Week 10

We have reached the last week for this amazing course and this is the last blog assignment.
It is still hard to believe we have reached this level as time has slipped away so fast.
I am really thankful for this great opportunity for professional development. I have learned a lot as each week was particularly rich focussing on different areas technology can come to our rescue as language teachers to enhance our teaching and, most importantly, our students' learning.
I have enjoyed all the topics but, of course, there were some that I got more interested in. I particularly liked to learn about the ABCD model for behavorial objectives during week 2, something I had never heard of and I find essential now to write clear objectives of any task I propose to my students.
I had already learned about social bookmarking and I have been using DIIGO for some time now. However, it was also good to have a second try with Delicious and have access to the bookmarks from my peers doing the course now.
Week 5 was also rich as we learned about WebQuests and Rubrics. These are examples of technology I had not heard of either and it is just so practical and useful that it is hard to believe how I managed to get by for so long without using them. Rubrics are really helpful as you can make it clear for your students what is it that they are supposed to do and how they will be evaluated before they get into a project.
Week 6 was quite challenging for most of us as we were asked to create an interactive powerpoint and although I had tried it before it was very good to practice it again and see the amazing creations of my peers. This is the area I want to practice more as I could see students love it and learn a lot from well-prepared interactive powerpoints.
The project we had to develop for the course was another wonderful opportunity to choose one specific tool we wanted to test with a particular group we had been teaching. I decided to work with blogs as I strongly believe this is a fantastic tool to promote learner interaction and give students the chance to practice the language when they are not in the classroom. It is real,effective communication and they can see they are writing to a broad audience having the chance to reach people from all over the world.
I had some difficulties with the group I selected as students have been particularly busy with their regular school and, consequently, they could not devote much time for this initial blogging experience. Some did create their blogs and have been posting regularly now.
I intend to work with it again as soon as we start the second semester in August.
All in all, I just have to thank the Univeristy of Oregon in partnership with the American Embassy for the course. Our tutor, Donna Shaw, has also been impeccable, always there for us with her skillful guidance and expertise.
I remember posting in one of the discussion boards on NICENET the one thing I believe you could try to add to the course is some sort of synchronous communication using some specific tool for that and teach the participants how to use these tools : adobeconnect, wiziq or the likes. I am sure everybody will enjoy to be together live at least once during the course.

I hope to keep in touch with everybody making good use of all the online possibilities we now have and I wish the best of luck for the next participants in the course.

Week 9 - Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles

Another amazing week in which we had the chance to read and discuss more about the Theory of Multiple Intelligences by Howard Gardner from his book called Frames of Mind.
I have always been very much interested in that so it was a great pleasure to be able to read more about it and also learn from my peers who added so much to the discussion board on NICENET.
I have come across this video with Dr Howard Gardner and I want to keep it safe here for future reference.



We managed to connect this theory of the multiple intelligences,nine so far: verbal-linguistic; logical/mathematical; visual/spatial; bodily/kinesthetic; musical/rhythmic; intrapersonal; interpersonal; naturalist; existentialist with the different learning styles: active and reflective learners; sensing and intuitive learners; visual and verbal learners; sequential and global learners as explained by Richard Felder and Barbara Soloman from the North Carolina State Univeristy.

I have also come across this short video summarizing the main points about different learning styles:



We all agreed that the key for success is reaching a balance of teaching methods so each and every learner is catered for and gets at one point or another what will certainly help him to learn more effectively. Care must be taken to expose learners to other ways of teaching/learning they may not feel most comfortable with at first but which will be essential for their full development and success no matter the career they choose to follow.

Another amazing opportunity for professional development!

Welcome (final) week 10!

Week 8

Another week is coming to an end and once again we have had the chance to learn a lot of new things from and with each other. The one tool that was realy new for me was ANVILL - A National Virtual Language Lab.It was a great opportunity to go back in time and see how things have improved since I started learning English back in the early 80's. I am really glad we have so many new, appealing, effective tools to offer our learners nowadays. The days of meaningless, boring repetition and recording to cassettes (!) are past and gone.
I have also managed to write the draft to my final project and share it with a peer to be analyzed and improved. It is still a work in progress specially because the students I have selected for it have not been able to produce much as it was first agreed. Time has been on the way again and I must find a solution to this problem.
As we had to create something for the course making use of any tool/website we have been introduced to so far, I have decided to create a class using NICENET for a group of novice teachers at the Binational Center where I teach. I really believe this is going to be very useful for them to express their opinions and develop critical thinking.
All in all, a very enriching week and a preparation for the conclusion of the course.
As I love music in the classroom I have just remembered this song that may be quite appropriate for the moment we are living.



Welcome week 9!

Week 7 - Autonomy

"A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary." ~Thomas Carruthers

This is the one quote that came to my mind as I was reading about Learner Autonomy and How It Can Be Fostered.
I strongly believe we teachers/educators should highlight our roles as facilitators in the classroom these days. Having so many resources, tools around to help students become more independent, it is crucial that we do our best to help learners select what can serve them the best.

A number of ideas I have were highlighted in the main text suggested for us to read this week. From these I would call attention for:

a) autonomous learning is by no means "teacherless learning";
b) it is not easy for teachers to change their role from "providers" of information to counsellors and managerss of learning resources

Motivation plays a very important role in this discussion of making learners more autonomous and, again, it is our job to try to show students the motivation they may have and are not aware of to be successful as language learners.

Last, but certainly not least, we had the chance to create a lesson plan based on the concept of one-computer classroom. I find it extremely important as this is the reality most of us live so far. We may dream of the days when we might have a computer for each student in the class. However, I think a lot can be done even when resources are scarce and that was shown in the great lesson plans I could see produced by my peers doing this course. As they say "Where there is a will, there is a way."

Week 6 - Interactivity and More

This has been another very intense week and I have learned so much from the readings and links within the readings and, of course, from the comments posted by my peers doing this amazing course.What a rich, diverse group! It's a privilege to be among them.
I believe that the introduction to interactive powerpoint presentations has been by far the most challenging one for most of us. I had had an introduction to it some time ago when I did another online course on webtools but it was a great opportunity to get my hands dirty again.
Of course, we must NOT forget this is just another tool we can use to engage our students more in their learning process. However, there must be a real purpose to use whatever tool we come across. A badly prepared teacher can ruin the best activity even if it is supported by the fanciest tool available. We go back to the basics : preparation is essential!

Another great moment of the week was the opportunity to interact with the Editors for FORUM (Max Koller and Tom Glass), an amazing publication by the United States Department of State for teachers of English and distributed abroad by U.S. embassies. I have been reading this magazine for a long time and it is a great resource to be used in the classroom. I think that for those who like writing, it is a great moment to start considering writing an article to be published in the future. It is certainly hard work but I am sure it is well worth the effort.
Have you ever published anything? Would you like to? Is there a topic you are particularly interested in to devote time and energy and write an academic paper?




I would like to conclude with a favorite quote of mine:

"Whoever dares to teach must never cease to learn". - John Cotton Dana

Week 5 - Alternative Assessment and More

We have come to the end of Week 5 and as usual there has been so much learning! Our discussion thread has been around alternative assessment and I have been particularly interested in this topic. Coincidentally I had been involved with the Mid Term Exams (Written Tests) in our center this past week and that is the main form of assessment we use.
After reading the suggested articles and also the very inspiring comments of my peers I feel a bit "sad" as I see we are doing so many "wrong" things.
Our moderator, Carl Falgraf, was very thoughtful in that he showed us there is no such thing as right x wrong when it comes to assessment. We have a number of issues to consider according to our schools' policies and even the government rules about educational assessment. There are different forms of assessment and they are not simply good or bad.
Another thing that I liked a lot was the possibility to learn more about creating Rubrics using Rubistar and WebQuests - something I want to devote more time to apply to my teaching practice.


Wish you all a great end of Sunday and welcome to Week 6!

End of Week 4

We are almost there and to quote a beautiful song "Midnight, not a sound from the pavement..." I would like to announce the end of such an enriching week - Week 4.
We have all learned so much from the websites we have been visiting I feel we have lived a month in a week, maybe more, much more.
The lesson plans which have been written adding a technological element are all very much inspiring and I feel particularly tempted to try them all.
As I have decided to use a blog in my project I remembered the video embedded below which beautifully shows us why we should motivate our students to write, open their hearts and blog, blog as much as possible to reach a greater audience all over the world.
What are you waiting? What's your next blog post?
Welcome week 5!

Week 4 - Reading/Writing

I have been particularly excited with our course this week having the chance to know a lot more about the vast array of possibilities to help our students practice reading/writing online.
I have always loved reading and writing is also a great passion. The Internet, this fantastic tool we now have, blogs, is by far the best for those who want or need to express themselves in writing.

How about you? How do you feel about reading and writing online? Would you ever consider publishing? Do you have a favorite writer, blogger?

Week 3 - Social Bookmarking

This week has been faster than usual, maybe because of the long weekend we have been having in Brazil. It has been just as enriching, though.
I was really happy to have the chance to revisit my delicious page and start bookmarking again.
Social bookmarking has always been a favorite of mine ever since I started my online journey. The idea of having all my "favorites" available no matter where I am and which machine I have around is priceless to me.
As I have said I also use DIIGO a lot to bookmark online and the idea of having different tools for the same purpose is also very much positive - there is always something you like best about all the endless possibilities we have online.
Week 3 has also been enriching as we read about the new possibilites CALL has to offer, particular to enhance students' speaking and listening skills. Although a lot has yet to be researched about it, it is always good to bring such an important issue for reflection and discussion.

What have you enjoyed the most about this week? Can you think of life before/without all these wonderful tools we have been analyzing during our course?

Mistakes?

I have just posted about the end of week two and I admitted sometimes I will feel guilty as it seems I am not careful about time management and end up getting behind schedule and all that.
I have, however, just remembered this amazing song by Barbra Streisand. I have always loved using music in my lessons. This one is very special. According to the lyrics "There are no mistakes - just lessons to be learned".
I also like the video which was created for the song with a number of positive affirmations by Louise Hay.

How do you see it?

End of Week 2

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevegarfield/3616155715/sizes/o/in/photostream/)


I must confess I thought I would not manage to do everything I had to and catch up with the tasks for this week.
It's been a particularly hectic week with some unexpected things coming my way. I am glad we are coming to the end now.
I believe that time and time-management in particular could well be considered the greatest enemy of our days. For those like me, a little older than 40, it must seem crystal clear we did have more time in the past. I can still remember how long it would take from one weekend to the other, not to mention from one Christmas to the other. Do I have to be explicit about what happens in the days and time of twitter, facebook, orkut and so many other microblogging platforms? I sometimes make some jokes at school and say it seems I only teach on Mondays and Thursdays. The thing is it always seems I am saying "Hi, how was your weekend?" and then "Bye, have a nice weekend". I simply don't know what happens in between.
Maybe because I have my hands in different pies this feeling is even stronger and then there comes a bitter taste of guilt in my tongue. Should I be more careful about my time management skills? Am I doing anything wrong?
How do you feel about it? Do you ever wish you had some more time? What would you do if you were granted two brand-new extra hours a day?

Quotations

I have always been a great fan of quotations, proverbs and popular sayings. My students are aware of it and just like songs, they are always expecting me to say "Well... there is a proverb...".
As we have just started our webskills course, I remembered this quotation in particular that has always been a favorite of mine. I am glad to be part of this group of educators who have made the right choice and, in some cases, have been fighting against their fears, doing their very best to overcome obstacles.
Time will show us, we are on the right track and the amount of experience that will be shared will add a lot to our personal and professional lives.

Don't be afraid

I have just read some posts on blogs from our dear friends doing this amazing course. Some have been very honest and said they have very little or no experience at all with webtools and they may at first feel a bit afraid of making mistakes. Isn't it 100% human? We are all afraid of the unknown.
However, as part of such a culturally rich group and being surrounded by people who really want to share, I am sure everybody will feel very comfortable and make a lot of progress in a short period of time.
I have been getting my hands dirty for quite some time now and I feel fascinated by this tech world because there is just so much available. It's only natural we feel overwhelmed at times but we must not forget that as time goes by and with the necessary amount of practice, things get clearer and we feel more at ease trying new tools.
The video I am sharing here is a great example of this situation. Every tool around us has been tested before and I am sure the first brave people who came across them may have felt afraid at first.
Hope you like it and have some fun as well. I also look forward to reading your comments.

Week 1 - Webskills

I am pretty much excited about this new course we have just started. I am sure it is going to be very enriching since I will have the opportunity to learn from a lot of teachers/educators from different parts of the world.
The week has started off with some very fruitful discussion about the rules to be followed during the course and how we should be assessed.

Food for thought: Sharing IS caring.