Here is a tool that could help. We all probably use PowerPoint to create various presentations but there is an alternative that has more bells and whistles – but you do have to pay for the service. That said, it is worth trying out and if it fits your needs definitely take advantage of it.

I have attached here a presentation on the nasty 3rd declension nouns and tried to summarize some things to guide my students – have a look! This presentation requires a password – its the imperative for “to open” in Latin…

Read an inscription from Pompeii – the Eumachia Building!

Learn about volcanoes and even make your own!

Look at some pictures from Pompeii that I took!

It is to this latter example this resource applies: Google Docs.

Consider using Google Docs for your next group project assignment. Our students are technologically savy (maybe more so than we currently are) and they are pretty good about finding each other online and communicating with one another. Google Docs is free and allows for collaboration on documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Check out this short introductory video to get a better example:

Let me know what you think! Post your comments and tell me how you are going to use this project idea in the future. Again, I think a great way to test it out is to use it for a group project and allow your students the freedom to work on their projects – just make sure they invite you to colloborate/view their project by sending you that all important email!

I will use the data to gauge what I need to improve upon as a teacher as well as where I need to push more of my classroom focus towards.

It will be interesting to see the results in light of the fact that the school I currently am working at is eliminating the Latin program. The details of that are forthcoming, but it suffices to say that the administration lacks the vision and intestinal fortitude to keep Latin at their school. Perhaps I am biased, however.

To take the survey just click on the Latin Interest Survey page on the navigation bar above.

What use could this have for teachers? Well, it would allow your students to create a project whereby they could create a montage of images about a particular subject and set it to music. They could even add text and narrate it themselves. The possibilities are endless.

There are some limitations for using Animoto, however. There are two basic tiers to their service – free and pay per use. The free trial version allows you to upload about 15 images for a 30 second clip. You add your own music and can publish your creation in a variety of formats. Here is an example – I created this using images I took while in Italy this past summer at Pompeii:

If you want to create more than just 30 second clips, you will have to pay for it. Also, if you want to coordinate projects for your classroom, you are going to want to create an account that will allow multiple users access the tools to create the project. Take a look at Animoto’s education services. The cost is minimal but the benefits are great. It will be another way to get your students excited about your classes and in particular, help them connect with classical studies.

Check it out:

Vicipaedia

Also, we have a wiki here at Romae.org, but this one is written in English. This, however, gives me an idea to create a wiki for practicing Latin as well. Stay tuned!

Here is the extra credit assignment:

Extra Credit assignment

Whichever, this is a handy little phrase to memorize I just kind of came up with. In fact, memorizing it not only will offer you a maxim for what you need to do to be a good student, but also it will allow you to memorize the future active tense (1st person singular, of course) for all four conjugations. Here it is:

Ab hoc dies discipulus bonus [discipula bona] ero.
Bene computabo, semper tibi parebo, pulchre scribam et numquam in ludo dormiam!

1. Computabo (computare) – 1st conjugation
2. Parebo (parere) – 2nd conjugation
3. Scribam (scribere) – 3rd conjugation
4. Dormiam (dormire) – 4th conjugation

BY CATHY GRIMES |247-4758

April 2, 2007

HAMPTON – Rachel Fenske squinted at the smudged, dime-sized coin in her fingers. Tarnish the color of old leather blurred the raised letters and figures. Undaunted, the Kecoughtan High School 10th-grader rubbed the coin and again looked closely at it.

“At the bottom, it looks like R, T, S and either an O or a P,” she reported.

“The background shows one wing or two wings on a horse. On the front it has an emperor, but I couldn’t tell you which one. And it’s green. There’s more writing on it, but that’s kind of smashed.”

Related links

• An ancient coin from the Roman Empire is examined Photo

• Cleaning a coin Photo

• Which Roman ruler is depicted on her coin? Photo

• One of the ancient coins from the Roman Empire. Photo

Fenske was one of 14 students in Lisa Auanger’s Latin II class deciphering inscriptions on Roman coins.

Each student in class received one of the small bronze coins, which were donated by coin dealers through a nonprofit, nationwide program called Ancient Coins of Education.

The ancient pocket change, which dates from about 300 to 400 A.D, offers students a chance to practice not only language and detective skills, but also to study history, mythology, economics and civics.

They must prepare a Power Point presentation of their findings, adding technology skills to the lesson mix.

About 68 percent of Virginia’s public school districts offer Latin classes to high school students.

All four of Hampton’s high schools have classes in the language, which Auanger said is far from dead.

The class provides a strong foundation for college-level humanities classes, ranging from philosophy to classic literature to law and sciences, she said.

The multifaceted nature of Auanger’s Latin II class is one reason 10th-grader John Blackwood enrolled.

“I don’t think they’re doing stuff with coins in Spanish or French,” Blackwood said. “We do other things. It’s more than just language. That adds to the fun factor.”

“Latin isn’t just Virgil anymore,” Auanger added.

Hampton students have connected with other high school students learning the language through activities organized by area chapters of the Junior Classical League, a nonprofit extracurricular organization dedicated to studying Latin and classical subjects.

They also participated in Hampton Roads Latin Day.

Auanger said students enroll in Latin for a variety of reasons, but improving vocabulary skills is one of the top draws.

That’s the reason 16-year-old Siedah Holmes decided to enroll.

She said she now can figure out English word definitions and origins based on her Latin lessons.

Fenske offered another reason for taking the course: medicine.

“I wanted to know what doctors were putting in medicine bottles,” she explained.

Neither Fenske nor Holmes had expected to use toothbrushes or microscopes in a language class.

Students cleaned the Roman coins with old toothbrushes and used microscopes to study mint marks and other details.

Holmes said students also spent time on the Internet, looking up empires and campaigns.

“We did a lot of research,” she said.

While some of the coin inscriptions were rubbed almost bare, Blackwood said his looked fairly crisp.

“This coin is in better condition than most pennies I see,” he said, holding the bronze coin to the light.

Holmes said being able to read an inscription did not mean deciphering it was easy.

“A lot is in Roman numbers, and they were different back then,” she said, holding her coin against a poster filled with coins. “It’s a challenge.”

So was identifying the ruler on her coin. During the centuries in which the coins were minted, the empire was in a state of flux, with a constantly changing cast of rulers and military leaders, each of whom had coins minted in his image.

Auanger said the coin detective work helps sharpen other skills students will need for college and work.

“They have to think about things they don’t know and not jump to conclusions,” she said, watching Holmes try to match her coin to the examples on the poster.

“It’s got to be one of them,” Holmes said.

LINK

Don’t worry. If you practice Latin to the point you can speak it, you won’t turn out like these guys. At least, I still hold hope.