Monthly Archives: May 2010
Blogging tips by Karenne Sylvester
Our guest speaker for Widen your classroom with blogs online course offered by Essarp and Etas was Karenne Sylvester
Please read the wonderful tips from our blogging Queen . Her blog is a true inspiration for many teachers.
Her first blog didn`t work mainly due to privacy issues.
Things changed when she created a mission for her blog.
In 2008 she created KalinagoEnglish to turn the way we think about teaching. She used her voice to control it and you grow through it.
It is very exciting to read your old posts.
When you blog for language learners you have a purpose, autonomy and master it.
Never tell student to go and blog because that never works. You give a task and allow them to take it as far as they want. Then you provide constructive feedback.
Type of activities her students have done is microblogging. Writing a grammar explanation in L1. Students created a slideshow explaining the difference between the present perfect and the present continuous.
As regards learning vocabulary one of her students took picture of her office and labelled them and added them to their blog. Keep a record of the new words.
Another student created a list of idioms that go with the word meeting.
A blog is like an on-line notebook where you can record your ideas and thoughts.
A blog can supplement a coursework or even be a means to create and develop content.
Main problem with blogging:
Time management
When, how and what to blog
Resistance to technology
Blogging is a replacement for a notebook.
A blog is a conversation and when you are beginning you do not have anybody to talk with. You have no feedback. This is very different from writing a book. You do not blog for yourself you blog for others.
Possibilities for improvement
URL address of your blog should match the address of your blog.
Always re-read your posts.
Use short paragraphs.
Stick to black for text.
Do not add your email address to your blog.
Be different if you want to communicate and blog for other teachers. You need an audience.
Have something to say that is interesting.
The most important tip: READ OTHER BLOGS.
Meme game
This month Essarp and Etas institutions joined to offer an international online training for teachers to learn how to integrate blogs in their daily teaching.
We are now reaching the end of our online training and wanted to play a Meme game with our particpants.
How to play the meme game:
Basically, the idea is for each blogger who accepts the invitation to reveal three things most people don’t know about them and then to pass the ball to three other bloggers by tagging them. You will know when you are tagged!
Here are 3 things that come to my mind:
1) I have joined several different social networks but always try not to reveal personal information online. Some people use Twitter to share their professional discoveries while others use Facebook to share pictures and stay in touch with family and friends. I use both spaces to share my online activities and I never upload pictures.
2) Last year I found this wonderful wiki called Cool tools for teachers http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/ and I keep finding inspiring ideas to implement in my classroom.
3) I lived 6 years in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and really enjoyed living near the beach. Living in another country is an interesting and unforgettable experience
Now it´s time for Illya , Karenne and Carla to reveal something about themselves.
The power of our PLN
It was a rainy Saturday and I was heading to a nearby bookstore to give my first presentation on how to use Twitter in education. My greatest fear what not to have Internet access because I wanted to use Twitter to engage the audience. This was accomplished thanks to my wonderful Twitter followers.
I tweeted the following:
and these were the answers I instantly received
I was totally amazed by the huge response. Teachers from different parts of the world immediately joined our conversation. This idea of being connected with so many wonderful teachers around the world is something I would have never imagined when I graduated from College long time ago.
Yesterday I also had another amazing surprise to see that a teacher was inspired to use images in her classroom when I tweeted the following ” 60 best movie posters of all time http://www.stunningmesh.com/2010/03/60-best-movie-posters-of-all-time/“
Please read her blog post http://techlearning20.blogspot.com/2010/05/another-idea-for-creatively-increasing.html.
Where did all these conversations take place before twitter was invented?
This is just becoming a more and more powerful tool for teachers who are willing to share and learn from others.
Where are we heading? Do you visualize no boundaries in our profession where the biggest power are teachers and their creative teaching methods?
It’s Worth Keeping an Eye on This Blog
The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who
cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn,
unlearn, and relearn.–Alvin Toffler
Thank you Natasa for adding my blog to your list of “10 blogs worth keeping an eye on”. It is wonderful to have such a vibrant PLN as webheads and so many other teachers worldwide that are a huge inspiration for me. I have been following way to many good blogs to just come with a list of ten. It is unbelievable how many wonderful blogs you can find in the blogosphere.Below you will find my list of nominated blogs in no particular order.I choose one blogger from different countries.
1- iLearn Technology in the USA.
2- Teacher Reboot Camp by Shelly Terell living in Germany
3- Ozge Karaoglu’s Blog by Ozge Karaogly in Turkey
4-Nik´s Daily English Activiities by Nik Peachey
5- adVancEducation by Vance Stevens living in Abu Dhabi
6- Ken Wilson´s blog by Ken Wilson in the UK
7- Vicky Lora´s blog by Vicky Lora living in Switzerland.
8- Life Feast by Ana Maria Menendez in Brazil.
9-Half an hour by Steven Downes in Canada.
10- Teaching Village by Barbara Hoskins-Sakamoto in Japan
If you’ve been nominated anywhere, keep the ball rolling.
Zooburst
As part of my work at school this year is to teach English with technology I am constantly searching for new ideas and resources. Today I found a very nice 3D popup book recently launched in April called Zooburst.
I sent a tweet sharing this resource and many educators agree with me that this is a wonderful tool for primary teachers.
Internet Safety for Kids
We are moving forward to an information age, computers are part of our students daily activities. As teachers we must teach our students how to appropriately use technology in a safe manner. How can we teach them internet safety rules in an attractive and engaging way? Below you will find several links I used with my primary students.
4kids.org Students can earn a 4Kids Surftificate if they know how to avoid problems on the web. The game is about Earl, the Safe Surfer, who loves to surf both on the Web and in the water. But sometimes he runs in to trouble. How can Earl stay safe when he surfs the Internet?
Web Wise offers four different options to learn how to be safe online. You can play surfwise, chatwise, gamewise and sharewise. The websites are very interactive and engaging for students.
Cyber Tree House is an interactive game that offers many different possiblities. Watch videos, play games, learn about cyber safety and cool website to learn different things.
Disney Safe Surfing allows students and parents to learn how to keep safe online.
Internet Safety videos
Online Quizzes
Take the quiz from the attorney´s general site
Why do we blog?
As a teacher trainer this is the most common question I have to answer
Why do you blog?
My blog:
- allows me to express myself freely
- is a place where I think, plan and reflect
- is a place to collaborate and share with others
- is a tool I use to play with technology
- is a place where I dialogue with visitors
- shares my online discoveries
- has become a very important tool for my professional development
With the advent of the World Wide Web I am able to ask this question to my wonderful PLN. Below you will find the answers from my Twitter followers.
Why do Webheads blog?
Please take a look at the mixbook http://www.mixbook.com/photo-books/education/why-do-we-blog-4609597 I created with the answers I gathered from this vibrant and inspiring group
Why do other teachers blog? Let´s read what they have to say.
Why do I blog? Jennifer Wagner
After reading so many interesting posts on why teachers blog I would like to know Why do you blog?
