Showing posts with label Experience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Experience. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
2012 in Review: We are what we know
2012 is gone and here we go to another ride on this roller coaster we call life. 2012 was a very good year for me as a teacher and as a learner. And one of the nicest things I did was to start blogging. An amazing reflexive practice and also a big challenge to always try to bring on some new ideas and find the best way to share them here.
Surely I intended to write a lot more but as you can imagine teaching (among other things) keep me quite busy. Anyway, I have some plans and sooner or later I'll come up with them around here.
And from the deepness of my soul what I wish for all of you in 2013 (besides the traditional wishes for peace, health and love) is creativity and hundreds of learning opportunities, which are everywhere if you don't close your eyes for them.
We are what we know. We know what we learn. We learn what we are.
Happy New Year!
Marcadores:
2012,
2013,
Experience,
Inspiration,
Motivation,
reflection
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Following J.R.R. Tolkien's footsteps in Oxford, UK
Now that Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" is on theaters, I felt like sharing this amazing experience I had while staying in Oxford, UK, for an exchange program.
 |
| An edition on "The Hobbit" left by a fan at Tolkien's grave |
Oxford is renowned because of the University of Oxford, one the most important educational institutions in the world. Founded in 1231, the University is also famous because of the stupendous architecture of its colleges (the buildings of each department at the University).
 |
| Radcliffe Camera, the Heart of the University of Oxford |
 |
| A sign showing the way to Tolkien's grave |
For example, in the Exeter College, where Tolkien studied, you'll find this statue in his memory.
 |
| Tolkien's statue in the Exeter College |
Another nice place for visiting is the pub "The Eagle and Child", where J.R.R. Tolkien used to meet with other intellectuals in a group called "Inklings".
 |
| Eagle and Child, Tolkien's favourite pub |
Among them, there was another important fantasy writer: C.S. Lewis, author of "The Cronicles of Narnia", what makes the pub a 'must visit' place.
When we got to Tolkien's grave, we were a bit disappointed cause it was a little bit messy. If it weren't for some 'gifts' left there by some fans, you couldn't tell that there lays one of the most important authors ever.
So, we did the only thing we could do: we respectfully cleaned it and rearranged the fans' itens, and I think it got a little better, as you can see in the pictures bellow.
 |
| Tolkien's grave before and after the cleaning |
People are proud of what's meaningful to them. Maybe these episodes can be considered meaningless for some people, but they meant a lot for me.
"Not all those who wander are lost", once Tolkien wrote. And wandering through Oxford I found myself.
You may also like:
Why is English in the news in Brazil?
Marcadores:
exchange,
Experience,
JRR Tolkien,
literature,
Oxford,
The Hobbit,
The Lord of the Rings,
Tolkien,
travel,
UK
Monday, November 19, 2012
Learning English with the American Election
A few weeks ago I asked my students, all 7th graders in a regular school, to make their own posters using the 'Election vocabulary' we had previously studied. In order to do that, they had to choose their own candidate (a celebrity but not a politician), a name for his/her party and a slogan for their campaign.
It was a very simple but funny task and the kids really enjoyed it. Moreover, they could learn a bit more about the American elections as all the "Obama Vs Romney" hype was going on at that moment.
Would you vote for any of these candidates? Maybe Einstein could be a good choice...
You may also like: Mobile Phones in The Classroom
Marcadores:
Elections,
Experience,
Learning,
students,
Teaching
Saturday, August 18, 2012
English Language Certificate Program for Brazilian Teachers
 |
| Chalk Talk during a teaching workshop |
I also had the chance to learn a little about the North American Educational System, visiting public schools and talking to American principals and teachers, which undoubtfully broaden my view on Education in general.
And of course, there are all these wonderful people I had the privilege to meet: the great UO staff, the other international students, the friendly Eugenean people and my unforgettable Brazilian fellows.
On my next posts, I'll share a bit of what I learned during the program.
And to give you a glimpse of what it was like living in Eugene, Or and the effect this experience had over me, I'll leave you with two songs.
The first one, "Back in Eugene", which I wrote the day after my arrival back to Brazil, is about how I was feeling (actually, how I still feel...) about everything that had happened.
The second one, called "Sweet Eugene", had its lyrics written by a fellow participant (Mr. Flávio "Nickel Noisy", who has a very nice blog about English Language and Culture that you can check by clicking here) and I was given the opportunity to turn it into a song whose result I'm really proud of. It is about our routine and all the places we could visit during our stay in Eugene.
Enjoy it!
Marcadores:
Back in Eugene,
Education,
ELCP,
Experience,
Opportunity,
Sweet Eugene,
Teaching,
University of Oregon,
UO
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Mobile phones in the classroom
The idea was to use the students own mobile phones to record themselves asking and answering some questions based on a reading activity they had previously done. It was also part of a project I developed while taking part in the English Language Certificate Program at the University of Oregon, in Eugene/Or during this winter.
The result was satisfactory for a first try, although I need to work a lot more on the methodology.
Check out this video with images of my students performing their tasks:
And I hope you like The Ramones...
***
Unfortunately, due some copyright issues with the song "Rock'n'roll High School" (performed by The Ramones) which I used as a soundtrack for the video, it's not available to mobile devices, which is a great irony. I also can't make any changes on the video, except for deleting it. I apologize for that. The video is really funny.
And youtube, you're not a punk rocker. =/
Marcadores:
Bring your own device,
BYOD,
Classroom,
Education,
English,
Experience,
Methods,
Mobile Learning,
Pedagogy,
project,
students,
teacher,
Teaching,
technology,
video
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Using mobile devices in the classroom
A week ago, the British educator Steve Wheeler posted on Twitter the following crucial question:
Maybe it's just a matter of time as we're still learning how to deal with all this tech issues, but by now we should have something else than just this talk of the potential of technology on Education.
In the Brazilian case, I'd say that we have bits of technology and even smaller pieces of pedagogy. Yes, we have a few computers at our schools and the students have their own gadgets, like smartphones, but I haven't seen it at work the way it should. In São Paulo, for instance, there's a State law forbidding the use of mobile phones in schools. But what if a teacher could create a learning situation in which a mobile gadget would be useful? Isn't it a paradox that they don't allow the use of the most common and handy device and still claim that more technology should be part of the school routines? Of course, there are many reasons Mobile Phones can cause trouble in the classroom, but the fact is that the students do bring their mobiles, even though they're not allowed. So, why don't we use them?
On this direction, there's this BYOD (bring your own device) trend, which I've been looking at with some enthusiasm. And I gave it a first try this past week. I asked my students at the public school where I teach to record themselves and a classmate saying a few sentences out loud. And to do that they had to use their mobile phones. I even recorded myself saying the sentences out loud and shared the file from my mobile to theirs via bluetooth technology. It wasn't the most revolutionary thing in the world but it worked. It was a pretty cool class.
And yes, I'm sorry that I broke a State law...
We have the technology. Do we have the pedagogy?My answer to this question would be 'no', although we're struggling hard to find it. And as far as I can see reading blogs & tweets on the web, this is a global concern.
Maybe it's just a matter of time as we're still learning how to deal with all this tech issues, but by now we should have something else than just this talk of the potential of technology on Education.
 |
| No Mobile Phones allowed in São Paulo - Brazil |
In the Brazilian case, I'd say that we have bits of technology and even smaller pieces of pedagogy. Yes, we have a few computers at our schools and the students have their own gadgets, like smartphones, but I haven't seen it at work the way it should. In São Paulo, for instance, there's a State law forbidding the use of mobile phones in schools. But what if a teacher could create a learning situation in which a mobile gadget would be useful? Isn't it a paradox that they don't allow the use of the most common and handy device and still claim that more technology should be part of the school routines? Of course, there are many reasons Mobile Phones can cause trouble in the classroom, but the fact is that the students do bring their mobiles, even though they're not allowed. So, why don't we use them?
 |
| A student using her own device during the English class. |
And yes, I'm sorry that I broke a State law...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)