Found this amazing guide, with great suggestions!! Hope you like it!
http://www.onlinecollege.org/2012/05/21/100-ways-you-should-be-using-facebook-in-your-classroom-updated/
Wednesday, 23 May 2012
Our monitor, Ellen Ferreira, tells us about her first experience teaching a Junior A group
The main aim of this activity was to enable students to talk about their possessions. I started the activity by drawing a girl and her characteristics were written around the picture, on the board. There were bubbles that said “I have…/ I don’t have…”, and the
students had to say which characteristics the girl had and didn’t have. Knowing
what she had or didn’t have, students would be able to understand what Samira
(name given by a student) was saying about herself.
What really worked was using gestures to indicate affirmative and negative sentences. Therefore, students were able to associate the positive gesture with “I have…”, while negative sentences became “I don’t have…”. Having grasped that, the students
could produce these sentences about themselves.
As I was nervous, in
the middle of the activity I decided to change the instructions. When I finished the explanation, some students seemed a little bit confused, not because they didn’t understand
what I was saying, but because they were kind of ashamed to start a
conversation. So, I started to talk to them. The reason why I wasn’t calm was the
fact that I was being observed by someone much more experienced.
What I really learnt this week
about teaching (even for a few minutes) was that it’s necessary to trust myself and also the students. They are really able to learn, and
it was noticed while the class was happening and the teacher explained all
the activities, even in a brisk pace. The experience was awesome and I
really enjoyed it.
Teacher Luiz writes about peer teaching, monitoring and the 'emotional' side learning
Two Saturdays ago I had the chance to take part in a very special exercise: Peer Teaching . The objective of the exercise was for us to observe, identify and evaluate ways in which we interact with our students with a view to maximizing student-centeredness and refining rapport. It is my belief that peer observation plays an essential role in every teacher's development, as it allows a great deal of sharing, thereby promoting mutual growth. That being said, the chance to see a fellow teacher in action with your own students is nothing short of spectacular. It brought me a feeling of unbounded enthusiasm which I daresay greatly stimulated me in my relentless pursuit of classroom excellence.
We divided the lesson into 4 sections. I was to teach two of them and my colleague was to cover the other two. The way she conducted elicitation and the brisk pace of the activity she proposed gave the class a much needed uplift during that early Saturday morning. The way she looked students in the eyes and would truly expect to get intelligent satisfactory answers, even though it had been previously noted that they were "weak" for their level made a lasting impression on me. By the end of the activity, which consisted of students coming up with charity organizations and then comparing them to the ones in the book, everyone was clearly engaged in the lesson and emotionally involved.
I particularly enjoyed seeing how the teacher carried out monitoring of the activity. She would bend down in a motherly fashion and listen unobtrusively without ever towering over students or cutting across them to make corrections. Also, the breaking down and planning of instructions made it possible for students to quickly grasp what they were being asked to do. Another feature that really caught my attention was her ability to cater for the livelier, more participative students as well as the shier, quieter learners.
Overall, this exercise made me more aware of intrinsic aspects of the Cultura Inglesa lesson in that it involved active participation and instant feedback from my mentor. Students did indeed play an active and collaborative role in the learning process and there was an atmosphere of trust and respect which undoubtedly contributed to more effective learning.
by Luiz Carlos Junior
Monday, 7 May 2012
Our monitor Karenn Cardoso writes about her experiences in class (peer teaching)
Peer teaching
Junior A – teacher Mary
Karenn da Silva Cardoso
On May 2th, I participated in an activity called “peer teaching” that consisted on collaboration in another teacher’s class. I was responsible for only one activity which was a game called “adding chain”. This was a memory game, and the students were supposed to add their favourite colour to my previous sentence: “My fovourite colour is green”, than one student would repeat and complete: “My favourite colour is green and yellow”, because the intention was their understanding of the addition concept, and the production of the conjunction “and”. The class was composed of 10 students, aged 9-11 years old. And the activity lasted about 10 minutes.
During the presentation of the activity, I could give the instructions clearly; at least most of the students could understand and help their friends. The game was conducted well; the students could produce as expected (in general) and have fun at the same time. But I needed some help while constructing my instructions. Most of the corrections could also be conducted well and when necessary. Regarding class management such as class control, I didn’t have many problems. In a whole, the activity was well developed and nothing got out of my control.
It is important to notice that it was a game activity, a really important tool used in EFL classroom. Games can provide effective learning if well conducted, especially with children with this age. They really felt challenged and easily accepted it. In accordance with the Learning Factory material: “Anyone who has had the opportunity to play games with a group of 9/10 year-olds can testify that fairness is a major concern to children and any signal that rules are being broken causes deep distress”
One of my biggest challenges was dealing with children, because it was my first experience, and I was a little bit nervous. However, I didn’t have so many problems as I expected. Something that really caught my attention was how teacher Mary managed the class. Students were constantly motivated by a game (“sticker game”) the teacher started in the beginning of the class, and continued until the end of the same. They already knew all the rules by heart (Don’t speak Portuguese, Sit down, and Help your friend), and all of them tried to follow these rules. And it could be also what motivated them to respect my presence and accept to participate in the activity. Another thing I could observe was the use of classical music during the moment they were doing an exercise, I thought it was very interesting. Therefore, it was a very good experience, and very valuable to add to my role as a monitor.
Junior A – teacher Mary
Karenn da Silva Cardoso
On May 2th, I participated in an activity called “peer teaching” that consisted on collaboration in another teacher’s class. I was responsible for only one activity which was a game called “adding chain”. This was a memory game, and the students were supposed to add their favourite colour to my previous sentence: “My fovourite colour is green”, than one student would repeat and complete: “My favourite colour is green and yellow”, because the intention was their understanding of the addition concept, and the production of the conjunction “and”. The class was composed of 10 students, aged 9-11 years old. And the activity lasted about 10 minutes.
During the presentation of the activity, I could give the instructions clearly; at least most of the students could understand and help their friends. The game was conducted well; the students could produce as expected (in general) and have fun at the same time. But I needed some help while constructing my instructions. Most of the corrections could also be conducted well and when necessary. Regarding class management such as class control, I didn’t have many problems. In a whole, the activity was well developed and nothing got out of my control.
It is important to notice that it was a game activity, a really important tool used in EFL classroom. Games can provide effective learning if well conducted, especially with children with this age. They really felt challenged and easily accepted it. In accordance with the Learning Factory material: “Anyone who has had the opportunity to play games with a group of 9/10 year-olds can testify that fairness is a major concern to children and any signal that rules are being broken causes deep distress”
One of my biggest challenges was dealing with children, because it was my first experience, and I was a little bit nervous. However, I didn’t have so many problems as I expected. Something that really caught my attention was how teacher Mary managed the class. Students were constantly motivated by a game (“sticker game”) the teacher started in the beginning of the class, and continued until the end of the same. They already knew all the rules by heart (Don’t speak Portuguese, Sit down, and Help your friend), and all of them tried to follow these rules. And it could be also what motivated them to respect my presence and accept to participate in the activity. Another thing I could observe was the use of classical music during the moment they were doing an exercise, I thought it was very interesting. Therefore, it was a very good experience, and very valuable to add to my role as a monitor.
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
Saturday, 31 March 2012
Error Treatment Session - task
Dear teachers,
Those who couldn´t attend our first training session should see the file in Teacher´s Room\Teacher´s Corner\TRAINING MATERIALS\errortreatment...teachersconclusions.flp , check pages 12 and 13 (Teacher´s Conclusions), read it and answer the following question, here:
Which of the points raised by the participants do you most agree/disagree with? Why?
Looking forward to reading your comments!
xoxo
Mary
Those who couldn´t attend our first training session should see the file in Teacher´s Room\Teacher´s Corner\TRAINING MATERIALS\errortreatment...teachersconclusions.flp , check pages 12 and 13 (Teacher´s Conclusions), read it and answer the following question, here:
Which of the points raised by the participants do you most agree/disagree with? Why?
Looking forward to reading your comments!
xoxo
Mary
Friday, 30 March 2012
Mistakes X Errors X Slips
Hey, guys!
As I promised, here is something interesting I've found related to our session on Error Treatment this afternoon:
"An error is an instance of language that is unintentionally deviant and not self corrigible by its author. A mistake is either intentionally or unintentionally deviant and self corrigible. Slips, or lapses of the tongue, pen, or keyboard are easily detected and can be self corrected by thier author unaided. (James, C. 1998. Errors in Language Learning and Use: Exploring Error Analysis. Addison Wesley Longman)
Basically a learner makes an error when s/he doesn't know the utterance is deviant, for example because s/he has learned from an incorrect model"
Taking that into account, which type should we prioritise when giving feedback to our students?
Have a nice end of week.
xoxoxoxo
Mary
As I promised, here is something interesting I've found related to our session on Error Treatment this afternoon:
"An error is an instance of language that is unintentionally deviant and not self corrigible by its author. A mistake is either intentionally or unintentionally deviant and self corrigible. Slips, or lapses of the tongue, pen, or keyboard are easily detected and can be self corrected by thier author unaided. (James, C. 1998. Errors in Language Learning and Use: Exploring Error Analysis. Addison Wesley Longman)
Basically a learner makes an error when s/he doesn't know the utterance is deviant, for example because s/he has learned from an incorrect model"
Taking that into account, which type should we prioritise when giving feedback to our students?
Have a nice end of week.
xoxoxoxo
Mary
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
The start of something new
Since last year, when I first noticed we had (unfortunately) stopped posting things here, I had been thinking about getting back on track with our blog. So, nothing like a new year, and a brand new template. The blog is still the same old blog, renewed!
I couldn't help reading our old posts, and, I must say, feeling quite proud of the nice things we had been sharing here. So, why not keep up with it?
You might want to browse around our blog, check out some new books, interesting links and, why not, revisit some old stuff!!
The new year is now officialy started, and I, sincerely wish you all the best!! Have a great new beginning!!
xoxoxoxo
Marie
p.s. image by teacher Roque Labanca, who is also a great photographer!
I couldn't help reading our old posts, and, I must say, feeling quite proud of the nice things we had been sharing here. So, why not keep up with it?
You might want to browse around our blog, check out some new books, interesting links and, why not, revisit some old stuff!!
The new year is now officialy started, and I, sincerely wish you all the best!! Have a great new beginning!!
xoxoxoxo
Marie
p.s. image by teacher Roque Labanca, who is also a great photographer!
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