WEEK 7

This is my reflection in this week.

1) LEARNER AUTINOMY:This is a list of some important ideas about it.

-Autonomy is the ability to take charge of one’s learning and we have to consider that his is a process and not a product .

- We have to let them understand the WHY, the WHAT and the HOW of their learning . Students have to understand their own strength and weaknesses and accumulate the resources that will let them improve in their language skills.

-Learners take their first step towards autonomy when they recognize that they are responsible for their own learning.



-We have to consider the  learning strategies, cognitive strategies, learning attitude and motivation.



Here are my students working in groups to make a picture for their oral  presentation



The attributes of learner autonomy are outlined in this figure:

2) ONE COMPUTER :The tips given about Strategies and Applications for the One Compute Classroom   help me to know other activities to be applied in class. They are  great !!!

3)LESSON : My Sample lesson for one-computer only was about Clothes. I made it for my 6 year old students. They are going to listen and watch a VIDEO from youtube about Clothes and they have to recognize and say the different clothes that are presented. They are going to do some activities that include a game and a worksheet.

4)PARTNER: I am happy because my partner for peer review is Jenda .She also teaches young  learners , so I am sure we are going to help each other and do a great work !!!

 5) LAST PROJECT : I am working in my last project. It is going to be for 8-9 year old students. I am going to create a blog where they are going to have some activities to be developed ( songs, crosswords, ppt quizzes , worksheets, hyperlinks, etc)



WEEK 6

This week was very interesting for me because I’ve read and learn more new things related to Creating Students-centered Classes and Interactive PowerPoint.

The discussion part was about Technology tools for creating Student- centered classes Including large classes. It was good to know some new tips to apply in our daily teaching.

What I like among others were the 36 formats for Interactive Summaries where I find new activities like the  Flow, Dyads and Triads (I can do it with basic questions for my primary students ),Glossary (I can do this for specific definitions like for example zoo animals, Family members, Weather, etc), Team quiz, Team work and  true or false . These are ideal for my students but in a basic way … I want to try them in my next classes!!!!

Another very helpful   reading with excellent links is “Improving Lectures with technology” . Here I could learn how to be successful giving lectures with computer projection, how can I solve some common problems in my presentation and a new one that I have never heard “ using clickers”.

The idea of looking through other examples as it is showed in “The Anatomy of a Course Site” give as a wide view of the things I have to consider .

 The last but not least were the readings related to Interactive PowerPoint. They  help me a lot to know new ways of creating interactive materials like quizzes, games, Jeopardy, etc.  So from now one I am going to include this kind of materials. It is a promise !!!

On the other hand, the task of the week was to create an Interactive PowerPoint.. Let me tell you that I have been using PowerPoint  for many years, but they were showed  in a basic way (pictures, videos, links ,etc ). They included tasks to be solved  in a worksheet. Buuuu!!! .  I also used to download some ppt games from internet  and used them in class….But now, I have learned an interactive way to create them !!!!!! That is amazing !!!!!  I have created  my first interactive PowerPoint (an “..ing quiz”  for my 7 year old students)  and to tell the truth, it was  hard but cool at the same time. I am sure they will like it and they want more activities like that.

Talking about PowerPoint , I have done some  PREZI  activities . I saw prezi around 5 months ago and immediately I saw its potential within education for creating interactive content. This is the one I did for my secondary students on February :  VOLCANOES

This is the information about Project Task 5. I am planning to create a Blog for my 8 -9 year old students .It will have songs, some tasks to do , interactive PowerPoints, links to videos  and games. Some activities will be done in class and others at home. I have seen some examples of blogs, and they have some links to do some games like puzzles ,crosswords  with pictures, etc.

Now, welcome week 7 !!!!!

I want to share these sites

TEACHING LARGE CLASSES   

FREE PRESENTATION IN PPT

ESL PPT GAMES  

WEEK 5

This week was dedicated to Project-based Learning, Webquests ,and Rubrics.

I like the reading about “Less teaching and More learning” because it takes me to a reflection about the way I am using project –based learning . It is true that this kind of approach motivate students to learn language for a specific purpose. I use it in my classes but not very often. My students do a project after finishing each Unit (3 -4 weeks). They can do it individually or in groups.

The Webquest is a good tool to guide students through a process .Students are assigned tasks that take them to a result. The idea is not looking for information but using it. I would like to try it with my students now, but I have to prepare them first.

If you want to know more about it .Take a look at  THE WEBQUEST PLACE  or read these TIPS

Assessing alternatives was the other topic that let us know what students can do with the language considering their strengths .One of them is Rubrics that are used with benchmarks that judge the student’s oral or written performance . The one I posted was made to assess  students Reading aloud. I did it on Rubistar4teachers !!!!!  Great tool !!!!!

The last task was to talk about the way I am going to solve the problem of my students (writing-speaking). I have many ideas , but I have to choose some of them. I don’t know if they are the right ones, but I am thinking in using a Blog that will have some activities related to writing and speaking. The good thing about this task was the possibility of sharing and suggesting ideas of our peers .

A lot to learn and to work... but it is good !!!!

Week 4     

This week was related to Reading and Writing skills . I’ve learned some important ideas to take them into account when preparing a class.

The readings were very interesting. The first one was about Using internet in ESL writing instructions. This reflects on the incorporation of online lesson into the curriculum and how to use in the classroom. I took some ideas to consider if we want enhance learning.

The second tells us about how to use authentic e-text to improve reading, writing and thinking skills outside the classroom. It is important to know that we have to take into account three activities that students have to do: Choosing the books, Reading and sharing and evaluating the books.

Then we have to create a technology-enhanced lesson plan. This was a good experience because I have to think carefully what should I do, step by step. First, I had to choose the group, the unit, the  lesson unit and the minutes of the lesson. Then, I had to think of the right ABCD objectives…It took me a long time. Another thing I had to do was searching for the appropriate material ( ppt, video and online activities ). There were many online materials related to the topic but I had to choose the correct ones. After this, I had to think about the procedure, learning styles, homework and extra activities. It was really great!!!

The last task I had to do was to think of a problem with my students .I know that my students have problems with Writing and Speaking. They have errors when they have a dictation (They write the same way they listen to). I think that lack of practice is the reason. I don’t understand why is this…They have the book, Workbook and cd to practice at home…but they do not do it.

Speaking is other problem my students face with because they do not feel secure when they have to talk. I am sure that the use of the correct technology will help them a lot.

It was a really good week !!!!

Watch this interesting Video about  How technology can benefit classroom writing  .

I want to share these very interesting links with you.

Reading and writing strategies using technology

Successful uses of Computer Technology for reading Instruction

And this news from BBC about How children who uses technology are “ better writers”.

What do you think about this picture ?

Do you take them into account in your everyday lesson ?