Daniela's posterous

Once upon a time...

My Reflections for Week 3, the Blogging Week... well, Carla has asked us to include a picture.  Of course, using the 'loop input' that she has favored since day one, that is one more learning opportunity for us! To learn yet another 'trick'. So, I haven't figured out yet how to add the picture.  I guess it is under the icon that says 'attach a file'.  Looking at that icon, I realize that all of these sites are respecting different learning styles! There's a picture for the visual 'learners' and there's the written explanation for the ones that are more 'aural', in that we almost 'hear' the written explanation.

Anyway, I´m being sidetracked again!  Back to blogging, its advantages and disadvantages (are there any?!  Or am I the only 'bold' one to suggest that?!) and how this week has influenced/affected/changed me.  OK, I´ll try to add the picture first.  It´s a picture of my mom, when she was 18.  (scroll down, scroll down...) So, that´s approximately 55 years ago.  I chose it (see?!  It *is* always about our own choices...) to remind us of the time when communication was done through the phone or letters!! Letters!!!!!!  I also chose it because my mom, even if she does not yet use (or understand!) computers, she has expressed a desire to join a class to learn.  And she is turning 72 this year...

So, what´s my point?!  I know I´m going around in circles today.  The point is: Blogs?! Been there, done that... or partially, at least.  I haven´t actually been much of a blogger for sheer lack of time (I choose to do other things!) and have not used them in the classroom either, for am not teaching at the moment.  I agree that they are a fabulous communication tool, a motivation-generating tool. My mom´s picture encourages me to remember that there´s always room to learn and to try out new things. I wonder and worry about students' mistakes being broadcast to the world... I know, I know, there are tons of advantages! And perhpas this disadvantage (I can think of a few others...). 

The trick is finding the balance! After we find the time to do it, of course... any suggestions?!

Best,

d.

Mame

I 'diig' this!! :)

Hello dears,

Here am I, on a Friday, early evening, blogging and 'diiggin' away... and I live in *Rio*!!  OK, Carla asks how online social bookmarking can help me.  I´m an organizing freak, so I *loved* the organizing features of Diigo.  Just simply loved them, even if I have not yet figured out how to enable pop ups in my 'work' laptop.  So, I have to go back to each bookmark and tag it there, by editing.  Have also not figured out how to share with group. When I hit 'share with group', our group does not show up... :(  Even with all of that, Diigo is much more fun and convenient than 'My favorites'.  Mainly because I can access it from anywhere, everywhere.  So, I dig it! 

As for the socializing part of it, I wonder!  I mean, maybe you guys have more time than I do?!? But with trying to juggle a full-time job, albeit with a home office, with a boyfriend, a teenage nephew and niece that are almost like children to me, reading the newspapers daily and books for pleasure, ocasionally, going to RPG, to keep my back safe, walking on the sidewalk to keep my self-esteem 'safe' :), having three meals a day and still finding some time to devote to my mom and dad, how can we socialize online through so many tools?!?!  Anyway, don´t get me wrong, am loving the course, and just loved Diigo, as I mentioned before.  But I wonder if I´ll ever find the time to browse through other people´s findings... My own bookmarks seem a challenge to me, already.

Ah, this is the 'haven´t figured it out' week... also haven´t figured out how to send bookmarks to friends. I clicked on send, of course, but it took hours loading and nothing ever happened.  Frustating...

I found many interesting resources, mainly Larry Ferralazzo (is this spelled right?!) blog and all the sites suggested there.  Will not name any of them specifically because there are too many...  I specially like the ones about games, for all the classroom possibilities.  And, well, I will name one, you´ll see why later.  Under 'Fantastic Sites', Larry mentions http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2007/08/28/fantastic-sites/
Check it out!  Hope your students will enjoy them!

Have a great weekend, guys.

Best,

d.

Teach us to THINK!

How do learners learn?!  Most of them, nowadays, are digital learners.  Unless we´re dealing with a senior group.  But even those enjoy learning about technology and being challenged to use it.  I have always said, when teacher training in the past 18 years, at least, that there are five skills: Speaking, Listening, Reading, Writing and Thinking!  If students don´t think, then they are not creating language on their own, they are merely reproducing sentences that they memorized.

If that was true 18 years ago, let alone now!  I´ve already mentioned one of my favorite quotes: "We have to give them (learners) what they want, in order to be able to give them what *we* want."  In the past, learners wanted songs and games.  They now want to create, share, remix, apply.  They´ve always had to be taught how to think, create, evaluate, analyze, synthesize. Always.  Maybe even more so now, with the www and everything else that is around.  But this has always been a concern of mine, that learners be treated as thinking beings and not merely parrots.  Perhaps it would be more appropriate to say that learners have always had to be encouraged to think, not taught to think.  It is hard to teach someone someothing if they are not interested.  So, the trick is to find out what makes them tick...

Another of my favorite quotes says: "The student´s job is to learn the language.  The teacher's job is to learn the students."  So, how much do we know about our students? How do they like to learn?  What do *we* have to learn in order to be able to "give them what they want"?  How can we challenge them?  I had already seen and used the video called 'Pay Attention', when I was teacher training (or developing?!  training is Pavlovian... :) at Ibeu and, at the end, I challenged teachers to use the ideas and concepts in the video to teach more effectively, using technology.   

This happened at one of the In-Services before classes started. One of the teachers was so touched by the video that he started giving his learners 'digital homework'.  They were to record themselves using the Conversational Strategies of Touchstone and they would watch the videos in class.  He was, of couse, totally tech-savvy.  The following In-Service, he wanted to present. And he did and shared his ideas with all teachers.  I now think that more time has to be employed in helping non-native digital teachers become more familiar with technology. The more we know, the more confident we will feel, in class, to try something new (for us!).  We don´t want to make a fool out of ourselves in front of the students, right?! So, I believe the answer is there, to teach 'imigrant' teachers how to use technology, so that they, in turn, will use it in class.