Reading/Listening and writing

Technology has greatly impacted everyone's culture, and teachers especially English teachers need to be aware of how to use advanced technology to enhance the learning experience of students. It is important that a teacher learns how to use the technology such as using electronics, and tools for doing research on the Web, but teachers can utilize these tools to maximize their learning experience.
I read the article "using the internet in ESL writing instruction" which explored the use of internet as an aid for teachers to teach students to write different genres. In this study it was analyzed different basic genres such as description of a film or a play and the relationship of them with online technique instructions to make it more interesting and motivating. One of the studies described in this article suggested that students learning a foreign language become more motivated in learning the language when using the internet because it can teach students how to benefit from internet usage. One of the biggest strength in this study was that by using internet students can use information from what have happened recently; whereas, people who do not use internet are exposed to out dated information.
After searching the suggested websites, I found two of them very useful to apply when teaching to my students. I realized that each one of the websites has some other icons that focus on grammar, listening, reading and other important skills. I decided to try out one of the websites for doing my class a little more interesting, and I used this website:
http://www.manythings.org/
I found this webpage very interesting and useful because there was a listening section that I wanted to use with my students. There were several listening activities that emphasized on reading a paragraph while listening to an audio clip. This task was very interesting and engaging because students not only read a short story about loneliness and its effects, but it also focused on listening. After the student finished with the activity, they were asked to fill out a short worksheet that was based on the content of the reading. After students filled out the blank spaces, they were asked to share their answers to the class. I think my students had fun when doing this activity because the peace of the listening activity was moderate which matches their abilities to listen in a foreign language. By doing this activity, I could get more students who were enthusiastic and willing to participate.
The other website that I am planning to use was:
http://a4esl.org/q/f/x/xz38mvt.htm
This website is very useful because there are different options that I can choose from when doing a new activity. I am planning in using the grammar section where students can practice the correct word usage. For the first activity, I'm am thinking in doing an exercise on the infinites because I see that many of my students still have time using the correct form.
In addition to the previous website, I would love to try out the webpage:
http://www.starfall.com
Since my students don't have a high English level, I can also use a kid's website to make the class more interactive. By using this website, there are lots of good icons that can help my students improve their pronunciation, learn different vocabulary and also improve their reading skills.
My ABCD objective is focus on:

Audience: high school students
Condition: Reading a short story while listening to the same story in an audio clip, so students will look for the correct pronunciation as well as for the content.
Behavior: students will be able to answer a worksheet based on the information that was presented in the short paragraph.
Degree: answering the worksheet and sharing their answers to the class (90%). This activity will only take 20 minutes of a class time. Students will only miss 10% of the total expected points because some will have difficulties remembering new words and consequently, they won't be able to answer to all the questions right.

If you have any suggestions on how to improve my teaching lessons, please let me know. I would be happy to hear them.

Santiago
Ecuador

The Importance Of Reading

It is a well-known fact that when there were no televisions or computers, reading was a primary leisure activity. People would spend hours reading books and travel to lands far away-in their minds. The only tragedy is that, with time, people have lost their skill and passion to read. There are many other exciting and thrilling options available, aside from books. And that is a shame because reading offers a productive approach to improving vocabulary and word power. It is advisable to indulge in at least half an hour of reading a day to keep abreast of the various styles of writing and new vocabulary.
It is observed that children and teenagers who love reading have comparatively higher IQs. They are more creative and do better in school and college. It is recommended that parents to inculcate the importance of reading to their children in the early years. Reading is said to significantly help in developing vocabulary, and reading aloud helps to build a strong emotional bond between parents and children. The children who start reading from an early age are observed to have good language skills, and they grasp the variances in phonics much better.
Reading helps in mental development and is known to stimulate the muscles of the eyes. Reading is an activity that involves greater levels of concentration and adds to the conversational skills of the reader. It is an indulgence that enhances the knowledge acquired, consistently. The habit of reading also helps readers to decipher new words and phrases that they come across in everyday conversations. The habit can become a healthy addiction and adds to the information available on various topics. It helps us to stay in-touch with contemporary writers as well as those from the days of yore and makes us sensitive to global issues.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/354498

Listening and pronunciation skill bulding

Listening and pronunciation skill bulding

Hello everyone.

Undoubtedly, listening and pronunciation are the two biggest challenges when learning a new language. It is difficult sometimes to pronounce a word because of the different intonations used. In one of our reading for this week, there was a pilot study conducted at a university of Padova where researchers wanted to investigate whether or not speech analysis software aid in a pronunciation teaching class. The results indicated that it improved pronunciation. On the other hand. Listening is also an important skill that is sometimes difficult to develop because of the lack of practice.

There are several websites that I have been using for couple of years, and that seem to be working in my teaching. One of them is the website called 5 minute English, and the URL is:

http://www.5minuteenglish.com/listening.htm.
This website is very useful because I can play a conversation and students can listen to it for couple of minutes. For every listening activity, there is a vocabulary provided as well as the actual conversation being heard by the students. At the end of the activity, there is a sheet where students can check their understanding using questions based on the listening activity. This is a great website because the conversations are short, relative easy to understand, and students can test their understanding by answering some questions.

Other very useful website that I use in my class is http://www.manythings.org/pp/ which has a lot of activities including pronunciation. I play a specific video and the computer tells the student the correct way of pronouncing a word. There are a lot of choices ranging from very simple words to more challenging words to pronounce. For the next class activity, I would love to use the real English website: http://www.real-english.com/reo/1/unit1.html, http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/speaking/teaching-ideas/, I found these WebPages very interesting and helpful for helping my students develop their listening skills. Each video has short conversations with native and non native English speakers. There is also a different level conversation and listening video depending on the understanding level.

I hope some of you try out the websites that I used . Hope to hear from you guys soon.

Santiago
Ecuador

Achievement goals in the classroom: Students' learning strategies and motivation processes.

We studied how specific motivational processes are related to the salience of mastery and performance goals in actual classroom settings. One hundred seventy-six students attending a junior high/high school for academically advanced students were randomly selected from one of their classes and responded to a questionnaire on their perceptions of the classroom goal orientation, use of effective learning strategies, task choices, attitudes, and causal attributions. Students who perceived an emphasis on mastery goals in the classroom reported using more effective strategies, preferred challenging tasks, had a more positive attitude toward the class, and had a stronger belief that success follows from one's effort. Students who perceived performance goals as salient tended to focus on their ability, evaluating their ability negatively and attributing failure to lack of ability. The pattern and strength of the findings suggest that the classroom goal orientation may facilitate the maintenance of adaptive motivation patterns when mastery goals are salient and are adopted by students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)

Get some work experience in the classroom

To find out if a graduate career in teaching is right for you, do some work experience. As well as helping you to make up your mind, work experience is an important asset when it comes to your initial teacher training application. 

 

It’s only by going into schools that you can get that sense of whether teaching really feels right – and whether you think you could do it. Although relevant experience isn’t a formal prerequisite to get onto an initial teacher training (ITT) course, it is a supporting factor in the application process. Not surprisingly, it demonstrates your commitment to the profession and recruiters will feel reassured that you have a realistic view of what teaching is like. A further plus is that you will have something concrete to base your answers on at interview. As the availability of places on PGCE courses has reduced nationally, recruiters are becoming increasingly focused on the previous experience of applicants.

Getting work experience in teaching

Many universities provide opportunities for students to volunteer in schools, so your first stop should be your university's career service or volunteering society. It is also possible to organise a placement yourself at a local school or even at your old primary or secondary school. Teaching work experience can take a variety of formats from classroom observation to working as an unpaid teaching assistant, depending on the needs of the school and whether or not you have had an enhanced Crimincal Records Bureau (CRB) background check.

Long-term benefits of work experience

Most course providers require students to do a pre-enrolment placement, whether or not they’ve spent time in schools. However, that doesn’t mean that any previous experience you’ve gained will have been a waste: not only will it be useful for your academic coursework, but the more styles of teaching practice you’ve encountered, the better a teacher you will eventually become.

The more styles of teaching practice you’ve encountered, the better a teacher you will eventually become.

Explore different age groups

It’s crucial to spend time with children of different ages to clarify which age group you want to teach. People tend to have a strong preference once they’ve had some experience and that might not match up with what they initially expected. Furthermore, getting some cross-phase experience is really important. Education is a continuum, so it’s very useful to accumulate some knowledge of the stages before and after your preferred age group.

Teaching taster schemes

Government schemes include the open schools programme, taster courses and student associates schemes – find out more details from the Training and Development Agency for Schools. Taster schemes are intended to help you decide whether to apply for initial teacher training and are not designed to provide basic experience to support an application. It can also be a good idea to contact schools off your own bat, as staff can often use some extra help. Spending time with children in other contexts, such as holiday camps or youth groups, is also relevant experience.
While you’re in a school, it’s useful to record what you did in the classroom: for example, you could take photographs of projects and keep notes on lesson plans and schemes of work. Bringing these in to interview can provide a useful talking point and boost your confidence.

Evaluate your teaching work experience

Once you've done some teaching work expertience, you need to decide if teaching is right for you and whether you want to progress to the initial teacher training application stage. You also need to think about your work experience in terms of how it will enhance your employability as a graduate teacher. As yourself these questions:

• Do I enjoy working with children and will I enjoy the company of children at the age I wish to teach?
• Will I feel comfortable communicating with other teachers and parents?
• Am I secure in my specialist subject knowledge?
• Do I enjoy responding to daily and sometimes unpredictable challenges?
• Can I motivate and engage others?

Work cited : http://targetjobs.co.uk/career-sectors/teaching-and-education/work-experience/go-back-to-school-teaching-work-experience

ASSESSMENT

Why Is Assessment Important?

Supporting student learning demonstrates their understanding.

Assessment is an integral part of instruction, as it determines whether or not the goals of education are being met. Assessment affects decisions about grades, placement, advancement, instructional needs, curriculum, and, in some cases, funding. Assessment inspire us to ask these hard questions: "Are we teaching what we think we are teaching?" "Are students learning what they are supposed to be learning?" "Is there a way to teach the subject better, thereby promoting better learning?"

Today's students need to know not only the basic reading and arithmetic skills, but also skills that will allow them to face a world that is continually changing. They must be able to think critically, to analyze, and to make inferences. Changes in the skills base and knowledge our students need require new learning goals; these new learning goals change the relationship between assessment and instruction. Teachers need to take an active role in making decisions about the purpose of assessment and the content that is being assessed.

All-important participation:

Teacher Beverly Hoeltke goes over Key Learning's unconventional progress report -- which includes self-assessment -- with a student and his mother.

When assessment works best, it does the following:

Provides diagnostic feedback

• What is the student's knowledge base?
• What is the student's performance base?
• What are the student's needs?
• What has to be taught?

Helps educators set standards

• What performance demonstrates understanding?
• What performance demonstrates knowledge?
• What performance demonstrates mastery?

Evaluates progress

• How is the student doing?
• What teaching methods or approaches are most effective?
• What changes or modifications to a lesson are needed to help the student?

Relates to a student's progress

• What has the student learned?
• Can the student talk about the new knowledge?
• Can the student demonstrate and use the new skills in other projects?

Motivates performance

For student self-evaluation:

• Now that I'm in charge of my learning, how am I doing?
• Now that I know how I'm doing, how can I do better?
• What else would I like to learn?

For teacher self-evaluation:

• What is working for the students?
• What can I do to help the students more?
• In what direction should we go next?

for further information visit : http://www.edutopia.org/teaching-module-assessment-why

Some Advantages in Creating a Blog as a Means of Advertising

Having a blog is an important tool for communicating with students because this will allow me, as an instructor, to keep my students updated on assignments and any doubts that they might have on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.  It is also a useful and interactive page where students can get in touch with the professor as well as with their other classmates and complete several assignments that will help them to develop their skills while learning a new language. Creating a blog was very easy and straightforward.  I didn’t come up with any problems while creating my blog.  If you are interested in getting to know me in a deeper way, please feel free to visit my blog site. Any comments either positive or negative would be appreciated.