for their favorite season and label them in Spanish.   Thinglink was my first approach towards Web 2.0 because students were able to see their classmates work immediately, since they were all placed in the same class. Once they were finished they were able to comment on each others work. Since I asked them to comment in Spanish their comments were limited.  Then my school district became a Google district. All students in 5th grade and up got a Google Account, hence Google Slides  became my main source for presentations.  My 5th graders created presentations on weather reports and once again, they were asked to comment in Spanish.  Last year I created classroom accounts for  4th grade classes. All students shared the same account and they enjoyed their small intro to Google Drive. Now that they are my 5th graders I plan on adding a new presentation tool.   I have seen a few of my formal 5thgraders and they thank me for introducing  them to Google Drive because they use it a lot in Middle School.


Transformation
As a Spanish teacher I would like to pair students with virtual pen pals/keypals with students from a Spanish speaking country. I think this will help them with their Spanish skills and also increase their interest to learn a second language. They will get an authentic experience on using Spanish. Pairing up students with key pals will expand their Spanish skills more than pairing them up with pen pals because they could create an ongoing conversation on their interests  and different lifestyles. This, however, opens the doors to more stranger danger, and that is a whole different battle.