Many of my lessons start out with a brainstorming session. Why? Because this accurately engages students with the topic that will be introduced. For instance, it is much easier to explain feminine/masculine endings after students have brainstormed and have defined similarities and differences, have divided words in groups according to their ending, and drawn preliminary conclusions.
So, why not use a super simple online tool to brainstorm instead of the usual pen and paper or the board?
Wallwisher is a super easy to use notice board that is excellent as an online brainstorming tool. It allows you to create notes on a virtual wall simply by double clicking. It also allows video and image posting. Walls are saved in your free account and can be shared, embedded and viewed online and on mobile devices.
Below is a wall that I recently used with my Spanish beginner class. Each group had their wall where they needed to brainstorm about what to take to a picnic on an specific assigned situation (weather, place, etc).
How I use Wallwisher in my Spanish classrooms
- Brainstorm: as I mentioned above, I use brainstorming activities in my classroom often. I use Wallwisher a lot for this, as it is very easy to use and fun to display. It is great for archiving brainstorm sessions and pulling them up later when needed. I also like to link or embed them in the class blogs as resources. Students love this tool and it is easy for them to use. You can assign homework when they are well acquainted with it.
- Evaluate your lessons: fun, interactive and quick way to assess your lessons (especially new ones). Ask students how they felt? What were some lessons learned? This will give you specific ideas of what students got out of the lesson, or if you need to review anything again or work on more practice.
- Question – answer sessions: to practice listening and writing, ask questions orally and students write down the answers.
- First week presentations: this can be done in English and then done in Spanish after students have learned how to talk about themselves (me llamo, vivo, edad,…)
- Practice vocab: there are many possibilities here. You can write the word in English and they can write it in Spanish. Write synonyms/antonyms of words. Name a topic or unit and students should write all verbs/nouns/adjectives related to it. Say a word and they should look for the image and post it on the wall. Write sentences using specific vocab. Create two, three or four walls, divide the class into groups and have them compete against each other to see which group comes up with the most number of words or sentences.
- Opinions: after reading, listening or viewing material students can write what it was about and include supporting evidence (se trata de….porque…)
- Describe a picture: choose a picture or image related to the unit and describe or give it a name and explain why.
- Collaborative homework: assign research homework where students post their findings (links, images, videos) on the wall. Great for culture research. For example, assign a Spanish speaking country on the wall they should write the continent, the capital, famous people…
- Daily sentences: display a wall at the beginning of your classes and ask a student to write any phrase in Spanish. Ask a different student each time.
- Class resources: because all videos, links, images, text that you post an the wall can be viewed directly on the wall, it is a great way to compile resources for safe student viewing and research. Create your “Resource Walls” and have them ready to use with students.
Other Wallwisher uses in the foreign language classroom
- Sentence structure and vocab: write a very short sentence and ask students to expand it. Like this: expanding sentences
- Display student work: any other work you do with technology in your foreign language class could be displayed on the wall like this: Wallwisher display
- Book, film, video, song reviews.
- Share tips and tricks to remember vocab, grammar rules, conjugations, etc.
- Sharing resources: this could be amongst students or teachers.
How to use Wallwisher tutorial
Wallwisher tips, tricks and things to keep in mind
- Editing: to change a wall’s name, description or privacy settings. Click on “Me” at the top – right corner. If you are on the wall already then click on “Edit Wall”. If you need to find the wall first, click on “My Home” and select the wall you want to edit.
- Viewing all your walls: click o “Me” at the top – right corner and then on “My Home”
- Walls can’t be created on ipads: since it is not possible to double click on iPads, Wallwishers can’t be created on iPads.
- To share: Click on “Do more” at the top – right. Then embed, send link or share on social media.
- Privacy Settings: I always lock walls as soon we are done working with them in class to avoid posts that you may not want on your wall.
Great collection stated by Tom Barrett: 32 Interesting ways to use Wallwisher in the classroom
A Wallwisher about Wallwisher: Ways to use Wallwisher in the classroom
Another excellent collection of ideas: Wallwisher – 105 classroom ideas
Have you used Wallwisher as a tool in your foreign language classroom? I would love to hear about it…