As a world language teacher, I am continually looking for ways to integrate technology into my teaching in order to give students the most well rounded learning experience. To put this idea of using Voicethread as a practice and assessment tool into perspective, let me explain a little bit about my background and classroom. Currently, as the only French teacher in our high school, I teach French I and French II. I meet with 5 classes for 55 minutes each day. The classes range in size from about 28 students up to 35 students. However, with this new school year approaching we are moving from a 6 hour day to a 7 hour day. This means that I will now be teaching 6 classes instead of 5 and meeting with students each day for about 45 minutes instead of 55. With this new change, there is a good possibility that the number of students I meet with on a daily basis will increase as well. As far as technology in our school goes, we have two computer labs and one mobile laptop cart that are able to be reserved. However, with a staff of 40, it can be challenging to have lab time for students. All of the classrooms in our district are mediated with eInstruction smart boards, digital projectors, document cameras, and two computers (one for the smart board and a teacher workstation). As a French teacher in Michigan, my goal is to instill a passion for French language and culture with my students while preparing students to meet the standards and benchmarks set forth in Michigan. The Michigan Standards and Benchmarks match the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL) Guidelines. By these standards, students should reach a level of novice high after a two year course of high school study. Along with the standards, I work to integrate the 5 C’s of Foreign Language learning: Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities. Within this framework, communication is the big focus for all world language teachers. The main goals of the communication strand is to work with students in building interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational skills. Within the interpersonal skills strand, students should be able to engage in conversations, provide and ask for information, express feelings, and exchange opinions on a variety of topics. Within the interpretive skills strand, students should be able to understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics. Finally, within the presentational skills strand, students should be able to use the language to present information on a variety of topics using both written and spoken language.With the constraints placed on teachers today and specifically in my classroom as I mentioned before, it can be difficult to build strong communication skills in French when class sizes are large, face time is limited, and technology is limited and shared by staff. Students are missing out on the opportunity to practice their skills one on one with their peers and with the teacher due to our limited time together. Technology tools like Voicethread can change this for the better while allowing our face time in the classroom to be devoted to instruction and guided practice. The extra practice can then take place outside of the classroom using Voicethread to connect with peers, teachers, and native speakers of French from francophone regions around the world.

Based on my experience and knowledge of Voicethread, applying the TPACK framework, and the information below, I have decided that this is the best technology solution at the present time for my students to use as they build their communication skills in French and for me to use as a practice and assessment tool with my students when faced with constraints that are beyond my control.

Voicethread is the main tool that will be used as a tool to practice and assess communication in my classroom. The main focus of integrating this technology into my French classes is to have a way to increase communication in the target language by speaking, writing, interpreting information, reading, listening, and presenting to others. This tool is universal and can be applied to any chapter or unit that we will cover in any course of French language study.

In order to make this a useful and productive tool my my classroom, it is necessary to have a classroom set of laptops and/or iPads (with Voicethread app installed), wi-fi access, a school subscription to Voicethread with all advanced features, and a classroom set of headsets with microphones or stand alone microphones. Students may also be able to integrate the use of cellphones to access or enhance their use of Voicethread. A classroom set is considered to be 40 units, which provides for extra. Voicethread is the best tool suited to facilitate communication in the French classroom because it allows for students to communicate in multiple ways such as reading, writing, listening, and speaking, allows them to connect with multiple people using a variety of tech devices.

In summary, the technology needed to implement Voicethread as a practice & assessment tool is as follows:
-Voicethread Subscription
-Laptop Computers or iPads ( Classroom Set – 1 per student)
-Headsets with microphone
-Powerstrips

Due to the many features of Voicethread and the broad nature of communication, there is no specific pedagogy that will be utilized exclusively with the implementation of this tool in my classroom. There have been many language methodologies over the years, however, as time has passed the focus in language learning has shifted from learning grammar rules and vocabulary words in isolation to focusing on communication and using the language in real world contexts. Despite this shift, there are parts to many of the methodologies that can still be used to enhance language learning. Some examples of these methods include :

• Grammar-Translation Method
• Cognitive Approach
• Audio-Lingual Method
• Direct Method
• Natural/Communicative Approach
• Community Language Learning
• Total Immersion

The key to successful language learning is a blending of all these methodologies. It is essential to continually monitor student performance where you can use the data that is collected through formative assessment to guide your teaching. Voicethread allows for integration of content, technology, use of various methods to teach foreign language while at the same time it is a tool for formative and summative assessment.