How To host Spanish classes using Pencil Spaces

As online education continues to grow, teachers are constantly seeking ways to enhance their students' learning. Pencil Spaces is a platform that combines various tools and platforms, such as Zoom, Miro, and Loom, into a single app. Pencil Spaces simplifies the process of planning and delivering lessons, allowing teachers to focus on delivering high-quality education to their students.

Here’s how you can host a virtual Spanish class online using Pencil Spaces.

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1. Set up your account

Before you can host a virtual Spanish class, you’ll need to set up a Pencil Spaces account. Pencil Spaces is a free platform so just sign-up using your Google account or email address and you will be ready to go. 

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You don’t need to download anything and it’ll take 60 seconds.

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2. Invite your students to join your class

Once you’ve created your Pencil Spaces account, you’ll need to invite your students to join. You can do this by sending them a unique URL to access the Space or inviting them via email. If the students do not have their Pencil Spaces account set up, they’ll need to sign-up, but we’ll release a feature soon that allows them to join without signing up!

3. Create a lesson plan for your virtual Spanish class

Creating a lesson plan before teaching a virtual Spanish class is crucial for staying organized. With private boards in Pencil Spaces, you can easily sketch out a plan for each lesson that includes topics, activities, assignments, and resources. These boards can only be accessed by you or other hosts, making it easy to keep track of your lesson plans, while making sure you don’t spoil the surprise for your students!

4. Start your class

To start your Spanish class, open the Spaces link for your class. You'll find a blank whiteboard where you can write, draw, and share files with your students in real-time. Use built-in tools like the text editor, shapes, highlighter, and more to create engaging visuals. 

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Your whiteboard is saved for as long as you’d like, and your students can return to it whenever they want to.

5. Start a video call with your students

Pencil Spaces has built-in video calling capabilities. As the host, you can start a video call with your students with a single click. Our Participant Manager allows you to mute/unmute individual students, turn off a student's camera, request camera access and much more.

What’s more, Pencil Spaces supports group chat and private messaging in your Space, allowing you to engage your students however you - and they - prefer. 

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Pencil Spaces' built-in recording feature allows you to capture your entire session, including video tiles, audio, screen shares, and whiteboard activity, providing a valuable resource for both you and your students. So, if your student is struggling with pronunciations, you can just record your conversation with them on Spaces in one click and share it with them after the session.

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6. Engage your students with assessments and presentations

As a Spanish teacher, it can be challenging to replicate an in-person experience and provide your students with the opportunity to practice their skills in a real-time setting.

Leader Mode

With Leader Mode, you can take control of the virtual classroom. For example, you can use Leader Mode to take students on a virtual field trip of Barcelona, guiding what they see as they explore your Space in a dynamic and immersive way.

Question Library

‍‍Pencil Spaces also allows you to create and administer assessments and quizzes directly within the platform. Our built-in library allows you to pull in your favourite teaching resources into a lesson in one click. Assign these questions to students in private boards for real-time assessment.
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Teaching Resources

‍Pencil Spaces also makes it easy to deliver presentations and interact with your students in real time. Share slides, images, and videos, and bring in educational resources using the web viewer and iFrames. ‍This means you can use all your favourite tools like Duolingo, Nearpod, Quizlet, and Kahoot directly in Pencil Spaces in a matter of clicks!

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Recording and Transcription

Every lesson in Pencil Spaces can be recorded and either uploaded to the cloud or downloaded to your computer so that students may review it later. Plus, all recordings uploaded to the cloud come with an AI-powered transcription of the recording, giving students multiple options to review previous lessons in a way that suits them best.

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Summary

Pencil Spaces offers a range of tools and resources specifically designed for online education to enhance your Spanish teaching experience. We allow you to bring in all the educational tools and resources you need to help your students reach their learning goals.