Category Archives: Uncategorized
Freebies for teachers
If you are a teacher you can´t miss these amazing opportunities!!
Check all the free professional development opportunities available for teachers in Argentina and abroad.
Looking forward to learning and sharing together.
1) In May
Free webinar for teachers on Saturday 26th of May – 10 am. Contact events@cambridgeesolargentina.org to sign up. No more vacancies !!!!
2) In June
June online course No more vacancies!!!
New online course on Educational Blogging with Young Learners offered in June. This course is sponsored by ESSARP in Argentina, ETAS in Switzerland and JALT Teaching Children SIG in Japan.
To enrol please check this link http://www.essarp.org.ar/cursos/coordinador.pl?editar=1&id_cursos=2861&r=i9Q4IatxM3ejQzZ .
It´s free for ESSARP memebers.
June 1st
Free workshop for Teachers of English at Essarp offered by Jennifer Verschoor
Learn how to use the English for the Games material created by the British Council.
Limited vacancies. To register please click this link https://www.essarp.org.ar/cursos/registro.pl No more vacancies!!
June 2nd
No more vacancies!!
Come and join our first webinar on Podasting. To enrol send an email to tics@sbs.com.ar
June 16th
First ever IATEFL BESIG Satellite event in Buenos Aires.
For free enrolment, please check the following link http://tinyurl.com/besigevent
ICT in the classroom
A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.
Henry Brooks Adams
Today after reading Isil´s blog post I got inspired to write about an online course I have just finished moderating at Essarp.
This is not the first time that I give an online courses at Essarp. Two years ago together with ETAS English Teachers Association in Switzerland we offered a joint online course with Illya Arnet Clark for teachers in Argentina and Switzerland. It was such an enriching experience to unite teachers from different cultures.
These last two weeks several teachers attended an online course called ICT in the classroom to learn how to integrate and create different web 2.0 tools. Some teachers had already taken other courses with me and knew how to manage our online space. For those teachers who enrolled for the first time it was quite overwhelming at the beginning.
When teachers are motivated to become better teachers and are willing to innovate it is just amazing to see their creativity and talent in full swing. These teachers were able to create really inspiring e-portfolios. Some participants immediately tried the new tools with their learners and others shared these tools with the rest of their colleagues.
I would like to share some reflections made by the participants:
- Society is changing fast and it seems to me that education is following far behind!
- Parents believe that computing equals playing.
- Life is online, the school can`t stay offline.
- The whole education system is trying to change and it is not easy. I think we are in a transition era as educators. Little by little things are changing.
- It´s a great challenge of becoming digital teachers although we were not digital students ourselves !
- Technology not only can engage them but also let them be so creative!
- As teachers, that our most daring challenge is to turn the 19th century classroom into a 21st century one!
- The challenge is for us to become digital teachers when we are part of this transition.
- If students don´t take action in their learning process they will never develop different abilities.
- Students want teachs to teach the how to think.
- Let´s create a blended environment.
I would like to thank this amazing group of teachers for their active participation and enriching collaboration.
Please check this PhotoPeach to take a look at some of their creations.
In June we are going to offer another online course together with Japan and Switzerland 
The uniqueness of the IATEFL experience
Sharing a short article I wrote for Voices after attending IATEFL for the first time.
As a teacher trainer from Buenos Aires, I devote a lot of time to ongoing personal and professional development. In the new era of collaboration and sharing, I have joined several social networks to enhance my learning opportunities. As a result, I was able to fulfill my purpose of connecting with like-minded teachers in a culturally sensitive way. Beyond getting great ideas for teaching and staying excited about my profession, I find that I am not alone in wanting to innovate, learn and grow. This required me to leave my comfort zone and become a life-long learner exploring ways to integrate digital tools to enhance teaching and learning.
Knowing that the future of education is not teaching but learning, teacher development is essential for our students’ success in order to keep up-to-date on the lastest trends in ELT. It is necessary to learn new methods, techniques and strategies so we can be better equipped to face 21st century challenges.
This year I was awarded the IATEFL BESIG facilitator scholarship to attend IATEFL in Glasgow. To be part of such a prestigious team as BESIG is truly a privilege. As a scholarship winner, there were several moments to celebrate this award. IATEFL invited all the scholarship winners to attend a tea party and there was a scholarship stand in the exhibition hall showing posters of all the scholarship winners.
Being a member of several social networks such as Twitter and Facebook has allowed me to understand that learning is a social process and it requires people to collaborate, share ideas, seek answers and build new insights throughout the process. Social media has become a valuable and free educational tool for my professional development. In recent years, I have been learning and sharing on-line experiences integrating technology with several teachers worldwide. This has been a key ingredient for me to constantly meet like-minded teachers.
My first day at IATEFL was at the BESIG PCE. Attending so many interesting sessions was really inspiring and overwhelming at the same time. At IATEFL I kept bumping into teachers I´ve been networking with for the last 2 or 3 years and from the beginning I felt instantly comfortable and at ease. There were no kilometers separating us. We all mingled immediately as a group to build relationships and connections worldwide.
How could a teacher that lived so many kilometers away from Glasgow feel at home in such an enormous conference? Bonds had already been established with many amazing people. There were more than 800 teachers attending this conference and I immediately felt I had known many of them for several years. The effect of social networking has been the most rewarding experience I´ve ever had as a teacher.
If I had to define my whole experience attending IATEFL, I would say that it has helped me reinforce my world-wide connections and has shown me how alike we all really are.
Virtual Round Table
The 5th Virtual Round Table is a 3-day free conference offered to teachers who would like to start integrating language learning technologies. Several teachers worldwide attend this amazing conference organised by Heike Philp, Shelly Terrell, Steven Herder and Berni Wall.
My “Jazz up your Language classes with Technology” proposal has been accepted. I shared several ideas on how I am integrating technology with my students in Buenos Aires. Feel free to explore the slides and check the links.
I would like to thank all the wonderful participants who attended my presentation.
Please check this link to view the links shared during the presentation.
Invited as a guest speaker to give a Free Friday Webinar for American TESOL
I would like to thank Shelly Terrell for inviting me to give my first free webinar for American TESOL. Today I spoke about how to Jazz up you EFL classes with technology. During the webinar I introduced some free and simple tools to start integrating technology in your teaching scenarios. Teachers need to provide digitally rich learning opportunities if they want to move forward and motivate their students. Then I showed some classroom examples on how my students are using digital storytelling tools in their classroom.
Looking forward to sharing more ideas in the near future.
Please check the following links http://www.att.com/Common/images/safety/game.html and http://www.phewmsg.com/
Below you will find some comments on my presentation
My first e-book
It´s time to share the good news!
Finally the book I have co-authored with Ozge Karouglu has arrived in the labs. This means that you can take a look at the free sample and download it.
The e-book is a part of theround
that is founded by Lindsay Clandfield and Luke Meddings. I would like to thank both of them for their constant support and encouragement. They´ve made our dream come true!
We´ve been working hard and discussing the best web tools need to become a successful 21st century teacher.
The feedback we received has been really positive and we are looking forward to writing more ideas on how to integrate technology with young learners.
Feel free to download our sample version from this link http://issuu.com/theround/docs/digitaljourneylabsversion and start using these ideas with your students.
We hope you enjoy this journey as much as we did.
Are you ready to Integrate Technology?
Infographic by- Shanghai Web Designers
As a teacher are you feeling overwhelmed by the amount of information found on the Internet?
Teaching has changed dramatically in the 21st century with the advent of Web 2.0 tools like wikis, blogs and podcasts just to name a few. Technology has modified the landscape of information and knowledge. Learning in this scenario poses new questions for teachers. Anyone with access to Internet has the ability to create videos, text and audio that can be shared with a global audience.
How can teachers be inspired to gradually start incorporating technology in their daily teaching?
Internet has become a big challenge for teachers and if used correctly is an empowering phenomenon. But most teachers internally ask themselves why should I start using technology. My answer to this question is that technology is here to stay. Integrating technology is not putting computers in the classroom without teacher training. Technology should be used effectively and efficiently to allow students to learn how to apply computer skills in meaningful ways. Consider the power you have as a teacher to start sharing students work with a real audience that is considered to be any student from the world.
Recently ARCALL (Argentine Computer Assisted Language Learning) has been relaunched with the clear goal to help teachers integrate technology. We know that there are many compelling reasons to start integrating technology .
ARCALL is a group of innovative language teaching professionals from Argentina which aims to:
teaching professionals from Argentina which
• increase the use of educational technology in EFL (English as a Foreign Language),
• collaborate in the integration of ICT in Argentina in ways that are effective and appropriate,
• assist teachers in integrating ICT into their daily practices and as a means of developing themselves professionally,
• train teachers on using computers and the Internet in English language teaching,
Another possibility is to create your own blog and share your experience with other colleagues. As head of a blog, I should say that the journey on how to integrate technology in your classes is full of obstacles and rewards. If you are about I´d like to invite all teachers, who have not already incorporated technology in their classrooms, to give it a try.
I hope you enjoy the ride.
I´m back!!
Dear Blog:
I´ve tried to update some of my on-line discoveries and adventures but it was just impossible to keep an organised track of a very rewarding year.
As I look back at 2011, reflecting on achievements, I can safely say that I´m grateful to have enjoyed a busy year full of new goals and challenges.
It´s time to share with you the reason why I´ve been away. The events are not in chronological order.
- Invited to participate in the first free IATEFL Learning Technologies SIG. Please check this Photopeach video http://photopeach.com/public/swf/story.swf
-SBS International sponsored me to attend Faapi in Santiago de Tucumán. I delivered a pre-conference workshop of 6 hours together with Rita Zeinstejer and a joint presentation at Faapi.
-Awarded with the BESIG scholarship to attend IATEFL in Glasgow in 2012.
-Delivered a very short presentation at TeachMeet International where I had the chance to meet amazing teachers worldwide.
-My blog was added to http://blogs.onestopenglish.com a service offered by http://www.onestopenglish.com.
-Selected by Essarp to share my online experience training teachers from Switzerland with the rest of the Teachers Trainers in Buenos Aires.
-Chosen to share my blog posts with teachers from India http://www.englishteachingdaily.com/2011/11/using-visuals-to-introduce-halloween-activities.
-Invited to work with Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto, Özge Karaoğlu Ergen, Esra Girgin,Shelly Terrell, David Dodgson and Michelle Worgan in the upcoming free EVO online workshop: Digital Storytelling with Young Learners! An incredible group of educators!!!
-Moderated Jazz Up your Classes with Technology an online course offered by ESSARP (Argentina) and ETAS (Switzerland).
-Invited to join The Round with an amazing group of ELT professionals http://the-round.com/2011/10/the-round-takes-shape/. Together with Özge Karaoğlu Ergen we are writing our first ebook.
- Invited by ETAS English Teachers Association in Switzerland to give a webinar on “Global trends in Language Learning in the 21st century” on September 17.
-Move Up in Rosario invited me to deliver a face-to-face workshop in Rosario.
-Won the Reform Symposium Teacher Learning Community Prize ))
-Attended APIBA’s 40th Birthday Celebration! http://photopeach.com/album/19q7n82
-Delivered my first presentation for the Ministry of Education in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
-Invited as a guest speaker at III Jornadas Internacionales TIC aplicadas a la enseñanza de la lengua in Córdoba http://www.lenguas.unc.edu.ar/tics/acerca.html
-Finally sat for the Swiss citizenship exam in French. Had to study most of the summer to be able to speak in French.
-Winner of a scholarship to attend a course at NILE Norwich Institute for Language Education in London in July 2013.
-Delivered the first online presentation for URUTESOL.
-Interviewed by Shelly Terrell after obtaining the Consultants-e scholarship on ICT in the classroom validated by Trinity College.
-Stephen Downes helped my language class http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=55436
-Had my second radio inteview with Baires Capital.
-Created Techools4educators together with Rita Zeinstejer to help teachers integrate ICT in their daily teaching scenarios. It was a huge success. SBS Argentina hired us to deliver several Webinar for free locally and internationally.
-Started a Master´s degree in Environmental Management. Passed 12 subjects in one year. It was hard work but really worth the effort.
-Invited to represent Argentina at the British Council summer school to be held in Buenos Aires on February 2012.
Maybe I am missing several things but just wanted to share with you some of my achievements in 2011. I hope everybody a wonderful 2012 full of joy and happiness.
May all your dreams come true
Finally I ´m back online devoting some time to my dear blog.
My Edublog Award nominations
This is the first time I submit nominations for the 2011 Edublog Awards. My personal and professional life is enriched everyday by the diverse woldwide range of voices and talents in the ETL world. I want the thank all those wonderful EFL teachers who inspire me to become a better teacher. Here goes my nomination:
* Best individual blog An A-Z of ELT by Scott Thornbury
* Best individual tweeter @ShellTerrell
* Best group blog Teaching Village
* Best class blog The FCE blog
* Best ed tech / resource sharing blog Nik´s learning technology blog
* Best twitter hashtag ELTchat
* Best teacher blog Box of chocolate
* Best free web tool Jing
* Best educational use of podcast Podcasting for the ESL-EFL classroom
* Best educational wiki Cool tools for school
* Lifetime achievement Ken Wilson
