week 14: Technology for a new feedback generation

 The article named “HOW TO USE TECHNOLOGY TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK” it was short but very informative. In the beginning, the title looked very curious for me because sometimes give feedback can be difficult or tedious, and I thought this article it could be useful to give feedback, and the most important using a very useful tool how is technology.

This way to provide feedback it is principally for teaching online, but I think it can be useful for teachers in a classroom too. I think every teacher should know about how to use technology to provide feedback. Many time teachers are very busy preparing materials or classes, and they do not have enough time to prepare a feedback, but with the screen capture mentioned in this article, the teachers can create a feedback faster and save time.

 Something I would like to share with a colleague is this article and the screen captures. As teachers, I think we can take advantage of this tools to create feedbacks, and in case we would teach online, we can use them to create effectivity feedbacks. Technology has brought many benefits and I think these programs are very useful for teachers and future teachers, but a question that I still have is why this kind of tools does not are applied in El Salvador? I think this tools will be helpful not just for English teachers, if not for teachers from high school.

week 13: Benefits of include students

The article of this week named “10 Benefits of Getting Students to Take part in Classroom Discussions” is short, but very helpful too. Sometimes the teachers, and even we as teachers just go to classroom to talk, explain topics, grammar, etc., and finish the class and that is it. This way used to become the class in a really bored time for students and teachers, but this article talks about this, about how change this bored way and the benefits that bring include the students more in the classes.

Something I want to remember from this article are the 10 benefits of getting students to take part. I think we have to keep in mind the points mentioned here because they are very helpful if we want to be different teachers. Participation provides the teacher feedback, Participation adds interest, and participation can be used to develop important speaking skills are benefits of include students and make them participate in class. Also, there are many others benefits mentioned in the article that bring make participate students in the classes.

In addition, I think every teacher should know about these 10 benefits of getting students to take part. Some teachers know about these benefits, others not, but all teachers should know about this and principally teachers of ESL. All teachers of ESL should know and put in practice these points mentioned getting these benefits and become the classes in something more than classes.

Week 12: Essentials points for a innovate project

When I started to read the article named “Seven Essentials for Project-Based Learning” I had a curious reaction about the seven points showed in the article because I realize these are very important points that teachers should take in the count. I think we as teachers should start using these seven essentials points because many times the projects or homework’s assignment are given to students just because is in the schedule. It is important to generate brainstorms, questions such as “how can we fix the problem? Why is it this problem? What generated this problem? etc. as well as researches, and field investigations in students so they can see the world in a different way.

Something that I want to remember from this articles is the seven essentials points. I think this points can be useful for us in the future to teach in a different, useful and better way, but not just to teach, if not to generate thinking in students too; make students to ask themselves about situations and problems. Thanks to this article, we can realize that making a project or presentation it is not just that, a project or presentation. It is necessary to try to make a change, find a solution and show the situation or problem to different people through a project.

Week 11: Creating critical thinking in students

The article “Critical Thinking and Technology” consist and explain how as teachers, we can create a critical thinking on students through different ways such as presentations, computer, pictures, make questions in classes, etc. I think this article is very interested, informative, and helpful for teachers and future teacher because it can help us to start creating critical thinking in the students. Many times the teachers are focus just in make students to acquire information, topics, words to repeat and memorize leaving critical thinking aside. So it is important the students start to create a critical thinking; they must start to generate questions and ask themselves about everything to avoid be guides blindly by anyone, and we as teachers have to foment this in our students.

I think every teacher should know about this article as well as the different ways to general critical thinking through technology. Using visual learning and sources, internet, motivation, and question are some of the ways that we can use to achieve this, and now thanks to the technology, there are different sources that can become easier to achieve this in the students. 

A question that I still have is How can be this fomented in teachers? Because teachers have the task of creating critical thinking in students, but who has the task to make teachers do this? The government or the ministry of education? I think is important to start from teachers if it wanted to achieve critical thinking in students.

Week 10: Learning through mobile phones

The article “Twenty Ideas for Using Mobile Phones in the Language Classroom” surprised me a lot, principally because I had never heard about these activities. The ideas for using mobile phones and how as teachers, we can apply them to teach English it can results really useful for teachers and students to develop in a better way the learning process.

Something that I want to remember from this articles is the ideas for using mobile phones. I think these ideas are very complete, very creative and helpful for ESL learners. Ideas as use social networks, text messages, voice recorders, and even play video games, etc. through a cell phone can be important tools that one day we can use to teach, so I think is necessary to keep them in mind.

I think every teacher should know about these ideas. Teachers that have a while teaching English using traditional ways (books, audios, exercises, etc.) should start to use these ideas to innovate the English learning process and help students to acquire better the language. Something I would like to share with a colleague is the use of mobile phones. Everyone has a mobile phone, if you ask your students who has a cellphone everyone will say “I have one”, so I think as teachers, we have to take advantage of cell phones to be close of our students and help them to teach English faster and in an easy way, and the ideas from this article can help us to achieve that.  

Week 9: Teamwork on Wikis

My first reaction reading the article “Online Collaborative Writing Using Wikis” was curiosity.  I had never heard about wikis before, and how useful it can be for ESL learners. Something that I want to remember from this article is the importance and developing that this activity can have in students' lives. These kinds of activities can make students work in groups, to develop writing skills and it facilitates the work team as well as it can use the student’s free time to help them to learn English in a funny and cooperative way.

I think every teacher should know about wikis. In my opinion, Wikis are not too known in our country El Salvador, I think it will be very important that more and more teacher starting to know about this interesting, and helpful tool that can be useful for teachers as well as for ESL learners. Something I would like to share with a colleague is Wikis. This is a good option, and tool that we, as future teachers, can use to make students work in teams, and develop their skills.

A question that I still have is how can we implement this way to teach in Salvadorian classrooms? I think it will be fascinating that activities as Wikis being implemented in Salvadorian teaching programs of colleges and high schools to inculcate the work team and an innovate way to acquire knowledge.- Rate: 5

Week 8: Teaching English with real stuff

My initial reaction to the article “4 Creative Ways to Use Authentic Materials for Teaching English” it was a curiosity reaction because I had never heard about teaching ESL through making exercises of real stuff like job applications, and reading articles from different websites or from newspapers like The New York Times. Something that I want to remember from this article is that not always is necessary to teach English with workbooks. It can be helpful to use a real website for news, documentaries, etc. Every teacher should know was that to teach in a better and effective way is important to use different and innovate ways. This kind of method where is used real newspapers articles or jobs application to teach English can be perfect not just to students can learn English, if not to learn more about the life, real situation, and global trends.  

Something I would like to share with a colleague is the importance of choosing the right material for Teaching English. As a future teacher, I think is mandatory to always look for material or topics that are relevant or interesting for students, and avoid to choose material interesting just for the teacher.

Can be implemented this method in places with no internet connection? This is a question that I still have, and I hope that in the future it could be a way to use this method in places or neighborhood with few or no access to the internet. - Rate: 4