OFLA Tech Infographic Idea: Japanese 2

In November I decided to do a project with my Japanese 2 students where they had to use their interpersonal speaking skills as well as their presentational speaking skills.

I came upon this amazing idea accidentally, when I was scrolling through my Twitter feed and saw the following post:

"OFLA Tech ‏@OFLATech  Nov 6
Have students survey one another in the TL and report results in an infographic with http://piktochart.com  It's a free infograhic maker."

I was in the process of teaching a unit on preferences, and students had been practicing and utilizing ways to compare things and activities, as well as give opinions on items, choices, classes, hobbies, teachers, you name it. 

At first I went back and forth in my head about the possible topics I could assign, or what questions I could have the students ask each other. But then I quickly realized that I did not want to sit thorough 90 presentations on the SAME SURVEY. PLUS, this was not very student-centered. I really wanted this project to be student-driven, and like the focus of my class, I wanted students to have autonomy on choosing the topic they wanted to survey. 

Here are my instructions for this project:

I had amazing results. The students had the chance to create their own sets of questions and this led to 90 very different presentations of students' opinions, likes and dislikes, free time activities, etc.
It was personalized to what the students cared about, as well as utilized fun and
accessible technology, and was a new format of presentation instead of the usual PowerPoint or Prezi. I loved that the piktochart website allowed for Japanese fonts and typing capabilities and for the most part was pretty user-friendly.

Mostly, this project allowed students to practice language, as well as create with language, and give feedback to others. After gathering their survey data, they compiled it into an easy-to read format with small graphs and charts, and then used those visuals to GUIDE LANGUAGE PRODUCTION. 

Here is a link to an inforgaphic one of my students made. 

If you look at the infographic, there is very little text, and no full sentences. Now, of course not all of my students' work was like this example, but I really think that this format encouraged preparation at home, as well as using the visuals just as a guide instead of the typical READING ENTIRELY OFF THE POWERPOINT SLIDE ( like they do in other subjects as well.... am I right?) 

Here is a short snip bit of the same student presenting his infographic:

My takeaways from this idea are this:

• Don't be afraid to take risks with your students. This activity was new to me, and I had my worries of "what if..." and "is this possible..." etc. Your students always meet you no matter where you set the bar.
• Technology is your friend! Utilize it! Learn it! Love it! It is a big part of students' lives. If you want your lessons to be relevant, incorporate what is important to them.
• It is a lot of fun to watch students talk about what they're interested in. Relevant topics, vocabulary, and even grammar are what students WANT to learn. 
• People often ask me how my program is getting so big, and how more and more students are taking Japanese, where it is often seen as the more difficult, less commonly taught, and small enrollment class. 
  

My answer is pretty simple. The middle school teacher (I will post all about her in my next blog) and I work diligently to make the reputation for our Japanese program as one which provides  fun, communicative classes focusing on speaking and interpersonal communication, while letting students be successful through hands-on projects, and RELEVANT TOPICS. By relevant, I of course mean your teaching materials, authentic sources, topics, vocabulary, etc. So look at your vocabulary list. Are you still teaching "casette player"? And why? Is it relevant? Is it necessary? Is this specific grammar point you're focusing on commonly used, or are there other ways to get around it? Ask yourself those questions. Because if you're not going to use those words, neither will your students. And you could've used that valuable learning time to focus on something else which would lead to greater proficiency. 

• And finally, your students will always go above and beyond your expectations.