Tag: efl
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Professional Development: Cultivating rather than Training
Last Tuesday, November 18th, I had the pleasure to present in a Cambridge University Press panel at the BETT Leadership Summit. Here’s the full version of my very condensed talk about a topic that is dear to me. In the past, when I thought about teacher training in the Educational Technology realm, it was in…
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Teacher Observation: Less Teaching More Flourishing
This week I observed a class that made me realize how simple changes can impact on how students interact, learn and do things. The teacher told me about all her challenges with the group, teens that come to English classes just after their regular school hours – sometimes even without eating lunch. She mentioned her…
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From Submersion to Emergence in ELT
Conferences are made of connections, gatherings, new acquaintances. The BrazTESOL International Conference in João Pessoa was no different, except that it was totally different for me. The premises of the Bilingual School Cidade Viva were amazing, with great infrastructure for an international event. The people working there had a special vibe, very solicitous always, and…
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When a Dear ELT Friend is Not Here Anymore
Some people have such a strong and memorable presence in our lives that it is almost like they are immortal, or maybe they really are. They imprint some of them in us. When they are gone, at least physically, it is almost as if our hearts immerse in silence, and our minds process in such…
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TESOL 2014 – mLearning: From Mobile to Learning
TESOL 2014: From Mobile to Learning from Carla Arena My presentation in TESOL 2014 was part of a great multicultural colloquium about mlearning contexts around the world. Even in such different contexts, such as in the US, India and Japan, there’s still so much in common, mainly in terms of iPad rollout programs and infrastructure…
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Cultural Capsule: Amazing Interactive Website
I have an aunt, tia Mercês, who is incredible passionate and knowledgeable about everything art-design-related. She is all for building local communities of artisans to make their lives a decent one that goes much beyond survival. She wants to empower people through their skills, traditions and passions. Yesterday, she sent me some some stunning…
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Teaching in a Brave New World: From Digital to Tangible
Soon, we will have another BrazTESOL Brasilia seminar for the local educational community. The main topic of our seminar is “Teaching in a Brave New World”, which entices me to connect it to what I’ve been talking about in my presentations, the need for us, teachers, to explore new digital possibilities in the classroom without…
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The Image Conference – Kieran Donaghy’s Short and Sweet
I had the pleasure to watch him in action twice this year. Kieran Donaghy, one of the Keynote Speakers in our BRAZTESOL Brasilia Image Conference, shared wonderful video ideas for the EFL classroom. Short and sweet were the videos he presented and inspired the Brazilian educators. Everybody left the room with a refreshed perspective…
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On the mLearning Radar – Creating on iPads
I´ve just come across this box of mlearning treasures that an art teacher/teacher trainer has put together. Though the focus is on digital art, many ideas can be adapted for the language classroom. http://drydenart.weebly.com/creating-on-ipads.html Mrs. Fuglestad has also created a Smore page with ideas for ipad creation. What I think could be the…
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Teaching a Dramatically Outstanding Class – Tension and Release
Yesterday I was talking to a very experienced teacher who I know suffers from the same syndrome I do and most of the teachers out there do. The how-can-I-reach-teens syndrome. We all develop strategies, sometimes war strategies, we think and re-think ways that we could better engage our teens. The roller coaster is always…
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Making Homework Assignments Smarter for your Students and their Brains
One of my favorite bloggers, Annie Murphie Paul, has written a post about homework that every educator should consider as a guideline for better learning opportunities. Her claim, based on Neuroscience and Psychology research, entails making better use of strategies that are effectively proven to have an impact on learning. Annie mentions three strategies…
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On the Ed Tech Radar – A Learnist Web2.0 Resource for Educators
I´ve already mentioned Learnist as an interesting learning playlist tool that can be used by educators and learners. This Learnist is one educators will love, with all kinds of digital resources in one single place. http://learni.st/users/bryanNchrissie/boards/4090-web-2-0-tools-for-the-classroom
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Introductions Practice in the EFL Classroom with Authentic Content
Besides using Haiku Deck app to create visually-appealing presentations, what if you used it with students to help them use language with content produced by real people. So, it is the old “this is..; she does this and that” with a twist in authenticity. Take, for example, this presentation: Created with Haiku Deck, the free…
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Images in the Classroom – Now and Then
I’ve always had this natural inclination to add images to whatever lesson I was teaching, and now even more so when I see the neuroscientific reason for doing it. James Zull, in his book “the Art of Changing the Brain”, mentions that “Our concrete experience contains much of the information we need for understanding, because…
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mLearning – Evernote as a Trigger for Writing
In the Binational Center I work for writing is taken seriously. There is a program for all levels. For the Teens and Intermediate courses, students work on paragraphs, but when they get to the Advanced level, the requirement is more demanding. Learners are exposed to different kinds of genres and are supposed to hand in…
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mLearning – Turn your Ipad into an Interactive Board
Educreations, Showme, Screenchomp are simple and multifaceted for the language classroom. These free screencasting apps have multiple possibilities, ranging from recording students’ dialogues or letting them freely talk about a subject as they show on the screen what they are exploring. There’s drawing, typing a text or inserting an image while recording. The students can…
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Taking Learning Into a Visual Experience Through Infographics
Evolving, progressing, developing. Not always an easy task, mainly for very busy English teachers who have heavy schedules, different groups with varied age range and levels of proficiency. But still, they are up to the challenge of after a long day of work to come to a Teacher Development Course to keep improving to become…
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Educators as Designers
I’ve always had a deep fascination for what was aesthetically beautiful for the eyes and pleasing for the mind. Design has always mattered for me, and it has guided me personally and professionally as a principle of good living an a people connector. I’ve always believed in its engagement power. And unconsciously I understood that…