SELF ACCESS CENTER
lunes, 24 de febrero de 2014
WEEK 7 - LET'S HURRY UP!!!
Uff, it seems like time is running faster than ever, I need to start thinking about the final project, and I still don't have my ideas very clear. But I need to focus my attention on SOLUTIONS, solutions, tech-solutions for my students' speaking problems...
This week I read an interesting definition from wikipedia about SELF-ACCESS CENTERS, and I shared it through Padlet - which is kind of a public online bulletin board - here it is in case you didn't have a chance to read it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_access_language_learning_centers
And I got pretty interested on it because, here at our University we have one of these self-access centers, BUT, unfortunately most of the material is old-fashioned, and there's not good software for the computers, so I thought that the solution would be to up-date some material so that students could improve their skills, yes, but... we need a budget right? Money, money, money... So I'm still thinking of a more practical solution that wouldn't require money... Any ideas??
This week I read an interesting definition from wikipedia about SELF-ACCESS CENTERS, and I shared it through Padlet - which is kind of a public online bulletin board - here it is in case you didn't have a chance to read it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_access_language_learning_centers
And I got pretty interested on it because, here at our University we have one of these self-access centers, BUT, unfortunately most of the material is old-fashioned, and there's not good software for the computers, so I thought that the solution would be to up-date some material so that students could improve their skills, yes, but... we need a budget right? Money, money, money... So I'm still thinking of a more practical solution that wouldn't require money... Any ideas??
sábado, 15 de febrero de 2014
WEEK 6 - INTERACTIVITY
Just like every week, this has been a busy week, this time we worked on an interactive Power Point Presentation. Mine was a home-made JEOPARDY (basic level), which is divided into three sections:
GRAMMAR, VOCABULARY and SPELLING. This is a fun game that students can play in teams as part of a review right before they take an exam, and it's easy to make, but, honestly it took me a looong time to design it, but I hope you like it. You could adapt it to your lessons if you want.
Well, I think this is one of the tools that I could use with my students to add a little variety to the class, YES! that's one of the solutions to our technology issue, but I'm still thinking about something more sophisticated, BUT I don't know how to program!! I know that those kind of games can be improved with some programming, but I guess I'll have to take another course where they teach me how to program. Do you know how to? Could you teach me some programming??
ENJOY THE GAME AND YOUR WEEKEND! :)
GRAMMAR, VOCABULARY and SPELLING. This is a fun game that students can play in teams as part of a review right before they take an exam, and it's easy to make, but, honestly it took me a looong time to design it, but I hope you like it. You could adapt it to your lessons if you want.
Well, I think this is one of the tools that I could use with my students to add a little variety to the class, YES! that's one of the solutions to our technology issue, but I'm still thinking about something more sophisticated, BUT I don't know how to program!! I know that those kind of games can be improved with some programming, but I guess I'll have to take another course where they teach me how to program. Do you know how to? Could you teach me some programming??
ENJOY THE GAME AND YOUR WEEKEND! :)
viernes, 7 de febrero de 2014
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE COURSE WEEK 5!
This was WEEK 5, and I learned how to do many, many things:
1. I learned how to use alternative assessment tools.
Alternative Assessment, PBL projects and Evaluation Rubrics, lead the students to become AUTONOMOUS LEARNERS. The reason is because these tools are more "Student-Oriented" rather than "Teacher-Oriented". For instance, the tools give the students more "freedom" to choose their topics, they also lead to critical thinking, and last but not least they have the opportunity to self-evaluate their own progress. But the best thing that these tools can offer is the "feeling of accomplishment" that students get when they learn or discover something new, and that would definitively give them more confidence on their second language because they won´t be discouraged by a bad grade or comment made by the teacher.
2. I learned how to use Rubrics through RubiStar.com.
This website is very easy to use, it includes already made rubrics of different subjects. The rubrics are very helpful tools for busy teachers like me, and they also have another great advantage which is the type of assessment which is summative, it means that instead of grading with an A,B or C or like in Mexico with numbers (5-10) the student has the opportunity to read his/her feedback (comments made by the teacher) and in that way students can learn how to become more autonomous.
3. I learned how to use WEBQUESTS and PBL.
Webquests are based on the PROJECT BASED LEARNING approach and they help students how to search information on the Internet, at the same time these tools help them to develop their critical thinking and last but not least it's a good opportunity to work in teams and learn from each other.
And to end up the week, we reflected on our school technological needs, and possible solutions.
Well, I guess that after this hard week of work, I think that now I'm coming up with more ideas for my final project.
1. I learned how to use alternative assessment tools.
Alternative Assessment, PBL projects and Evaluation Rubrics, lead the students to become AUTONOMOUS LEARNERS. The reason is because these tools are more "Student-Oriented" rather than "Teacher-Oriented". For instance, the tools give the students more "freedom" to choose their topics, they also lead to critical thinking, and last but not least they have the opportunity to self-evaluate their own progress. But the best thing that these tools can offer is the "feeling of accomplishment" that students get when they learn or discover something new, and that would definitively give them more confidence on their second language because they won´t be discouraged by a bad grade or comment made by the teacher.
2. I learned how to use Rubrics through RubiStar.com.
This website is very easy to use, it includes already made rubrics of different subjects. The rubrics are very helpful tools for busy teachers like me, and they also have another great advantage which is the type of assessment which is summative, it means that instead of grading with an A,B or C or like in Mexico with numbers (5-10) the student has the opportunity to read his/her feedback (comments made by the teacher) and in that way students can learn how to become more autonomous.
3. I learned how to use WEBQUESTS and PBL.
Webquests are based on the PROJECT BASED LEARNING approach and they help students how to search information on the Internet, at the same time these tools help them to develop their critical thinking and last but not least it's a good opportunity to work in teams and learn from each other.
And to end up the week, we reflected on our school technological needs, and possible solutions.
Well, I guess that after this hard week of work, I think that now I'm coming up with more ideas for my final project.
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