HOV's Blog

At the beginning of this course I was feeling a little scared.  It seemed that it was too much to handle.  Since the very beginning I knew that we were going to be using technology a lot. And that was one of the firsts things I learnt in this course.  We have to take advantage of all the benefits of it.

But much more than concepts, vocabulary, or the TKT book, what I learned goes further.  Since this adventure began I learned techniques to manage a class, I learned that always as future teacher I need to keep looking for new options; that I don’t have to stick to the lesson plan necessarily.  I learned the complexity of being a teacher, the hard-work it requires, that preparation and self-actualization is also essential.  It’s not an easy, but a rewarding job.

What a student learns is not limited by what the teacher wants him/her to learn.  I also learned from the way the class was managed (even when it wasn’t the main subject of the class); from the way the teacher solved the circumstantial problems, and of course I learned when she explained us directly any question we had.  I think I learned about students’ needs, students’ psychology, motivation, blogging ….. , and all of the TKT topics, but in a deeper way, not just what it’s on the textbook.

http://cusd2dot0.wikispaces.com/NewOld+Teacher

Have you ever wondered why sometimes you just hate a subject and feel like you are learning nothing?  Maybe the problem isn’t the subject, maybe the subject is something you like and you don’t know it.  Maybe the problem is that the way you have been leaning it, and the way you have been evaluated is not the appropriate.  For an effective learning it’s not enough to just memorizing tons of words, it’s also required to be meaningful the information you are learning.

In my own experience, I’ve found that I hate memorizing information with no meaning for me, but there are some activities which can make information more meaningful, like for example when you relate the information to daily life situations, when you analyze the information, and some others.  This is what Bloom’s Taxonomy is about.

According to Benjamin Bloom, there are six levels of cognitive processes, which go from the most basic to the most complex.  In order to make a more effective learning, it’s really important that a teacher pays attention on what level, according to the taxonomy, the students are using the language.  And this is important, because the higher in the Bloom’s taxonomy the activity is the more effective the learning will be.  So, this doesn’t mean that the teacher is not going to skip in the lower levels; it’s just that the teacher will apply all the levels, without focusing only on the lower ones.

Another important factor to consider is the students’ needs, and their level they can go on the Bloom’s taxonomy, nevertheless, even young learners can do well on a medium level.

ACTIVITY:

1. Listen to this the song and read the lyrics.

2. Answer the following questions:

• What is the song about?  (Comprehension)

• List as many key words as you can about the general idea.  (Knowledge)

• Can you tell about any current situation in the world or your country where you think this song would be useful?  (Application)

• About the situation you thought about, can you tell the differences between that situation and the ideal world the song is talking about?  (Analyzing)

• Can you come up with a practical solution, based on the song for the situation you thought?  (Synthesis)

• Why do you think the author  wrote a song like that?  How do you think he was feeling?  What do you think he was thinking about?  What situation do you think he was living in?  (Evaluation)

Hello everyone!

I made a glogster about my learning style and multiple intelligences.  This is such an interesting and important subject to consider when teaching.  Access the website here!

Taken from: http://insanecomposition.foroactivo.com/

Fortunately nobody is identical to anybody.  Each person has its own attributes and defects.  But there is nobody who has all the needed attributes in order to make a big project or a big work.  This is why it is very important to learn how to work collaboratively.  Currently this is an important subject within big companies, and there is a lot of research about this, because when people work collaboratively in teams, synergy happens.  And synergy is just a very curious effect, which makes that 2 + 2 = 5.

So, I had the opportunity to work in a team in order to make a task, assigned in the course.  It was an interesting assignment;  the objective was not to focus on the final product, but in the process.  We had to figure out the way for everybody to work on and contribute to the project preferably not in person.  This was a little bit more difficult, in order to share everyone’s ideas.

In our team we used Internet and phone texts in order to be in contact with the other members.  And also we had meetings in person, because we considered necessary to do it when we have individually gathered information, in order to design the glogster.

We had some obstacles during the performance of this project, especially with time.  But at the end, I think the purpose of the assignment was reached, because each member became engaged with the project, and therefore with our own learning.  I think with more practice we could improve our collaborative skills, such as being better organized, and being better at solving the circumstantial problems that come out.

You can check the final project here!

Speaking is the easiest and most practical way to express any idea, and I think it’s the natural way a person has since he/she is a baby.  But sometimes it’s not that easy to speak, sometimes there are obstacles, because it requires having a good command of the language, being confident, developing the ability to do it clearly and in a structured way, etc.; and I also think they depend on the learners’ age.

Since this is such an important skill and students rarely practice it outside the classroom, it becomes really important that they improve this skill, avoiding the obstacles above mentioned.  So, I found mailvu very interesting and practical, since it doesn’t require to sign-up to use it.  It is a website that could be very useful for the teacher when giving the students assignments.  This way, students can do a lot of speaking as homework, not being exposed to the whole classroom (which can be tough for some students, especially if they’re shy).

I think this is a great tool, either for teachers and students, because teachers can have a record of all the students, and evaluate them individually.  For students it’s very comfortable to use it, because there is no external pressure in the moment of speaking, and they can check themselves how good they are doing the assignment, and therefore, they can correct themselves.

Hello everyone!

I just learned about a strategy that seems to solve the problem of students that don’t feel like reading regularly, and it seems to be very effective.  Yes, I’m talking about Literature Circles, from which we can get many benefits, because this is not a model focused on the students or the teacher only, but in both of them.

But first of all, there are some aspects to consider before making a Literature Circle.  The first one is the age of the students.  Are they children?  What’s their age?  What’s their reading level?  So based on that, we can determine the kind of text they’re going to read; the use of vocabulary; the complexity of the language; a topic that they’re familiar to, etc.

This is where coherence becomes important; because students can find coherent a text only if their framework of knowledge is enough to satisfy the level of understanding needed.  Also, cohesion, which is the grammatical links between the sentences, is important to consider, so the grammar complexity in the text has to be at the students’ grammar level.

It’s also important to consider the strengths and weaknesses on each subskill of the students, in order to plan the activities, focusing on improving more the weak skills.  Depending on which skill is being practiced, it’s going to be the kind of the questions or the tasks asked to the students.

With this technique, all students are involved in the activity, they’re motivated to read, everyone is helpful and they participate in an active way.  This way they produce language also, not only they receive it.  Also other skills like speaking are practiced this way.  Usually when the group is divided into teams, students tend to choose a leader, who at the end becomes the only one responsible for the team, but in this case everyone has a duty, avoiding this usual situation.

I leave you with some graphics that I found interesting, they can help you evaluate the development and progress of the literature circles.  It’s a good way to detect mistakes that maybe you could be making.

As we can see on the class’ blog, there are many ways of teaching vocabulary, because it’s not only about just saying the meaning of words, because for that, exists the dictionary.  One fact to consider is the kind of learners you have, because if most your students are visual, it’s not going to be very helpful to repeat the word loud in chorus, for example.

In my personal experience, I think that has been very helpful to watch TV series in English, either with or without subtitles.  And this has been helpful because I like to improve my listening skills, because I think that I could do a lot better on it.  So this way, I identify my personal weakness, in order to exercise that specific skill.  Also helpful for me has been listening songs in English, and looking for its lyrics.  This way I’m motivated to research the meaning of new vocabulary that appears in the song, and because I like the song, also I will sing it, so I will constantly be repeating and practicing the vocabulary, and I think that’s a powerful way for learning vocabulary that has worked for me.

As you can see, these are activities you can do by yourself with the use of Internet, so you don’t have to wait to go again to class to learn something new, you can learn while you relax and have some fun.

Actually I don’t have a teacher’s portfolio, but according to what I know a teacher’s portfolio contents, I find some benefits.

The portfolio represents all the experience you have been adding to those tips that you have learned since preparing to be a teacher.  So it’s a way of keep tracking your own evolution about teaching.  Your portfolio will help you a lot when teaching, because it provides you with activities to use during your classes, and in general it’s a quick guide you can consult easily to review anything you want.  About your experience, it also contents your own philosophy you develop through time, making adjustments to your old philosophy and teaching theories that you used to apply.

And well, because it’s an evidence of your experience, your methods, and because it also contains your resume, I think it’s a great letter of introduction to your work, and to what you can offer when applying for a job.

Well, these are great benefits we can find about having a teaching portfolio, so imagine how greater benefits we can have if we have our portfolio in the form of a blog.  Everybody around the world can see it any time, and anybody can know about your work, about your teaching style, and anybody in the world can contact you in case of they’re interested in your work!  So, it’s a cheap fast way to introduce yourself as a teacher to all the world.  Also, having a blog keeps you in touch with many people in a very simple and fast way, so you can exchange ideas and information.  This way your portfolio will grow faster, and it will be more complete.  It’s also a good way to have fast feedback from many other teachers who can share with you their own experience, so you will learn faster about this noble job, since you are not supposed to learn everything by your own experience, but also with fast tips based in someone else’s experience.

Hi everyone!!!

This is actually my first post ever!  I’m excited about this course we’re taking.  It seems it’s going to be full of challenges, but it doesn’t matter, because challenges are always good!  Well, the first little challenge was creating this blog, and there it is!  I’m also happy to have the support from the teacher on this journey.  I expect that this course helps us improve our teaching skills, and also update us about what’s new in teaching systems, like for example this: the use of blogs, or any other current systems that allows us to use technology for a better learning.

I wish the best to all of you in this adventure, here we go!!