tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-325269252024-03-19T00:02:23.278-03:00CTJ ConnectedWhere we meet everyone at Casa Thomas Jefferson, share ideas and learn.Erika Cruvinelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14212436912998195010noreply@blogger.comBlogger175125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-55798128259523859652018-12-03T14:25:00.000-03:002018-12-03T14:25:01.257-03:00<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Online Team Collaboration: Using Wikis to enhance students’ writing skills <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> (by </span></b><b><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erivelton Pereira Soares)</span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">Why do we teach writing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">According to Harmer (2004, p.79), “the reasons for teaching writing [...] include reinforcement, language development, learning style and, most importantly, writing as a skill in its own right”. Therefore, we should keep in mind students need this reinforcement because they will probably be dealing with it in the future somehow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">Online Team Collaboration</span></b><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">My experience with writing in an online team collaboration tool came from when I was a student at CTJ. My teacher, José Antônio, created this collaborative space in a platform called PBworks, which is also known as a wiki. Mak and Coniam (2008, p.439) explain that a wiki “is a piece of software that allows users to freely create and edit the content of web pages.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">What Mak and Coniam describe is exactly what we did in the classroom. Although we were still in the basic course, the teacher would assign a piece of writing, we would do a pre-writing activity which usually consisted on brainstorming ideas and then we would go to the computer lab to produce our pieces of writing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">Conclusion</span></b><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Because students would produce in pairs and sometimes the whole group would have to contribute to produce it, it was fun and at the same time it also brought a good feeling that the final product was good due to the result of everybody’s efforts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I can totally say it helped me develop my writing skills because collaborating with other students enabled me to observe language patterns that I normally would never use if I were to write it individually. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Comparing this experience to the one I have now as a teacher, I always think of ways in which students can collaborate and enjoy writing itself. So, most of the pre-writing tasks are done either in pairs or small groups. Although I have not used wikis with my students yet, I do intend doing it in a near future. I am still planning and understanding how different platforms work such as google docs, blogs, PBworks and so on, so that they have a better achievement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">References</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-highlight: white;">●<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">MAK, B., CONIAM, D. <b>Using wikis to enhance and develop writing skills among secondary school students in Hong Kong</b>. 2008. p. 437-455.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-highlight: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-highlight: white;">●<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">HARMER, Jeremy. <b>How to teach English</b>. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">Longman, 2004.</span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-highlight: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-5849047993132489602018-11-28T07:35:00.000-03:002018-11-28T07:35:19.086-03:00<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Warmers, Lead-ins and Scaffolding: Using Maker Activities to foster
learning<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> (by </o:p></span></b><b>Erivelton Pereira Soares)</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Introduction</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> What is the maker movement? How can
I incorporate maker activities into my lead-ins? If you have ever asked yourself these questions, we are on the same
boat. This blog post aims at sharing an overall idea of what a warmer, lead-in
and scaffolding is and what I did to implement this new movement.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What is a warmer, lead-in and
scaffolding?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Warmers aim at engaging and preparing students to start the lesson.
According to Jeremy Harmer (2015, p. 40), “we need to start the lesson off in
such a way that the students’ interest is aroused so that they become engaged”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Isabela Villas Boas (2018), in a blog post on Richmond magazine, defines
a lead-in by saying that “its main purpose is to set the mood for what is to
come next, to arouse students’ curiosity about the topic and motivate them to
want to learn more.” That is, not only should it provide a meaningful context,
but also an authentic one. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Scaffolding is the “process that enables a child or novice to solve a
problem, carry out a task or achieve a goal which would be beyond his
unassisted efforts”. (WOOD; BRUNNER; BOSS; 1976, p.90). Connecting it to our
reality, the task would be the goal of the lesson. It is described as “beyond”
students’ efforts because the target language has not been mastered yet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Maker activity - Classic Essentials
1D (unit 8)</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On this lesson, not only were students able to describe their houses
using the vocabulary from page 78, but also foster their learning by using
“Osmo Words”. They tried to complete words related to furniture. This lesson
was meaningful because they were able to build the idea of what a dream house
should look like to what their houses look like. It shows how much they can do
when given the correct tools. A well-structured lead-in in connection to a
maker kit activity was the key to their success.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">References<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-highlight: white;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">●<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-highlight: white;">BOAS, Isabela V. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What a lead-in should and should not be</b>.
Available at: <</span><a href="http://www.richmondshare.com.br/what-a-lead-in-should-and-should-not-be/"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #1155cc; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-highlight: white;">http://www.richmondshare.com.br/what-a-lead-in-should-and-should-not-be/</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-highlight: white;">> Accessed on: Nov. 7th, 2018.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-highlight: white;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">●<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-highlight: white;">BRUNER, Jerome.
S.; WOOD, David.; ROSS, Gail. The role of tutoring in problem solving. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Journal of child psychology &
psychiatry</b>, 17, 1976, p. 89-100. Available at: <</span><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1976.tb00381.x"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #1155cc; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-highlight: white;">https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1976.tb00381.x</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-highlight: white;">> Accessed on: Nov. 9th, 2018.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-highlight: white;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">●<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-highlight: white;">Harmer, Jeremy. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">How to teach English</b>. </span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-highlight: white;">Harlow: Longman,
2007.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-32831858036020312712018-08-28T16:12:00.001-03:002018-09-08T19:28:41.817-03:00Student-Centred Classes with Adult LearnersHelping adult students become independent in class is not an easy task. They don't usually like being independent. They like to see the teacher at the front. They like taking notes of what teachers say. They like to be told what the next step is. They also like receiving feedback and instruction all the time. Finally, creating and inventing something in class is not in their comfort zone. All these facts are things that EFL teachers deal with on a daily basis when teaching adults. At least I do, and that is precisely why I decided to conduct an experiment with Google Tools for Education to help them be in charge of the class and in charge of their own learning in class.<br />
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I decided to create an 'itinerary' of steps which they would follow and which would allow them to work collaboratively and without having to refer to me all the time. The object of this blog post was my third attempt. I believe the first two ones were not so successful for two mistakes I committed:<br />
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<ul>
<li><b>The activities described in the itinerary steps were not as quick for students to do as they should have been</b>. Adults take their time to do things. Unlike kids and teenagers, they don't like making mistakes and they are perfectionists while learning a new language. Therefore, we need to make sure that the steps can be done quickly. Because of this mistake, I could not finish what I had planned for that lesson.</li>
<li><b>The activities described in the itinerary steps were not always connected to a central theme or topic.</b> Adults are not as spontaneous as kids and teenagers. They are the ones that need scaffolding the most, or else they feel completely lost. For that reason, if there is no connection between one step and the next, they will take twice as long to assimilate what they are supposed to do.</li>
</ul>
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In my third attempt, however, I made sure to pay attention to these challenges. I did it in a Flex Expert 1 class about <b>vacation spots</b>, as you can see on the book page below. This was the theme of the class and, thus, I thought I would take them on a journey. This is how I did it:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGSBCQUVLUKWw22Wd84L9pKRHRcE_vGSUfzl17TX8aV3Gb0Gvb58HH0y3MKHusZ_52TjaREtC2p5TqNncuRkWP2lqZswL4wpfHcjS-2tuiGPduMNTEVVnkAMCDvIkYMBPNMLWZ/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2018-08-25+at+15.52.35.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW_pX_hztbtqFpzi5KOIOs6Fs2DCWbRdZMeTZHUKZ3D721cqNpQXM-JWQkDEdxSCEB7OsgkwFAjykGMJt_N9l3Mip4m0kVU1F_gAewciZY2R1VDno2uviFYjwXEWg2iERHa5BB/s1600/book+page.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="758" data-original-width="558" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW_pX_hztbtqFpzi5KOIOs6Fs2DCWbRdZMeTZHUKZ3D721cqNpQXM-JWQkDEdxSCEB7OsgkwFAjykGMJt_N9l3Mip4m0kVU1F_gAewciZY2R1VDno2uviFYjwXEWg2iERHa5BB/s200/book+page.jpg" width="146" /></a><br />
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<ol><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOrTsLBti6hjr6enyYXh5ZhoIIQiMtDjkeJa3u1_SJQemlw_wdAv4bzEVvM-UaRA4X7Hn8ecvEu2_IE7KZEHQFyuL-rSZ_a_DSnGYDXT7uSr8ZCpbHjLCkuL3Iolsne3S5ib8X/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2018-08-25+at+15.52.31+%25281%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="585" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOrTsLBti6hjr6enyYXh5ZhoIIQiMtDjkeJa3u1_SJQemlw_wdAv4bzEVvM-UaRA4X7Hn8ecvEu2_IE7KZEHQFyuL-rSZ_a_DSnGYDXT7uSr8ZCpbHjLCkuL3Iolsne3S5ib8X/s200/WhatsApp+Image+2018-08-25+at+15.52.31+%25281%2529.jpeg" width="112" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGSBCQUVLUKWw22Wd84L9pKRHRcE_vGSUfzl17TX8aV3Gb0Gvb58HH0y3MKHusZ_52TjaREtC2p5TqNncuRkWP2lqZswL4wpfHcjS-2tuiGPduMNTEVVnkAMCDvIkYMBPNMLWZ/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2018-08-25+at+15.52.35.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="585" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGSBCQUVLUKWw22Wd84L9pKRHRcE_vGSUfzl17TX8aV3Gb0Gvb58HH0y3MKHusZ_52TjaREtC2p5TqNncuRkWP2lqZswL4wpfHcjS-2tuiGPduMNTEVVnkAMCDvIkYMBPNMLWZ/s200/WhatsApp+Image+2018-08-25+at+15.52.35.jpeg" width="112" /></a>
<li>I booked the Experience Space and took my students there. When the first students arrived, I asked them to let the others know in their Whatsapp group, since saving time with adult groups is essential.</li>
<li>At the Experience Space, I had my students sit in groups and use the ipads I had set up on their tables to access the link <a href="http://bit.ly/fxgroupjourney">bit.ly/fxgroupjourney</a>. This was my class itinerary.</li>
<li>The groups went on following the steps, at times together, at times individually. I think something important was the fact that I signalled in the doc the interaction pattern of each activity/step. That made it clear for the students how they were supposed to work.</li>
<li>As you can see it yourself by clicking on the link above, the steps were short and made the students stand up, move and sit down at different moments. I believe this made the class dynamic and made them feel more connected to its theme: vacation spots.</li>
<li>It was funny to see that students would sometimes finish one activity (step) and become inactive. They would finish it and start looking at their phones, waiting for somebody to give them some other instruction. They did this even though I had already told them that they should finish one activity and move on to the next. This has shown me that these students are used to being told what to do. They are also used to a format that does not allow each of them to move at their own pace and harness their own potential.</li>
<li>The whole experience reached its climax in the final step: a really hands-on, maker activity in which students had to create their <b>perfect vacation spot</b>, just like the ones they had seen on the slides (step 2). For that one, I selected photos from lots of magazines the Resource Centre staff had and made them available in categories (food, activities, Airbnb spots and places). Each group had to create a poster by combining different photos and creating their own description of their invented place.</li>
</ol>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-DUldbeqUugkiSPl3NlbVn8CHrteCEhfGWXGG_6_wtuiMNzc3knJY_cmmVA2vREHAMeYkGio3Pouug690H3LiHGl17jMl0CucY5MuX1MQ3Q1eBWQsnpUka74R0NDrdUFQfW9/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2018-08-25+at+15.52.31.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="1040" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-DUldbeqUugkiSPl3NlbVn8CHrteCEhfGWXGG_6_wtuiMNzc3knJY_cmmVA2vREHAMeYkGio3Pouug690H3LiHGl17jMl0CucY5MuX1MQ3Q1eBWQsnpUka74R0NDrdUFQfW9/s200/WhatsApp+Image+2018-08-25+at+15.52.31.jpeg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf2BEGbeiPAcAXDcfjBxIPWsMm0uPmy7Z3F5vJXu2KH3NXpzPQZI3Ppgr7Esb_rQtURIcuDLz9wN1Nw_FUlM6zwPo9Ev40gn0kDxXhnJPM9f2Hdp-fcLOgxsyQCsYotvM5PD0R/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2018-08-25+at+15.52.30+%25281%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="1040" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf2BEGbeiPAcAXDcfjBxIPWsMm0uPmy7Z3F5vJXu2KH3NXpzPQZI3Ppgr7Esb_rQtURIcuDLz9wN1Nw_FUlM6zwPo9Ev40gn0kDxXhnJPM9f2Hdp-fcLOgxsyQCsYotvM5PD0R/s200/WhatsApp+Image+2018-08-25+at+15.52.30+%25281%2529.jpeg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<b>Being completely honest, what was easy to do about this whole experience?</b></div>
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<div>
<ul>
<li>The steps I described in the itinerary and the online resources I created were actually everything you can see on the book page. So, I didn't create anything. I copied it.</li>
</ul>
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<b>Still being honest, was there anything difficult to do?</b></div>
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<ul>
<li>Preparing for this class obviously took some time and demanded some manual work.</li>
</ul>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gSY_jZALm9I/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gSY_jZALm9I?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe><b><br /></b></div>
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<b>What is my conclusion? Was it worth it?</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH5iFzDSQQelIasFY-oycqsNhNve-kVuXEhBa2IazgZfQ6hOaOoPjJBtf5DTwYEY25MF4FJCKWmjRwZBrDmhOBFR3WkdOLISfXphAKS-ztpkLfig_9acF18Zqh_OFv7AdSvEip/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2018-08-25+at+15.52.29.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="1040" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH5iFzDSQQelIasFY-oycqsNhNve-kVuXEhBa2IazgZfQ6hOaOoPjJBtf5DTwYEY25MF4FJCKWmjRwZBrDmhOBFR3WkdOLISfXphAKS-ztpkLfig_9acF18Zqh_OFv7AdSvEip/s200/WhatsApp+Image+2018-08-25+at+15.52.29.jpeg" width="200" /></a>I felt extremely rewarded for having conducted this lesson. I won't lie to you, though. Doing something different has always made me tired, but also happy. It always gives me insights that help me understand my students better and help me become a better teacher.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieITnR0Pr7grMkOFHCLD2sOk6NXra6CDT98I0tLDiBcpuI1pTVJUBzAKBZ3EaQGz1XTkYUyO8EjnDGnPWmXEXp247sI2zZP5U5OMEdrn04enWz-pNDfKCJDh5zEXzAtHPspZRY/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2018-08-27+at+12.04.42.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="1280" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieITnR0Pr7grMkOFHCLD2sOk6NXra6CDT98I0tLDiBcpuI1pTVJUBzAKBZ3EaQGz1XTkYUyO8EjnDGnPWmXEXp247sI2zZP5U5OMEdrn04enWz-pNDfKCJDh5zEXzAtHPspZRY/s200/WhatsApp+Image+2018-08-27+at+12.04.42.jpeg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYgIrt5YtsKjjSona9APMi4qDjn1UyLL9j_0TDhbekHdeSQ7gCYQqL-Cc3h2h9SNR6YncklTOnXQ6cH01pTO-XvY125zfKPmgv9AJCOioZXOIteqzQ4cXMrtRL3DGjJGMKcrWs/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2018-08-27+at+12.04.24.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="1040" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYgIrt5YtsKjjSona9APMi4qDjn1UyLL9j_0TDhbekHdeSQ7gCYQqL-Cc3h2h9SNR6YncklTOnXQ6cH01pTO-XvY125zfKPmgv9AJCOioZXOIteqzQ4cXMrtRL3DGjJGMKcrWs/s200/WhatsApp+Image+2018-08-27+at+12.04.24.jpeg" width="200" /></a>I also think that the core of this class is actually really simple, which means that the same effect can be achieved in different ways. It is not necessary to use tablets and Google Docs. That was just my way to do it. Teachers can get the concept of student-centred classes and be creative. They can stick 'itineraries' on the walls. They can create stations in numerical order. They can do whatever they think will work best for their students.</div>
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Two reactions from students made me smile. One student, before the class had even started, stepped into the Experience Space, looked around and asked: 'Are we in a bar?'. Another one, at the very end of the class, holding the magazine photos and working on her group's poster, looked at me and said: 'I really liked this class'.</div>
Lucas Gontijohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12534303755735872126noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-44322304820811872502018-06-06T12:31:00.002-03:002018-06-06T12:41:18.221-03:00Helping Students See the Point of WritingThe title of this post is also going to be the name of a workshop I'm going to give soon. For this workshop, I'd been thinking about so many activities I had done before, but today, however, this one worked so incredibly that I just couldn't give its post some other name.<br />
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Last night, I was thinking about how I would teach nine-year-olds the lesson found on pages 130 and 131 of <i>Spotlight on English 3</i> (Thomas Bilíngue 5th grade). You can see the pages in the picture below. It is a writing lesson. They are supposed to write an editorial at the end.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSlp4mipkBeX8pQAKu5EpZ-plJAp_nQZ0YYuaJfM0ybrf2iKYrNAQWmIVWcf2mVAtrIHOtmbr5MI2XPLsgAt6LWc3qizzNH27gNtWTU1GWymYVNNhhJc-Jmrd-kqRvsfeENWDI/s1600/TB+5+book+pages.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="1233" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSlp4mipkBeX8pQAKu5EpZ-plJAp_nQZ0YYuaJfM0ybrf2iKYrNAQWmIVWcf2mVAtrIHOtmbr5MI2XPLsgAt6LWc3qizzNH27gNtWTU1GWymYVNNhhJc-Jmrd-kqRvsfeENWDI/s320/TB+5+book+pages.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I was sure that the best way to allow such young students to learn a little and be engaged in this lesson of mine would be to have them experience the real thing. After all, if writing isn't real, it means nothing to the students. I googled a bit and found this <a href="https://www.educatorstechnology.com/2015/12/5-handy-google-docs-templates-for-creating-class-newspapers.html" target="_blank">cool website</a> with interesting Google Doc newspaper templates. Then, the idea stroke me.<br />
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Still in class, as a pre-writing activity, we sat on the floor and I showed them the template I decided to use (the second one on that web page), asking them whether they knew what that was. They looked at it and easily came up with the word "newspaper". We had a chat about what an editorial is and how it must be based on facts, not opinions. Then, I had them do some mind-mapping on a poster with <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/12uw_bMTgBTwgAVjcExqGYUyTTo1EAkzN_ymvY64yTIY/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">these slips</a> I printed and cut out. They came up with the name of their newspaper and the facts to support the topics they wrote about. I brought some suggestions of topics and they decided which one they would write about.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjkM8He9hefq3xirgXorLhe_owzNtG2GcY4gUsvhtEqC1UEydA74I_GTpjngsverSI5jFTgwrOxMPZcY8XdCxQuu7lKPP5eHBZLek2huXSLlZt9JjF6-y594wP00mbvZ2cxLpa/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2018-06-05+at+17.26.00.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="585" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjkM8He9hefq3xirgXorLhe_owzNtG2GcY4gUsvhtEqC1UEydA74I_GTpjngsverSI5jFTgwrOxMPZcY8XdCxQuu7lKPP5eHBZLek2huXSLlZt9JjF6-y594wP00mbvZ2cxLpa/s320/WhatsApp+Image+2018-06-05+at+17.26.00.jpeg" width="180" /></a></div>
Once they had their editorial jotted down on their poster, I took them to the Resource Centre at the main branch. They accessed a shortened link I had made for them to access the collaborative Google Doc (<a href="http://bit.do/tb5editorial">bit.do/tb5editorial</a>) and started working on their editorial columns. They did everything: they chose the name of the newspaper, they wrote their columns, they selected the pictures on it. Please, access the link and see what it looks like now.<br />
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I honestly don't feel that I had a lot of options and I decided to be innovative. To me, this was the only option. I was definitely going to make my students create a newspaper and write an editorial on a collaborative Google Doc. Only after the lesson had finished, when I saw what they had made, did I realise how amazing all of it had been. The process. The experience they went through. How they collaborated with each other by proofreading what their buddies were writing. After all, my students...<br />
<ul>
<li>made something and learned as they made it.</li>
<li>produced something unique and in their own pace.</li>
<li>got engaged in an authentic and meaningful activity.</li>
<li>collaborated with each other by alerting their peers on punctuation and spelling mistakes (21st century skill).</li>
<li>had their voice heard by creating something that can be published and read by other people.</li>
</ul>
<div>
Now, I'm trying to find a way to have the newspapers printed out so that my students can take a sample home and so that we can also make their work available in the Resource Centre for people to pick and read.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj8PwAeJLeYrjA0gdsBmU0f3O7dor8AyKmdYqGDUrm1huFGfdpN8oBUhvO4sqVMgziQ79-hoUwR5Ek2n1yyXwhVDAengBr-TLCHShSwlNxKDAFRDiTeYpX1N2596Jn2l2V3H1b/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2018-06-05+at+17.26.01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="585" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj8PwAeJLeYrjA0gdsBmU0f3O7dor8AyKmdYqGDUrm1huFGfdpN8oBUhvO4sqVMgziQ79-hoUwR5Ek2n1yyXwhVDAengBr-TLCHShSwlNxKDAFRDiTeYpX1N2596Jn2l2V3H1b/s320/WhatsApp+Image+2018-06-05+at+17.26.01.jpeg" width="180" /></a></div>
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<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vS4F3m3A6j2Qze43KDLJMNkwYYQlA5q84Y5on-iYPX8ecR6g5jBiMpZHu1CIRwRkA6npq7ROAhuuJac/pub?embedded=true"></iframe>Lucas Gontijohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12534303755735872126noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-47140436956995882292018-05-07T10:51:00.000-03:002018-05-07T11:04:08.921-03:00Teaching writing in Google ClassroomThis has been my second experience doing it so far, and I like to think about this post as a sort of diary entry. Teaching in Google Classroom almost feels like conducting a workshop where attendees do everything and get to the conclusions by themselves. Since this was the writing lesson, its flow was far better than the one I designed for the review lesson day. It was also far more challenging to do it. I believe this was so because a writing lesson has all its elements and moments converging upon one central idea (or production). The review lesson, however, is not about learning something new. It's actually only about practising and self-assessing.<br />
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For the review lesson, it was easy to create different and independent tasks inside Google Classroom. They are not connected and that is okay. There is no reason for so. The students still get it. It is the review lesson. They are supposed to practise different activities and do different things.<br />
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For the writing lesson, on the other hand, connection and scaffolding are essential. There must be a logic and a sensation of closure at the end of it that equips students with the certainty of what they have to do next and the confidence to do it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB19nm7EJjhTcsiKALOsz5saxrwSid7r_PJE6x9MDO4ECYkDGp59OuSRSYqOoDpFrRdolyvFt8MkvTh9bAIGwj7syZ9Q2B72VRsjTvH4Hhpqfup2HuU2qXMLw4v38dWxqcmbSy/s1600/Writing+lesson+in+Google+Classroom+02.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="1040" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB19nm7EJjhTcsiKALOsz5saxrwSid7r_PJE6x9MDO4ECYkDGp59OuSRSYqOoDpFrRdolyvFt8MkvTh9bAIGwj7syZ9Q2B72VRsjTvH4Hhpqfup2HuU2qXMLw4v38dWxqcmbSy/s320/Writing+lesson+in+Google+Classroom+02.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
For all the reasons I listed in my last post for which I would teach in Google Classroom again, I decided to do the same in this writing lesson. It is not only for the sake of doing something different, really. It is honestly because writing lessons have never felt to me as effective as they could be (or could have been), and making students more independent and proactive in such a lesson really seemed promising.<br />
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This time, instead of scheduling the assignments to be posted at the class time, I saved them as drafts. In class, I would release them to the students from my mobile phone and allow them to follow their own pace, working in pairs and independently. Below, you can see the tasks I came up with using different tools:<br />
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/12oJlphuwRiMJO1-wopCDpadmAP5SfNXNjcEmCWu-A3o/edit" target="_blank">TASK 1 - Analyse the report</a><br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nbw-PydpQsHGIDVCQA6x0YvOUqzQ0bjCSjcjJ9OTl3Q/edit" target="_blank">TASK 1 - Analyse the report (Answer key)</a><br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSddeLCeidDhDYQZ1trkJiPht1TzUJmy9URji7GawBsqn5Gahg/viewform" target="_blank">TASK 2 - Analyse the report</a><br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ddvDHR4LmwOSMOwnzryE6clzOtKpYl1GlYbKM4ab_88/edit" target="_blank">TASK 3 - Expressing results</a><br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdphTBGo62zlVsGUS6SGdFttbPnm6WeXgXSw2rII1wJp-X-nA/viewform" target="_blank">TASK 4 - Expressing results</a><br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1pAJL3rwjUrlYaj1Se0h222MU5EjUhIr7mZvFfE18QJg/edit#slide=id.p" target="_blank">TASK 5 - Building my writing</a><br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dbBUQTMtcC40rPjSNVbyI2WOV4yiZDyOJ_9EDyVWAnY/edit" target="_blank">TASK 6 - Writing my report</a><br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wvllsQYP9A7hnEVRNCfPWRYRqYSMreYVl5Oa3dA74KA/edit#" target="_blank">TASK 7 - Sharing my report</a><br />
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How did it go? All students were able to reach task 5. Some students not only finished task 6 but also began writing their first draft in class. There was one student who barely got to task 5 and produced something in it, but this one is usually like this in all lessons. Task 7, however, was actually done two lessons from this one, in which students had to give each other some feedback.<br />
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Again, the fruits of this lesson could be seen as soon as it started. The truth is that there is so much production and collaboration that has to take place that students have no other choice but take up one challenge after the other and help their partners. Since the teacher is not in the centre of everybody's attention, there are no moments in which some students are waiting for others to finish their activities. Therefore, there are no gaps for students to speak Portuguese or start deviating from the lesson goal.Lucas Gontijohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12534303755735872126noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-26706161375120834302018-04-05T09:37:00.003-03:002018-04-09T21:06:32.404-03:00Teaching inside Google Classroom<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
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It was time to plan the review class for test 1 of my 3B group. This group of mine has 16 students enrolled and some of them are not as participatory as I'd like them to be. There is the worksheet that we always get in our boxes and which we can use for that particular class. In my head, just as, I believe, in many of my colleagues' heads, this is one of those classes that are usually expected to be exactly the way they have always been: students get the worksheet, they work on it, they compare answers, teacher checks it. It's either this or the other version of assigning it as homework beforehand.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBFGMvosh4YZJtGOkibUvCVB8a9eizTzV0yLWKEBwPSl_bQgCX4u9pvS8GZAaF-5oRiIR0CXRXu2p8RhoVec5Ez8gMPeIXiWGRPc_jb4qhGO_uX2NeardW53eGb-AWNuo6UKp/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2018-04-03+at+16.25.35.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="1040" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBFGMvosh4YZJtGOkibUvCVB8a9eizTzV0yLWKEBwPSl_bQgCX4u9pvS8GZAaF-5oRiIR0CXRXu2p8RhoVec5Ez8gMPeIXiWGRPc_jb4qhGO_uX2NeardW53eGb-AWNuo6UKp/s320/WhatsApp+Image+2018-04-03+at+16.25.35.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
This time, however, I wanted to try something new. Speaking to Ana Netto, I found out that herself, Bárbara Duarte and Talita Lima had been creating these digital tasks on Drive (forms, docs and quizzes) and had been willing to conduct a review class entirely inside Google Classroom. That's right. In class! So I decided to join them. Why not?<br />
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Ana shared the stuff they had already put together and I made some other things. In total, they were simple things like editable docs and google forms used as quizzes. I made these challenges in the form of assignments in Google Classroom and, instead of posting them, I scheduled them to be automatically posted at 2:20 p.m. on the day of the class. This way, my students wouldn't see it before the right time. Once they got to the classroom (the physical one), all these assignments previously scheduled had been posted.<br />
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Since many of them have the GC app in their mobiles, they arrived in class intrigued and curious, asking about this bunch of activities that had been posted there. The only thing I told them was "get your notebook and a pencil, and follow me". They all queued up behind me and did so. We went to the room next to the Resource Centre at the Lake Branch, the one with special desks that can be rearranged in any way.<br />
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There, I had them work in pairs. Each pair shared an ipad. They all accessed our Google Classroom and took up one challenge after the other. Each challenge had been numbered, so they just had to follow the order. As soon as a group had finished a challenge, I would release its answer key for that particular group in the classroom stream tab. The students would go back to the stream tab and check it. Then they would move on to the next challenge.<br />
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Would I do this again? Definitely yes. Why?<br />
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<ul>
<li>The students were not only <b>engaged</b> but also <b>very excited</b> about doing the tasks. At times, they even celebrated for having chosen the right answers when they cheked the answer key.</li>
<li>It was a completely <b>self-paced</b> class. Some students moved faster than others and had the chance to do other things at the end and extra activities in the book.</li>
<li>I almost didn't feel my own presence in the room. I think the students felt more independent just by being in a different classroom set and teaching approach. By facing challenges, rather than a worksheet, they didn't feel they had to report to me all the time. Because of that, the class was naturally <b>student-centred</b>.</li>
<li>I believe my students had a greater sense of importance and urgency in this format than in the traditional one of doing a worksheet. As a result, they developed <b>time management</b> and <b>collaboration skills</b> as they pushed each other towards being more focused in order to finish the tasks. That definitely contrasts with previous experiences in which students would notably show reluctance and disinterest.</li>
<li>I felt a way <b>more fulfilled</b> as a professional since I was finally able to help my students build their <b>autonomy</b> and <b>potential</b> in class.</li>
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In this experience, the students might never notice what we do: the fact that they don't care as much about getting the answer key after they've done the worksheet as they care about taking up challenges and being able to solve problems by themselves.</div>
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Lucas Gontijo</div>
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Lucas Gontijohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12534303755735872126noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-43626055989174891692018-03-22T19:12:00.002-03:002018-03-22T19:15:29.100-03:00Public School Teacher Development Program - Graduation Speech <br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><i>On March 10, we held a ceremony to celebrate the conclusion of the Public School Teachers' Development Program, a course designed and delivered by Casa Thomas Jefferson with a grant from the Regional English Language Office (RELO), U.S. Department of State. </i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><i>We would like to share with you the speech that Ana Paula Alves Torres da Costa gave on behalf of all of her colleagues. It summarizes what these professionals have gained from the program and how they plan to incorporate what they learned into their teaching. We are sure these teachers will have a great impact on their students' lives and we are honored to have had the chance to work with them. </i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><i>Here is the speech:</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">First of all, I would like
to thank the American Embassy and Casa Thomas Jefferson for the opportunity we
all had to know one another, to share experiences and to discuss so many
relevant topics concerning our daily routine in our classrooms. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It was a great moment in
which my colleagues and I were aware of the needs and challenges one may face
and discuss some possible solutions concerning the teaching and learning of a
foreign language. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">We sure had a great time together! And we could speak English,
above all, and it was amazing! After our initial discussions, which included
what the best way of teaching English is, we were constantly challenged through
the texts and their reported experiences on teaching English around the world.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Thus, all texts presented
led to different reflections on our teaching practice. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The use of
authentic materials, </i></b>for instance, was something that affected me
in the beginning of my career, as I thought it was impossible to use such
materials with our students. But you know what? I did not know the word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">adaptation</i> at
that time, so, for a long time, I gave up on using these materials.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">During PSTDP, however, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">my colleagues and I had </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">moments of strong
reflections about our approaches in some issues. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The teaching of
vocabulary and grammar, </i></b>for instance, has challenged us to teach
these skills effectively in an inductive way. As a result, many texts were read
and we have always looked for alternatives – either listening to one another,
listening to other teachers’ suggestions or learning from other teachers’
readings around the world. In addition, our reflections on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the use of listening
and vocabulary</i></b> tasks led us to conclude that they provide
effective communication and can interfere directly in our students’ interests,
motivation and comprehension. The use of vocabulary helps us communicate in a
more effective way – it’s the key to communication.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">That is where it finally
led us to the final topic <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Breaking Habits</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. </i>A good way
to break habits depends on the kinds of activities we plan for our classes.
It’s just one of the first steps to challenge our students in different ways.
Learning can be fun, but to reach that, we need to go beyond our books. Some of
us have tried working with games, songs, group work, comic strips, TV series,
you can name it, and it was awesome! Students must identify themselves in the
activities and, as a result, get deeply involved in the task.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">All tasks developed during
the course have helped us create alternative tasks to each one’s classroom
practice, as we experienced so many times by our teacher’s guidance. I remember
the pleasant atmosphere and how much we laughed together. Moments like this
make our jobs memorable and rewarding. The PSTDP course certainly represented a
way to improve and develop our English practice in order to make us reflective
teachers and always willing to grow.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Moreover, it helped us
identify learning problems and work on our students’ needs. In short, we have
learned some important lessons: that all activities can be adapted to any level
of instruction; we believe no activity is time consuming; and our students’
aims and motivation will differ and interfere in our daily practice. So, let’s
make English meaningful for them! Let’s help them broaden their horizons and
possibly show them new ways of life, despite their own reality. It has to do
with getting a positive perspective of life and seeking new experiences, right?
After all, learning a foreign language can lead our students to a life
experience.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Finally, we assure our
commitment in order to help our students to become critical thinkers so that
they can become better citizens and motivate others to do so. Even in good days
or bad days, facing troubles or looking for answers, let our students know
English has changed our lives and can certainly change theirs! That is
certainly a huge challenge, isn’t it? Way to go!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845348118352144270noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-59847810304537321962017-12-03T17:07:00.000-03:002017-12-03T17:07:28.940-03:00Learning Styles as Myth <h3 style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-themecolor: text2;">by Rosana Garcia (Writing for Teachers)</span></i></h3>
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<i><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-themecolor: text2;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-themecolor: text2;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-themecolor: text2;">People learn in different ways and
educators have to be aware of it when planning classes. Therefore, teachers
must match their teaching styles with their students’ learning styles to
achieve a significant learning (<span style="background: white;">Doyle and Rutherford,
1984).</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-themecolor: text2;">These are some of the ideas
that have become very popular among learning style researchers. There are over
71 different theory models. The most
common theory is related to sensory preferences, by <span style="background: white;">Walter Burke Barbe (1926). The modalities </span>can be divided into three
main areas: visual, auditory and kinesthetic (movement-oriented).<em><span style="background: white;"> <b>Visual learners</b> absorb information by taking notes and observing
the body language and facial expression from the teachers. <b>Auditory learners</b>
are more sensitive to tone of voice,
pitch, speed and other nuances; they learn best through talking, discussing, listening
to lectures and reading aloud. <b>Kinesthetic learners</b> learn best by
executing physical activities and can be easily distracted if they sit still
for long periods. </span></em><em><span style="background: white; font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-themecolor: text2;">Another well-known
theory related to experiential learning, developed by David A. Kolb (1984, as
cited by <span style="background: white;">Putintseva, 2006)</span>, is rearranged
into Accommodator, Converger, Diverger
and Assimilator. These four approaches form a learning cycle from experience,
to observation, to conceptualization, to experimentation, and back to
experience. </span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-themecolor: text2;">A personality-based
model was built by </span><span style="background: white; color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">B. McCarthy and H. Gardner
(1990,</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-themecolor: text2;"> as cited by <span style="background: white;">Putintseva,
2006)</span></span><span style="background: white; color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">, who identified four learning styles:
innovative, analytic, common sense and dynamic. <b>Innovative learners</b> aim for personal meaning while learning,
whereas <b>Analytic learners</b> are
reflective on facts and aim for intellectual development.
<b>Common sense learners</b> aim for
practical and straightforward solutions, while <b>Dynamic learners</b> make use of deductive thinking for hidden
possibilities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">Although these theories of learning
style seem valid at first, some well-respected researchers have debated their limitations
and utility. Robert A. Bjork and colleagues (1999, </span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-themecolor: text2;">p. 105<span style="background: white;">)</span>
</span><span style="background: white; color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">claim that “<i>any
credible validation of learning-styles-based instruction requires robust
documentation of a very particular type of experimental finding with several
necessary criteria.</i>” They add that “<i>an
important feature of processing in a specific cognitive style is that when one
encounters a stimulus that is presented in a non-preferred modality, one
mentally converts that information into his or her preferred modality</i>.”
Stephen Downes (2009, </span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-themecolor: text2;">as cited by <span style="background: white;">Finley, 2015)</span>, </span><span style="background: white; color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">considers
the learning style approach “<i>very narrow
and based on a narrow "instructivist"
definition of teaching as a form of instruction to produce content recall</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">There are few studies that have provided
enough evidence for learning styles as valid, but many studies that prove these
theories as myth. According to Christian Jarrett (2015), the learning style is
still widely believed because teachers like to think they are sensitive to
their students’ needs. Besides, it is more comforting to rely on the success or
failure of a class based on a wrong teaching style. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-themecolor: text2;">I believe that, by
observation, interaction and engagement in different activities, teachers can
get the most of their students regardless of their learning preferences.
Teachers should challenge their students to go beyond their comfort zone of
learning. This could be achieved by offering a range of activities within a
learner-centered, communicative approach.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: text2;">References:<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="background: white; color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: text2;">Tatyana Putintseva - The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. XII, No. 3, March
2006.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: text2;">Rebecca L.
Oxford - Learning Styles & Strategies/Oxford, GALA 2003.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: text2;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-themecolor: text2;">Joy M. Reid - TESOL QUARTERLY, </span></i><i><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: text2;">Vol. 21, No. 1, March 1987.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: text2;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">Christian Jarrett (2015) - https://www.wired.com/2015/01/need-know-learning-styles-myth-two-minutes<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="background: white; color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-themecolor: text2;">Todd Finley</span></i><i><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">,
2015 - https://www.edutopia.org/article/learning-styles-real-and-useful-todd-finley<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">Walter Doyle and Barry
Rutherford - Theory Into Practice Vol.
23, No. 1, Winter 1984 <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="background: white; color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: text2;">Walter B. Barbe - Psychology and education of the gifted, 1926.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="background: white; color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-themecolor: text2;"><br /></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text2;">H. Pashler, M. McDaniel,
D. Rohrer, and R. Bjork - <i>Learning
Styles: Concepts and Evidence,</i> Vol. 9, No. 23, 1999.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845348118352144270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-29802493053636900542017-12-02T06:53:00.000-03:002017-12-02T06:57:24.951-03:00Google tools help me deliver better classes<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 24pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Google tools help me deliver better classes</span></div>
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<img height="20" src="https://docs.google.com/a/ctjonline.com/drawings/d/sosv1PlHtrvfHfmN5PTm6Gw/image?w=627&h=20&rev=7&ac=1" style="border: none; font-family: Arial; font-size: 22pt; transform: rotate(0rad); white-space: pre-wrap;" width="627" /><br />
<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Google tools </b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">are here to enhance our classes by allowing us to come up with creative solutions and alternatives that will make lessons a lot more real and interesting to the students.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For instance, for my Access class last Friday, my students were working on Present Simple questions on food vocabulary, such as “Does Linda like potatoes?” and “What does she have for breakfast?”.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instead of just doing what the book suggests, that is, having them turn to their peers and ask random questions as they look at the pictures in the book, I decided to use a </span><a href="https://www.google.com/forms/about/?utm_source=gaboutpage&utm_medium=formslink&utm_campaign=gabout" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Google Form</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that I had created previously, containing only the name of each food in the questions. They accessed the form through the link <a href="http://bit.ly/doyoulikefood">bit.ly/doyoulikefood</a>. You can also take a look.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/d_eN5BYlFdc/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d_eN5BYlFdc?feature=player_embedded" style="clear: left; float: left;" width="320"></div>
</iframe></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My students, then, used the iPads and went on interviewing each other, marking the answers on the form and finally submitting it. They switched roles so that everybody would interview and be interviewed. Important detail: the first question in the form was “What’s your name?”. That would allow me to take my students’ experience to a final follow-up.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As soon as they all finished interviewing each other and submitted their responses, I opened the </span><a href="https://www.google.com/sheets/about/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Google Spreadsheet</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that had been previously selected by me as the destination to which their answers would be sent. The spreadsheet contained one first column with their names and the next ones with each answer recorded by them about their personal tastes on food. To view it, click </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18kSjDh4EIOJKPzjkCC_9dEvzqXV2Lz-dj6zcp9dG4qU/edit?usp=sharing">here</a></b></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Believe me, it was an awesome feeling of fulfilment to see their expressions of surprise when they realised that their personal answers had been saved somewhere and that I was projecting them on the screen. By then, I had already written some prompts on the board that would help students form questions and engage in conversations with their peers.</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My next move was to model the next activity by showing them that they could ask questions about somebody in the spreadsheet and find the answers to the questions there. I randomly picked one of my name cards and asked a question about the selected student: “Does Maria like Chinese food?”. Everybody’s eyes turned towards the spreadsheet and they were all able to deliver the answer quickly: “No, she doesn’t”.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/CWkIPWoQ550/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CWkIPWoQ550?feature=player_embedded" style="clear: right; float: right;" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">After having my students pick a random name card, they worked in pairs asking and answering questions about a third classmate as they used the prompts and analysed the spreadsheet on the screen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The fact that Google Forms can collect answers and immediately save them in a Google Spreadsheet is only one of the captivating features that </span><a href="https://edu.google.com/intl/pt-BR/products/productivity-tools/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Google Tools for Education</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> offer. There is so much more that can be facilitated in class through their use. If you still haven’t found out what you are capable of through them, why don’t you have a try at it?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lucas Gontijo</span></div>
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Lucas Gontijohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12534303755735872126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-8861036926551579322017-11-28T06:30:00.001-03:002017-11-28T06:30:22.984-03:00The 1st THOMAS Google Certified Educator Level 1 Bootcamp<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9plhQOzv6ZNfyqlSa2FepbEbQdeshDmbSK6SKliXxIevh2Vx0vP-1dzyMDiiUtKti1AtjHmydIuG65mkQW9Qg9kr4pTrWT8eMsUktkT8JyYHsyYzIOVcjRoitpGEcBtGiY7yqWw/s1600/22780196_10155206029533165_6213264744807382069_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9plhQOzv6ZNfyqlSa2FepbEbQdeshDmbSK6SKliXxIevh2Vx0vP-1dzyMDiiUtKti1AtjHmydIuG65mkQW9Qg9kr4pTrWT8eMsUktkT8JyYHsyYzIOVcjRoitpGEcBtGiY7yqWw/s200/22780196_10155206029533165_6213264744807382069_n.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teacher <b>Fernanda Oliveira</b> tells us about the Thomas GCE Level 1 Bootcamp. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Taking part in the Google Certified Educator Bootcamp was a very rewarding experience. There were lots of fascinating insights into the Google tools and the different and innovative ways of using them with our students. We not only had the chance to learn about the GSuite tools, but also to share ideas on our online classroom and during our face-to-face meeting. </span><br />
<b id="docs-internal-guid-90a0b028-dae0-978e-131a-9a21dc374639" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We began the Bootcamp by doing 13 online tasks and Clarissa also assigned extra tasks so that we could have the chance to practice and learn a bit more. It was gratifying to realize the possibilities of collaborative and creative work students can do by using the GSuite tools. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our face-to-face meeting was also full of insights (and fun!). We had planned to work on 18 challenges in the morning and in the afternoon that day, but we were able to do everything within 3 hours. With the support and guidance of Clarissa, Leonardo and Paola, we worked collaboratively and did not leave anyone behind that day. We were exhausted, but very proud of what we had accomplished in the end. </span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lots of creative and innovative ideas popped up during the Bootcamp and we are looking forward to using them to make a positive and meaningful difference in our students’ lives next semester. The sky is the limit, Google Educators!</span></div>
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Clarissa Bezerrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17598610786935524070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-54474967946345194792017-11-12T10:36:00.000-03:002017-11-12T10:37:13.028-03:00Engish as a World Language<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Raquel Cunha</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
(Blog Post written as a final assignment for the course Writing for Teachers)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Because
of globalization, the English language has become part of our everyday lives
(we see it in labels, TV commercials, jobs, studies, internet, outdoors etc.). English
has no longer been defined by the number of people who speak it, but how
powerful and influential it is in the world. This is due, mostly, to the power
that the countries that speak it have, not only economically and academically,
but also in the entertainment business and culture. Now, some questions that we
may ask ourselves are: “Who does the English language belong to?” “Is there a right way to pronounce it?”,
“Does every country have their own English?”, “How does Brazil fall in the
world of English?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Before
we go any further, it is important to know what process took place in order for
the language to become what it is today. Taking into consideration that a
language is a living thing, which is born, grows, evolves and may even die, we
should also understand that it influences a person’s personality, and a culture
may also influence its language. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
English language came to be around the V century, developed by the Anglo
–Saxons. Along its history, it incorporated elements from other languages,
including Latin. Though it is a very influential language today, it wasn’t
always so. For a very long time, English was restricted only to the British
territory and French was the <i>lingua
franca</i> used for trade and diplomatic deals. However, with the expansion of
the British territory, English was imposed on people who lived in their
colonies </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">(</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">HOWATT,
2004).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Today,
English is considered a world language or a <i>lingua
franca</i>, which means that it is the language of common communication between
different nations. It is the language that is used on the Internet, in movies, in
music, on businesses, for diplomacy, for international politics, and it is the
key to a successful trade. It has become
that most taught language outside its country of origin. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Although
you may say that the English language belongs to the countries that have it as
their mother tongue, this statement is not entirely true. It can also be seen
as a successful resource for speakers of other languages to communicate with
each other. So, the English language today belongs to the world. Gimenez (2006)
states that it is necessary to make a disconnection between English and
specific countries because speaking and being like a native is not something
necessary. There are a variety of Englishnes in the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
influence that the language has in some countries is so great that a study
conducted by EF EPI in 2016 has shown that their people have ranked very highly
in fluency. However, they have added their own accent, which can be recognized easily.
Thus, it is important to remember that there is not a right accent of English.
Many are accepted and people should not be embarrassed or afraid of it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">We,
Brazilians, can also see the influence of the mother language in our intonation
when speaking English. It influences rhythmically, musically, and also in the jokes
and cultural aspects. It is something that we, Brazilians, should not worry
about and, instead, we should embrace it as our trademark and a positive
influence upon a language. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">However,
a study conducted by EF EPI shows that Brazil still ranks way behind in the
fluency of English. Out of 72 countries, we rank number 40 in fluency, falling
behind Argentina, which ranks number 20 (the best in all Latin America). This
means that we are still not very influential and this also may restrict our
economic and business relations with the rest of the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">This
low rank may be due to many factors, one of them being the precarious public school
system. A high level of functional illiteracy in the country may also limit the
learning of a new language. The study also showed that women in Brazil are
slightly ahead of men when it comes to dedication and fluency. On the other
hand, the same research showed that Brazil has started to make small and recent
changes to improve this situation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Now,
here are some questions that we can reflect upon on the subject, “World
English”: What are some of the patterns that you have noticed in the spoken
English of the Brazilian speaker? Have you noticed the influence in any other
nation’s accents (that does not have English as their official language) in entertainment,
in culture or even in business? How important is it for a nation to be fluent
in the international language in order to grow economically?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">References:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">EF
Education First: </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://www.ef.com.br/epi/"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">http://www.ef.com.br/epi/</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">
June 21, 2017.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Howatt,
Anthony Philip Reid, and Henry George Widdowso (2004). <b>A history of ELT</b>. Oxford University Press.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Gimenes,
Telma (2006). <b>English in a New World
Language Order</b>. Londrina UEL<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845348118352144270noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-51999094887299481332017-10-29T15:46:00.002-03:002017-10-29T15:46:55.363-03:00Why we should teach the five-paragraph essay<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Maurício Peixoto<br />(Essay written for the course Writing for Teachers)</h3>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
In the course Writing for Teachers, students asked to work on writing for exams. To make this a type of meta-assignment, they were given references in favor and against the five-paragraph essay and had to to write a five-paragraph essay expressing their point of view on the topic. Here is Maurício Peixoto's essay, which he chose as his best piece for the course. </h4>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: PT-BR;">Why does
the five-paragraph essay cause so much discussion among some teachers? In
fact, it is used in most standardized exams such as the TOEFL and the CPE, so
students must be well prepared to take them. On the other hand, there are
educators who think that this kind of essay is not effective. The point is that
teachers are supposed to prepare students to succeed in writing every sort of
genres, the five-paragraph essay included. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: PT-BR;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: PT-BR;">Students
have to be able to take proficiency tests properly. They also need to learn how
to write a 5-PE because it is a well-organized way to structure their ideas. In
addition, they follow a pattern of writing without spoiling their creativity,
once students are allowed and encouraged to expose their ideas about a topic.
Writing this kind of essay enables students to learn the conventions of
writing, which will lead them to get ready for producing other genres as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: PT-BR;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: PT-BR;">In
contrast, students are exposed to situations that require a different approach.
They will probably be asked to write a report at work or a letter of complaint
to some company, for example, and a 5-PE will not be effective. Focusing on the
format and structure of a 5-PE, the students might not be able to write
different genres and they may have their creativity blocked. Having that in
mind, teachers need to have genre awareness and provide students with it too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: PT-BR;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: PT-BR;">It is clear that learning how to organize and structure the ideas is
fundamental; however, it is also important to be able to deal with the several writing
demands. Teachers should continue teaching how to write a 5-PE so students can
be able to take standardized exams and succeed in them. They also have to learn
how to write different genres. There is no reason to exclude the 5-PE, nor
teaching this genre only. It is a matter of balance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: PT-BR;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: PT-BR;">In conclusion, there are arguments in favor and against teaching the 5-PE.
Students must be genre aware and the five-paragraph essay is one of them. It is
also a good starting point to learn the other ones. The discussion about
whether to teach it or not leads to nowhere. It has to be taught due to its
importance on international exams, and also because it confines students’ ideas
and focuses them on the structure of writing. On the other hand, other genres
have to be present in writing courses so students can succeed in all real-life
situations they face. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845348118352144270noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-86491161088011522042017-10-27T21:05:00.003-03:002017-10-27T21:10:49.159-03:00Belonging to a Global Tribe of Connected Educators<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last Friday, October 20, I had the pleasure to facilitate a session in the </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1634104249998250/?acontext=%7B%22source%22%3A22%2C%22action_history%22%3A%22[%7B%5C%22surface%5C%22%3A%5C%22timeline%5C%22%2C%5C%22mechanism%5C%22%3A%5C%22surface%5C%22%2C%5C%22extra_data%5C%22%3A[]%7D]%22%2C%22has_source%22%3Atrue%7D&source=22&action_history=[%7B%22surface%22%3A%22timeline%22%2C%22mechanism%22%3A%22surface%22%2C%22extra_data%22%3A[]%7D]&has_source=1&hc_ref=ARQ0aUifrkjPQP2AFwzVVi115HZLXnUZVCyb5kKkUsLMcGa11ko9_nHJE9Zx920Sh7Q&pnref=story" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Braz-TESOL Brasília Half-Day Seminar</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Fellow teacher </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/l1fsbr" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Leonardo Sampaio</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> partnered up with me in this session called </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vScesu4Fd-WG5UAtpCQb44rXzWpdiOpu9tei4LeChMJ7u1VFFa1gnXwIhZbjt5Mz11ofhXvDBOZ7LZo/pub" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Become Google Certified Awesome!”</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The purpose of our session was to demonstrate a little bit of the impact that becoming Google Certified Educators has had in our classes. It was a hands-on session, which took some participants by surprise, for some of them might have been expecting to hear us talk about the </span><a href="https://edutrainingcenter.withgoogle.com/certification" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Google certification process</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, hence the title of the session. But we like to surprise people, so off we went on a collaborative 45-minute journey. (Quick and intense! Phew!)</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-d26eb505-604b-25f4-fde8-426f20f0c717" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Participants worked in trios, and each trio had an Ipad. They went into a Google Classroom we created especially for the session and were asked to discuss what 21st-century is, in their view, and how digital tools may facilitate 21st-century learning in the EFL classroom. After discussing within their groups, they had to write down a summary of their thoughts in the discussion stream of the task. Groups were then invited to read what other groups wrote in the discussion (inside their Google Classroom) and respond by writing comments. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next task enticed participants’ creativity, for they had to access a collaborative Google Slides presentation, locate their group’s slide containing a crazy and unique image, and discuss what they thought had not gone as expected in the image. They had to write down a statement in response to that question about their image. Once they were done with that, groups were invited to look at other groups’ slides and write down 3rd conditional sentences inspired by the situation statements.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We finished our 45-minute session with </span><a href="https://youtu.be/QrEEVZa3f98" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a great video about 21s Century Learning and the 4 C’s</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. We asked participants to reflect on the tasks and activities they had engaged throughout the session to identify whether the 4 C’s had come up in their experience together, to which they said “Yes!” At the end of the session, Leonardo and I shared our views on how becoming Google Certified Educators has impacted our teaching practices and the learning experiences we facilitate in our classrooms. We feel that the very process of studying the units in the </span><a href="https://edutrainingcenter.withgoogle.com/training" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Google Training Center</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which were made by teachers for teachers, helped us get in touch with a million ways teachers all around the world have been applying these tools in their classrooms in order to enhance the 4 C’s. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And what’s more, for me, the most valuable thing in having become </span><a href="https://edutrainingcenter.withgoogle.com/certification_trainer" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Google Certified Trainer</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is to become part of a community of educators who are committed to facilitating learning experiences that help our students become global collaborators and creators of knowledge. After all, it’s never about the tech, it’s about the learning. It’s never about the tool, it’s about the pedagogy and, above all, it’s ALWAYS about the people. </span></div>
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Clarissa Bezerrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17598610786935524070noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-63005065588099447052017-10-13T19:39:00.001-03:002017-10-13T19:40:23.260-03:00Visual Literacy <div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Luis Francisco Dantas</span></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">(Final assignment for the course <i>Writing for Teachers)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">According to Kress & van
Leeuwen (2006), expressing something verbally or visually makes a difference.
Thus, in an era of multiliteracies, teaching ELLs how to read, interpret,
analyze and synthesize information via visual input is imperative. Individuals use
a variety of means in order to communicate.
This way, skills in the realm of visual literacy have proven to be
essential. In modern times, they may tend
to be a matter of survival, especially in the workplace and academic
environments. This is not different in the field of language learning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Despite all the appeal means of
communication dispense to imagery and visual design, EFL/ESL students still
need to be aware that images, written language, and speech are realized
differently. More and more, visual literacy is seen as an essential part of
instruction for multimodal learning. Like linguistic structures, visual
structures point to particular interpretations of experience and to forms of
social interactions (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006, p. 2). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It is also essential to analyze
visual literacy from a neuroscientific perspective. According to Zull (2002),
our brain is a "seeing" brain, so educators need to understand the
power of visually-rich classes to facilitate learning through concrete examples
that rely on the many different sources of imagery. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Along more than twenty years in</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">
the field of teaching English as a foreign language, I could notice that the
ability to read images was something my students seemed to benefit a lot from.
But where to start? How to introduce this kind of teaching into our pedagogy?
Would the syllabus and the tight schedules allow me to introduce these notions
into our teaching programs? I must confess these were my biggest worries at the
time I started teaching English through art and visuals, along with regular course
books and handouts. Confessions apart, I admit it was a tough decision, but at
the same time, I must say it was also the best I have ever taken in my career.
At the beginning it was mostly an attempt to explore the world of culture and
the beauty of visual arts. Eventually, it became a desire to show my students
that a language is much more than its written or spoken expression. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Through
the use of art in the classroom, learners are taught that by reading images,
they can explore different kinds of messages and their meanings. Moreover, in
many occasions, pupils are free to create their own narratives regarding what
they see and explore their knowledge of the world and creativity in meaningful
tasks. They are encouraged to understand that art pieces are also seen as texts
to be analyzed and understood. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Teaching
through visuals is deeply rooted in the idea that images are also seen as
complex visual signs </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">(SANTAELLA, 2012), whose elements are initially
perceived simultaneously, but that need a gradual and more detailed analysis in
order to have their meanings unveiled. According to Santaella (2012), images
are cognitive elaborations that need to be interpreted and read. Taking this
notion of text into account, I have been working with a variety of images and
exposing my students to pieces of work encompassing different fields of the
arts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We have
experienced classes with the livelihood of Kandisnky’s shapes, traveled through
the surrealism and dreams of Salvador Dali, the mystery of Da Vinci’s Monalisa,
the appeal of Picasso’s Guernica and the piercing colors of Frida. Above all,
we have done all this promoting the use of English as our main means of
communication. Throughout the years I can also notice how much we can do for
our students in order to make them widen their horizons in the sense of
acquiring general culture, as well as expressing their own feelings and
impressions more openly and confidently using the lens of art. I have also seen
children shifting from boredom to impulses of joy and creativity while exposed
to pieces of art such as Van Gogh’s Starry Night, being also able to create their
own representation of it and share this experience with their peers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One of the
theoretical constructs in which this teaching approach is based has to do with
the concept of multimodality. According to Iedema (2003), this term was
introduced aiming at reaffirming the importance of taking into account the
semiotic modes that go beyond written language, such as imagery, music,
gestures, among others. This way, images contain a series of aspects which can be
perfectly explored in a language class and that will make students learn more
effectively and experience meaningful communicative situations. This has been
true in all the classes in which I proposed the study of imagetic
representations. Students are able to explore the colors, the various characters
in the paintings, the perspective and different angles chosen by the artists to
tell their stories through art works.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The concept
of ressemiotization, which consists of the transference of the works of art
from their original context, such as art galleries or museums, and their consequent adaptation to teaching
environments, has made the process of teaching and learning English as a
foreign language more colorful, more meaningful and, consequently, more
effective in terms of learning results. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">References:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Iedema, Rick.
Multimodality, resemiotization: Extending the analysis of discourse as
multi-semiotic practice. <i>Visual communication</i>, 2003</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border: none; line-height: 150%; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border: none; line-height: 150%; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Kress, G, & Van Leeuwen, T.
Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. </span><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">New York: Routledge, 2006<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="Normal1" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Santaella, L. Leitura de imagem. São
Paulo: Melhoramentos, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border: none; line-height: 150%; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 150%; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Zull, James E. The art
of changing the brain enriching the practice of teaching by exploring the
biology. </span><i><span lang="PT-BR" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Learning.
Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing, LLC</span></i><span lang="PT-BR" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> ,2002.</span><span lang="PT-BR" style="color: windowtext; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845348118352144270noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-13181421835352949002017-10-10T11:32:00.002-03:002017-10-10T11:32:56.847-03:00CONFIDENCE BUILDERS<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hearts in Atlantis</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(2001), another movie adapted from a Stephen King’s novel, a kid, Bobby Garfield, has his summer adventures guided by this strange old man, Ted Brautigan, who happened to run away from some people called “low men”, who were secret service officers. This is an extract from one of their conversations:</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-71fa7a10-06af-e0f0-b866-358421d58c70" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bobby: Ted, "my father never bought a drunk a drink". What does that mean exactly?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ted: It means he was a good man, he was honest, and he never added to the troubles of the world. Okay? </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The more I live, the closer I get to the feeling we all should try to never add to the troubles of the world. As teachers, we are in touch with lots of people; each one, a universe in himself. How can we go about doing our business in a world which is so increasingly busy? How can we ourselves handle our own personal and professional issues, and yet not add to the problems of this crazy corner of the galaxy?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In my opinion, patience is the most important tool for a teacher nowadays. Of course, it’s always been in every good professional’s toolkit. Nevertheless, more than ever, it has worked wonders to save me from potentially troublesome situations in the classroom. But patience is too abstract a concept to explain, isn’t it? It’s there when you stop and listen to your students. I mean, listen. Not pretend you do while you’re thinking of the next question. There is a difference and your students, like any human being, feel that. Also, it’s there when you are flexible in your activities. By giving people a chance to catch up, you can make them do an exercise or retake a test. In the end, it’s better for the learning process than if you just give him or her a zero. What if you’re pressed by time constraints related to bureaucratic work that needs to be done? Check if you can do what you have to and then fix the student’s score. Flexibility shows your students that you’re in tune with this overwhelming lifestyle we all share. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My students did not do homework? Zero. But, why punish them again in their participation, if they’re going to get a lower grade for not being exposed to the material taught? Why punish them now if life is going to do this in time, either in their academic or in their professional field? Why get overly stressed over this here? Tell them this. It works for me. Not immediately, though. In the end, this is education, what works out immediately in education? So, why not take time, too, in the classroom to listen to your students’ interests and build your class around what they bring up in these conversations? While preparing your classes, leave some room for pockets of conversations, in which you can tell a personal story and be the role model your students need. Relax. If you want them to feel comfortable, they have to feel you are, too. Otherwise, you’ll sound fake. And they need to trust you. They won’t trust one who doesn’t do as he says. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are, in essence, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>confidence builders</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Rapport is the technical word for it. If you don’t have it, learning takes place, but not so easily. Being kind is one of the ways to build rapport with your students. Be real. Tell them about your difficulties day in day out, and they will relate with them. In addition, don’t take for granted that every time a student fails, it was because they didn’t study. Everybody has their priorities, and if his choice didn’t work out, it would be better if you helped him come up with some better alternative for the next test or unit. </span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The heart of the matter is we all could benefit from a little humanity. All around us, it seems the world is getting crazier. By giving your students a chance of experiencing a lighter atmosphere both in the classroom and in their academic life, we can make a difference. In other words, not add to the troubles of the world.</span><b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Text written by </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Themer Bastos, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">August, 9th, 2017</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></b></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-72172858630011754762017-10-01T21:56:00.001-03:002017-10-01T21:56:22.864-03:00Teaching Writing with Global Intermediate: an analysis of the features of its writing activities <h3>
Here is another coursebook recommendation report, this time written by Lucas Gontijo Silva, for the course Writing for Teachers. Do you agree with him?</h3>
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<b><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Introduction<o:p></o:p></span></b></h4>
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<i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Global
Intermediate </span></i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">is the coursebook currently used in the second part of
the intermediate course at Casa Thomas Jefferson, Brasília, DF. The book is
filled with activities that focus on all four skills of language competence:
listening, reading, speaking and writing. However, when we carefully analyse
and test its use on a regular basis, we are able to confirm that some
activities fall short: the ones that focus on writing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Although the book provides extra writing lessons (pp 16, 28, 40, 52, 64,
76, 88, 100, 112 and 124), it still does not equip students with the necessary
material to help them work on their writing skills within the regular lessons
carried out in the course. The intermediate course at Casa Thomas Jefferson
does not include those pages on its syllabus. As a result, the coursebook in
question cannot be sufficient in order to meet the needs of a skills-based
course that also has to focus on writing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Effective and fruitful writing activities can be recognized in a
coursebook that is meaningful for the students who make use of it, a coursebook
that is genre-based, a coursebook that provides them with scaffolding and
planning for writing, a coursebook that contains good models and authentic
texts, and a coursebook that is furnished with follow-up activities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<b><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Background<o:p></o:p></span></b></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The intermediate Course at Casa Thomas Jefferson is mostly an
environment for young students that range from the age of 13 to the age of 17.
The students at issue are characterized by having quite an amount of school
load and some extracurricular activities. They usually demonstrate more
facility with the passive skills, i.e. reading and listening. However, some of
them also struggle with those skills, besides speaking and writing. They are
also at a stage in which they are still forming social and academic
competencies, such as punctuality, responsibility and respect. Because of that,
teachers commonly have to deal with homework neglection and deviant behaviour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Taking this audience into account, writing activities must be able to
catch students’ interest and prove their relevance and immediate applicability
to the students’ lives. As follows, I will point out specific criteria that
should be considered while examining the quality of the writing activities of a
coursebook and will also analyse <i>Global
Intermediate</i> in view of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div>
<h4 style="margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<b><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Literature Review<o:p></o:p></span></b></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Many things must be considered when we think of what makes a language
teaching course good and effective. When it comes to teaching writing, there
are mainly five aspects that should be considered in an EFL skills-based
course: whether the approach is genre-based, the use of scaffolding, the use of
follow-up activities, the presence and usage of good modelling and, finally,
whether writing is meaningful and relevant to the students.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">An approach to genres in writing<br />
<br />
</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A genre-based approach to teaching writing is essential in order to
create language awareness in our students. As Reppen states (2002), after
analysing different types of texts and their distinct characteristics, students
are able to thrive as writers, assess their own pieces of writing, and engage
in peer-feedback more productively. According to her (p. 323), through
genre-guided activities, students manage to see different texts from different
perspectives, taking the writers’ purposes and the readers’ needs into account.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">B.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Scaffolding<br />
<br />
</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Hyland (2007) affirms that scaffolding directly relates to interaction
between peers, which enables them to grasp the activities better. As claimed by
him (p. 158), as students interact and discuss the topic through scaffolding,
they develop an independence from their teacher’s “direct instruction”. <span style="background: white; color: #181817; mso-highlight: white;">Widdowson (1978)
also expresses the great value of scaffolding by describing it as a “gradual
approximation”. Students, therefore, become better writers when they are
“actively encouraged to follow through a series of preparatory steps”
(Scrivener, 1994, p. 157) producing then the final piece of writing.</span><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">C.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Follow-up<br />
<br />
</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Another important aspect about teaching writing is the implementation of
follow-up activities, that is, those that are done after the students have
produced their pieces of writing. The writing process is not finished, and the
students are encouraged to evaluate each other’s texts. Seow (2002) affirms
that that strategy is a means to stimulate a sense of responsibility in them.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">D.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Meaningful writing<br />
<br />
</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Hyland (2007) also explains that the genre approach helps teachers plan
their classes around themes or like real-life activities. Writing in order to
specifically do or achieve something is what raises students’ interest and
makes them see a meaningful purpose in writing. As maintained by the professor,
this approach helps students learn beyond mere abilities and competencies; it
makes them assimilate contextual and social elements that involve one specific
genre.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">E.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Modelling<br />
<br />
</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Finally, the use of good models and authentic material is another
extremely important aspect in teaching writing. Students benefit from being
exposed to real texts and from having authentic models that inspire and
encourage them to engage in writing. According to <span style="background: white; color: #222222; mso-highlight: white;">Al Azri and Al-Rashdi (2014)</span>,
authentic texts “expose students to real language”, “meet learners’ needs”,
“affect learners’ motivation positively” and “present authentic information
about culture”, amongst other reasons.<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion<br />
<br />
</b>All the literature mentioned above concurs in regarding writing highly and
seeing it as a fundamental part of a language course. The various elements that
are necessary to compound high-quality teaching or determine a great coursebook
can be easily identified when it comes to writing. Such elements must be avidly
pursued in order to encourage and uphold a good practice of the teaching of
writing.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -.25in;">
<b><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Analysis of Data<o:p></o:p></span></b></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When we bear in mind a skills-based course, we cannot overlook the skill
of writing. Successful writing relies on the fulfillment of certain criteria.
Coursebooks must be carefully analysed and questioned according to these
criteria so that we make sure that their use concerning writing is effective
and productive in a language course. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Meaningful material<br />
<br />
</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The age group that uses the book and the interests that surround
students’ lives should be taken into account when taking a close look at the
coursebook. <i>Global Intermediate</i> has,
therefore, proven to be a book directed towards an older audience. Many
teachers at the school have stated that when they go through some lessons, such
as <i>Unit 3, part 2</i> and <i>Unit 5, part 2</i>, the students tend to
react in the same way, with lack of enthusiasm and boredom. This is so because
young teenagers do not naturally have interest in energy sources or government
collocations (the central topics of the lessons mentioned above). When it comes
to the writing activities, this reality aggravates the problem, since students do
not have a sufficient stimulus to engage in the writing tasks. Assignments such
as <i>writing a comment on an online science
magazine</i> can be difficult and uninteresting for students at that age. <br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">B.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Genre-based material<br />
<br />
</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Another aspect that should be appraised is whether the coursebook makes
use of genre-oriented tasks. Whether the activities within the lessons provide
students with contextualized tasks in which they can see the purpose of writing
is extremely important. When students are told to write solely to improve their
writing skills, the activity has an end in itself and becomes pointless from
their perspective. There has to be a purpose in writing that relates directly
to students’ lives and interests, and genre-based writing lessons are those
which deliver the context and the sense of reality that students need.<br />
<br />
The writing tasks in <i>Global Intermediate</i>,
however, do not comprehend this strategy. The lesson tasks usually involve
forming questions, writing lists or a general comment or paragraph about
something. That means that students are not guided on how to write authentic
texts that are used in specific contexts.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">C.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Scaffolding and Planning<br />
<br />
</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Good writing lessons also include scaffolding and planning. In other
words, the lessons have to naturally welcome students into the writing task,
rather than surprise them with an assignment that they are not ready to do. The
activities must be conducted in a way that the students are gradually prepared
for the assignment, and that is why instructions regarding planning must also
be part of the lesson.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, the lessons in <i>Global
Intermediate</i> do not bring scaffolding and planning strategies before the
writing tasks. The instructions just usually tell students to write a piece of
writing after they have discussed something that relates to the lesson, which
is not the necessary process that students have to go through so as to produce
a text with quality. Good scaffolding involves guiding students with regard to
the context, the purpose, the content and the form of the text, to put it
briefly. Also, the students are not given any orientation concerning outlining,
map-minding or other planning strategies.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">D.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Modelling with authentic texts<br />
<br />
</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Since the writing tasks mostly orientate students to write a comment or
a paragraph, a lack of modelling with authentic texts can be spotted in <i>Global Intermediate</i> as well. Although
students are provided with catchy images and appealing layouts in the reading
activities that usually precede the ones on writing, they still do not have
great models for their own pieces of writing (predominantly comments and
paragraphs). After having read texts that somehow relate to the lessons, the
students are not encouraged to produce something similar to the only model that
has been given in the lesson. <br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">E.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Follow-up Activities<br />
<br />
</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Finally, an effective coursebook that helps students work on their
writing skills must contain at least one effectual follow-up activity through
which pupils can give and get valuable peer-feedback. That is so because, otherwise,
the writing section of coursebooks will always end up becoming homework
assignments or assessments and students will never have the chance to actually
exchange knowledge and ideas with their peers. The activities that focus on
writing need to be made an essential part of the course and must be regarded by
teachers and students as highly as the others that emphasize different skills.
The writing activities within the lessons in <i>Global Intermediate</i> only instruct students to read their
compositions to each other and then say whether they agree with their peers.
That is not enough for the aim of developing students’ writing skills and
language awareness.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<b><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">5.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Outcomes<o:p></o:p></span></b></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Although <i>Global Intermediate</i>
does have a section entirely dedicated to writing after each unit, it does not
have writing activities within the lessons. Since the course carried out at
Casa Thomas Jefferson does not include such sections, it does not provide
students with effective and productive activities concerning the skill of
writing. It definitely lacks high-quality scaffolding and planning exercises,
as well as follow-up activities. It also does not contain meaningful and
appealing writing tasks when we consider the specific audience that makes use
of it. Finally, modelling and authentic texts are not always present as well,
which makes the students confused and unprepared to produce the pieces of
writing that are suggested through the lessons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Therefore, looking only and closely at its writing activities, I
recommend the discontinuation of <i>Global
Intermediate</i> as the coursebook for the intermediate course at Casa Thomas
Jefferson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h4>
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">References</span></b></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-highlight: white;">Al Azri, R. and
Al-Rashdi, M. (2014). The Effect of Using Authentic Materials in Teaching.
International Journal of Science and Technology Research, 3(10), pp. 249-254.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Hyland, Ken. (2007) Genre pedagogy: Language, literacy and L2 writing
instruction. Journal of Second Language Writing, 16, 148–164<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181817; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-highlight: white;">Reppen, R.
(2002). A Genre-Based Approach to Content Writing Instruction. In J. Richards
& W. Renandya (Eds.). Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of
Current Practice (pp. 321-327). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181817; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-highlight: white;">Scrivener, Jim.
(1994). Learning Teaching. The Teacher Development Series Editor: Adrian
Underhill. Oxford, UK: Heinemann.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-highlight: white;">Seow, A. (2002).
The writing process and process writing. In J. C. Richards & W. A. Renandya
(Eds.). Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice (pp.
315-320). New York: Cambridge University Press.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181817; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-highlight: white;">Widdowson, H.
(1978). Teaching language as communication. </span><span lang="PT-BR" style="background: white; color: #181817; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-highlight: white;">Oxford: Oxford University Press.</span><span lang="PT-BR" style="color: #181817; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845348118352144270noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-87765930273399356812017-09-23T18:52:00.001-03:002017-09-23T19:04:40.214-03:00Recommendation Report<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">In the course Writing for Teachers, participants had to write a report recommending the continuation or discontinuation of a course book based on its writing curriculum. They had to base their recommendation on theoretical references. Here is what<i> Leandro Camargo</i> wrote about the course book Time Zones, used in our Teens Course. </span></h4>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Introduction</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Like many other EFL schools in Brazil, Casa Thomas
Jefferson’s academic staff seeks updated books. In the Teens course, we have Time
Zones course books and, to avoid problems with student’s engagement in writing
activities, a revision should be done. When asked for feedback, some
teachers mentioned that many adaptations were needed in order to make writing
assignments more attractive to students. This issue has to be addressed so that
students can have a better experience in writing exercises and eventually
improve their skills.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Currently, as mentioned by the teachers, a low
percentage of the students enjoy the writing activities. This needs to change
so teachers can achieve their goals of making writing assignments enjoyable for
both. Strategies could be implemented to increase enjoyment of writing
activities, since they are just as important as the others.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Writing is an important part of any English course and
poor writing can cause academic consequences. Students who don’t have good
writing skills or don’t enjoy doing writing usually end the course with lack of
writing ability. Consequently, these students will miss out very important
opportunities in their academic lives. Changes in the writing program for the Teens
course at Casa Thomas Jefferson are needed, and the following report is
intended to propose ideas for improvement and continuity of the writing
program.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Literature Review<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Learning how to write in a second language has always
been difficult and challenging for students. Planning, revising, rearranging
and deleting, producing multiple drafts are just some of the tools for the
writing exercise. “Over the years, different approaches have been introduced in
the language classroom, yet it is the process approach that became known in the
1970s that has had the most favorable influence” (Macarthur, Graham and
Fitzgerald, in Alves, 2011; 2). This approach considers all writings as a
creative act that requires positive feedback with the intervention of the
teacher to be well done.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Process writing is a common technique to teach writing
that gives emphasis to creativity, and which pays attention to the development
of writing practices instead of imitation (Tribble in Alves, 2011; 3). In this
process, the teacher moves away from being someone who sets students a writing
topic and corrects a finished product without any intervention. Teaching and
learning happens during the whole process.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">A writer must know how to organize his/her thoughts
and messages in an appropriate way. Most students don´t know what they want to
write and many ideas are only revealed when they start writing. Revision,
changes of words and structure are made until writers are satisfied with the
result. Since writing is a process of ‘generating, formulating and revising
ideas’ (Zame in Alves, 2008; 6), attention and adequate time have to be
provided for revision and re-writing, while teachers help throughout the
process.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> Process writing
can be divided into three main stages: pre-writing, focusing ideas and evaluating,
structuring, and editing. Pre-writing is the stage in which the teacher needs
to stimulate student’s creativity through well scaffolded activities, to get
them thinking how to approach a writing topic. The flow of ideas is more
important than the production of any written work. Among others, a good example
of pre-writing activity is the use of brainstorming, considering the complexity
of writing and how generating ideas is an essential stage (White and Arndt in
Alves, 2008; 7).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">After the pre-writing stage, students write the first
draft without much attention to the accuracy of their work. White and Arndt,
and Hedge (in Alves, 2008; 10) suggest the technique of fast-writing. In this
stage, the most important feature is meaning: Is it good? Is there anything
missing? Should I add anything else?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Editing is one of the most important stages in the
writing process because it´s where a
lot of learning happens. This stage also helps students in future writings,
once they have the opportunity to receive feedback. Revising, besides being an
important source of learning, is part of the writing process that involves
assessing what has already been produced (Hedge in Alves, 2008; 11).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Writing isn't an easy task, and so it is only fair
that anybody´s writing is responded to suitability. It is important to give
positive feedback to help build student confidence and create good feelings for
the next writing.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Since writing is a difficult exercise, students need to
write over and over to become good writers. They need the opportunity to
practice various types and functions of writing to develop skills, and build
competence, confidence and progress toward independence.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">All the stages in process writing will encourage
students to try. Students will not be judged or exposed because they will have
an opportunity to revise and improve before being evaluated. Practice, well
planned stages, and well scaffolded pre-writing activities may change students’
lack of enjoyment towards the writing exercise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .25in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Methodology</span></b></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">For this report, I
shared practical knowledge with teachers at Casa to get an idea of what
they have been experiencing and doing to increase their student’s enjoyment of
writing assignments. I also researched relevant articles on the process writing
approach. These articles outline several features to teach better writing
lessons in the language classroom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Causes of low enjoyment of writing lessons</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Teachers in general
agree that writing is an all too common problem for an English as a Foreign or
Second Language school. This can be so due to many causes; from unsupportive
schools and teachers to the lack of skill of the students.<span style="background: white;"> </span>Also, the absence of interest from the
students due to poor pre-writing and not well scaffolded activities are listed
as top reasons for the boredom in the writing classes.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Some teachers also
agree that if a student is not being successful in his/her writings, then they
are less likely to want to hand in the assignments. In short, all of the
teachers agree that low quality models of writing and lack of genre awareness
are major reasons for students not to do well in writing lessons, especially
younger students, once they have special needs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Effective writing lessons <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">As the main goal is a
better writing program and ideas for increasing student enjoyment, one of the
two most frequently mentioned things by teachers are teaching students basic
writing patterns and having effective and meaningful pre-writing lessons. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">An effective pre-writing
class consists of generating ideas and planning. Great tools for that are,
for instance, the use of <span style="background: white;">well scaffolded
activities including videos, writing samples and mind maps. The writing
activities in the Teens course books used at The Casa Thomas Jefferson have
just a few of the features suggested. When students are asked to write
something, they have no idea how to do it. Activities like these are not only
feasible, but also essential for students to become familiar with in order to
select the appropriate kind of writing, using them in specific situations, along
with the appropriate vocabulary, research, process and purpose. </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">In addition to
improving pre-writing lessons, it is the responsibility of the teachers to
motivate students to write and make them aware of the importance of producing
good compositions. Creating effective activities that are reviewed and renewed
regularly and establishing a writing routine with students are very important
stepping stones for improving the Teens course writing program. All in all, as
Time Zones is a good book, I recommend its continuation provided that changes
are made in the writing activities. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">In conclusion, the
findings based on teachers’ experience come to an agreement that the book
should still be used for the Teens course due to its other features. Effective
writing activities and lessons are very important to help students develop their
abilities. Once the book being used at the moment doesn’t present well planned
pre-writing exercises, it now becomes the teacher's responsibility to plan and
share activities with other teachers. The following topics are important
factors in increasing students’ enjoyment of writing lessons: effective and
meaningful writing lessons and the role of teachers as facilitators and
motivators, so students can learn and enjoy this activity. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">References<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Kroll, B. (1990) <i>Second
Language Writing: Research insights for the classroom</i> Cambridge University
Press<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">H. Douglas Brown. (1994) <i>Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. </i>Paramount
Communications Company.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="PT-BR" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Alves,
Reis Ana. </span><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Process
writing</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">. University of Birmingham: 2008.
(Masters degree assignment) Available at: <a href="http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-artslaw/cels/essays/languageteaching/AReisAlvesProcessWritingLTM.pdf">http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-artslaw/cels/essays/languageteaching/AReisAlvesProcessWritingLTM.pdf</a>.
Accessed on July 3, 2017.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845348118352144270noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-20850556880859560472017-09-17T13:17:00.002-03:002017-09-17T13:17:54.632-03:00Games in ESL classrooms<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Hugo
Mendonça Lima (Final project for the course Writing for Teachers)</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Having been a P.E teacher for almost five years, I have
come to realize something. If you want to make people practice physical
activities, without suffering, make it interesting. And what better way to do
that than by playing games? Is the attention span of the children in your kids’
swimming class short? Turn the pool into the sea and the kids into mermaids and
play make believe. Are your teenagers getting bored too fast in their volleyball
practice? Tell them the faster they finish it the more time they will have to
play the actual game. Are some of the adults in the gym starting to miss
classes? Tell them they will have a bench press competition at the end of the
month and the winner gets a month free of tuition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> For this reason, when I started teaching English as a
Second Language, it was no surprise to see that the students from these classes
also responded well to games. However, what I was surprised with were the
reasons why teachers would use games in an ESL classroom. Most of my peers used
this tool as a way to kill time or break the ice. They would hardly ever use it
as a means to learn new content. So I challenged them. I proposed we increase
the number of times we use games in our classes, but only if we had a specific
learning purpose in mind. That way, not only would we have to think outside the
box, but also the students would be more engaged during the lessons. The
teachers accepted the challenge, and we agreed to bring to class at least one
new game every week. Needless to say, we had remarkable results. The students
loved the change, and were learning much more every week. And because of that,
the teachers started feeling compelled to bring more and more interesting
things for classes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Thus, I now challenge you, reader. How about changing
things up in your classroom? Instead of a PPT explaining how to say sentences
in the future, why not play a game with that goal in mind? Maybe have your
students work in pairs and play a game of predicting each other’s future (bring
a deck of cards or snow globes for fun). One student will be the clairvoyant
and will “read” the cards or globes for their classmate, using sentences in the
future. It might seem silly, but they will be engaged and will use their
creativity trying to impress their peers. Or you can come up with a new game
for this topic yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> For that, you will have to understand the definition of
game, and its purpose in an ESL classroom. Talak-Kiryk (2010) says that games
are fun activities which promote interaction, thinking, learning and problem
solving, whereas Deesri (2002) says they are also activities that must have
rules, goals, and an element of fun. And according to Chen (2005) and
Talak-Kirkyk (2010), games in an ESL classroom provide students with the opportunity
for real communication and give them purpose to use the target language.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> If this reason is not enough for you, Chen (2005) mentions
in her article that games allow students to explore the language without the
fear of failure. She also says that learning should be interesting, fun, and
even challenging. After all, we are used to having any kind of information at
hand, at any time we want. All we have to do is pick up our phones and look it
up. So, having students work hard for something and engage in an activity might
be difficult. And games will be helpful when facing this resistance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Now, if I was able to convince you to increase the number
of games you use in your classes, when planning your lessons remember this:
your game should always have a clear learning objective and purpose (Deesri.
2002). A game of Charades might be fun, but it is also pointless if it does not
add to the learning process. Furthermore, you should always keep in mind your
students’ language level, their age, and personality traits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> It might seem difficult, at first, to make games a fixed
part of your syllabus. However, once your students start participating more and
learning more, you will see you are doing something right. The most challenging
part will be having to create games for each situation. That is why I will put
some links bellow with some websites that might help you. After a while, you
will have a database of games you can use, and your classes will be easier to
plan, but still effective.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Links for games:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Chen-Games.html"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Chen-Games.html</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.eslkidstuff.com/Gamescontents.htm"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">https://www.eslkidstuff.com/Gamescontents.htm</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">References:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">CHEN, I. Using Games to Promote Communicative Skills in Language Learning. 2005. Accessed in: </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Chen-Games.html"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Chen-Games.html</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">TALAK-KIRYK, A. Using Games In
A Foreign Language Classroom. 2010. Accessed in: </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1488&context=ipp_collection"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1488&context=ipp_collection</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">DEESRI, A. Games in the ESL
and EFL Class. 2002. Accessed in: </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Deesri-Games.html"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Deesri-Games.html</span></a></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845348118352144270noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-70469258684803425062017-09-03T21:36:00.001-03:002017-09-03T21:36:40.783-03:00Teaching one-to-one classes<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><i>Benjamin Correa </i> (Final project for the course Writing for Teachers)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Teaching English in a one-to-one
situation differs significantly from the traditional classroom <i>modus operandi</i>. There is only one
student with the teacher’s undivided attention and no opportunities to have
students experiment with peers with a similar English knowledge level.
Therefore, a different approach must be sought to better mould the class to
this kind of situation. In fact, this is a particularly challenging teaching
practice that frequently gets overlooked in TEFL courses (WILBERG, 2014, I).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Commonly,
the one-to one</span><span class="MsoCommentReference"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></span><span class="MsoCommentReference"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">arrangements</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> deal with a
student’s needs instead of a pre-arranged, set-hours course.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The
need for individualization and to meet the students’ needs is important when
teaching groups, but when teaching one to one, it becomes more evident. With
these parameters in mind, it is important to adapt the class structure so to both
favour the end user’s purposes and offer a good foundation to use the language
in any given situation. However, to mould the class to these situations, some
aspects must be taken into consideration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> First,
the student-teacher dynamic is changed in a way that, although it is not shaped
as a peer-to-peer relationship, there is more of a partnership between them than
would be felt in a group class. Also, the decision-making process regarding the
class is shared differently from a standard class. In a multiple-student situation,
the relationship among the students is that of camaraderie that, necessarily,
shifts the class from a teacher to a student-centred dynamic. In a one to one
class, this is shifted toward a sort of equilibrium between the teacher and the
student.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Moving
along the lines of the teacher-student relationship is the classroom management
dynamics, or rather, the pressure both teacher and student have upon themselves
(British Council). The student might feel pressured, since there are no peers
to share the teacher’s attention, nor is there a time for the “spotlight to be
off him”. The teacher, on the other hand, might feel pressured to keep the
class interesting and realistic regarding the student’s expectations (WILBERG,
2014, p. 7).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> However,
those aspects are not necessarily bad. If the teacher can manage to deal with
them, they can be turned in their favour. If the student has the teacher’s
undivided attention, that also means he or she has larger opportunities for
practice and receive feedback. And if there is a development in the
relationship into trustworthiness and lightness, the student might be compelled
to engage more using the language he or she’s learning. This means more
real-life situations and flourishing development.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> Jeremy
Harmer (2014, p. 123) states that confidence building is one of the key aspects
of language learning. Therefore, one could assume that without the pressure
from peers and with the easiness of an acquainted teacher, the student benefits
from this kind of class. Developing at the student’s pace and pushing faster or
slower is something that helps confidence building and the language-learning process.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> All
things considered, a one to one class brings different challenges and distinct
rewards for those involved. The teacher being able to manage the pace and the
demands of the student helps him or her to develop confidence and fulfill expectations and personal objectives with the new language. Therefore, the one
to one class might be a unique opportunity for personal growth for both teacher
and student.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">References:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">British Council <i>Teaching
One to One. Available in: </i>https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teaching-one-one<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_gjdgxs"></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Harmer, Jeremy (2014) <i>How to Teach English</i>. Essex: Pearson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Wilberg, Peter (1994) <i>One to One: A Teacher’s Handbook</i>. London: Language Teaching
Publications<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845348118352144270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-9833038103798253762017-08-27T11:13:00.001-03:002017-09-03T21:45:08.939-03:00Kids and Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom<h2 style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></h2>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<h3 style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><i>Anna Flávia Pessoa</i></span></h3>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">(Final project for the course Writing for Teachers)</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Introduction</span></b></h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Teachers face many
challenges in the classroom. Educators are always working on new ways to keep
students engaged and motivated. Creativity, playful learning, and kinesthetic activities are constantly on their minds. Alongside that, it is well-known that
people learn in different ways. Many teachers also try to incorporate these
concepts in their planning. As a consequence</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">, a lot of theories
about multiple intelligences and the acquisition of a second language are
surfacing. Having that in mind, let's first understand what the multiple
intelligences are. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Gardner (2010) has
identified seven distinct intelligences:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Visual-Spatial</span></b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"> -
think in terms of physical space, as do architects and sailors. Very aware of
their environments. They like to draw, do jigsaw puzzles, read maps, daydream.
They can be taught through drawings, verbal and physical imagery. Tools include
models, graphics, charts, photographs, drawings, 3-D modeling, video,
videoconferencing, television, multimedia, and texts with
pictures/charts/graphs.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Bodily-kinesthetic</span></b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"> -
use the body effectively, like a dancer or a surgeon. Keen sense of body
awareness. They like movement, making things, touching. They communicate well
through body language and they should be taught through physical activity,
hands-on learning, acting out, role playing. Tools include equipment and real
objects.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Musical</span></b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"> - show
sensitivity to rhythm and sound. They love music, but they are also sensitive
to sounds in their environments. They may study better with music in the
background. They can be taught by turning lessons into lyrics, speaking
rhythmically, tapping out time. Tools include musical instruments, music,
radio, stereo, CD-ROM, and multimedia.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Interpersonal</span></b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"> -
understanding, interacting with others. These students learn through
interaction. They have many friends, empathy for others, street smarts. They
can be taught through group activities, seminars, dialogues. Tools include the
telephone, audio conferencing, time and attention from the instructor, video
conferencing, writing, computer conferencing, and e-mail.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Intrapersonal</span></b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"> -
understanding one's own interests, goals. These learners tend to shy away from
others. They're in tune with their inner feelings; they have wisdom, intuition
and motivation, as well as a strong will, confidence and opinions. They can be
taught through independent study and introspection. Tools include books,
creative materials, diaries, privacy and time. They are the most independent of
the learners.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Linguistic</span></b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"> -
using words effectively. These learners have highly developed auditory skills
and often think in words. They like reading, playing word games, and making up
poetry or stories. They can be taught by encouraging them to say and see words,
read books together. Tools include computers, games, multimedia, books, tape
recorders, and lecture.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Logical -Mathematical</span></b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"> -
reasoning, calculating. They think conceptually, abstractly and are able to see
and explore patterns and relationships. They like to experiment, solve puzzles,
and ask cosmic questions. They can be taught through logic games,
investigations, and mysteries. They need to learn and form concepts before they
can deal with details.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">The importance of Multiple Intelligences
for the acquisition of a second language</span></b></h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Teachers are generally concerned about
their teaching styles. In a classroom filled with young learners, there´s a
great deal of things to take into consideration, especially the motivation and
engagement of the students.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">According to Budden (2005),
we can´t please all the students all the time, and it's just good to bear in
mind that there are many different ways of learning. She also asks some
pertinent questions. Why do some students really enjoy working in groups whilst
others are much more productive working alone? Why do some learners draw
pictures in their vocabulary books while others seem to need to just hear a
word to be able to use it themselves? People are different and they learn
differently.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Beare (2017), in his blog <i>thoughtCo, </i>explains that <span style="background: white;">the most important aspect of using multiple
intelligence activities in class is that you will be giving support to learners
who may find more traditional activities difficult. The basic idea behind
multiple intelligence activities is that people learn using different types of
intelligences. </span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="background: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">The use of multiple intelligences is
extremely influential for beginner levels, considering that motivation is key.
When we cater for the specific learning needs of a child, we establish better
rapport with him/her and, as a consequence, learning becomes enjoyable from the
beginning. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">How to incorporate multiple intelligences
in the classroom. Practical ideas for teaching kids</span></b></h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">First, keep in mind that the teacher will
probably not be able to incorporate all intelligences in every class. Having
said that, the best way to start is by setting the goal for the lesson. Having
done that, the teacher is capable of planning and identifying the types of
activities to be used in that setting.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">To illustrate this scenario, think of a
classroom with kids, mainly 6 and 7 years old, and a lesson about clothes. The
goal of this lesson is to introduce clothes vocabulary (t-shirt, pants, dress,
shoes, socks). By learning about multiple intelligences, the teacher will
provide various activities and provide meaningful learning for the students.
Activities with flashcards, colors and images are beneficial for visual
learners. Using the same material to create games in which kids move around can
help students with interpersonal and bodily-kinesthetic intelligences.
Creating songs and asking the students to follow/repeat can help musical,
linguistic and intrapersonal learners. Using the games and songs to count the
material or revise the vocabulary is helpful for logical learners.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">These were some very simple ideas on how
to engage the different intelligences. Pesce(2017) provides a lot of ideas in
her blog BusyTeacher, and she uses the multiple intelligences theory as one
way to motivate her students.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Conclusion</span></b></h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Working with multiple Intelligences can
help students become more engaged and stay motivated. There are a lot of
resources about it available for teachers. It is obvious that working with all
intelligences all the time is hard. However, if there´s a plan, it is possible to
work with some of them at the same time and, with that, build good rapport with
the students.</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 3.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 3.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="background: white; margin-bottom: 3.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">References</span></b></h4>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 3.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 3.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 3.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Arnold, J & Fonseca, MC (2004).
Multiple Intelligence Theory and Foreign Language Learning: A Brain-based
Perspective. </span><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Servicio de Publicaciones. Universidad de Murcia. IJES, vol.4(1), 2004,
pp. 119-136.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 3.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="PT-BR" style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Budden,J.(2005). </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Multiple intelligences. </span><span lang="PT-BR"><a href="https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/multiple-intelligences"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/multiple-intelligences</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Beare,K(2017). Multiple Intelligence
Activities </span><span lang="PT-BR"><a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/multiple-intelligence-activities-1211779"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">https://www.thoughtco.com/multiple-intelligence-activities-1211779</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"> Pesce,C(2017).
Teaching Kids English. </span><span lang="PT-BR"><a href="http://busyteacher.org/2831-teaching-kids-english-10-things-to-consider.html"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">http://busyteacher.org/2831-teaching-kids-english-10-things-to-consider.html</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">-Gardner,H.(2010). Multiple intelligences.
http://www.howardgardner.com/MI/mi.html<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845348118352144270noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-6940307749317977062017-08-10T09:00:00.000-03:002017-08-10T09:00:34.812-03:00Teens 6 Magazine Project<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Making writing exciting</span></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-c7ad79df-cbd3-1138-5e6a-05a768bc6b7c" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whenever I get to a writing lesson, I picture my students complaining and moaning about having to write anything. It’s almost as if they had a radar that indicated “boring activity ahead”. These are, thus, the lessons that intrigue me the most just for the challenge of changing that regular pattern.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/IJUT-FX3VUMp3MsK4Mq0NtO5sLMtU-eJdsEix57CMd6U03Z45xpv29o3Ut_q6UpGkFX1B--3SmPzkIsZ4Fc-EEAz2njitxPkJPwUL5wsjzNU1vTmRrvqW8Usr9M_71erZYLR5ziu" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="DSC06109.JPG" border="0" height="171" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/IJUT-FX3VUMp3MsK4Mq0NtO5sLMtU-eJdsEix57CMd6U03Z45xpv29o3Ut_q6UpGkFX1B--3SmPzkIsZ4Fc-EEAz2njitxPkJPwUL5wsjzNU1vTmRrvqW8Usr9M_71erZYLR5ziu" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="257" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To do so, I am always reflecting on how relevant and interesting the writing can be for my young teenage students. The formula is not so hard: just take the genre of the piece of writing into account and think about how it could be applied to their realities. That is basically what I did for my Teens 6 group. Writing news reports was the goal, so I decided to take my students from the role of students to the role of reporters.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The students were obviously excited with the idea of becoming reporters and writing a story. The idea was that they would gather in pairs or trios and would each be assigned a certain page of our class magazine. Once I had a Google slide template of the magazine prepared and ready to be accessed through a shortened link (</span><a href="http://bit.ly/teens6magazine" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bit.ly/teens6magazine</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), I instructed my students and took them to the Resource Centre to make it happen.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/7j36YWrzvTBgYrMOcJJA6qoDONCu2mIc6Qbb2eywAG8CVwzOWGVOyXIGNHAre9rMgjw3aSBtEewgVSnQvR1s_QthBJxVhF8cw-BkBb6oObYJP0hWQqE1c-sjPrnw2BT12OvlfMXi" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="DSC06129.JPG" border="0" height="200" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/7j36YWrzvTBgYrMOcJJA6qoDONCu2mIc6Qbb2eywAG8CVwzOWGVOyXIGNHAre9rMgjw3aSBtEewgVSnQvR1s_QthBJxVhF8cw-BkBb6oObYJP0hWQqE1c-sjPrnw2BT12OvlfMXi" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="133" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had to do it in two classes. The first attempt wasn’t so good because some of my students messed around and interfered in other students’ slides. In the following class, I told them off and told them that they would be given a last chance to finish their reports. I also said that those who didn’t finish would have their pages taken out of the magazine. That gave them some encouragement. On the second day, then, they worked a lot better and behaved as expected.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After joining forces with the Resource Centre at the Main Branch, the magazine was printed out and the students were able to have their own copies. The gleam in my students’ eyes when they saw the magazines I had brought paid off all the effort and struggle I described in the previous paragraph.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/AVhVV9ndxVrwqzsaji0yttnWUMp9OxXO0MdMTtw2H3EyCyx1e9a8Lyf03b16A1SyqMXnsUc6x5bAldfz6TuUsZipbvdNpmo9vGMzYET7BHHq_yzILl-P28V7sJQ271zRzrFy-uhQ" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="DSC06257.JPG" border="0" height="178" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/AVhVV9ndxVrwqzsaji0yttnWUMp9OxXO0MdMTtw2H3EyCyx1e9a8Lyf03b16A1SyqMXnsUc6x5bAldfz6TuUsZipbvdNpmo9vGMzYET7BHHq_yzILl-P28V7sJQ271zRzrFy-uhQ" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="266" /></a></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe a magazine project cannot be carried out every semester, but something we can definitely do is plan our lessons every day wondering whether they will bore our students or excite them. Bearing that in mind and having some deal of willingness, we will be able to come up with many other ideas that can surprise our students and make a difference in their lives.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #999999;">Lucas G. Silva</span></span></div>
Lucas Gontijohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12534303755735872126noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-1418241634067459812017-08-07T19:34:00.001-03:002017-09-03T21:56:26.158-03:00Online English Teaching: Tips and Advice<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Andréa Guterres Câmara (Final Project for
the course <u>Writing for Teachers)</u></span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">When we
think about English teaching in the 21st century, we can’t ignore the impact of
the Internet on our practice as teachers. Students of all ages can now access
information 24/7. There’s YouTube, with an impressive library of millions of
videos growing steadily, with about 300 hours of new content uploaded every
minute. Students can watch videos, listen to different accents, and learn
authentic language anytime and as many times they want, something unimaginable
and unattainable not long ago. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">As our
society advanced technologically, the demand for virtual classrooms was a
natural consequence. To answer that, our first MOOCs, or massive open online
courses, came to be in the 2000s. Since then, more and more people across the
globe have been able to learn countless subjects without the need to commute to
a brick-and-mortar school. This phenomenon hasn’t been different in regard to
language learning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">We live in
a fast-paced world; traffic can be daunting in big cities, and in some remote
locations traveling to attend face-to-face classes can be quite impossible.
Commuting to class used to be a chore for many, but now with a computer and a
reliable Internet connection, anyone can have access to online courses and
private tutors alike. As online teachers, we have the potential to reach
students practically anywhere on the planet. More and more people are
discovering this learning option and embracing it. “Due to a combination of
factors (for example cost, convenience, learner expectations, developments in
technology, and changing paradigms within education), it is clear that online
learning is here to stay” (Hockly, 2015).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The
challenge we online teachers face is to offer the same quality lessons to
students who are miles away, as we’ve done in traditional in-person settings.
Below I’ve included a few tips to address common problems and to circumvent
issues we may have with technology and distance learning. They are intended for
one-to-one lessons for adults, which is my niche, and with which I’m most
experienced.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Start
with a needs analysis and a placement test</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Like with a
regular course, you must know exactly what your student needs and wants to
learn. It will be a partnership between your student and you. Both need to be
aware of what is necessary to achieve their goal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Choose
your favorite communication platform and have a backup option</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">You can use
Skype, which is probably the most popular platform, but there is also Zoom, a
favorite of many teachers: “Zoom is excellent. It offers a wide range of
annotation tools, recording facilities and great audio and video quality”
(Nobre, 2017).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">It is a
good idea to have a backup plan. If Skype is not working, use Zoom or Google
Hangout. As a last resort, you may also try FaceTime for Mac/iPhone users or
WhatsApp Video Calling. The important tip is to be ready in case things don’t
go as expected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Make
sure your student knows the basics about technology before you start your course</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">It may be
straightforward to you, but many people are not familiar with all the
technology available out there, let alone learn a language in a new
environment. You can send them tutorials, links and schedule a call if they
need extra help getting set up. Remember their success and commitment depend on
a good start.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Choose
your materials wisely</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">If you decide
to use a textbook, look for one with a presentation tool. Most publishing
companies nowadays offer that feature. You can install a program or download
it, and have access to the student’s book on your computer screen. This way you
can share your screen, make annotations during the lesson, play audio files,
videos, and make your class more fun and interactive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Create
your own online lessons</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">You can
create your own lessons using articles from blogs, news websites, or stories
you saw on TV; the options are countless. There are many reasons to do this.
Here I list a few: you will bring more contemporaneous issues to your lessons;
you’ll be using authentic materials that can help students learn collocations,
pronunciation and connected speech in a natural way; they can improve their
listening and writing skills with examples taken from authentic texts; and you
can also stimulate their critical thinking in the process.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Use
other online teachers’ free lessons</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">If you are
pressed for time and can’t produce your own lessons, you can also download free
lessons from other teachers. My favorite ones are:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Rachel
Robert’s at <a href="https://elt-resourceful.com/">https://elt-resourceful.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14pt;">Luiz Otavio de Barros at</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.luizotaviobarros.com/"><span lang="PT-BR"> http://www.luizotaviobarros.com</span></a></span><o:p></o:p><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14pt;">Cecilia Nobre at </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://cecilianobreelt.wordpress.com/"><span lang="PT-BR">https://cecilianobreelt.wordpress.com/</span></a></span><o:p></o:p><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14pt;">Ricardo Barros at </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://ricardobarroselt.wordpress.com/"><span lang="PT-BR">https://ricardobarroselt.wordpress.com/</span></a></span><o:p></o:p><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14pt;">Cristina Cabal at </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.cristinacabal.com/"><span lang="PT-BR">http://www.cristinacabal.com/</span></a></span><o:p></o:p><span lang="PT-BR" style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Websites
like the British Council and VOA (Voice of America), for instance, offer free
lessons with authentic resources to make yours interesting and up-to-date on
current world issues.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Use
videos for storytelling</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Videos can
be a great resource, but don’t just show your students a video and use it as a
listening skills lesson. You can use videos to tell a story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">“The
traditional way to use video in the classroom is to watch the video first and
talk about it later. In a Videotelling activity, the teacher communicates a
video narrative through traditional interactive storytelling. In this way, the
technology takes a back seat, and human communication comes to the front of the
class” (Keddie, 2017, p.15).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Have
your students participate actively</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">A challenge
to teachers and more so to online tutors is to control their TTT, or Teacher
Talking Time. You must prepare your lessons to be student-centered. Use Skype’s
chat boxes to have your students write. Share your screen, and show them
PowerPoint presentations to scaffold vocabulary and language. Engage their
attention with nice visuals and videos. Ask them to record an audio at home
about a topic you’ve agreed upon, and then give them feedback. These are simple
and easy to do. The important thing is to create opportunities for the students
to produce and not just sit and listen to you lecture them for 1 hour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Final
Considerations</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Online
teaching is not for everyone. Not all students will want to study online, and
not all teachers will adapt to this new environment or enjoy it. “It might
sound obvious, but some people simply don’t enjoy studying online, preferring
face-to-face lessons” (Nobre, 2017).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">As with
anything relatively new and changing fast, it’s a matter of trying for yourself
and seeing if you like it or not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">If you do
decide to take the plunge, I recommend you create a databank of resources. The
more lessons and content you have saved, the easier it will be for you to adapt
your lessons and save time in the long run.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">References:</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Hockly, N.
(2015). Developments in online language learning. <i>ELT Journal Advance
Access</i>. Retrieved from <a href="https://theconsultants-e.academia.edu/NickyHockly">https://theconsultants-e.academia.edu/NickyHockly</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Keddie, J.
(2017). <i>Videotelling | YouTube Stories for the Classroom</i>.
(Introduction, page 15). Retrieved from Kindle, Amazon.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Nobre, C.
(2017). Challenges in ELT: Teaching online.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Retrieved
from <a href="http://www.onestopenglish.com/community/teacher-talk/challenges-in-elt/challenges-in-elt-teaching-online/555807.article">http://www.onestopenglish.com/community/teacher-talk/challenges-in-elt/challenges-in-elt-teaching-online/555807.article</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> The
British Council, https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: 22.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">VOA (Voice
of America), <a href="https://learningenglish.voanews.com/">https://learningenglish.voanews.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845348118352144270noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-40259574208338706392017-04-07T14:40:00.000-03:002017-04-07T14:41:25.223-03:00Thomas Innovation Mentors: Aligning views and probing into our teenage students' perceptions <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/U7QoXx2zDQUTXqveknH51a6CtZ4FIFtyYuEGY2Uw1qbat1XhidWLV1Sw4Y-mYhZUQp5UpXmoU_fbBqCI06Ec95wCFACiR_n4aKmK_R1Dju9fxq1d9jYnzBcKNkgu6E66A1fdPwDr" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="IMG_5903.JPG" border="0" height="300" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/U7QoXx2zDQUTXqveknH51a6CtZ4FIFtyYuEGY2Uw1qbat1XhidWLV1Sw4Y-mYhZUQp5UpXmoU_fbBqCI06Ec95wCFACiR_n4aKmK_R1Dju9fxq1d9jYnzBcKNkgu6E66A1fdPwDr" style="border: none; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; transform: rotate(0rad); white-space: pre-wrap;" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In our second innovation project session today we worked on investigating and aligning our views of our students’ classroom experiences. To that effect, we created our </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>CSD Matrix</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Matriz CSD in Portuguese), in which ‘C’ stands for certainties, ‘S’ for suppositions, and ‘D’ for doubts. We probed into our views and beliefs regarding the quality of the experience our students have in our classrooms. Individually, each team member wrote down their perceptions onto post-its (one perception per post-it) within a few minutes for each of the three categories. Once everyone was finished recording their views, it was time for us to process what we came up with. Going over everyone’s contributions generated some interesting conversations on our beliefs, and we concluded that we are pretty much aligned in our views of the kind of experience we think our students have in our classroom. </span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-6791c6c3-4978-88f2-e8f3-e55f061d6e3e"><br /></span>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Team members were now ready to process a set of students’ responses to a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>brief questionnaire</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a google form containing the following questions: 1. Tell us about a memorable English class you had at Thomas. Why was it a memorable experience?; 2. Considering all your trajectory at Thomas, in different levels with different teachers, what is it that you like the most about our classes?; 3. What is it that you like the least about our classes?; and 4. Write a word that represents your experience in your classes at Thomas. We managed to get responses from a mix of teenage students from different levels. We worked in two trios, and each trio looked at the responses to questions 1 and 2. What we did was go over students’ responses, which had been compiled into post-its, and try to identify patterns, tendencies or even categories that would emerge from their responses. The idea was to reach </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>a more synthetic understanding of students’ perceptions and see if any insights would spring up in the process</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. As we shared our findings, we were able to make connections and identify some ideas which we felt were in the core of students’ responses. We took notes of those core findings so that they can inform actions ahead.</span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-6791c6c3-497a-1293-0137-0f1f34de0058"></span><br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-6791c6c3-497a-1293-0137-0f1f34de0058"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We wrapped up the session with some analysis and discussion around how our findings regarding students’ responses aligned with or somehow validated our own perceptions in our CSD Matrix, and we concluded that perceptions were quite aligned and coherent. As a result of this session, we were able to see a teenage student persona taking shape. A persona who has very specific perceptions of the classroom experience, who has particular needs and desires. The next step is to deepen the insights and prototype solutions to be tested in the classroom. This was quite a productive and inspiring session, and it feels like each one of us is gradually gaining a new sense that we go beyond being teachers, we are learning experience designers. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Would you like to know more about this project? Check out our site: <a href="http://bit.ly/thomasinnovationmentors">bit.ly/thomasinnovationmentors</a></span></div>
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Clarissa Bezerrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17598610786935524070noreply@blogger.com9Brasília - DF, Brasil-15.7941569 -47.882528900000011-16.7720689 -49.173422400000014 -14.816244900000001 -46.591635400000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-31966199502654565582017-03-17T17:01:00.000-03:002017-03-17T17:06:52.669-03:00Thomas Innovation Mentors: Project Kick-off<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last Friday, March 10th, we launched the Thomas Innovation Mentors Project. We are a team of eight highly motivated and curious teachers eager to reflect on our students’ classroom experience. The idea is to look at everything that takes place within the classroom from the student’s perspective. We want to tap into the perceptions and emotions that our students experience during their time with us in order to gain new insights into possible paths to innovation. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are adopting a Design Thinking (DT) approach, since its very definition reflects how we want to go about the project: DT is a human-centered design process. Therefore, in our first face-to-face session we facilitated a </span><a href="https://dschool.stanford.edu/resources/gear-up-how-to-kick-off-a-crash-course" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DT crash course</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> put together by </span><a href="https://dschool.stanford.edu/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stanford’s d.school</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Throughout the session, team members worked with a partner to redesign a gift-giving experience. In the process, they were able to go through the DT cycle and apply the ‘mindfulnesses’ necessary to successfully engage in the co-creation process. </span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-caa4c742-dcb4-1991-c108-a1c0a0a33b32"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The 5-stage DT cycle (Image by the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="315" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/x2As7PUzJ6yRTQpH9CPt4Z248gn4gD7JuDaIsbmruM-bD3YiI4TolhX2UVH5pa9idRok-kh373Hdevj_m81tDSpIMNKcm-NuxQIPOUyj1PMOnCtVJGlq0WryVOIktu5OMBpMAFo7" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="492" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;">The DT ‘mindfulnesses’ (Image by the Hasso Plattner <span style="font-size: 10.6667px;">Institute of Design </span>at Stanford)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 8pt; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-caa4c742-dcb5-00fc-1eb4-e8339c421f27"></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Team members worked together to understand their partner’s profile and needs in order to design a new and impactful gift-giving experience for their partners. Massive interaction and dynamic collaboration naturally took place, and the energy level was high up throughout the session. Each team member then prototyped their ideas in order to see how their partners interacted with it. Every stage of the DT cycle was timed, which made the creative process challenging and quite fruitful. </span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-caa4c742-dcba-71f8-3d3e-b14df544592c"></span><br />
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Clarissa Bezerrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17598610786935524070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32526925.post-80337290404928301952017-02-02T11:19:00.003-03:002017-02-02T11:19:46.390-03:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Learning
Cycle<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The human brain is designed for learning, but how do we
learn? In the book <i><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The art of changing the
brain: enriching teaching by exploring the biology of learning</span></i><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span>James E. Zull
defines <span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">learning as<strong> “change, growth, and pruning of our neurons,
connections–called synapses– and neuronal networks, through experience.
There are four stages of the Learning Cycle: </strong></span><b><br />
</b>1) We have Concrete<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><strong>experience</strong>,<br />
2) We develop<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><strong>Reflective Observation</strong><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and Connections,<br />
3) We generate<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><strong>Abstract hypothesis</strong>,<br />
4) We then do<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><strong>Active testing</strong><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>of those hypotheses, and therefore
have a new Concrete experience, and a new Learning Cycle ensues”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
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<div style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 7.5pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%;">In an interview with Alvaro
Fernandez, James E. Zull summaries the learning cycle as such: “… we 1) get information (sensory
cortex), 2) make meaning of that information (back integrative cortex),
3) create new ideas from these meanings (front integrative cortex) and 4)
act on those ideas (motor cortex). From this I propose that there are four
pillars of learning: gathering, analyzing, creating, and acting” ( </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://sharpbrains.com/blog/2006/10/12/an-ape-can-do-this-can-we-not/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%;">http://sharpbrains.com/blog/2006/10/12/an-ape-can-do-this-can-we-not/</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%;">).
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 7.5pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Thus, the cycle is based on
the idea that knowledge cannot be acquired from zero; learning originates in
concrete experience which Zull calls <i>experiential
learning</i>. But experience isn’t everything. Zull informs that “learning also
requires reflection, developing abstractions, and active testing of our
abstractions” (p. 18). According to Zull, learning also <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">requires effort and getting out of our comfort zones. Learners must be motivated and self-driven and
maintain a sense of ownership. Zull further
states that in order for the Learning Cycle to self-perpetuate, the learner must feel in control (ownership) of
the process and that progress is being made. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Transforming <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
process of changing data into knowing is what Kolb calls “transformation of
experience.” (See David Kolb, <i>Experiential
Learning, Experience as the Source of Learning and Development </i>New York:
Simon & Schuster, 1983). Zull divides this process of transforming into
three parts: 1<sup>st</sup> – transformation from past to future (connect from
our memory); 2<sup>nd</sup> – transformation of the source of knowledge from
outside ourselves to inside ourselves; and 3<sup>rd</sup> – transformation of
power (from weakness and dependence to strength and independence). “If we bring
our entire brain into the process of learning, we will find control passing
from others to ourselves.” (Zull, p. 33)
Learning is about power and control.
If you want your students to learn, you must give them control of
learning. Students choose to learn. If students are not engaged in the process,
literally doing something with their brains (i.e. using their frontal lobes to
analyze data, producing, having fun, etc.), and if they don’t have power, they
won’t learn. Teachers must try to identify what’s already motiving students to
learn, and then guarantee that students believe in their ability to learn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Set the stage<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Teaching is about creating conditions that lead to change
in a learner’s brain. <strong><span style="background: white;">Teachers need to find and create connections </span></strong><span style="background: white;">between the new information and challenges, and that
which learners already know and care about. </span>Set the stage for
neural pathways to be changed! Teachers need to create a positive, comfortable
atmosphere and environment. We must engage our students so that their brains
decide to cooperate and take in the information we are teaching through the
sensory pathways, and make sense of that information through the integrative
processes by the neurons transmitting messages to one another. If we want to
create long-term memory, we must create new synaptic connections which are made
as a result of experience and learning. According to Piaget, the brain can
change as a combination of nature and nurture. They are not separate processes.
Therefore, at a cellular level, one realizes that the brain can change because
of experience. Long term memory alters the gene expression in nerve cells. Consequentially,
a genetic disease, for example, can be changed, perhaps by eating differently
or doing different things. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Neurons
and synapse</span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 18.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Learning means making
connections from existing neural information to new information. Synapses is a
structure that regulates intercellular
communication in the nervous system and provides information flow within neural
networks. Neurons are nerve cells which make connections in the brain. There
are three basic parts of a neuron: the dendrites, the cell body and the
axon. Neurons are specialized to transmit information throughout the body,
and they communicate information both in chemical and electrical forms. According to Kendra Cherry “There are also
several different types of neurons responsible for different tasks in the human
body. Sensory neurons carry information from the sensory receptor cells
throughout the body to the brain. Motor neurons transmit information from the
brain to the muscles of the body. Interneurons are responsible for
communicating information between different neurons in the body”. (Kendra
Cherry in <i>The Structure of a Neuron</i>. (</span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://psychology.about.com/od/biopsychology/f/neuron01.htm"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%;">http://psychology.about.com/od/biopsychology/f/neuron01.htm</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%;">).
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 18.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: PT-BR; mso-fareast-language: PT-BR; mso-no-proof: yes;"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="Imagem_x0020_1"
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Either existing connections between neurons get stronger,
or new connections appear between existing neurons. Neurons have specialized projections called<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><strong>dendrites</strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><b> </b>and
</span><strong> axons</strong>. Dendrites are the
extensions of the cells with many branches, like a tree. These fibers transmit
impulses to the neuron cell body. So,
dendrites bring information to the cell body. There’s only one axon that
projects from each cell body. It is usually elongated and carries information
away from the cell body. (To see this in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUGuWh2UeMk)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Information from one
neuron flows to another neuron across a<span class="apple-converted-space"> synapse</span>.
“The synapse contains a small gap separating neurons. <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">For communication between neurons to occur, an electrical impulse must
travel down an axon to the synaptic terminal.</span> The synapse consists of:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ol start="1" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">a presynaptic ending that contains </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chnt1.html"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">neurotransmitters</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, mitochondria and other cell organelles<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">a postsynaptic ending that contains receptor sites for
neurotransmitters<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">a synaptic cleft or space between the presynaptic and
postsynaptic endings”.
(https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/synapse.html)<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: PT-BR; mso-fareast-language: PT-BR; mso-no-proof: yes;"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="Imagem_x0020_3"
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<div style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/synapse.html"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%;">https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/synapse.html</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Neurons firing
ideas and images.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">To give you an idea of the grandiosity and intensity of the
neuronal network and the brain’s capacity for growth and change, I would like
to share information I came across which forms a comparison of a neuron in the brain to a
webpage in the internet. The information below is a summary of this fascinating
comparison which can be watched on <i>From
Neurons to Networks</i> ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLp-edwiGUU). The video explains that a human at about any
age has about 100 billion neurons in the brain. The internet has 10 times that:
1 trillion web pages. So, with this analogy the internet is bigger. But, which
is more complex? According to the video, we could say a synapse in the brain, a
connection point in the brain between two neurons is like a hyperlink, a
connection point between two webpages.
The internet has 1 trillion links, and an adult brain has three hundred
trillion links, or 10 times the connections of the internet. These human connections are the framework for
the foundation of the building blocks of
the development of the brain. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Magic Middle <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Both Piaget and Vygotsky most likely would teach from the
“magic middle”, which is the <i>zone of
proximal development , ZPD,</i> where, according to Zull, students are neither bored nor frustrated;
where they need to actually work to learn, but have the support system there to
guide them, be it the teacher and/or other peers. <span style="background: white;"> </span>Perhaps Vygotsky’s best known concept,
the ZPD <span style="background: white;">describes the learner’s level of
independent performance (what he/she can do alone) and the learner’s level of
assisted performance (what he/she can do with support). Once the student, with
the benefit of scaffolding, masters the task, the scaffolding can then be
removed and the student will then be able to complete the task again on their
own. V</span>ygotsky<span style="background: white;"> believed in the importance
of keeping students interested and thinking by themselves; therefore, students
are challenged, but not threatened. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Engaging and
creating memory<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Similarly, teachers must be careful to engage students
without bringing in anxiety or trauma. The brain hones in on two fundamental
survival goals: safety and happiness. The amygdala is involved in processing
emotions<span style="background: white;"> such as fear, anger and pleasure and is
responsible for storing emotional memories.
The amygdala like the hippocampus helps in transforming our short term
memories into long term ones, but the amygdala focuses on the emotional based
memories. </span>The amygdala is an almond shaped mass of flesh located deep
inside the brain, which, via electrical impulses triggers our fear system of
survival to freeze, flee or flight. Because
the brain is an organ of thought and emotions, we as teachers must ensure that
students are in control of their learning in the classroom, and that they don’t panic and become fearful under our tutelage. Stress
interferes with neurotransmitter function. We want to make sure that the
hippocampus, a seahorse-shaped area of neurons adjacent to the amygdala and
that is the part of the brain involved in memory forming, organizing and
storing memories, works in together with the amygdala: Human emotion linked and
acting with memory. <span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">On the other hand, to enact the learning process, we need
to <i>turn on </i>our students’ pleasure system by making learning fun and
engaging. Students must <i>want</i> to learn
if they are to learn. People learn what is important to them. So, part of
teaching is learning the motivating factor that brought your student into your
classroom. What is it that he/she wants to learn? Ultimately learning must be meaningful in
order to engage the diversity of learners. You must connect with what students
already know (knowledge cannot be acquired from zero). The more personalized
the better for material related to real life activates student’s neural
networks and therefore adds to existing knowledge. Thus, teachers need to find ways of teaching
that connect to prior knowledge and build on that data. Therefore, as teachers
we must help our students make connections to prior experiences, knowledge, and
learning—and associations to other areas of their experiences and life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Developing a Lesson
Plan based on the Learning Cycle<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">As a concrete example of the learning cycle in action, I
have attached a 50 minute lesson plan
where I have incorporated “blue bullets” to signalize the use of elements of
the learning cycle and process in each component of my lesson. The objective of
my lesson is that by the end of the class, my students learn to use <i>go </i>phrases by talking about places they go to and when or what
day(s) of the week they do so. I am focusing on three new chunks of information
(go, places and days of week), so as not to overwhelm learners cognitive
capacity, which recent neuroscientific findings have determined is actually
just three to four new items of
information at a time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">My lesson begins by
reviewing information from the last class and ensuring that their brains were
rewired and made the necessary connections.
I am also engaging the students and a<span style="background: white;">ctivating
their experiences and knowledge of the topic of the new
vocabulary (activities and days of the week).<span class="apple-converted-space"> I’m
doing this by </span></span>incorporating associations of places that my
students already know in my lesson plan.
Thus, I am helping students make the connection with
prior knowledge. What is happening, however, is I am physically altering my students' brains by
creating and strengthening neural pathways. The know the types of places, but
not their names in the new language. According to Wendi Pillars in <i>Teachers as Brain-Changers: Neuroscience and
Learning</i>, by engaging a range of sensory pathways, I am providing my
students with opportunites for implicit and explicit opportunities to recognize
and make connections. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Furthermore, we all learn differently because everybody
owns a variety of reception models. Therefore, during the 50 minute lesson, I’ve tried to incorporate
diverse sensory perceptions (PPTs with pictures, slips of paper, pictures in
book, audio for listening, music). And, I am consistently and constantly
bridging old and new information in my Lesson so that they can keep making
connections and keep their neural pathways clear. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">I make a considerable effort to teach in the magic middle,
the “zone of proximal development” so as to interest my students, while at the
same time finding a common denominator to build their confidence and knowledge.
By doing this, I am activating their
schemata and building the thinking process and putting learning in their own
hands; as they are consistently talking about personal things, experiences and
life. I<span style="background: white;"> know not only what the learners
developmental level is at each time of my lesson, but also what skills and
concepts will develop next. </span>By working in the <span style="background: white;">ZPD and
scaffolding, I am ensuring and engaging, albeit in a non-threatening
environment and format where students feel comfortable, in control and in
power. This will help them </span> get
out of their comfort zones and try new
things without the fear of failure. I have set the stage. My students work
individually, in pairs and in small
groups, where they’re more comfortable and whereupon I hope they feel safer, can take risks, speak , share
thoughts, ask questions. Throughout my
lesson, <span style="background: white;">I am giving them pieces of a puzzle, but
they themselves are putting it together by discovery patterns and putting them
into practice via production, oral and written. Within the lesson, I have built
up and built upon the </span>four architectural pillars of learning: gathering,
analyzing, creating, and acting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Learning involves making connections: teachers must “fire
until you wire”. If you don’t use the brain, the tissue dies. The brain needs
to be exercised to keep “fit” just as other parts of our physical body. And,
learning takes effort. The old adage:
“Use it or lose it” applies to memory. People who are engaged in mentally stimulating
activities make more synaptic connections in the brain. Just as we’re concerned
for our physical well-being, and therefore eat properly, get enough exercise
and sleep, maintaining a healthy brain is equally fundamental and rewarding.
Exercise oxygenates the brain which is important for synaptic formation and growth
. “Fire until you wire”. Drill until you’ve built the neuronal networks that
made the connection and “learned”. Repeating and reviewing so that you, Dear
Reader, create the neuronal network necessary to grasp this concept: Make
connections: fire until you wire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"> Betsey W. Neal</span></div>
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