Week 10 - Wrapping Up

How grateful I am for having taken  the Webskills course...
Janine Sepulveda is such a sweet teacher, motivating the group and provoking us to reflect and act!
I feel that I'm a better teacher now. The results of the changes I've started in my teaching may not be visible yet, but I'm confident that within a year, they will be.
I feel so inspired and motivated that I have already enrolled in another online course, this turn for learning the basics on how to teach online courses.
I also have to thank my classmates, for their very interesting posts in the discussions and also for being kind and gentle. I will miss you all.

Week 9 - Final Project

Finally, the time has come to put on together all the thoughts I have given to my Final Project. Basically, I addressed the issue of not having enough time for extra activities, technology-based or not. The solution I found was to include technology in the course not by creating extra activities, but by replacing existing ones from the textbook with others, available on the internet or created by myself.
Unfortunately, I could only try one of the activities, since the course I was teaching ended by February 9, while we were in Week 5 of our course. However, regular classes have already started, and again I have a group within the same level, with similar profile. I'll be able to check if the changes I planned are effective or not. However, I can say that the one we tried - "Stereotyped Views on Brazil and Brazilians" went just great.

Week 8 - Peer Project Draft Reading, ANVILL, online teaching tools and the beginning of a new semester!

What a really really busy week!
Classes for the first semester have officially stared, right after carnival. I'm trying to adjust to a new rhythm, and I feel really happy and motivated.
As usual, I have groups of children, teenagers and adults, and it means that for me there is never a teaching routine, and this is just great!

I have read Melissa Vaeken's project draft, and provided some feedback (great plans, Melissa!). I am waiting for her feedback on my project's draft, so I can improve it.

ANVILL is a really interesting teaching tool, I loved it so much! Congratulations Jeff Magotto for such a wonderful work! Thank you very much!

I created a class in Nicenet for my Advanced 2 group (Summit 2 1st semester 2012). Here is the link:

http://www.nicenet.org/ICA/class/home.cfm?r=DE4FE23F-EB4E-B7B0-EE020EA2DA32EA0E&CFID=6924362&CFTOKEN=ed0d742b34935c7a-CC8DEBAC-FBCE-736F-8546E69594602972

I also created a crossword puzzle, at www.toolforeducators.com, check it:

http://www.toolsforeducators.com/crossword/getCrossword.php?to=1&hints%5B%5D=take+one%27s+time+looking+at+goods+in+a+shop+without+necessarily+wanting+to+buy+anything&texts%5B%5D=browse&hints%5B%5D=look+around+for+goods+that+one+can+buy+cheaply+or+for+less+than+their+usual+price&texts%5B%5D=bargain-hunt&hints%5B%5D=look+at+goods+in+store+windows+without+going+inside+or+intending+to+buy+them&texts%5B%5D=window-shop&hints%5B%5D=discuss+the+amount+of+money+one+is+willing+to+pay+for+something&texts%5B%5D=haggle&hints%5B%5D=go+to+different+stores+in+order+to+compare+the+prices+and+quality+of+things+so+one+can+decide+which+to+buy&texts%5B%5D=comparison+shop&hints%5B%5D=&texts%5B%5D=&hints%5B%5D=&texts%5B%5D=&hints%5B%5D=&texts%5B%5D=&hints%5B%5D=&texts%5B%5D=&hints%5B%5D=&texts%5B%5D=&hints%5B%5D=&texts%5B%5D=&hints%5B%5D=&texts%5B%5D=&hints%5B%5D=&texts%5B%5D=&hints%5B%5D=&texts%5B%5D=&hints%5B%5D=&texts%5B%5D=&hints%5B%5D=&texts%5B%5D=&hints%5B%5D=&texts%5B%5D=&hints%5B%5D=&texts%5B%5D=&hints%5B%5D=&texts%5B%5D=&hints%5B%5D=&texts%5B%5D=&fontName=comic&wordsearch=on&fontSize=11

União Cultural Brasil-Estados Unidos, São Paulo, SP

A typical classroom - União Cultural Brasil-Estados Unidos, São Paulo, SP