This week we learned about the translation tools created by Microsoft. I was excited to read about the way that the translating program benefitted students but I was pleasantly surprised by the impact it had on the lives of parents who speak English as a second language.

The example given in the reading focused on a teacher who liked to host meetings with parents four times a year. Many of the students came from homes where English was not the primary language spoken so the teacher made sure to have a translator be a part of the meetings so the parents would feel more comfortable communicating and understanding what was being said. Unfortunately, the meetings had such high attendance that it was hard for the translators to keep up with their communication between the parents and teacher so many people ended up feeling like they were being left out.

With the help of the Microsoft translating tool in the form of a downloadable app, parents and the teacher were able to communicate easily with each other without having to depend on a translator. I look forward to using the translation tool in my classroom. I live in an area where there’s a high likelihood of having Spanish speaking students in my classroom and I’m glad that I’ll have a way to communicate with them in a way that’s easy and accessible to both of us. I’m very glad to know that Microsoft is offering so many helpful classroom tools for free and I’m looking forward to using all of them to improve my students’ learning experience.