3rd Week - New things!!!

Another hectic week went by! This week I had to study for the tests that I had to take in Madrid yesterday morning and this very morning. They are tests that I have to pass in order to get a position as a teacher adviser in a foreign country. It is a position that the Ministry of Education offers to teachers with the aim of promoting Spanish language and culture learning in foreign countries. I applied for the following countries: Australia, the USA, Ireland and the UK. I think I did a good job but now I have to wait for the results. That is the reason why I spent Saturday and Sunday in Madrid, which is about 500 Km away from my city, Granada.

As for the course this week, I must say that again I learnt a lot of useful things. I learnt how to use "Delicious" which is an extremely useful tool. Imagine that you are surfing the net and you find different and interesting webpages. You normally bookmark them using your browser. "Delicious" is similar but it goes one step further, since when we bookmark any webpage, with this tool, we can add interesting comments about it. That way, when we need to find a specific web-site, we can access and consult our "Delicious".

I read two articles from the Teaching Aural/Oral Skills block. I enjoyed both of them, but I must say that I really liked Maria Busa's article, "New Perspectives in Teaching Pronunciation", becuase she focuses on an element that I consider of capital importance, that is, the pronunciation of prosodic elements. In Spain we normally teach pronunciation, but we do not put a lot of emphasis on trying to pronounce prosodic elements in the right way. Spanish prosody and English prosody are quite different. I also read the article "Developing Listening Skills with Authentic Materials" by Lindsey Miller, and my intention is to read the third article "The Employment of CALL in Teaching Second/Foreign Language Speaking Skills" by Juila Gong.

Another assignment this week was the one devoted to visit a webpage related to Teaching Aural/Oral Skills. I visited the one by the BBC  "Pronunciation Tips from the BBC". We were supposed to comment on the good things of this web-site. I found the activities quite good and I recommend it because you can find materials and activities that can be adapted to any level of English.

Today, I read a Final Project Report by Joanna Zubel from the Jesuit University of Philosophy and Education "Ignatianum" in Cracow, Poland. I analised what the project was about and expressed what I liked the best about it. Joanna's reality is quite different from mine, we have different needs, but both share the idea of trying to make our teaching as interesting as possible, above all with the use of ICT tools.


It is really rewarding that bit by bit we learn different things and the majority of them are quite useful.


LET'S KEEP UP THE HARD WORK!!!

One week that went by really fast!!!

In Spain this week we have had our Holy Week, the equivalent to Spring Break. We normally go out and watch processions, so I have not had a lot of time to do my my homework.

Firstly, we started by taking a look at different search-engines and search-web pages. I found some of them quite useful, above all, Bing, iSeek and Columbia Encyclopedia. The feedback that some colleagues gave on the different webpages was quite useful.

This week we also learned about ABCD objectives. In my view, it is a fantastic way to state objectives in a straight and clear way. I think that it is a good way for students to understand what our expectations are and to know exactly what they have to do and how they are going to be graded. It is incredible how one simple thing can help us so much!

I took a look at different posts on NiceNet related to ABCD objectives and Class descriptions and I was so excited to see that we all share the same needs, curiosities and even problems. I remember when I went to work in Texas as a Spanish teacher and my students asked me about teenagers in Spain. I used to tell them that they had a lot in common, they had the same problems, the same hobbies, likes, etc. It is the same with teachers!!! We have a lot in common and what is more, we can help one another a lot sharing what we know and what we want to know!!!

We have started to set the foundations of our project, yay!!! I am looking forward to it! I spent some time thinking about the class that I would choose and I decided on 4º ESO B (4th year of Compulsory Secondary Education). My challenge is going to be to implement technology in the class so that they learn how to use new tools that make them interested in getting a good product when working on the Integrated Unit with Math, Spanish, French, Social Studies and PE. I know it is a big challenge, but I am ready to go for it!!!

So far so good!

This first week has been really hectic! I went on a school trip with 77 students to London and I was not able to have access to the on-line course, so I was a little bit anxious about my not being able to complete the different tasks that Donna was sending us. I sent her an e-mail to let her know about my situation and she let me know that I could start working later once I was in Spain.

I must say that I have done my work in 2 days but it is incredible the fact that a lot of teachers from different parts of the world (Africa, Asia, Europe, America) are taking part in this experience and they are participating in the different discussions that Donna has set up. I think I am going to learn a lot because different points of view are being presented and the atmosphere is quite relaxing. I must say I am extremely excited to have started this journey!!!

Hallo teachers and friends!

Welcome to Webskills Spring 2014!

I am looking forward to sharing my experiences along this journey with you! I hope you will be accompanying me!!!