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.