Collablogatorium

A New Move to Carlaarena.com

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 13:07:00 +0000

Dear readers,

I have some roots, those things that are hard to let go. Even if some might think I'm brave enough, there are certain strings to what is known and comfortable that are hard to get rid of. It's been some months now that I've been organizing and tweaking a new space for the conversations and connections with educators.

I've always blogged in English, never in my mother tongue Portuguese, but I always felt the urge to amplify and share what I've learned not only with my English teachers' community, but also with the educators in general, and mainly Brazilians, some of whom might be missing interesting approaches to education because they don't know English or don't have the time to look for interesting resources and ideas for their classrooms. So, why not hone in on my English skills and passion for Ed tech to include my fellow Brazilian teachers in the equation?

So, amplification, personalization and new challenges were my drive to move on to an even better place, especially prepared to blend and intersect in areas that are part of my life, Ed Tech, English and Portuguese. I hope my roots are substituted by a more dandelion-carefree-style. It is not just changing places, it is really about creating a new vision, a new approach to sharing and connecting to others. So, please, join me there at http://carlaarena.com

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Redesigning your New Year: 2014 in One Word

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 17:44:00 +0000

We always start a new year with the idea of something new, different, an optimistic perspective that we set to make our lives more meaningful, significant. It is a time to review and set new goals, or revisit the ones we insist to add to our to-do list for our own despair. When we put the last year into perspective and welcome the year ahead, though with this optimistic vibe, we still get the feeling of frustration for not having accomplished everything we've decided to embrace. Let's reconsider all that. Don't think 2014 as the new year, but the continuity of what is still there to be accomplished, the lines that are yet to be written. No to-do lists, just one word as proposed in the Leadership freak blog

One Word is a focal point that gives direction and purpose to what I do. It’s not a have-to. It’s a want-to. It’s already surprising me.

Let's choose just one word that will help us move forward, being the focus of our year. I invite you all to try it and start your own micro-revolution with the simple direction that one word can provide us.

Here's the deal to reframe and redesign your 2014:

Close your eyes and think of 2014.
What word comes to your mind?
Write it down, take a photo, make a drawing, make it visible to you in some way.
Now, create your motto of the year with this word.
Revisit your word and motto throughout the year and transform them into action, even if it is just one, a powerful one!
Share your word around. It can be here, or in any social media. It will make you accountable and you will involve your own network in your 2014 .

My word of the year is one related to evolvement, development, growth, change, expansion in many dimensions of my life. Let's see where this word will lead me!
My motto, "Evolution as a personal revolution".

So, what's your word and motto for 2014?

Using ICT Tools to Communicate, Collaborate and Learn

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Mon, 25 Nov 2013 09:58:00 +0000

This is a great list of apps/platforms that teachers can use to enhance learning and collaborative opportunities in the classroom:

https://edshelf.com/profile/ogu8i1b/communicate-with-ict-web2-0-and-lms-life#grid

The Image Conference - Kieran Donaghy's Short and Sweet Presentation on Videos in the ELT Classroom

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 00:13:00 +0000

I had the pleasure to watch him in action twice this year.

Kieran Donaghy, one of the Keynote Speakers in our BRAZTESOL Brasilia Image Conference, shared wonderful video ideas for the EFL classroom. Short and sweet were the videos he presented and inspired the Brazilian educators. Everybody left the room with a refreshed perspective on what to do and where to search for the next video lesson they teach.

My friend Graham Stanley was again in full action, taking notes to share what Kieran's presentation was all about. All the resources, ideas, links are organized in Graham's post.

The Image Conference Presentation - Transforming Sins into Virtues in Design for Learning

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 21:17:00 +0000

We had a great Friday event - The Image Conference, organized by the BRAZTESOL Brasilia team, with the support of the IATEFL Learning Technologies SIG and Kieran Donaghy, the one who started the Image Conference in Barcelona.

After such an intense day and weekend, I haven´t had time to put my thoughts together in a blog post with the ideas and resources I presented, but Graham Stanley, one of our keynote speakers and amazingly fast and efficient blogger did it all and saved me some precious hours!

You can read about the whole idea of the presentation at
http://blog-efl.blogspot.com.br/2013/10/carla-arena-transforming-sins-into.html

Graham is really amazing! And nobody can beat him when it gets to blogging! Thanks, my friend.

How Much we Reach and Inspire Educators

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Sat, 12 Oct 2013 20:19:00 +0000

I could be here mentioning the educators who have been inspiring me for the past decade, but it wouldn't be fair, as I might forget a name or an episode that transformed me...What I want to say is that since my first trip to a TESOL International Conference in San Antonio, Texas, in 2005, my professional life turned upside down through the many connections I made and the learning I had, picking up the brains from so many inspiring people around the globe. The kickstart, a group of International educators who are constantly connected through a Yahoogroups, called the Webheads. Of course, it goes way beyond the Yahoogroups. We are connected emotionally, we meet each other in conferences, we do collaborative projects together, we share our accomplishments and epic failures. In fact, we rely on the network to grow, to learn, to make sense...

The same way I feel about the Webheads, others experience this feeling of having discovered a whole new world, and what I do for the network is totally worth it when I hear someone say how I helped him/her move to the next level. We never know what are reach are with the ones surrounding us, our kids, our friends, students, teachers. We just know that through connections we are transformed.

So, it was with surprise and enjoyment that I read those words from Márcia, a dear friend, whom I saw grow and flourish in the digital arena,

"Carla is, as I call her, my PLN first love. It was a Sunday, 14 November, 2010, when my life started to change. And it was all Carla's "fault"! I came across Carla’s blog post on elearning speedgeeking and that led me to her twitter account (or was it the other way around?) The truth is, it was then that I fell in love with Carla, who was the first member of my adorable PLN and to whom I owe having become a more engaged and techy teacher. Like me, hundreds or, most problably, thousands of teachers worldwide have been inspired by this passionate dedicated professional, who found the power of technology as a connective and transformative tool in the classroom from her first days as a teacher. Nowadays, more than tech in class, she’s excited about the new possibilities of its way beyond the four walls. That's why for the past years she has, among other things, been an enthusiast Webhead and dedicated herself to the eLearning program at a Binational Center in Brazil, where she is the Educational Technology Supervisor, and to the TESOL EVO Coordinating Team."

I was touched by Márcia's word. I'd never have known that if it weren't for her written words and the EdInspire nomination she made. He words made me realize that, yes, we can make a difference in so many ways. So, let's do what we are meant to do to others. Let's be generous with our communities. Let's do our share. Let's change, let's make a revolution.

And, most of all, let's show appreciation to the ones who inspire us. I'm sure it will mean a lot to them, as it meant a lot to me what Márcia said.

Thanks, Márcia, for your kindness and generosity with me and with our network.

On the Ed Tech Radar - Free Online Professional Development Opportunities in October

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 02:12:00 +0000

Stay at the comfort of your home or keep yourself comfortable in your office, but don´t miss two great professional development opportunities that you can access from wherever you are in the world for free.

October 12th - TESOL CALL-IS & IATEFL LEARING TECHNOLOGIES SIG Online Conference

It starts at 2pm GMT / 3pm London time / 7am Pacific/ 11 am Brasilia time with fabulous guest speakers like Prof Carol Chapelle, Shaun Wilden, Gavin Dudeney, Nicky Hockly, Deborah Healey, Phil Hubbard, Sophie Ioannou-Georgiou, Paige Ware, Elizabeth Hanson-Smith, Christel Broady and a closing joint session at 8pm GMT / 9pm London / Pacific 1pm/ 5pm Brasilia Time.

From October 11 to October 13th - The Reform Symposium Online Conference

The 4th annual Reform Symposium Conference (RSCON), a free online three day event bringing together educators, students and innovators from around the world, will be held October 11th to 13th in conjunction with Connected Educator Month.

The Reform Symposium Conference is a global community initiative to transform teaching and learning. The Reform Symposium Conference will be a highly inclusive and engaging event that will encourage students and educators around the world to share and learn about transformative approaches to learning and teaching. To attend this year's conference and to be kept informed of the latest conference news and updates, check http://www.futureofeducation.com/page/2013-reform-symposium. There will be

There are no excuses for you to invest in your professional growth, learn from educators around the globe and connect with a great audience!

Technology Giving Wide Wings to Creativity

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 15:06:00 +0000

As long as I keep seeing transformative and exciting examples of how technology can help the next generation of professionals acquire new skills in different areas, I'll advocate its use.

That's exactly what happened with me some days ago. I was at the Apple Store with my kids, looking for the present my husband had asked for his 40th birthday, his first Mac. In fact, his first computer! Up to that point he'd just use all the gadgets I would put aside or my kids' computers or mine. Anyway, I was there talking to the salesman while my kids had fun with an iPad Mini. They were giggling, whispering, having real fun. So much fun indeed that I thought that they were certainly playing a cool game.

To my surprise, when I closed the deal and invited them to eat something. They asked me to come closer, for they had something to show me. I had a blast! In just some minutes, all by themselves, they figured out how to use the app iMovie and were, in fact, enjoying themselves as movie producers. The result? Check for yourself how far kids' creativity can travel if they have the means and freedom to go beyond the regular, the ordinary:

I guess that this video is what I've been always trying to show teachers. Technology empowers, decentralizes learning in ways that we should really reconsider our roles as educators not because everyone else is telling us so, but because our kids, our students need guidance, expertise and wisdom to move forward and succeed now and beyond when they become professionals.

One thing they were having trouble doing? Transferring the video to youtube. I also showed them how important it was to delete the video from the public iPad Mini and from the app due to digital safety issues.

Learners' creativity harnessed by technology and guided by an educator's wisdom is certainly an explosive combination. That's why I'll make sure that I help more and more educators get there in their digital literacies. I'll make sure that I give them support to let their learners express themselves and fly even higher.

What have you been doing to encourage your students' creative juices to emerge?

Curation Talk at Universidade Católica de Brasília

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 11:04:00 +0000

I had a great time with the languages students at Universidade Católica de Brasilia.
Once again I had the pleasure to explore a topic that every educator, every learner should learn about in order to take the best of their networks and give it back, as well, curation.

Digital Curation for Educators from Carla Arena

For some other references that I blogged about, check http://collablogatorium.blogspot.com.br/search/label/curation

Joyce Valenza, a teacher librarian, has wonderful content curation resources available at http://joyce-valenza.wikispaces.com/Content+Curation

And here´s a comparison page of curatorial platforms with tons of sites to explore http://socialcompare.com/en/comparison/curation-platforms-amplify-knowledge-plaza-storify

On the mLearning Radar - Creating on iPads

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 11:32:00 +0000

I´ve just come across this box of mlearning treasures that an art teacher/teacher trainer has put together. Though the focus is on digital art, many ideas can be adapted for the language classroom.

http://drydenart.weebly.com/creating-on-ipads.html

Mrs. Fuglestad has also created a Smore page with ideas for ipad creation. What I think could be the main focus for language teachers is to consider the mobile devices students have to work on language production and creation, just like in an art class.

https://www.smore.com/r98j-summer-ipad-lesson-ideas

Can you think of any idea to remix an idea Mrs. Fuglestad presented to fit a lesson plan you will be teaching in the near future?

On the Ed Tech Radar - A Collection of Digital Posters Platforms for Educators

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 13:14:00 +0000

I have been part of an exciting teacher training program in the state of Rio and this week I´m exploring with teachers the possibilities of Digital Posters in the classroom. I´ve created this Padlet with some digital posters platforms that let teachers and students create wonderful digital artifacts. I thought educators might profit from it:

To view this Wall in full http://padlet.com/wall/digitalposters

How do you envision using those posters in your classroom?

Teaching a Dramatically Outstanding Class - Tension and Release

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Yesterday I was talking to a very experienced teacher who I know suffers from the same syndrome I do and most of the teachers out there do. The how-can-I-reach-teens syndrome.

We all develop strategies, sometimes war strategies, we think and re-think ways that we could better engage our teens. The roller coaster is always on and the list of our trials and errors abounds:

- using tech in class
- making them move
- using topics that are close to their hearts
- songs
- giving some free time if they "behave"
- using games

And the list goes on. Some activities seem to work better than others. And my guess is that generally what ticks our teens are not exactly those sophisticated types of lessons that we spent hours preparing. Sometimes they surprise us by enjoying a very simple task you propose. Have you every considered the main elements of these moments of engagement are made of?

My insight tells me that no matter what we do, what makes an activity engaging is not the degree of sophistication or the main topics that will reach our learners or even the many hours you took to prepare it. Just today I read an interesting article that gave me a hint of what might make a class dramatically outstanding in which you feel that sense of flow and you know the students are there with you in the same wavelength. As stated in Wikipedia, you and your students turn into

"mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does."

How?

By unconsciously using the idea of "Tension and Release", by creating a moment in which you reach a climax of your class with an activity that the students feel compelled to participate, to "solve the puzzle", to be part of it. That's why storytelling is so powerful. It is just one of the many shapes you can build upon the idea of "tension and release" to create engagement.

Let's consider, for example, TV shows, series, Brazilian soap operas, films...What do they do to keep us there on the edge of our seats?! Tension and release! That moment before the disclosure where our heads spin, then the relief of seeing everything unfolding.

When was the last time you had this "tension and release" moment in your class? What made it special? What was your trick?

If we teachers can spot these aha "tension and release" moments in our classes, our how-can-I-reach-teens syndrome might be overcome.

Making Homework Assignments Smarter for your Students and their Brains

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 14:05:00 +0000

One of my favorite bloggers, Annie Murphie Paul, has written a post about homework that every educator should consider as a guideline for better learning opportunities. Her claim, based on Neuroscience and Psychology research, entails making better use of strategies that are effectively proven to have an impact on learning.

Annie mentions three strategies that could be used by educators when they are considering the kind of extra-class activities they will assign:

- Spaced Repetition - instead of assigning units of content and then "getting over" them and moving to the next topic, make sure you come back to the content students have explored last week or in the past month over and over in different ways.

As the blogger puts it,

"Exposing ourselves to information repeatedly over time fixes it more permanently in our minds, by strengthening the representation of the information that is embedded in our neural networks."

- Retrieval Practice - In the beginning of the year, I explored the topic in a post about "learning by retrieval", which evokes the power of using testing/assessment tools more often to constantly retrieve information in a more active processing of the brain, instead of just studying content or taking notes. By working on the output of the language, learners are able to strengthen the brain connections for the content they are learning. This requires more of a study-test-study-test-study-test perspective rather than just study-study-study-test approach that we generally have. And by testing, we're not talking just about standardized tests, but self-assessments, quizzes, every kind of assessment that challenges the mind and retrieves information over and over again.

- Interleaving - Consider our homework assignments. Make an auditing of what you've asked your students to do in the past month. I bet that we have generally asked them to focus on the content they're studying right now in class and with types of problems and situations that are similar to each other to "make sense" for the students. In fact, what Annie Paul suggests based on recent studies and even sports training is that we mix up the types of problems and situations students will have to deal with for homework in a way that the sequence is not really predictable. By doing that, we force the brain to "work harder" to try to figure out the solution.

I think that the best chance we have to reconsider our homework practices is to audit what we've been doing and strategically plan ahead. Here's an initial list that might help:

- Have I used any of those three strategies - spaces repetition, retrieval practice, interleaving - in any of my past month assignments? If so, how?
- Have I varied the types of homework I assign to students or do they all follow a regular pattern?
- How challenging and motivating those homework assignments seem to be to my students? Have I ever asked them which types do they prefer, which are more challenging and which they feel are more effective for them in retrieving what they've learned?

Thinking strategically:

- How can I make homework assignments a more meaningful part of my teaching?
- How can I intertwine those 3 strategies to compare learning results?
- How can I check the effectiveness of the new strategies I try to use?
- How can I make homework a more challenging and engaging part of my classes?

I'd love to hear your views and findings about homework in the classroom and how they can be transformed to make it a relevant learning tool for our students.

On the Ed Tech Radar - A Learnist Web2.0 Resource for Educators

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 12:08:00 +0000

I´ve already mentioned Learnist as an interesting learning playlist tool that can be used by educators and learners.

This Learnist is one educators will love, with all kinds of digital resources in one single place.

http://learni.st/users/bryanNchrissie/boards/4090-web-2-0-tools-for-the-classroom

The Magic of Professional Development Claims for a Growth Mindset

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Sat, 31 Aug 2013 13:46:00 +0000

For years I've been training teachers and coaching them to integrate technology into the classroom.
The changes I've seen around throughout those years vary from none to new, reinvigorated professionals. How does the move happen?

Change will take many different shapes, from reframing an activity the teacher has already tried out to taking the leap into the unknown and thinking of the transformative power of new technologies in the classroom.

The pace is also varied. Some just jump in, others need a "marinading" period to let things sink in and make sense of what's going on.

However, transformation has its commonalities from what I've noticed. Educators who embrace change:

- are optimists by heart (even when they seem wary of new situations, deep down there they believe change can be good)
- believe in their own power to change direction, even if they feel insecure at first
- are not considering if the professional development opportunities are paid hours or not (though we shouldn't be working for free, educators with an innovator mindset know that these hours will be paid back in other forms in the future)
- do not count their efforts in time spent, but how their effort transformed their practices
- do not give the same old excuse of lack of time; even in some minutes they can learn something new and apply to their classes
- like the adrenaline rush that comes with new findings
- still believe in the transformative power of education
- enjoy being in class with their students
- have, above all, a growth mindset.

And here's a passage from HBR Blog Network that gives a quick overview of a growth mindset as opposed to a fixed one:

"In her 2006 book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Stanford Professor Carol Dweck distinguishes two extremes of the mindsets people tend to have about their basic qualities:

In a fixed mindset, "your qualities are carved in stone." Whatever skills, talents, and capabilities you have are predetermined and finite. Whatever you lack, you will continue to lack. This fixed mindset applies not just to your own qualities, but to the qualities of others.

In a growth mindset, "your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts...everyone can change and grow through application and experience." Qualities like intelligence are a starting point, but success comes as a result of effort, learning, and persistence."

There's certainly no formula to change and I might be a little too simplistic about what I see happening to the educators who take a leap of faith and move on, but in all these years the main traits I see in the ones who transform their classes and themselves are those of optimism, passion, eagerness to learn and attunement to their learners' worlds.

Do you fit in this category of educator who embrace professional development and change as part of your job? Or is it time to rethink what you are doing and how you face things?

If you are interested in the topic of change, you might enjoy reading Becky Bair's post "Changing Our ‘Stuff’ Is Not Enough"

Plano de Aula - A Sala de Aula e a Vaca Roxa

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 15:05:00 +0000

Poucas vezes faço concessões ao meu estilo de blogar e até mesmo a língua em que blogo. Por causa da minha linha professora-de-inglês-que-faz-parte-de-uma-comunidade, acabei sempre deixando de lado a minha tão querida língua materna pela a minha escolhida profissionalmente.

Hoje concedo e retribuo toda a generosidade da minha rede de professores brasileiros em escolas regulares, privadas ou públicas, para deixar aqui o apelo da "Vaca Roxa"!

A Sala de Aula e a Vaca Roxa from Carla Arena

Adoraria saber qual foi o seu momento "Vaca Roxa" nesse seu último mês em sala de aula.

Introductions Practice in the EFL Classroom with Authentic Content

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 00:30:00 +0000

Besides using Haiku Deck app to create visually-appealing presentations, what if you used it with students to help them use language with content produced by real people. So, it is the old "this is..; she does this and that" with a twist in authenticity.

Take, for example, this presentation:

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad

The teacher could ask students to present her in the form of a paragraph with the most important information.
Students can prepare questions based on the information presented, and then another students would act out as if she were the lady.
Students could work on expanding the information on a slide as if they were the woman, i.e., they could talk about her 3 sons and husband (slide 2)

I'm sure you'll find wonderful "about me" presentations to work with language authentically in Haiku Deck's Pinterest Board:

Of course, it would be great if students could use one of the sample presentations to prepare their own "about me" page.

Digital Curation for Business English Teachers - IATEFL BESIG

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 15:45:00 +0000

Last Sunday, Aug 4th, I had a great time interacting with Business English teachers all over the world in BESIG-IATEFL very well-organized online events.

Here are the slides:

Digital Curation for Business English Teachers - BESIG IATEFL from Carla Arena

We mainly explored http://cowbird.com for engaging personal stories related to the workplace, business world.

We talked about ways of using Pinterest for Business English classes by encouraging teachers to create topic board for students and inviting them on a Web Safari. Also, it would be wonderful if students created their own boards and shared with other students. The comment area in Pinterest has great potential for emergent conversations among a group. The teacher can also decide for one group collaborative board by inviting students to the topic board. It is just a fantastic collaborative approach to learning where you give choice, control and agency in the hands of students.

I was surprised to realize that not many teachers knew about http://getpocket.com , a place where you can add all the posts, articles, resources that you find online and want to keep "in your pocket" for later use. It is just very helpful to curate great content. From there, you can share resources with students and even encourage them to keep their "pockets"and share resources with the group. What I love about it is that it is totally crossplatform, with easy access on the web and any mobile device. Plus, to add resources to Pocket, you can install firefox and Chrome plugins to save them on the go.

Talking about cross platform, one tool that I feel has great potential for Business English teachers is http://newsmix.me . There you can create magazines with different topic feeds. It might help with authentic resources for students. Again, it is web-based as well as mobile device accessible.

Then, we moved on to learning playlists. Again, great potential for the classroom with platforms such as http://mentormob.com, http://learn.ist and http://theemefy.com . All worth the exploration with this great concept of giving more control for the students in their learning process.

Any other curatorial tools you'd add for the Business English Teacher?

TEFL Conference Series Part 1 - App Swap

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 11:38:00 +0000

The app swap we had in IATEFL 2013 in Liverpool with Joe Dale, Shaun Wilden, Ana Maria Menezes, among other educators make me consider repeating the model in our CTJ, Alumni and IBEU TEFL Conference in Brasilia.

The session in which participants were the lead presenters in break out groups were the stars of the session, sharing with others their favorite apps for the classroom or for personal use. Vinicius Lemos and I started by giving an example of tools and, from there, teachers never stopped sharing.

As they shared their favorite apps with the others, we kept walking around adding the names of the apps to our collaborative page on Todaysmeet.

Enjoy it. Try some them.

http://todaysmeet.com/appswapctj

You might be interested in the shared list of apps in IATEFL at http://list.ly/list/4NE-app-swap-iatefl-2013

About Me - Creating a Digital Profile to Stand Out

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Thu, 04 Jul 2013 12:35:00 +0000

I tirelessly mention in teacher training sessions the importance of establishing a reliable digital footprint. Of course, this involves many fronts, such as the kinds of photos you publish online, how you interact with online users, the resources you share, how generous you are in the network, among others.

However, one area that sometimes is overseen, though totally relevant, is our online profiles. We establish trust if we show ourselves through a nice image, what we say and show about ourselves. This means taking good care of social media profiles. Also, it is important to have an about you page that makes justice to who you are.

There are some very effective and cool platforms that you can use for this purpose, and here are some examples of my own digital profiles:

http://about.me/carlaarena

https://www.smore.com/qa7m-carla-arena

One, though, that I've just tried out and it has a really neat, visual presentation is Visify. I came across after seeing a tweet by Jesse Stommel. Check the final result of my profile, which took less than 10 minutes to have this outcome:

https://www.vizify.com/carla-arena

What's your favorite profile page on the Web?

Can you imagine how exciting it would be to use those profiles, real ones, for authentic language practice in the classroom?

One idea would be to ask someone you know to create one of those, use it in class, and ask students to come up with followup questions. Then, the person could answer them in a video post, for example. How exciting would that be?!

Images in the Classroom - Now and Then

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 15:31:00 +0000

I've always had this natural inclination to add images to whatever lesson I was teaching, and now even more so when I see the neuroscientific reason for doing it. James Zull, in his book "the Art of Changing the Brain", mentions that

"Our concrete experience contains much of the information we need for understanding, because it produces images for our brains to analyze, rearrange, manipulate, and turn into action. We have maps of our experience in our brains, and we can run through these maps like the frames of a moving picture."

He goes on to say that the images in our brains come from the experience itself and that's why

"teachers could make extensive use of images to help people learn. If we can convert an idea into an image, we should do so. And whenever possible, we should require our students to show us their images. It should go both ways"

Having the power of images in mind, our classroom should be visual-rich and empowering. It should help our learners enhance their language skills through their sensory brains. In this sense, today I just came across a Facebook post by Ben Goldstein where he mentioned a blog called Dear Photograph in which the audience shares images of a past original setting and taking a photo holding a film photo of people in the same place.

http://dearphotograph.com/image/52871635425

Now, imagine having the same kind of project with your group of students after they've explored some of the images in the Dear Photograph blog. You can ask them to talk to their parents and relatives, to find nice photos of places that they could go and take the same kind of picture, holding the film-developed photo. Plus, you can explore the use of the past in the images contrasted with the present. The teacher would have the perfect timing to talk about "USED TO", for example, and then use students' own images to explore language in a totally contextualized way.

Then, in the same Facebook thread, Paul Driver suggested the use of the Zefrank's blog project Young Me/Now Me for the same kind of activity in which students take their own photos, explore the blog's photos and use language to compare and talk about the differences between now and then.

http://www.zefrank.com/youngmenowme/permalink.html?469

Thanks to Ben Goldstein and Paul Driver in my FB network for the visual inspiration!

Picturetelling in the Park with Jamie Keddie

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 01:10:00 +0000

I met Jamie Keddie, from the very resourceful site, lessonstream, in Brighton, on my very first day at IATEFL 2011. He was part of my Twitter network and, at the pub we were at, he just said, "I'm that guy with the dog as a thumbnail". Yes. Everything about Jamie has a visual cue!

However, his very recent video goes much beyond imagery. It helps us picture a scene through words in the very best Jamie style of storytelling with a strong visual reference. This video is a very powerful resource for the classroom as there are just so many things that can come out it:
- A discussion about the wall he talks about and the kinds of imaginary walls and real ones we have around us.
- Students drawing the scene and trying to identify where, who, what he is looking at if they haven't heard of or seen the photo.
- A discussion about cultural issues that have caused or might cause a rebellion.
- Or how about the students recording their own picturetelling videos, inviting others to draw what they narrate?

Well, I'll leave you with Jamie, his video and a great lesson plan to go with it!
http://lessonstream.org/2013/06/11/gezi-park/

Thinking Design - Looking Professional

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 23:28:00 +0000

Some might consider it superfluous, or just for professionals. Others could say it is essential, but not for them. In fact, design is for all. The way we present, the choice of images, the displaying of graphic elements, the word we use. Everything counts and matters. Design tells much of who we are. Consider your presentations and digital resources, what are they saying about you? What stories are you telling? How professional do you look?

mLearning - Assessment for a Recording Activity

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 21:04:00 +0000

I've been taking an assessment online course from the University of Oregon. So, I decided to try to assess my students' speaking skills through the use of technology and the creation of a simple rubric for the assessment part as a way to have a clear picture of my students' production. To assess my students, I've used the activity as a way to wrap up a unit about mysteries. I asked them to record a mystery story. They had two ways to do it. Send me through message (SMS or through the What's app app) or record themselves in http://vocaroo.com . My teens chose their way of sending me their recordings after I told them what my criteria was for the assignment. Here's the rubric I've created and used:

Have you ever tried any kind of alternative assessment to have an individualized picture of your students oral production?

Do Something for Teens

noreply@blogger.com (testecarla) — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:17:00 +0000

Do Something is a non-profit organization in the intersection of teens and social change, activism.

There are tons of ideas on their site to help young people take action. I especially liked one about what makes you mad and the call for changing things around.
http://www.dosomething.org/actnow/actionguide/become-activist

As I have a tight schedule, I was considering adapting the idea to something simpler:

>> Groups decide what make them really mad
>> They make a fact sheet with 8 facts about their issue, starting with, "Did you know that...?"
>> They create a motto about the situation
>> Students then write a manifesto about their topic to raise awareness and finishes the manifesto with the life motto they've created.
>> Taking a step further, we could vote for the best group motto and then create posters and even print T-shirts with the motto on it.

Simple and sweet. I guess this would be a great opportunity to talk about community issues, have students as agents of awareness & change, all that being done in English. What do teachers think?