English Studio

Implementing Exams on Computers

2008-11-17T10:26:00.009-02:00

Watch this video

Concepto transmitido en el videoclip (en Castellano, para que pueda ser conocido por todos):

El simpático clip de arriba, fue realizado para anunciar el inicio de una semana de evaluaciones de una manera original, y para "aflojar" tensiones. Además también se lo preparó para dar a conocer el marco sobre el cual decidimos trabajar : Queremos preparar a nuestros alumnos para el futuro. El futuro que ya es hoy. Hoy los alumnos que llamamos "nativos digitales" son parte nuestra y corren a un ritmo que aún los organismos que promueven exámenes internacionales no logran alcanzar. Pero lo harán. Será a corto o largo plazo. Pero lo harán. De hecho, hoy el tradicional cuerpo de evaluaciones ESOL de la University of Cambridge ya toma exámenes en computadora (COMPUTER BASED TESTS)

Es el caso de KET, PET, BEC e incluso el nuevo examen para Teachers TKT

Hay centros de exámenes que aún no lo han implementado. La experiencia dice que, seguramente , en el futuro (carcano o lejano), lo deberán hacer.

Entonces los alumnos deberán estar preparados, y no será suficiente empezar a entrenarlos recién entonces. Es por ello que English Studio ya ha comenzado.

Esta imagen es una de las tantas que han representado los exámenes internacionales de Cambridge por mucho tiempo

y contrasta con lo que, seguramente , en unos años, será lo común en Evaluaciones Internacionales, más estilo "Siglo 21"... de hecho, otros cuerpos examinadores como TOEFL, y la misma University of Cambridge a través de BULATS, ya lo implementan:

Hoy empezamos en English Studio las evaluaciones finales tomadas sobre Computadoras , especialmente diseñadas y programadas por Alicia Rey, docente especializada en el uso de Internet y CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) para el aprendizaje efectivo del idioma.

Fuente de la info:

Publicación en "The Guardian"
British Council Colombia

International Exams : FCE Cambridge ESOL

2008-11-08T14:16:00.008-02:00

Examination Dates are approaching and levels of anxiety are rising among students, especially if they are training to sit for International Exams.

One of the most popular exams in our area, in Resistencia (Chaco) , is the First Certificate , consisting of five papers, one of which is called "Speaking"

---------------
What follows are videoclips showing a sample test conducted by an examiner:

The Speaking component of International Examinations triggers doubts of different sorts on how to manage the interview in a fluent way. Some international students who sat for a similar Cambridge Exam have provided some tips that this blog shares with you. Hope they prove useful:

Use of English Paper

Practice for students (Including the December 2008 updates)

More interesting info:

Flo-Joe:
THE place on the web for Cambridge Exams

Related post : Another e-lesson to share

Info Cambridge Exams in Spanish

This is Halloween !

2008-10-31T21:13:00.005-02:00

Look at this picture to know some names and words:

From HALLOWEEN

Look at the picture below:

From HALLOWEEN

Now do this activity

Look at the picture below:

From HALLOWEEN

Now do this activity

Look at the picture below:

From HALLOWEEN

Now do this activity

Look at the picture below:

From HALLOWEEN

Now do this activity

Let's cook ; )

2008-10-17T19:52:00.002-03:00

recipes

Mr No Clue

2008-10-16T18:43:00.002-03:00

Source: Teacher's Magazine (EDIBA)

Internet as tool to improve the target language

2008-09-20T19:33:00.009-03:00

The cartoon below exactly shows one of my teaching objectives for the courses I set up

But it's not all roses. The process is time consuming and demanding from the guiding perspective as students are not so "digital" after all, or perhaps it's not that they aren't but simply that they are not so exposed to digital stuff in an ordinary school context.

But we're moving in the right direction, slowly, but effectively...as my young groups showed with the cartoon productions I shared in previous posts under the tag "Activities in class".

Everything is less complicated with Students doing Intermediate Courses and International Exam Training ones. They seem to be getting to grips with our mutual working pace.

Phew.

Related online survey / research

Related posts:

Who said it was easy?

Using ExploraTree in class

A modern Teacher needs special skills today

Videoclips in class

2008-09-10T21:39:00.006-03:00

This group of students have become real "video-music" producers after using GoAnimate.

Well done, everybody!!

Mati and his Lenny Kravitz version of "I'll be waiting"

María Sol showed how much she likes James Blunt's "Goodbye my lover"

Daniela and Avril Lavignes' "I'm with you"

Paula and her favourite CampRock version: "This is me"

And Juan, inspired by this Gorillaz' clip, "I feel good Inc.":

__________________________________

Original post (instructions for this activity)

__________________________________

Where are you?

2008-09-09T21:25:00.004-03:00

Based on a lesson from the coursebook, students started producing their own material and are quite happy about it.

Well done!

Santi: (Turn Volume Up Up Up !!!)

Video: Project 1

Pedro:

Video: Project _ PeDrO

Maca:

Video: Project - Maca

The Ups and Downs in an e-teaching adventure

2008-09-08T22:03:00.002-03:00

The "G" Teacher - Episode 2

Previous episodes:
Story's introduction
Episode 1

Related posts:

Setting up an Internet Lab at School
Don Quixote is still fighting the windmills

Integrating the Present Simple into activities for Young Learners

2008-09-03T08:41:00.011-03:00

Video: A Day in Sandy's life

Read these questions:

1. What's her name?
2. What time does she wake up?
3. What does she do at half past seven?
4. Does she say hello to her friend from school when she arrives?
5. What time does she arrive at school?
6. Does she like school?
7. Is school difficult for her?
8. What time does she finish school?
9. What time does she arrive home?
10. Has she got a pet?

Now write about Sandy's day

Extra activity: Create your movie

INSTRUCTIONS:

Videoclip Production- Your favourite song

2008-09-02T11:16:00.008-03:00

This is my videoclip:

Now, your turn.

INSTRUCTIONS :

1- You must use GoAnimate

2- Then you have to capture your production and insert the corresponding song lyrics.
How? Follow this guide :

Camtasia Tutorial In Pics

View SlideShare presentation

Writing Skills at Lower Levels : Producing Simple websites

2008-09-01T21:36:00.007-03:00

This is what they produced today:

Ladies first:

Daniela - Paula - María Sol

Now, the boys' turn:

Matías - Juan Ignacio

Juan suggested this website for their caricatures - Thanks, Juan.

Writing based on Infoquest (Messages 1- Support material)

Olympics over - The Chinese and the games' cultural effects

2008-08-28T10:07:00.010-03:00

Well, perhaps it's not to put it down to the Olympics...perhaps it's just one more sample of our globalised world.

China has been in the news for quite some time - everything due to the "Olympics" affair. Although everything is over now, focus on China and the Chinese culture still remain in our minds (that's the the way things go after events like these in our globalised societies I guess...)- "Chinese culture "- I wrote - and English as a communication needs arises... Yes...a "hard-to-believe" change that has been hitting our world for years. What's next?, I wonder...

If you haven't, catch Mad About English! - the amazing story of 1,000,000,000 people and their MAD MAD MAD rush to learn English! As the clock ticks down to next month's Olympics, China 's love affair with the English language has reached feverish proportions. With half a million or more visitors descending on Beijing for the Games, can the Chinese pull it off with their newly-acquired English? Mad About English! follows the inspiring and heart-warming efforts of a city preparing to host the world by learning a once-forbidden tongue.

Excerpts from a review:

All is not fun most of the time as we see each colorful character struggle to make ends meet and fall upon tested. Learning English for them doesn't just mean better communication, it also meant livelihood that they could bring themselves for their future. Documentaries like these are one in a million and capturing the essence of it all on film, priceless.

The info came to me via EFL GEEK 3.0

related posts-
http://pothin.edublogs.org/2008/08/19/mad-about-english/
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/04/28/080428fa_fact_osnos (unorthodox methods)
http://www.cbc.ca/passionateeyemonday/feature_070708.html
http://www.filination.com/blog/2008/08/07/english-craze-in-china-documentary-mad-about-english/

Len starts his "e-experience at school"

2008-08-22T09:18:00.007-03:00

The "G" Teacher - Episode 1

Previous episodes:
Story's introduction

Olympics

2008-08-13T09:49:00.007-03:00

They have been hitting the news for a couple of days and they have turned out a nice opportunity to get students to interact with related online stuff in English .

Take this British Council site , for example, where you get access not only to the History of the Olympics but also to some background info about certain sports and how they started- Moreover, you've got quizzes and the chance to get to know more through them (click on the pic below):

From the official site

1. Discover all about the sports on the programme of the Olympic Summer Games, with detailed explanations of each event, the equipment required and the techniques used.
Wonderful to describe sports and enhance Vocabulary related topics.

2. A great set of questions that many of us would love to ask Olympics trainers from different cultures and nationalities:

There is......in....

2008-08-12T09:49:00.008-03:00

This is Len, a "G" Teacher ("G" for "geek")

2008-08-10T18:40:00.006-03:00

This is a special post because it is the start of an online series that we (I'm including all my online colleagues here)will be creating:

Any suggestions to continue the story?

This is theINTRODUCTION , in about two weeks the 1st episode will be released, but it will depend on your suggestions / ideas.

May we consider Len as a reference? May we empathize with him? I'm absolutely sure that he will reflect many of our experiences along the episodes.

Please, use the comments link to share your thoughts

Link to Episode 1

Mamma Mia! takes box office crown

2008-08-09T17:29:00.004-03:00

Bringing the timeless lyrics and melodies of iconic super group ABBA to movie audiences, Summer 2008 is the season for MAMMA MIA!

Source: Rottentomatoes.com

And here's an exercise about it:

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mystudiyo.com/act70680/mini/go/mamma_mia"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Mamma Mia&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Related post: Dancing Queen

Official Site for the movie (UK)

____
also saved on Doris' blog

Special Project : F A M I L I E S

2008-08-07T21:57:00.004-03:00

These movies were produced by my group of students (Kids 1 B)- They really loved working on them.

Pedro

Santi

Macarena

Guadi

Reflections 2.0

2008-08-04T10:05:00.002-03:00

Meet Sam and Sammy -they have some interesting thoughts....

Related posts : Let your system do it for you

I produced the clip above after nodding while reading Illya's post entitled "How many times do we need to recreate ourselves?" :

We as digital immigrants, however, are constantly searching and trying out new things. The result being that we have a little information scattered here and there, but no place to call home. We add a few details, look around, see how it works, and then a new tool is suggested to us by someone we know, an invitation to join - which we do, of course, and then the same thing happens again.

So I wonder where we are going. And if that's where our students will love staying.

Feedback needed - Please join IN

2008-08-02T20:32:00.004-03:00

This is a special request to all those who read my posts, please send me your suggestions. No long texts will be expected. Just words or unstructured phrases will meet my needs.

Many thanks in advance. Please, click on the graph below to interact

Let your network system do it for you

2008-07-25T09:57:00.007-03:00

One of the most demanding activities for any blogger-at least lately- is updating his blog, especially with all the networking done all the time! Any experienced blogger surely has different online accounts for a wide variety of several special online applications (Flickr for pics, YouTube for videos, delicious for bookmarks and so on)-There are so many of them- and if you've entered the Web 2.0 world -like I did about 3 years ago- you're bound to have hard times when moving from one account to the other if you want to share all those with your audience / readers.

All that fuss seems to be over now:

Swulr brings all your web content together into a blog format… supporting your existing blog, pictures, links, videos, and more.” Swurl seems designed to keep things simple, yet content-rich. As soon as you create your account, you’re invited to import your activity from a variety of different services. (Read more on post Source)

I've just set up one account and I guess I will enjoy its simplicity.

Further Online Socializing Tools

2008-07-24T12:12:00.007-03:00

Plurk Basics Video

What I do love about these online "widgets" or social applications is the great possibility they offer not only to meet but also to get to know people with whom you would never interact under different circumstances. Just as a sample, I have just got some interesting interchange with Nik (see comments), and lots of feedback will probably come up after these online encounters- really profitable for our profession.

Would like to join me and my "plurk friends"? This is my plurk address :
http://www.plurk.com/user/aliciarey

Ideas to encourage blog comments

2008-07-23T18:13:00.007-03:00

If the value of blogs is measured by the degree of interaction they create, then comments are really the key to successful projects. However, laziness sometimes prevents typing (sort of confession here?).

Moreover, it isn't so appealing for teen students, for example. So when I came across Nik Peachey's plurk (available for 30 days according to bubblecomment.com) last night I thought : Lovely! - and inspired this videoclip:

Resistencia, the "city of the Sculptures"

2008-07-22T11:09:00.009-03:00

Incredible enough, seldom do I refer to Resistencia, the town where English Studio is placed, on this blog. But I've just come across this lovely spot that was released by our Tourist Information Office and thought it was a good idea to show it here after working on its subtitles in English.

Resistencia, Chaco, on Wikipedia

Further images of the Sculptures on YouTube

Snapshots- Sculptures in Resistencia

About P.O.D.E.R. and metaphors and similes in Argentine educational environments

2008-07-21T09:56:00.006-03:00

I usually like introducing issues with visual stimuli, so watch this clip before reading the written excerpt below - the situation could very well be a simile: Public Schools abroad and our schools in Argentina

Sad, isn't it?

On trying to find related articles, this UNESCO webpage came up : "BRIDGE"

The program "I have P.O.D.E.R" tries to promote thinking, exchange and critical analysis concerning spaces about the problems affecting adolescents and pre-adolescents (addictive behaviors, group pressure, violence manifestations, family communication problems, etc.). It aims at building didactic tools that may facilitate the teachers' daily practice when they have to face conflictive and troublesome social situations that influence the classroom. Likewise, the project promotes the effective cooperative and responsible participation of students, in order to elaborate peaceful alternatives that may contribute to overcome common conflicts among teenagers.
The meaning of P.O.D.E.R is the proposal of a subject for adolescents: Purpose (trust your own decisions), Orgullo (pride, be proud of yourself), Determination (you know when and how to choose the best), Enthusiasm (enjoy being yourself), Responsibility (control your life being responsible of your own decisions).

Personally,I believe cohesion is the key to model societies. To hold cohesion society members should share similar values, which are certainly known to make a NATION. Those in "power"-I love the metaphor here- must be responsible for the social welfare of every individual in their country.
Argentina has been suffering a real social / cultural crisis for decades and these last months the situation has worsened, reaching incredible situations. The general social feeling has almost been devastating. No wonder schools have felt the impact.

Every truth has four corners: as a teacher I give you one corner, and it is for you to find the other three.: Confucius

I add: " and YOU have the right to be given all the tools for working out those three."

Section 14.- All the inhabitants of the Nation are entitled to the following rights, in accordance with the laws that regulate their exercise, namely: to work and perform any lawful industry; to navigate and trade; to petition the authorities; to enter, remain in, ...travel through, and leave the Argentine territory; to publish their ideas through the press without previous censorship; to make use and dispose of their property; to associate for useful purposes; to profess freely their religion; to teach and to learn.

Argentine Republic - 1994 Constitution

Blog content : ON

2008-07-20T20:42:00.004-03:00

Whole blog on an eye-catching online poster.
Via Wordle

Wordle seems to be a visually nice tool to show brainstorming of ideas, topics, etc.

"We can tell so much just from the language that we use…"

Frank, while presenting his Del.icio.us Wordle

________

Who said it was easy?

2008-07-20T19:09:00.005-03:00

Call me a rebel or whatever you feel like, but let me confess I do feel at a loss whenever I see something like this while surfing.

Because it's not that easy...and usually I claim for answers I still haven't been able to get

Whatever the reason,it certainly is hard to agree with Steve in theory , knowing that the practice will be a "battle to fight" (or a challenge, from a far more positive perspective)

Social Media in ELT reminds me of Don Quixote and his windmills « Social Media Citizenship and ELT via kwout

Many colleagues of mine -from Argentina-are starting their winter hols tomorrow. Maybe they get to this post some day, while surfing...I'll be really glad to read their comments. I'm sure they share most of my feelings.

International ESL Teachers who probably do not face this problem will , of course, be more than welcome if they leave doubts / hints / suggestions...or more questions / problems to try to sort out together -as those birds who flock together -flying high, to fulfill students' expectations.

Another "e-lesson" to share with colleagues: " exploratree" in class

2008-07-20T07:47:00.009-03:00

This is what I got:

And this is how I got it:

One of the least practical steps in dealing with writing, especially at higher levels of the language was the editing bit: Lots of draft sheets that had to be checked , rewritten and “re-checked”-such a tedious never ending process that would make collaborative writing almost impossible to manage properly within a class context.

Needless to say, the internet has made our lives far easier in this respect: Just by doing all the above on any ordinary e-mail platform, both teachers and students are saving time and gaining organization. Moreover, with the advent of Web2.0 stuff, applications like “GoogleDocs” have served the purpose of real writing practice. Just by sharing docs online it is possible to send and receive drafts that will become good productions after serious and really practical editing processes through which actual learning takes place.

These are the links to some of the pieces of writing my students shared with me when working on this project:

-Parents and children
_Technology and how we use it

Fortunately new platforms are coming up. ExploraTree is one of the lot- a kind of “mind mapping” device that allows online sharing, like GoogleDocs. However exploratree is not only more visually appealing but offers further alternatives: It is based on graphs (there are several possibilities) that respond to different topic needs. Here is a screenshot of one of the “thinking guides” –as they are called- that was produced to focus on the subject of technology.
One of the greatest features it holds is its flexibility : When shared with somebody you allow , that person can write comments and even change the whole layout of the graph,let alone content -or the “official” guest can even suggest ideas / links , insert pics, etc, as if he were the real author of the guide. Just as a sample, look at this screen shot of the piece of work that another student did on the focus of “Parents and Children”

In this case, the project was so motivating that the students themselves promoted discussions about the topics they had been researching-therefore speaking was practised. Reading authentic material from the net also was a key step on this kind of activity, and so was listening. Some of the material was either on podcasts or online videos whose scripts students also worked on and shared with me- through googledocs- for correction. The oral practice was recorded and that outcome was edited by the students, who used Windows Movie Maker (after being shown a tutorial) as an “editing” tool. They just inserted their oral discussions into Movie Maker audio tracks and, to illustrate, they looked for images on the web. These links show just some of the visual aids they got online:

Topic: Technology and how we use it Topic: Parents'roles and children

Summary of the steps I followed (2 –week- work):

1. What issues would you like to develop for a project work to integrate your language skills? E-mail me a list of at least 5 issues. (this is what I asked them first)

2. After the emails, two issues came up and I set up the beginning of one thinking guide –I introduced ExploraTree to them- One of them edited the guide and another one made another thinking guide himself.

3. Research: Students have to read articles about the chosen issues from the web – they also listened to pod/video casts and worked out their scripts.

4. The guides came and go all over the cyberspace via ExploraTree, aiming at general agreement + teacher approval

5. Oral discussions based on guides took place. Meanwhile the writing was set for homework and the editing process started immediately.

6. When the written outcome was over, the “extra practice” (speaking which was recorded while being done) was proposed to be edited in a special way. Movie Maker appeared on stage then.

And that was it. A rewarding attempt trying ExploraTree for the first time.

“I’d never done something like this. I like it” -one of my students said. The other smiled, showing obvious agreement.

Guess how I felt then.

Fin de Evaluaciones de mitad de año, análisis de resultados listos e inicio del 2do cuatrimestre

2008-07-10T09:48:00.009-03:00

Teniendo en cuenta cada uno de los aspectos expresados en mi post de hace un año acabamos de concluir con el período de evaluaciones correspondientes a esta época del ciclo lectivo.

Confirmamos con las mismas lo que se estimó en los informes individuales que se enviaron oportunamente a los tutores.

Habiendo analizado resultados y reflexionando sobre las prácticas realizadas nos disponemos a iniciar el 2do cuatrimestre.

Estoy , en general, muy satisfecha con lo realizado hasta ahora.

A mis alumnos los invito a seguir trabajando para aprovechar al máximo todo el potencial con el que cuentan y a los Sres Padres les agradezco el seguimiento y apoyo constante.

Tiempo de Evaluaciones

2008-07-05T15:35:00.005-03:00

El lunes 7 y martes 8 de julio se realizarán las primeras evaluaciones generales en todos los niveles. Las mismas tienen por objetivo detenernos y reflexinar sobre las prácticas realizadas hasta la fecha.

Evaluar es comparar el resultado obtenido con el resultado esperado, para establecer razonablemente el valor de un proceso o un método, de una hipótesis o teoría, de la acción de una persona o un equipo.

Propiamente el objetivo de la evaluación no es histórico, ni judicial, ni anecdótico, sino práctico: se evalúa para hacer las cosas mejor —cuando se trata de situaciones cíclicas o cuando menos repetibles—, o por lo menos para obtener el máximo provecho de las circunstancias—si se trata de hechos irrepetibles—.

La evaluación es un instrumento metódico irreemplazable que las personas utilizan en su vida privada o pública, individual o colectiva, normalmente como preparación para tomar decisiones.

Téngase siempre en cuenta que no hay un único modo de evaluar un hecho o resultado. Todo depende del punto de vista de la evaluación.

Así pues, es claro que el punto de partida para una buena evaluación es el deseo de un bien mayor.

Post relacionado :"Consideraciones para las evaluaciones generales "

_________________________
Fuente:
Qué es evaluar?

Notes from a crying country

2008-07-04T14:04:00.009-03:00

It's been almost four pretty hectic months for any ordinary citizen from our beloved Argentina and I cannot avoid feeling worried and, at times, even sad for the latest events that have come up unexpectedly.Wondering how to describe them in English or how to say certain things in that language I started surfing the net searching for answers.

Both long articles from widely known online newspapers and videos from important international channels have met my needs:

Argentina, one of the world's biggest breadbaskets, should be rolling in cash, as world food prices soar.
Instead, soy, wheat and corn have sat for weeks in silos as farmers protesting new export taxes suspended sales.
-Read more-

To cut a long story short, today, the "debate episode" announced by The Guardian is bound to provide more ingredients to the "make believe country" presented on "The Economist" a month ago.

How shall I close this post? By inviting you, readers to click on the article published on "The Miami Herald" yesterday?
That doesn't ring "high hope bells" into my exhausted Argentinian mind.

I prefer to round off the blog with an image, my final thought on the topic...or a wish for my country :

And, if you I'm allowed, let me quote one of the phrases I've overheard several times these days. Please forgive me for not having translated it into English. I like the way it sounds in the language 21st century Argentine heroes speak:

"Hasta que un día el paisano acabe con este infierno, y con sólo esta ley se rija:
Si es pa' todos el invierno , es pa' todos la cobija."

______________________

Fuentes:

The Economist
Miami Herald
CNN
Campos de trigo (Flickr)
Manual de Zonceras Argentinas
Agencia Informativa Católica Argentina
Al Jazeera News (You Tube)
Reuters (You Tube)

Revision Time with multimedia content especially adapted/created for Kids 3

2008-06-30T08:40:00.006-03:00

Watch this clip

* Are the sentences from the audio TRUE or FALSE (according to the images from the video clip)?

* Now work on this activity

Look at this picture

Now work on this exercise

Open your notebooks and work on these two activities:

1) John's dreams :

Copy the pics onto your notebooks and write the numbers matching the descriptions on the audio clip- Then write the sentences you hear

2) Listen to Peter's routine and write (in order 1 to 8) the sentences you hear on the audio clip below:

More practice for the Test: THE TIME

Reflecciones 2.0

2008-06-27T13:47:00.006-03:00

Como ejercicio constante de la práctica reflexiva que todo docente suele realizar en su incansable tarea de "aprender a ser mejor" con cada clase, hace unos días , navegaba por internet y leía escritos publicados por algunos colegas.

Me llamó la atención un post de Gabriela donde relataba brevemente su experiencia en esta transición que hoy vivimos en el campo de la tecnología como recurso que sirve a la educación.

De sus ideas expresadas en un blog grupal quiero reproducir:

Comencé a dar clases de inglés en 1977. El primer libro que usé fue Look, Listen and Learn, de L. G. Alexander. No es necesario decir que para aprender se necesita algo más que mirar y escuchar. De todos modos, se aprendía.
La tecnología ayudó a los alumnos de inglés a escuchar a los hablantes nativos. Los walkmans, videos, la televisión por cable, los acercaron a la lengua real, esa que refleja variedades lingüísticas. Fue notable observar cómo la capacidad auditiva de ellos fue creciendo y de qué modo incorporaban vocabulario con autonomía de las clases.

La década de los '80 me tuvo a mí del otro lado, como alumna / estudiante de inglés y por ello puedo dar testimonio de todo lo que Gabriela escribió en el párrafo anterior. Sí se aprendía, pero todo costaba más. Faltaba el medio, pero evidentemente metodología y capacitación docente sobraban.

Lo paradógico hoy es que , si bien se cuenta con el medio, las políticas para hacer más leve la transición no pararecen ser suficientes. Gabriela escribe:

La conexión a internet y, sobre todo, los mails y el MSN pusieron a los alumnos en contacto directo y fluido con hablantes nativos. Esto implicaba un gran cambio. La tecnología había abierto puertas al mundo; un mundo que se comunicaba mayoritariamente en inglés. Pero todavía esta comunicación tenía lugar fuera del aula.

Descubrí los blogs en 2006, este fue mi primer contacto con el software social. Las TICs posibilitan la inserción de los alumnos en conversaciones globales, no en su calidad de alumnos de inglés como lengua extranjera, sino como hablantes del inglés global.

Este nuevo escenario plano, pone en evidencia sus arrugas. El estado argentino no parece moverse en la dirección adecuada para achicar la brecha digital. Y aún los alumnos que pertenecen a clases privilegiadas tienen contacto con las computadoras dentro de la escuela en el límite del laboratorio de computación. Las autoridades escolares parecen no comprender que los alumnos necesitan desarrollar habilidades del siglo 21.

Ayer he comenzado un trabajo con mis alumnos de FCE (Training for the First Certificate - University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations) sobre la tecnología y sus usos

Estamos trabajando en él.....

Confieso mi ansiedad por conocer efectivamente la idea que los alumnos tienen sobre el tema.
Definitivamente la imagen que sigue no es la meta que pretendo alcanzar:

Aunque parece ser uno de los temas que han originado un interesantísimo debate que todos los que usamos las TICs en el aula debiéramos seguir.

Referencias:
Gabriela Sellart -"Del siglo XX al XXI"
Iñaki Calvo - Reflexionar sobre nuestra práctica docente: ¿Por qué? ¿Para qué?
Brian Crosby - "Learning is messy"

Project for beginners : There is / There are + basic vocabulary

2008-06-24T11:09:00.005-03:00

Pedro- Project Work "There is /are" - Upload a Document to Scribd

Santi- Project Work "There is / are" - Upload a Document to Scribd

Descriptions - Multimedia Project work

2008-06-24T10:15:00.008-03:00

Watch these videoclips and work on the activities below:

Description 1 - Description 2 - Description 3 - Description 4

Description 5

Description 6

Description 7

Description (Project) - Upload a Document to Scribd

Grammar Books at the click of your mouse

2008-06-23T09:39:00.001-03:00

elementary language practice - Upload a Document to Scribd

Project Work

2008-06-12T09:52:00.005-03:00

Click on the pic to read about this famous London landmark :

The TOWER of LONDON

Now work on this questionnaire and then on this quiz

Related post

Descriptions

2008-06-11T10:35:00.005-03:00

A - Look at this original pic and describe the girl. What's she like?

B - Now watch this sequence of edited photos : 1) Gloria 2) Emily and 3) Sandy - Write about them on your notebooks.

__________________________

C- Your time for creation- Use these tools to work:

- Edit images online

- Make your poster as you like

_____________

Wild Animals (1)

2008-06-08T18:18:00.002-03:00

Watch this short video

Now work on this activity

Traditions from Great Britain- This month : The Tower of London

2008-06-06T18:36:00.010-03:00

1) Watch this video - focus both on the song lyrics in the background and on what it shows:

2) Now work on this activity based on the 1st paragraph of the song

Want to read more of the song lyrics?

3) Now answer:

- What's the tube station near Tower Bridge?
_ What colour is the first girl's anorak (at the start of the video)?

- Is the whole video in colour? Why do you think that is so?

- What are the people doing on the bridge before "the opening" is shown ?

- What's the man in a dark coat doing while the tube is going by? (at the tube station)

- What does the notice "ENGINE ROOMS" mean?

- Can people go up the bridge?

- Which London landmark is situated by Tower Bridge?

4) Now it's playing + reading time - Click here to learn more about the prisoners of the Tower and play this game to have an idea of what you can feel if locked there.

Grammar+Vocabulary+Listening Practice

2008-05-28T10:02:00.006-03:00

A) Play this game

B) Now get ready for more practice- Take your notebooks-

Watch this video and write sentences beginning with :

1. Dave has got.....
2. Marge......some........and an........
3. Richard.................some .........
4. Virginia.................
5. Gerard has got.........(5 items)
6. Ellen.............some ........ for her labradors.
7. Lawrence.......................
8. Hillary .....................
9. Lucy ................some .........and some........

C) Now click on this activity and copy the correct version of the sentences on your notebooks

D) Order these words to make affirmative, negative or interrogative sentences

E) and finally TEST yourself !

Practice, practice, and more practice

2008-05-24T14:25:00.009-03:00

Numbers and colours

Type numbers
_________________

The family (1) (The Simpsons)
The family (2)

_________________

THE VERB TO BE: AFFIRMATIVE AND NEGATIVE
Days of the week / Months of the Year => Click on Vocabulary on the right column ( Lesson 3, 4 and 5)

_________________

Possesives (1)

Prepositions (click on all the items on the PREPOSITION area)

Sources : Different EFL learning sites

El rol de la "repetición" en la interacción áulica

2008-05-14T21:42:00.006-03:00

En el caso de los alumnos muy pequeños, cuando aún no tienen tan aprehendidas las habilidades de la lecto-escritura en su propia lengua, el rol de la repetición es fundamental en la clase de inglés, no solamente para promover la correcta pronunciación o el hábito a una segunda lengua sino también para mejorar la comprensión de los vocablos / ideas que se quieren transmitir.
Mayor la repetición , mayores las oportunidades para que comprendan la mecánica / características de un segundo lenguaje.

Se puede apreciar lo explicado en el párrafo anterior en el siguiente audio (parte de la dinámica de trabajo del grupo Kids 1- niños de 6 y 7 años)

Con la repetición el docente da al alumno las herramientas adecuadas para que entienda la idea que se debe transmitir. Esto mismo lleva a una consecuencia cognitiva : El alumno logrará transformar lo que "recibe" externamente en algo que le "pertenecerá" y podrá hacer propio para luego producir.
Un proceso sumamente interesante que, con paciencia constancia y sistemáticamente nos mostrará muy buenos resultados enseguida, pero excelentes a largo plazo.

Referencia:

Repetition and young learners´ initiations in the L2: a corpus-driven analysis
Ana Llinares García-Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

Conexión con la realidad (Realia) y aprendizaje efectivo del idioma

2008-05-14T09:56:00.010-03:00

Es bien sabido que uno de los elementos que más contribuyen al aprendizaje efectivo es la motivación y lo comprobamos una vez más con el trabajo realizado a lo largo de varias semanas en el grupo Kids 2 cuando focalizamos en la enseñanza de vocabulario relacionado con los objetos de un aula y los útiles escolares, para lo cual hicimos uso de lo que en la "jerga" de English teachers se conoce con el nombre de "REALIA". Realia implica el uso de material real para lograr que lo cotidiano / usual / rutinario forme parte de la clase. Esto hace concreto el vocabulario pues lo pone realmente en un marco palpable para los alumnos, y es altamente significativo cuando de niños se trata, pues ellos pueden entonces ver / tocar / sentir lo que están aprendiendo.

En el medio del proceso se aprovechan ocasiones para insertar práctica extra, promoviendo el desarrollo de otras habilidades (en este caso auditivas)

No siempre es posible trasladar el mundo que muestra el texto a la realidad y no podíamos desperdiciar tal oportunidad, por lo tanto hicimos uso exhaustivo de nuestro salón de clase para poner en práctica esta metodología.

En la unidad trabajada a lo largo de estas clases se ha logrado conectar lo que el libro de texto muestra con la realidad de los alumnos, en los que se advirtió un elevado grado de motivación y adquisición del idioma . No basta más que ver las imágenes que se adjuntaron al informe que reciben los tutores sobre el rendimiento de los chicos.
Personalmente veo este avance con mucho agrado pues es altamente gratificante advertir que los alumnos logran entender claramente el significado del lenguaje.

Referencia:
Teaching tips
Using English

The English Studio classroom

2008-05-13T18:46:00.001-03:00

Write all the classroom objects on your notebooks

Audio practice with a song: "What's in the classroom?"

2008-05-13T11:29:00.004-03:00

Listen to this song

Now work on this excercise

Hamleys

2008-04-30T10:08:00.007-03:00

...from a toy shop in London,

look at these pictures and match them to the words/phrases below:

Frogman - BratzBoys - Optimash Prime - Skateboarding dolls - Farmyard-
Spiderman Battle Attack Car - Ben 10 - Betty Spaghetti Winter Wow -
Movie Starz Yasmin

Now write on your notebooks. Ask and answer questions like this:

" How much is the....?
It is ...................... "

NB : Please when you write the prices use "words" , NOT figures ;-) so that we get more practice

Further Reference(for pics)

Crear habilidades para la lectura y comprensión de textos

2008-04-28T10:47:00.012-03:00

Esa es una de las tantas necesidades que deben ser cubiertas en el aula donde se enseña un idioma. Cuanto antes se comience a trabajar intensamente en esto, mejor. Y la web puede utilizarse para tal fin, incluso en los grupos iniciales y con conocimientos básicos o muy elementales de la lengua.

Uno de los aspectos más difíciles de trabajar con internet es encontrar la información especifíca mientras se navega. Para lograr con éxito la explotación de internet como herramienta de búsqueda el alumno debe saber:

* Cómo encontrar los datos que busca
* Cómo elegir críticamente qué info es relevante y qué no
y
* Cómo integrar el material encontrado en la web a la actividad que debe desarrollarse.

Esto se aplica tanto en inglés como en castellano. Cuánto más fácil sería para la clase de inglés si los alumnos ya contaran con este "entrenamiento" en su lengua nativa ! Pero no suele ser éste el caso...

Sin embargo, uno de nuestros roles como docentes es enseñar a los alumnos cómo encontrar y procesar la info que se busca. Como docentes de lengua, lo hacemos todo el tiempo cuando trabajamos con un texto, pues cuando el alumno interactúa con ejercitación basada en el texto debe seleccionar los extractos de los párrafos que se relacionan con el punto al que se dirige la pregunta.

Una de las formas de manejar estos objetivos en un grupo de pre-adolescentes que manejan un muy limitado número de estructuras pues se encuentran en un nivel básico del lenguaje es editar textos originales y "simplificar" para que puedan leerse cómodamente sin mayores dificultades.

Más aún, si la ejercitación que acompaña es lo suficientemente realizable para ellos, la práctica es altamente positiva, en especial cuando el objetivo de la misma a largo plazo es el incentivo mediante el sentimiento del "yo soy capaz de entender / manejar/ procesar info extensa en inglés!!!!"

Para ello es realmente significativo utilizar material especialmente preparado para tales fines.

Fijémonos , sin ir más lejos, en la web que complementa el libro de texto que emplean los alumnos de Teens 1-

Luego de haber cubierto el 1er par de unidades relacionadas con nacionalidades, ciudades en el mundo, características de los distintos lugares, etc. -todo girando en torno a puntos léxicos y gramaticales específicos- se expuso al grupo al sitio web recomendado.

El mismo muestra datos que, expuestos / leídos de manera tradicional hubieran causado una alta carga de desconcentración y desgano para incorporar y procesar.

Sin embargo, al someterlos a la lectura mediante las actividades provistas, los alumnos lograron, sin percibirlo quizás, una lectura global que los condujo a realizar sin dificultad la práctica propuesta.

Pero lo más importante es que iniciamos con éxito la primera de las etapas en el entrenamiento para acrecentar las habilidades de lectura y comprensión del idioma que se está aprendiendo.

__________________________________________

Nationalities and Countries

2008-04-14T10:21:00.006-03:00

Click on this link , listen to the song and work on the activities below + the printed sheet provided

Activity 1: LANDMARKS - Activity 2: CITIES from the world - Activity 3 : More CITIES

Source : Learn English Kids (by the British Council)
----------------------------------------------

Numbers -Online Practice (Kids)

2008-04-14T09:52:00.003-03:00

1) Click on this spelling activity

2) Click on these activities

More practice here

Online Practice for revision (Teens 1)

2008-04-14T09:30:00.003-03:00

1) Click on "Prepositions"

2) Click on "Lesson A and B"

3) Work on the crossword and the wordsearch exercise

English Sports

2008-04-08T10:10:00.004-03:00

Watch+ Listen

Now work on these activities

And now listen and give answers to the activity from the clip:

Source : I love English Jrs (adapted)

Teen Bands - "the" teen spirit

2008-04-07T09:06:00.005-03:00

Always emerging , a never ending phenomenon . Two samples -and a couple of activities for our Teen groups:

1)
Click on the pic to get general information from this girls' band:

2)

This is a link to The Jonas Brothers photos on Flickr - click on this to do the following exercise:

M A T C H
U P

3)

Read the fist part of this extract to write a paragraph about the Jonas Brothers based on this photo

4)

Now write a similar paragraph about Everlife based on this photo

Autumn Time

2008-03-30T16:10:00.006-03:00

A squirrel and its nut

1 ) Play this game (use Internet Explorer for better surfing)

..................

Was the game difficult? Look at these animals / objects related to the Autumn Season and then try the game again ;-)

2) Watch the video below, sing along and work on this activity on your notebooks

3) And now...let's revise our vocabulary related to THE WEATHER !

.....................

Source: The British Council web for Kids

Saint Patrick's Day

2008-03-17T07:49:00.007-03:00

Click on the picture to learn vocabulary related to St Patrick and the Irish

More about this Irish tradition

The colors of the Republic of Ireland are a tricolor of green, white, and orange. The orange supposedly represents the Protestant population, the green the Catholic, and the white the peace between them.

Click on this link to solve a Crossword

Listening activity (Online Dictation)

Exercise 1
Exercise 2

This is the audio for exercise 1 and 2:

powered by ODEO

Exercise 3

This is the audio for exercise 3

powered by ODEO

Exercise 4

This is the audio for exercise 4

powered by ODEO

Exercise 5

This is the audio for exercise 5

powered by ODEO

Related link

The following exercise is for Kids 3:

Click on the pic to see in detail

Now write the differences on your notebooks (your teacher will guide you ;-)

-------------------------------
Memories : This is what we did on Saint Patrick's Day two years ago

Recommendations for learners

2008-03-12T09:50:00.004-02:00

In the era of txt messages ....do you still care about spelling?
You'd better do.

English Studio recommends:

Video script

Aviso

2008-02-15T11:48:00.002-02:00

Iniciamos camino al Ciclo Lectivo 2008 (*)

2008-02-05T20:28:00.000-02:00

* Post en Castellano
___________________________

El objetivo de English Studio es guiar a sus alumnos en el manejo efectivo del inglés mediante el desarrollo de habilidades para la recepción y para la producción del lenguaje.
Las primeras suelen ser siempre las que se muestran antes , pues tienen que ver con la comprensión del idioma en formatos de texto y audio.
Las segundas están relacionadas con la capacidad de comunicación a través de la redacción o la transmisión oral de mensajes. Suelen destacarse más lentamente que las habilidades receptivas (como ocurre cuando nosotros empezamos a hablar en nuestro propio idioma, no?), pero casi cierran el círculo del conocimiento. Círculo este de radio infinito que debe recibir estímulos diversos para fortalecerse y, al mismo tiempo, extenderse.

En English Studio focalizamos en aquellos estímulos y facilitamos el ambiente físico y los recursos docentes para lograr nuestro objetivo.

En los tiempos que corren es común asociar a las computadoras con un cambio en la educación. Pero, seamos sinceros, la existencia de PCs en un aula NO cambia la educación. El docente debe preparar actividades relevantes para que los alumnos saquen provecho al natural incentivo que el trabajar en las PCs crea en ellos.
En English Studio se trabaja así.

Además, otro aspecto a considerar : La enseñanza y el aprendizaje deberían ser personalizados al máximo. Ello implica no solamente la selección de material apropiado para cada grupo de alumnos sino también el planificar de acuerdo a las necesidades dentro de la dinámica del curso, monitoreando permanentemente reacciones y rendimiento, pautando actividades en base a avances o retrocesos.
English Studio propicia clases grupales. Para resultados efectivos sólo se acepta un máximo de 10 alumnos por grupo.

Hoy nos encontramos preparando el Ciclo Lectivo 2008.

Próximamente estaremos dedicados a las inscripciones.

First Professional Training in 2008- SMiELT Conference

2008-01-24T09:59:00.000-02:00

I am currently "disconnected" from ordinary blogging / online affairs as I am deep into more research related to Social Media in ELT, a great online event that lasts 6 weeks and I am really enjoying. Great training and eye-opening alternatives.

My notes here:

Setting up a School Internet Lab

2008-01-18T09:52:00.000-02:00

Or "re- planning" one to meet new online assistance possibilities

NB - pics from the presentation taken from the Geek and Poke pool from Flickr

Second Life on the spot (after going deep into it)

2008-01-15T08:58:00.000-02:00

Undoubtedly, nowadays virtual worlds offer extensive possibilities for Education and thorough reports have been released on the rationale for the use of platforms like Second Life.

Needless to say, I've found myself amazed at all these alternatives, especially when you come across eduactional projects like this one, along with these words:

'Second Life presents us with an amazing opportunity to think in entirely new ways about teaching and learning'

In addition to that, reports by important American professionals in Education insist on the marvel of seeing students immersed in this platform , in contrast to traditional learning methods which have become, according to their phrases, obsolete and irreleveant

So, I did my own research - really humble but effective for first conclusions-and this is what I got :

This video clip is the continuation of several months analysis of the platform and it has shown me that Second Life does hold lots of potential in the teaching / learning environments. However, as the saying goes, it is not all roses, and there are , from my perspective, two major disadvantages:

The hardware requirement: This is crucial for successful outcomes. Computer crashes get on your nerves and so do slow - or delayed - responses when operating the program. The system requirements are really high, sometimes I feel the minimum claimed at the official site is not enough.

Then, the time needed for exploration and understanding all the stuff the platform boasts : It IS a never ending story (as life goes I guess....)
I remember one of the residents I met while exploring. When asked for hints on SL (just to save some time ) she replied this : "As in real life, you learn to "live" Second Life by living" - "Bah"- I thought- , "away with her, she probably doesn't want to help or simply is too busy doing some other things (as most of the time happens)and simply doesn't like being interrupted. " But it was not like that. She was absolutely right. You learn about Second Life being there and experiencing things by yourself. The problem is: In our real world of instant everything, you generally don't have a second time for Second Life.

Well, but I've felt it. There's a lot more to do / investigate / learn etc. Let's see what the future brings.

Good blogging habits

2008-01-09T20:31:00.000-02:00

At this time of the brand New Year (still not the start of the 2008 Academic Term in this part of the world), some EFL teachers who may have been thinking of setting up a blog could find this post useful.

Either for themselves of for their classes they might be about to start their "blogging adventures"- putting New Year's Resolutions into practice ? Perhaps.

A few points to bear in mind if you are one of those professionals seeking new goals :

* Always read as many blogs as you can related to the topic you are dealing with - There are some great web directories that may lead you

* Try to join a network . Facebook is great - despite what everybody says about its privacy, it's the one which offers the best alternatives- but I will go deep into that topic in another post later this month- Nings are the most commonly used /exploited. Interaction with people following your interests /likes is essential to learn new online skills

* Consider what you are going to do with comments. Will you open them for everybody? Will you moderate them? It all depends on yourself. So think what's the best for your circumstances.

* Read, read and read other blogs. Consider using RSS readers (Google Reader or Bloglines have always offered me great stuff)

Last but not least, check this pic

It is an adaptation of a piece of material taken from Mark Fletcher's Activating Vocabulary 1 Book (from the Brain friendly series) in which he provides hints for the teaching of Vocab.

It can very well be used to provide blogging hints.

The more Web 2.0 tools in your blog the more learning skills it will match. And the more attractive it will be! The attrativeness of a blog is not based on beautiful widgets (though they do count, of course)but on interesting and motivating content. Undoubtedly, motivation has ups and downs, but with audio or / and visual sources such as listening productions (podcasts) or videos your blog will be more appealing than simple text (of course it depends on the type of output you will show and the type of readers you address)

Let's focus on the pic above:

By recycling, no material (neither real nor virtual) is wasted. When it appears to have lost learning potential, it can turn out new again! Impossible? Try this activity based on The Beatles - do you want sth a little older? - my students would comment... :< -active listening we may offer interactive tasks such as this one or this one.

Quiet listening? Posts like this offer it, and so many endless podcasts directories or even video sites - Have you heard The Queen's beautiful English when she did her Xmas Greeting last December? Worth a try. Or...should I say "a tune in"? :>
(the great thing about quiet listening is that you don't need to deal with exercises when you access them ;-)

Colours and cool visuals are essential elements within a learning blog (like coursebooks !!)

The linking in of posts (from other blogs and within your own one) provides wonderful exploring possibilities for students -which promote independent research - It is a way of indirectly (or...directly????) invite them to further surfing: Once directed to a certain site, why not having a look at it? They may come across interesting stuff.

Dramatization. What does this have to do with blogging? Well, by no means do I want to answer with a question but the temptation cannot be controlled: Why not promoting a representation (in class) of different multimedia productions that were hosted in YouTube or similar sites?

Then you have storing (and , why not...also SORTING), top of the rank for any blogging practice: You don't use everything you find online as you don't like everything. But you won't be able to access them when they are needed if the moment arises. A good hint here is the use of bookmarks.

And, above everything , YOUR PERSONAL INTEREST as a blogger.

Easy?
No.
Quick results?
You'd better become patient.

Blogging involves hard work but commitment. Should you start, don't give up.

Don't set up new blogs if you are unhappy with the one you had started. Keep working on the original one. Find your way. Search for your style. You will make it.

Keep posting. That will help you get on your track. Submitting posts onto blogs leads you to different roads and TEACHING ROADS are worth walking, aren't they?

The variety of WEB 2.0 tools on a blog will, sooner or later, promote the "revisit" of posts from time to time.
Personalise each topic, and look out for any opportunity to bring in colour, sound, humour and the bizarre.

________________________________________________

Like teaching and learning interaction in the real -not virtual- contexts
this theory also works for good blogging practice / habits

________________________________________________

2008

2007-12-29T14:08:00.000-03:00

Merry Christmas !

2007-12-17T20:54:00.000-03:00

This has been 2007 online

2007-11-11T14:52:00.001-03:00

Getting to the end of the Academic Term 2007 -This has been English Studio Blog

Verbs - The Present Continuous ( Practice in class)

2007-11-11T14:44:00.001-03:00

A)Watch this Real English clip:

Now, please work on these exercises

B)Watch this clip:

Now do these exercises:

1. What is the Coyote doing? (1)

2. What is the Coyote doing?(2)

The Videocam in the classroom - Thumbs up !

2007-11-03T14:38:00.000-03:00

(el video que sigue puede verse con subtítulos en castellano haciendo click en las flechas del costado inferior derecho de la pantalla)

Related post

The hardest part of the Academic Term has just begun

2007-11-01T21:01:00.000-03:00

"Tests are hard. Tests are scary. In fact, tests stink! But no matter how kids (and parents, and teachers) feel about tests, they’re part of life."

The excerpt above has been taken from this book contents description and I can say that may be the word "stink" is a bit too much strong to use but the real fact is that it is not a very nice time of the year. Both students and teachers are over stressed , worn out is a better way of expressing the feeling. However testing time has just started and will be among us for the next coming weeks. We cannot change that. Let's hope everything runs smoothly and good luck for everybody undergoing this difficult stage.

English Studio blogging practice for 2007 is about to finish. May be a couple of extra posts will come up soon to round off a great academic period .

Cheers !

THIS IS HALLOWEEN

2007-10-31T08:59:00.000-03:00

Watch this clip and work on the anagram below

Click To Play

Clik here for the exercise

In case there is some difficulty reading the questions on the quiz (Mozilla Firefox shows them well but Internet Exporer seems to be unfriendly), this is the link to access the exercise

Related post

Introducing young learners to new Web 2.0 tools

2007-10-30T09:47:00.000-03:00

Children can practise writing and speaking skills by exploiting internet tools- There is an important listening component as well, these tools integrate everything. Of course, there are strengths and weaknesses, but worth a try :)

Los alumnos pueden practicar sus habilidades escritas y orales explotando herramientas online. En esta plataforma existe también la posibilidad de alentar la práctica de recepción del lenguaje oral, y de esta forma se integran todas las áreas del idioma. Por supuesto, dicha plataforma tiene ventajas y desventajas, pero vale la pena experimentar con ella, pues es un elemento altamente motivador, razón suficiente para pensar en usarla.

Materials used to create this activity:

* Pics and text from Teacher's Magazine (EDIBA) adapted to students' level
* Voicethread

Teacher Shares 4 : My students have turned 2.0 !

2007-10-27T14:40:00.000-03:00

and I feel very proud of that :-)

(el video que sigue puede verse con subtítulos en castellano haciendo click en las flechas del costado inferior derecho de la pantalla)

Franco and Oscar's clips

Excellent Student Production

2007-10-25T21:12:00.000-03:00

Hard work, but superb outcome !!!

_____________________

Franco's report on Habbo Hotel:

_____________________

Oscar's report on game "Diablo 2":

_________________

Alejandra tells us about The Sims:

Really great material created after a couple of hard working weeks (as this blog anticipated before)

Well done, Franco, Alejandra and Oscar - Very good, indeed.

Related post

Halloween moves in the horizon

2007-10-23T10:28:00.000-03:00

A)

Work on this Cross

B)

Halloween Fun - Dancing Pumpkins

Learning to beTeachers of the 21st Century

2007-10-22T10:57:00.000-03:00

The Presentation = Great eye-opening opportunity for Teachers

New Tools for Online Interaction : V o i c e t h r e a d

2007-10-19T17:45:00.000-03:00

Known a couple of days ago - Triggering out ideas.

Click To Play

Presenters 2.0 : The wisdom of empathy

2007-10-18T11:39:00.000-03:00

This is Drew Murphy, the great online presenter- and superb actor, as well!, click on the pic if you can't believe me...- whose participation in the K12Online 07 Conference I really enjoyed this morning- Highly motivating delivery,worth imitating and a fabulous opportunity for continuous learning.

This is the link for one of the best online presentations I've watched so far.

Some of my comments:

* The interruptions of that character of yours!!!! Great tool to keep audience attention- After so many online presentations that I have been watching for the last couple of days…those energy bits generated by the funny MR Kebobolous that you wonderfully created - quite a comedian actually- are sort of relaxing and encouraging to keep going into the “movie” with 100% more attention- love that strategy, sure it works OK with your students- Highly motivating.

*....... suggestions on the need for teachers to avoid taking things for granted with students when working online- Very true- I got surprised several times at realising that they actually had no idea of certain online features that appeared simple before my eyes and mind ! More empathy is crucial when teaching, and if we are using the internet, well - empathy is “the” key.

Technorati Tags:

k12online07, k12online07cl07

Conferences 2.0 - Active Participation using Voicethread

2007-10-17T10:27:00.001-03:00

Fantastic learning experience- no borders- no space: I have just been interacting with K12 Conference presenters using Voicethread, the brand new platform that enhances educational possibilities despite the distance.

Link to the conference trailer

Related link:

SL by Alicia

Technorati Tags:

k12online07, k12online07nt05

Classrooms as Studios

2007-10-16T08:18:00.000-03:00

The K12 Conference is running and triggering lots of new ideas, offering information, promoting collaboration and , above all, setting up reflection.

English Studio is moving forward.

"I like to think of the idea of classrooms as studios. When you think of classrooms most people get the idea of long straight rows filled with kids. A studio is really different. A studio has a lot of different things going on. Not everybody is doing the same thing.It's probably a little bit noisier than your idea of what a classroom is.

Just by adjusting your idea of classrooms you can open up a lot of possibilities.

Studios are vibrant spaces, with a lot of energy, with somebody who's a master who's in charge of that space and they give us a different idea of classrooms.

So I think the first thing we need to change as we go on this journey is our attitude towards what classrooms can be like. "

Clarence Fisher
K12 Online Conference 2007

Videoclip inspired by previous post on this blog

Link to Clarence Fisher Presentation

The wall posters shown on the videoclip are taken from The Teacher's Magazine (Ediba)

Technorati Tags:

k12online07, k12online07cl01

"Estamos preparando a nuestros alumnos para un mundo que no conocemos"

2007-10-14T20:06:00.000-03:00

David Warlick
K12Online 2007

Incredible videoclips:

Via Blog Guillermo Lutzky

Related link

Teacher Shares ( Issue 2) - "Second Life"

2007-10-13T13:49:00.000-03:00

Clip in English

Click To Play

Clip in Spanish (en Castellano)

Click To Play

Related posts:

1)
Habbo and The Sims used for EFL practice

2)
Ambitious wishes

3)
Second Life (activity on info about this virtual environment)

____________________________

(del Blog personal de Alicia Rey)

1)
Primera visita oficial a Second Life

2)
Como en la vida misma pero en 3 D

3)
Nos estamos voviendo un poco locos, no? (post fechado el 14 de septiembre de 2005)

_____________________

*

Intervención de Pablo Mancini (Argentonia), con el título de"Simulación, interfaces no lineales y experiencias de aprendizaje". Con motivo de la inauguración y presentación del proyecto de
"UniversidadSL", un espacio para las universidades en Second Life.

Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3
Clip 4

* Proyecto de Argentonia en las escuelas

___________________

Premios que se agradecen muy profundamente

2007-10-11T20:42:00.000-03:00

Acabo de recibir a través de este comentario en el English Studio Online Practice este comentario

Hola Alicia- he decidido darte el Premio al Blog Solidario por la calidad de tu trabajo, y la forma de transmitir y compartir no sólo conocimiento sino también alegría.Felicitaciones.

Ahora te toca a vos tomar la posta y debés premiar a 7 blogs cuya temática sean significativos para vos.
Un cálido saludo de Marisa

Marisa es una docente muy involucrada con las nuevas tecnologías y cuyo blog sigo con alta frecuencia pues aprendo muchísimo de ella. Gracias a ella, por tener un estilo de trabajo en red digno de imitar, me enteré de grandes cosas que suceden en la internet educativa que tanto me apasiona, por ejemplo el curso online de julio pasado sobre Seguridad en Internet para niños y adolescentes, que tantas reflexiones me generó.

Con una gran sorpresa y sobre todo orgullo recibo este premio que viene de una colega que respeto muchísimo por su trabajo arduo en la web. Muy agradable es la sensación de saber que la dura rutina de mantener un blog como éste resulta valorada por profesionales de la educación que, sin incursionar en la enseñanza de un idioma extranjero, pueden captar la escencia de un sitio de internet que pretende mostrar lo mejor de la transmisión del conocimiento, en este caso particular, del inglés .

Muchas gracias, Marisa! Me siento honrada realmente.

Y como ahora tengo "la posta" de nominar 7 blogs solidarios , "los nominados son":

1- Pablo Mancini

Un joven con ideas renovadoras que no dejan de sorprenderme a diario que profundiza en temas que me interesan mucho, entre ellos, por ejemplo, Second Life y su explotación en el plano de la educación

2- E-Blog

El sitio de Leandro Zanoni , que cuenta con secciones que son para mí imperdibles como Radio e-blog, ahora con el proyecto nuevo de "E-blog TV" que por cierto ha inspirado la sección English Studio TV recién estrenada en este sitio luego de la fase de prueba de Week 2.0 que nació luego de leer su post titulado "La supervivencia del más apto" el 28/08/07

3- Bloc de periodista

A través de este sitio Darío Gallo presenta con simpleza (indispensable para entender claramente todos los conceptos) todo lo relacionado con la actualidad nacional además de ofrecer novedades en herramientas online que cualquier bloguer seguramente apreciará.

Darío es autor junto a Pablo Mancini de 20 palabras y Tuitiar

4- Claudia Ceraso , por FCE BLOG, ELT Notes y Addendus-

Claudia es una colega con al que compartimos al menos dos pasiones, TICs e Inglés, y como yo, es una gran apasionada del ensamble de ambas en su profesión.

5- Pablo Bongiovanni por su blog Educación, Comunicación y nuevas Tecnologías

Al blog de Pablo llegué por Twitter y un proyecto que quise seguir y lo carente estos días, el tiempo, no me dejó. Pero seguro nos va a unir algún otro proyecto en un corto plazo.

6- Hernán Casciari, por Orsai y su magestuosa capacidad para redactar y conmover en distintos grados, pero ninguno de sus posts me ha resultado alguna vez indiferente

7- Laura, por su blog "Churrasco No more"

Hoy en el blog se lee:

Un día me fui a Londres y ahí, de aburrida nomás, empecé un blog. Hace rato que regresé a Buenos Aires y por suerte volvieron a darme ganas de contar o mostrar alguna que otra cosa...

Yo la sigo desde que estaba en Londres, me entusiasmaban mucho sus posts, me hacían recordar mis viajes de perfeccionamiento a Inglaterra (lindísima época de aprendizaje constante)- Hoy la sigo también. En silencio. Pero me sigue "pegando" la originalidad de sus escritos/publicaciones.

When playing videogames means practising

2007-10-11T08:29:00.000-03:00

The best part comes for students of High Levels of the language.

Habbo Hotel (habbo.com)

The Sims

Most learners want to be able to use videogames for language practice but the best games can be thoroughly exploited / enjoyed in Upper Intermediate contexts

Amazing projects on the Habbo platform

The Sims (sequel)

Upper Intermediate students at English Studio are working on these projects now- They will be published on this blog pretty soon.

21st Century lecturers and audiences - Conferences 2.0

2007-10-09T10:47:00.000-03:00

- Info ONLY in English -

Impressed by the fantastic project of Online Conferences for teachers, this is a Bonus from the special section "Teacher Shares" ( launched just a couple of days ago )

The clip below was produced after watching David Warlick's Presentation " Playing with boundaries"- A great opening session for an eye-opening experience which has started my reflection on the field of education nowadays.

Click To Play

__________________________________________________

Teachers watching the Opening K12 Online Conference presentation from Bangkok (via D. Warlick)

Links related:

A great opportunity for teacher development

K12 Conference begins (David Warlick's blog)

Link to David Warlick Presentation

Technorati Tags:

k12online07, k12online07pc

Teacher Shares (Issue 1) - new Section from English Studio Blog !

2007-10-07T18:52:00.000-03:00

For EFL Teachers already involved in the use of Internet Technology in their lessons and those willing to have a go. (Subtitles in Spanish)

--Para docentes que ya utilizan las nuevas tecnologías de internet en sus clases y también para los que deseen empezar a explorarlas--- (subtitulado en Castellano)

Click To Play

NB - The videoclip refers to this post

Personal Pronouns with NO Grammar Book

2007-10-04T21:26:00.000-03:00

Students getting some fun

2007-10-04T11:29:00.001-03:00

Wall posters in the classroom

2007-10-03T22:21:00.000-03:00

Today we used everything to produce/write/create/understand...Even the walls!

Hoy en clase usamos de todo para producir... Incluso las paredes!

Qué importante utilizar lo que se llama "lateral teaching" (la enseñanza lateral se traduciría) - Qué efectiva!

El poster de color de la imagen superior es sólo la foto de la parte de pared donde la imagen está colgada.
El dibujo que sigue la actividad desarrolada:

Y estuvo MUY BUENO ;-)

Lo disfrutaron y lo entendieron claramente y sin mayores explicaciones de mi parte.

En English Studio hasta las paredes enseñan!!!

-------------------So far, so good ------------;-)

Link relacionado

Wish I could work on this (sooner or later)

2007-10-02T21:34:00.001-03:00

Realmente espero poder trabajar como ellos a corto o largo plazo.

Estoy en eso justamente

Y parece de hecho muy cercano el tiempo en que descubrí Second Life, pero la realidad es que hace rato despertó mi curiosidad -este link va a un post del año 2005!!-.

After such a long time, I'll be trying it again.

Unmissable

2007-10-01T21:00:00.000-03:00

Live Events Schedule

Worth joining- I'm in.

Students suggest : Happily Never After

2007-10-01T08:59:00.000-03:00

No mistake.No misspelling of "n/ever" - The Wikipedia has data on this

You are going to watch and listen SIGOURNEY WEAVER talking about her participation in the movie directly from the DVD (full interview - which you can also read here)

After listening to S. Weaver, work on this activity

Here's an extra from the DVD - Pay attention to the instructions and the rest as there are two activities to work on:

Activity 1

Activity 2

Look at these characters

and do this activity
_________________
Movie Site (Official)
_________________

About English Studio research into new web tools

2007-09-30T20:33:00.001-03:00

Great connections established already-Thanks to constant research and hard online work

Se establecen contactos importantes mediante la investigación y el arduo trabajo online

This is how Network does fabulous things! A great concept worth put into practice- And top marks for Pownce!

Así funciona el concepto de "Redes sociales" que vale la pena poner en práctica.

And even more:

"The Webheads are an open, vibrant and global online community of educators who are interested in the application of educational technology, and who meet virtually on a regular basis to share their findings and friendship.

Originally founded as a group for English language teachers, we now have a wide variety of educators from all disciplines."

English Studio is now part of this big project in Second Life

-link above in Spanish-

English Studio ya es parte de un proyecto realizado en la plataforma de Second Life- Una comunidad online de educadores interesados en la aplicación de la Tecnología en la educación.

Alicia lo comenta en su blog personal

Observation: Young Japanese Students

2007-09-28T21:34:00.000-03:00

One of the best ways to enhance your teaching is by observing colleagues in order to get the best from them.

(Una de las mejores formas de mejorar tu "Performance" como "Teacher" es observando a colegas y nutriéndote de ellos)

Here's a teacher dealing with a group of young Japanese kids:

(Aquí un docente frente a una clase de niños japoneses)

_______

My teaching on a pic

2007-09-26T21:40:00.000-03:00

Este dibujo encontrado por ahí en internet es el resumen de la forma en que me he visto en estos últimos días.

Qué interesante analizar los resultados de lo enseñado! Inspirador diría. Debo agradecer a mis alumnos por todo lo que dan a mi labor y a mi experiencia. Uno aprende a ser docente siéndolo y no hay experiencia alguna sin alumnos que la otorguen.

Bien sabido es que el enseñar implica una capacidad de reflexión contante que lleva a ver lo bueno y lo malo de cada clase a lo largo de cada uno de los días de un ciclo lectivo.Pero es todo tan mecánico que uno no se da cuenta de todos los roles que va cumpliendo en el proceso. En estos días, además de planificar actividades que se concretarán en estos dos próximos meses del presente año me dediqué a los informes de rendimiento de mis alumnos. Esto implica una reflexión formal sobre el camino hasta ahora recorrido. Muy fructífero por cierto. Y esta imagen encierra mi "sentir" hoy.

Hmm. Me gusta. Muy significativa. Sé de qué se trata ese tiburón. Veo la gaviota. Conozco a los tripulantes de mi embarcación y sus reacciones. El tiempo está apto para navegar. Veo "Tierra". Llegamos seguro.

Cuánto dice una imagen!

______________

Sequels : High School Musical 2

2007-09-24T10:07:00.000-03:00

Watch this videoclip from the song "What time is it?"

Now work on this activity - Be careful : It has got 4 parts (follow the links)

And now, sing along!!! But first work on the song lyrics. Click here. (beware: you will have to work on 3 parts as well -Troy, Gabriella and Sharpay & Ryan- follow the exercise links)

__________

Listening Practice based on a Music Video

2007-09-17T08:45:00.000-03:00

1 )Watch this video and focus your attention on the story told by the images (from start to end) - Comment on the happy end of the clip and relate it to the name of the song

2) Now visit Daniel Powter's site and read a bit more on him

3) In this part of the activity you must watch the following clip below and work on the exercise provided below:

Complete the song lyrics

4) In this part of the video you have some words that are not the actual words sung by the singer- Write them down and provide the correct version

5) Now let's work a little bit with a vocabulary activity based on the song lyrics

I "Pownce". Do you Pownce?

2007-09-15T18:21:00.000-03:00

Pownce is one of the micro-blogging sites that have come up along with Twitter, Jaiku and some other brand new stuff. It reminds me of an ordinary IM service like "Messenger" but does not demand "that" interaction. I call it "that" interaction as a messenger activity makes real sense when there are actually at least 2 people connected in a synchronized way. Pownce allows Asynchronous interactivity. But not only that.Pownce brings enough cool features to the table to make us want to leave all our IM services behind and switch, as affirmed in this post by Stan Schroeder, who looks deep into Pownce .

The Wikipedia says that "Pownce is centered around sharing messages, files, events, and links with already established friends. Since the launch on June 27, 2007, new members can only join through an invite from a friend or by e-mail request"

On using Pownce for my classes I have discovered a great Multimedia Online assistant that students fancy.

This video(please click the arrows on the bottom right hand corner of the screen if you do not need subtitles) shows not only my views on Pownce but also how I exploit it with students:

To be honest, at first I had to “force” them to access Pownce. I had planned some extra homework that was going to be sent by Pownce.
Working on specific material outside the classroom is sometimes compulsory for my students(otherwise they never get further practice)- They are generally reluctant to work on English Practice activities outside the classroom-But now they are so used to it that I am about to “declare” Pownce one of my greatest allies.

Should you feel like seeing more of the way I work with Pownce click on these two flash links where I recorded myself working on my Pownce screen

English Studio Pownce Screen (1st part)

English Studio Pownce Screen (2nd part)

I run 2 Pownce accounts- the one I use for my classes and the personal one. It would be lovely if I can contact any of you through the latter. In case you're interested my personal Pownce address is http://pownce.com/alicia_efl/

If you need an invitation to join, just ask me for one (I only need your email address)- I still have 8 invites available-

I "pownce"

he/she "pownces"

My students (they)"pownce"

What's missing? ====>>> Y O U

Do you Pownce?

It's worth the try

_________________________________

English Studio creates Multimedia Material for further practice

2007-09-13T15:26:00.000-03:00

And these are good times for sharing

Week 2.0 -The New section from English Studio Blog

2007-09-03T13:21:00.001-03:00

In Spanish !!!

Access by clicking on the link shown on this blog sidebar

Weekly updates for everybody interested in the Web 2.0 trend

Sección dentro del blog destinada a aquellos interesados en el uso de herramientas de la web 2.0, con énfasis en la forma en que las mismas son utilizadas en la modalidad de trabajo de English Studio- para docentes, no docentes, padres, alumnos actuales y pasados, y para todos los visitantes del blog que, aún sin manejar perfectamente el inglés o sin desear profundizar en el idioma, tengan interés en conocer un poco más de lo que hoy se maneja dentro del mundo de internet en beneficio de los usuarios, con el fin de construir comunidades conectadas virtualmente para compartir aprendizajes y nutrirse mutuamente.

The Web to practise

2007-09-03T12:20:00.001-03:00

The internet offers incredible material for the practice of English

Here's a wonderful link