Week 14: Do you want feedback? ... I'll send you a video

Rate: ***** 5

Karla Diaz

What a fantastic way of assess students I learned this week. I never thought that using a program, you can record from feedback up to power point presentations. This new idea is not only useful for online courses, but for a normal class. You can ask your students to send their drafts and in the same document, they can receive feedback almost immediately. I would like to apply this program because you help your students to reinforce listening skills. They are not just simply watching the cursor but they are paying attention what the feedback says.

Also, it is useful for practices of the target language. I would have liked to receive feedback of my pronunciation. I know that is not teachers fault because they need to cover a lot of content in a short period of time. Fortunately, we have access to this type of tool and we use it for our future students. I do not like to have a camera in front of me, so this tool helps me to be behind of it; of course, the main focus would be my pronunciation, accuracy and fluency if a speaking task has been required.

I really enjoyed watching the video about the 10 ideas we can use for recording ourselves. It is easy to follow and it allows you to make some modifications or share it at the same time. Most of them ask for a payment, but I found some that the only request was to sing up or to try the free version for a month. I see only the advantages this tool will bring me, and soon I will apply it for feedback or for a practice. 

Week 13: Meaningful Projects

Read Articles: Educational Leadership: Seven Essentials for Project-Based Learning (Jhon Lamer)
                        Maximizing the Benefits of Project Work in Foreign Language Classrooms (L. Stoller)


Rate: **** 4

Karla Diaz

What i liked about this article is that reminded me those school times I had. I clearly remember when my teachers all the time asked us to create a poster. What for? It was always my question. Now I know the answer. Every single activity was delivering with a purpose; that our learning process can be apply it in an activity that involves an audience.  I truly believe that an extra activity will be successfully done if it has the correct guidelines. For example, it is necessary that a teacher explain first what is the topic to be discussed, and letting students to research and putting in practice what they know.

A poster is just a visual help. It does not mean that everything you know must be written or pasted in a poster. It means that a student can write some examples or add visual aids. Like a power point presentation, we create slides with a specific content, but the truly knowledge we share it is implicit in our explanation. The project needs to be meaningful; it does not be just “another” project. The problem is when students do not want to research or participate in the project because they consider the topic boring and unnecessary. In order to avoid this situation, I believe that if our main focus is the target language, we cannot put limits to our students. For example, the teacher can choose any topic, but students need to be free to use the vocabulary they want. Because the target language never has to be forced. 

Week 12: Two heads think better than one

Week 12: Two heads think better than one

Read articles:

·         10 Benefits of Getting Students to Participate in Classroom Discussion  (Maryellen Weimer).

·         Increase Student Interaction with "Think Pair Shares" and "Circle Chats"(Kristina Robertson)

Rate: ***** 5

Karla Diaz

Something I want to remind of these articles is that learning never stops. What a wonderful ideas to put in practice in the classroom. Old schools methods used to think that the center of the class was the teacher, always talking and talking. Nowadays, it is happening the opposite. Teachers are willing to listen to the students by creating a different environment, which is classroom involvement. Also, when students participate, besides of using the target language, they are changing their behavior. Some students are afraid of giving a bad answer or are afraid of commit grammatical mistakes. However, through interaction, they can improve themselves.

Think pair share activities not only enhance motivation, but a confidence of using the target language. One student thoughts can be combined with another. It had happened to me, I had my answer but my classmate added another idea, which at the end we blended. That is why I support when teachers deliver a task that need to be done in pairs or in groups. It is not because teacher’s work will be facilitated. It is because students can think, share and build.

The creation of a worksheet and an interactive power point presentation will definitely change our classes. I really appreciate the opportunity to read and share with my others classmates the several ideas we have discovered. These readings will not be forgiven, I will try to apply them to help my future students.

week 11: Activities to Continue Learning

Read article: 20 Ideas for Using Mobile Phones in the Language Classroom (Hayo Reinders)

Rate: ***** 5

Karla Diaz

I was totally impressed when I read this article. We actually have the tools to learn the second language; the problem is that we do not know how to apply it. In this article was implicit the fact that not everybody has a cellphone. However, I do not agree with this assumption due to the fact that everybody has a cellphone, with differences such as brand, applications, memory and capability. Otherwise, it is possible to have access to at least one sophisticated cellphone. The 20 ideas shared by the authors are focused in the students’ needs. We are students, and we know that completing a task in a book or in a worksheet, it tends to get boring. But using cellphones? I did not expect that.

As future teachers, we cannot put limits to our students; we already know the variety of tools that we have access to it, for example: internet, laptops, we pages, cellphones, etc. I like the advice of planning before delivering a task. We need to think about a specific objective, in other words, we need to think in the purpose of the activity and what the skill our students will develop is.  I consider that it would be a nice experience giving feedback in class from all the tasks, sharing cellphones or pictures of the different ideas students have. I would definitely apply some of these ideas into account, and the creation of an extra worksheet to reinforce the task; it will allow students to follow the steps. I suggest that our students can share ideas about how to use other devices; after all, they are experts in the use of apps. 

Week 9: Blending Vocabulary

Articles read:

·         Using Technology to Assist in Vocabulary Acquisition and Reading Comprehension (Andreea I. Constantinescu).

·         Online English-English Learner Dictionaries Boost Word Learning (Ulugbek Nurmukhamedov).

Rate: ***** 5

Karla Diaz

My initial impression of this article was that finally I know how to deliver vocabulary. In both articles I noticed the importance that vocabulary has with respect of the others skills. Even though vocabulary it is not part of the four main skills, it is considered such a huge part when learning the second language. How can we listen, read and write new words if we do not know them? I like the fact that we can blend all the skills with vocabulary. Also, my favorite quote from the article was “Good readers have rich vocabulary” sometimes as teachers we forget the importance of reading; however, if we focus on enhancing this skill, we can closely relate reading comprehension with vocabulary.

I like the use of dictionaries when the meaning of the written form is not clear, but I did not know that monolingual dictionaries are designed for native speakers only. Fortunately, when I was reading this article I could find other types of dictionaries that help students with examples, and the word is highlighted for a better understanding. As a future teacher, I expect to teach the differences between a general use dictionary and the learner-use dictionary. I learned in a difficult way, and I do not want my students suffer the same. It is not the same write thousands of pages with new words, according with this article, it is recommendable to write only those useful words. If we do this, we will be capable to understand at least the 95% of any text.

Week 7: Real Purpose of Blending Technology/Syllabus

Read articles:

ü  Using Internet ­Based Children's Literature to Teach EFL (Larry J. Mikulecky Mikuleck)

ü  Using the Internet in ESL Writing Instruction (Jarek Krajka)

Rate: ***** 5

Karla Diaz

What I did not know about this article it was that using internet in a writing class; it allows enhancing other skills such as peaking, reading and vocabulary. We have a great advantage as English’s teacher because if we look for information or programs, we will discover that almost everything is written in English. This advantage allows us to expand our resources and to blend our syllabus with the use of certain web pages. I really enjoyed reading this article because it makes me aware of the great effort some teachers have shown when they taught me English in a different way. For example, once I wondered myself what was the importance to create a web page? Fortunately now I know. I had been asked to create a web page to write about the importance of using technology in education and post links and information related to the topic. This experience has been useful to me, because in the future I will ask my students to do the same. Why? Because it will help them to practice their writing skills, they will think critically and they will read real information that is in the internet.

I learned that before implementing technology in a writing class, it is recommendable to teach vocabulary and the steps that students will need in order to accomplish a task. When they are ready, they will have that task to search, read, write and analyze any topic. What about literature? It is something we have forgotten, but we can rescue. Most of the students only practice the target language inside the classroom; however, we can deliver a task where they need to read a piece of a story or an online book. But before asking to read, we have to learn how to create our own story. For example in the web page www.storyjumper.com I had fun creating my own story where my future students will be asked to read and share their opinions in class. 

Week 8: Self-Correction in Writing

Read article: Online Collaborative Writing Using Wikis TESL-TEFL (Paul Sze)

Rate: **** 4

Karla Diaz

I did not know the term “Wiki” when I started reading this article. It is a fantastic idea to use another tool to improve our writing skill. It is difficult to motivate students to write about a specific topic and even more if it is about self-correcting. The idea of using a certain program where all students can share their ideas and fix the mistakes by themselves will definitely enhance the writing skill. It was new to me conceiving the idea of writing a paragraph in groups where we have been taught that this task is always done individually. Like a typical expression says: Two heads think better than one. Having a task where groups need to think critically about the proper ideas, it will increase the motivation of students, especially if they realize that anybody can read their written work.

ESL learners use wiki tools not only to improve writing skill but build community. It is true that the learning process took place individually, but I consider necessary to share and ask for help to our classmates. Pair work and group works are a good source of information and self-correction.  The teacher role is always to control what students write and how is the manner they edit mistakes. I think that these practices help to improve your confidence when you write, because it allows that students think better before writing.

Week 6: Extra Help for Speaking Skills

Read articles:
* Using Original Video and Sound Effects to Teach English ( Shahla Yassaei)

* The Employment of CALL in Teaching/Second Language Speaking Skills (Julia Gong)

Rate: * * * * * 5

Karla Diaz

What surprised me in this article is to know that speaking activities are still in the developing stage. This means that the base of a communicative language it is not approached yet. We have been forced to produce certain utterances in English; however, we have received only written, grammar, vocabulary and listening inputs. It seems kind of illogical. Regardless of this, I believe that we know where the weaknesses are and what we can improve to be the difference as teachers. We have lesson plans, creativity, materials, and technology. Now it is time to blend all these resources into one to deliver a great class and developing at the same time speaking skills.

There are programs which aids students to create a conversation and receive feedback at the same time. Even though some authors considered that using CALL in speaking activities have more disadvantages, I consider that our students are willing to practice in front of a computer rather than in the classroom. We need to use real materials and technology makes it easier. It is possible to let students to encounter with the target language by using any software they might consider better for them.

I had not any idea that there are several activities to improve grammar and writing, such as “Freeze Framing” and “Picture-Less Listening”. I will definitely apply one of them because it is possible to combine speaking activities to it. Also, I learned that we can create our own materials and get inspiration by our environment. So there is not excuse that we cannot extra help from technology to develop our class. I encourage my classmates to break the old routine and help our students to acquire the target language. 

Week 5: Critical Thinking, another skill to develop

Rate: * * * * 4

Karla Diaz

What I learned by reading this article, that even knowing the fact that technology should be apply in the classroom, it is important to be aware what our students are going to learn. In previous readings, technology was seen as a tool, support and a mandatory resource. Now, I have learned that we need to go beyond. As a teacher, our main focus now, it is to teach our students to think critically through technology.

I did not know that we need to teach our students how to think critically. Learning and thinking are two different skills, so which one is more important? For me are both. In the learning process students obtain information which later, they will make their own questions, rationalize to finally have some outputs. Critical thinking is important because it helps us to put away any misinformation that we receive, also we use the logic to create our own conclusions. For example, there are a lot of websites that might guarantee you the acquisition of the second language. Here’s where our job as teachers we need to take seriously, we need to “surf” in the internet, search for the best websites where our students will practice and improve their skills. We need to take the time to find a specific exercise for a specific skill. This will help to enhance our students to practice and think for themselves is those exercises will help them.  I would like to know how can I apply critical thinking in the classroom and how can I noticed when my students are thinking critically. 

Week 4: Internet as a Support

Read article: CALL Me … Maybe: A Framework for Integrating the Internet into ELT ( George M. Chinner)

Rate: * * * * * 5

Karla Diaz

A belief of mine that was confirmed in the article is that internet has been seen just as a tool, where you can search information only, and not as a source for the development of a skill. Teachers’ work is to blend internet in their courses, but a limitation always comes up. What if we do not have total access to internet? How can we apply it in our syllabus if our students cannot reach the goal? Reading this article helps me to realize that despite of the limitations, teachers can be creative and safe the required information and/or links to use it in the classroom. It is true that the availability of internet must be the key for a successful planning; however, there are plenty of websites which will enhance students’ learning process, and in most of them, an account it is not required.

What really surprised me about the article is that some authors considered the idea that having full access internet in a class will not be productive. I totally disagree with this assumption, as a teachers, we need to use authentic or semi-authentic materials; therefore, internet helps us to extent our activities. Internet need to be used as a framework, because it will support what a teacher explains and teach and internet will be their classroom and teacher at the same time, when students are practicing grammar exercises on-line. Finally, I do not consider properly mention that no one has access to internet, but everybody has a cellphone!! Nowadays, even in your mobile you have access to internet, so there are no excuses to learn and search for websites to improve yourself.  

Week 3: Podcasts and Syllabus Integration

Read articles: 

-Integrating CALL into the classrooms: the role of podcasting in an ESL listening strategies course ( Anne O'Bryan and Volker Hegel)

-Blending technologies in ESL courses: A reflexive enquiry (Paul Gruba, cameron Clark and Marisa Wells)

Karla Diaz

Rate: ***** 5

After reading both articles about the integration of technology in the classrooms, the term “podcast” appeared and it was not until I finished reading that I realized how important the elaboration of a syllabus is. In a previous analysis I have expressed that technology will never substitute a teacher; however, a teacher really needs to blend technological sources to develop a successful class. It is important to think outside the box, it is true that textbooks are useful, but listening to a radio program or reading an essay of a native speaker goes beyond than a book.

It would be fantastic to receive in any subject of English, the opportunity to be in a video conference of other students that are learning a second language; students of different countries would be sharing their ideas and feelings about the acquisition of another language at the same time. Technology not only involves the use of a computer, it requires the interaction of the students with podcasts that will help them to have a better understanding and retention of any subject. Here is where teachers need to be focused on, a teacher will not invent how to incorporate technology in the classroom, first, it is required to establish the needs, options and type of knowledge the students will have access.

Now that we are learning how to elaborate a syllabus, as future teachers we have the task to think in our students’ needs. They will received the same subjects, but we can be the difference, let’s add something fresh and meaningful to our class, let’s set goals for us and for them, let’s think about how innovate can we be, so that students can interact with the podcasts to awake in them the curiosity and the motivation of learning. 

Week 2: The Hidden Knowledge of Technology

Read article: "Effectiveness of the Integration of Ict tools and Activities to Foster Awareness as the First Stage to Reach Learning Autonomy " (Ariza & Suárez, 2013).

Karla Diaz

Rate: * * * * * 5

My initial reaction of this article was that even when the use of technology in the classroom facilitates somehow the development of a subject, teachers’ intention is to help students to be aware of what they are learning and how they learn it. I found interesting the fact that for every single task a teacher gives, there is a reason behind it, and that reason is the development to reach learning autonomy. It had happened to me, when I have a task, I unconsciously take control of what I have to do, what I need to search first and how much time I have to dedicate it. Finally, despite of the grade you might have; at the end of your assignment the feeling of reward and self-satisfaction is priceless.  Teachers do not expect the highest score; they expect that students can have a practical experience by using all technological resources, which at the end the main focus is the commitment and attitude of improve their learning.

Reading this article now makes me think about the huge effort a teacher puts to deliver a subject. It is not a matter how teachers plan their lessons, it is a matter that they teach students to be independent and autonomous. This reading has been useful because I have found another term “plethora” which I read it means an excessive amount of something. I still have questions about the relation of this word; however, I will be more than glad to read if someone knows about this term, but if I find the answer, I will share it. 

Week 1: The Importance of CALL

Karla Diaz

Rate: * * * * 4

What surprised me in this article was the term CALL (Computers and Language Learning). I read that this term had been since the 1960’s; however, I had not any idea about what this acronym was about. Computers and language learning has developed the manner of how teachers encourage students to acquire a second language. This article is indeed useful because clarifies the erroneous belief that computers might substitute a teacher. This assumption is considered wrong because according of the current practices and research that several authors have made; the quality of teaching and learning the target language can be approached with the blending of technology.  

Something I want to remember from this article are the advantages of the usage of CALL in the learning process, such as the fun factor to motivate language learning, a cooperative environment stimulating interaction with others, the necessity of apply a corresponding language in computer- assisted discussions, and the benefits of improve the four main skills (reading, listening, speaking and writing). The target language can be reached with the help of software and programs that will enhance a particularly skill. For example, to improve writing skill, there are a variety of programs that helps to correct any misspelling word. Also, to improve speaking and listening, it can be used interactive video programs where the movements of the lips can be watched. This information is helpful to our future learning because as future teachers, it is mandatory been trained in how to use technology and how to apply it into the acquisition of the target language.