I started blogging because I was asked to do it. I was working online and doing some Moocs with Coursera some years ago and we shared our ideas online. I started my first two blogs and I am still writing online.
While learning online I realized that I could blog with my students of English. Blogging is a good way for enabling them to use the language in a meaningful way.
I hope I will use a blog with my students next year. The idea is not new but I do need to rely on students who are willing to read and to work also online. I need to work hard on the content and to find activities that help them reflect online.
You can find some tips here in this interesting interview which was shared online ; the teacher is more engaged and her students too. It must be great to work in a school with such young learners.!
Teaching Shakespare The Play " Romeo and Juliet"
This term I have been teaching Shakespeare's plays and I have done some work on Romeo and Juliet with my third-year students in a secondary school in Italy.
When teaching adolescents I am used to teaching about literature and language. We have seen the film in class, we have learnt about the plot and we have worked on the play.
We have analyzed the balcony scene and the first kiss between Romeo and Juliet. The choice of the writers of the book we have been using is about the sonnet:
We have compared the Italian sonnet with the English one and we have focussed on the themes which are love and also the tragedy of love as the two lovers will never know why they will not meet again.
With the younger students we will work on lexis and idioms related to love; some help can be found online- the focus is on idioms but also on teaching :
Activities and tips from educators about teaching Valentine's Day
Thanks to Shelly Terrell and other educators we have many resources: in most cases the activities are interactive and engaging. New technologies can enhance our teaching. It is a pity I do not have many interactive whiteboards in class and my students have only smartphones to use in class. If we had tablets and they had been trained how to use some tools we might create interesting projects about Shakespeare and also love in his famous tragedy.
These are Shelly Terrell's useful slides with lots of tips and information about which tools we might use:
Recently I have discovered a new website for students where they can read and watch videos and this is free!
They have just released this reading about this topic- spotlightenglish.com is the website:
27th January 2017- Remembering the Holocaust turn back on
This idiom " turn back on somebody" can be the beginning of this post as today we are remembering what we cannot forget about our past history: it is part of Europe''s past but it is also the history of the XX century. When we think about what happened in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s we cannot but not say that it was the worst event in the history of human beings. Two World Wars marked the century but the atrocities which happened in the concentration camps like Buchenwald and Auschwitz cannot be explained and we feel that we cannot understand why it occured.
Auschwitz is still there, open to visitors to remind them that we must not forget the ones who lost their life because of the cruelty of nazism and racism. 27th January 1945 marks the beginning of the destruction of a regime but many more atrocities have happened since then and more are happening now. We do need to open our eyes and NEVER FORGET. It happened and it can happen again. Europe saw the deaths of innocents, people who were not supporting Hitler and the millions of Jews who thought they might escape or thought that the man next door would not tell the police that you were not German.
This week we took our students to the cinema and we saw the film " Alone in Berlin" based on the book by Hans Fallada. Our school - like many in Italy - is invited to do some activities about the day on which we are reminded of Auschwitz.We decided to see this film- all our classes went to the cinema.
The film was released last year and it presented the story of two German people who decided to fight against the Nazis regime in Germany after their son had died at war.
The man and the woman started writing postcards where they invited people to be against the dictator and after successfully sending 200 postcards they were arrested.
The story narrated by Fallada was based on the true story of Otto and Elise Hampel who were put in prison and later beheaded. Their messages to the German people were simple: don't cooperate with the regime , you must not support the Nazis.
After many years we must continue this battle: those who died need to be remembered. We can say that we do need to see films that remind us that this happened in Germany, in the heart of Europe.
The trailer of the film can be used in class for presenting the issue and work with the students to discuss the Holocaust . It is important to see that Germany was under a dictator but that there were also people who became aware of the oddity of the regime.
On the Internet we can find a lot of information and materials for discussion about the importance of learning from the past. A good film or a good book can really make a difference.
A simple tool like Instagrok or documents online will help us develop our students' critical thinking skills.
Language Teachers can work with Teachers of History to get into the history of the 1930s and 1940s and they will develop tasks which are meaningful and useful for their learners.
In December I missed the webinar where Shelly Terrell presented her ideas about teaching LISTENING SKILLS in English, but I am going to watch the video if she uploads it on the Youtube.
The presenter shared her great slides and I am uploading them to start my research online about the resources which we can find and can help us develop our learners.
When studying online and learning more about changes in education I had the chance to do a course about Digital Coaching. It was an American Mooc course but it was about the way teachers can work better if the coach works on them by supporting them. What most of the teachers had to discuss about was in relationship to the need to implement the digital skills among teachers and thanks to this professional development more students could better their skills in the 21st century school.
What I am doing now is working on different levels of competences but aim at building a better teacher who is now learning.
I am not a coach, I wish I had a good coach who could work with me in my school but I can manage.
In our schools we have digital coaches or people who are starting to support us. It is hard for some but I consider myself a teacher who has developed in the field of new technologies and thanks to my social network I am learning online and thanks to the other. Sharing is Caring : this is our Motto!!
Here are some interesting documents which I have found online and deal with important issue that every educator and coach should be familiar with: they have to do with designing and new ways of working where technology is supporting teachers and learners.
This year I discovered a European website - called EMMA- which provides MOOCs, many have to do with education and learning. It is a useful website which can enhance our learning and help us develop as teachers and life-long learners.
EMMA is an innovative platform that provides free MOOCs. Some are self-paced - this implies that we can choose when to do the MOOC. I could enroll to do the MOOC about E-Portfolios before the summer but only in December I could work on the lessons as I was busy while working at school. If you do 70% of the activities you are given a certificate of attendance.
The course online was released in 2015 but they offered a " Self-development course" in 2016 too:
We had to watch videos, reflect on what we had seen and think about our ideas about ePortfolios.
Lessons were presented by providing an introduction, videos and a lot of links and documents online.The tutors made a list of sources for each lesson and I must admit that I bookmarked them as I am going to check them later.
The overall framework was clear and well-organized. I must admit that I have been given a great introduction to what is now required at work,at school and at university too.
Definition of e-Portfolios
EPortfolios have been used for showcasing learner work and to support formative or summative assessment processes.
Now ePortfolios offer many more possibilities like storing, archiving, thinking, reflecting, storytelling, collaborating and publishing about one's learning experiences.
E-Portfolios can show your achievements, your reflections and what you have been doing as part of your professional development
This is an interesting use of Portfolios and I think that we will be required to use them in our profession: this is what I have been doing when I do MOOCs online and in many cases I have been asked to reflect online and share my reflections after attending some conferences online.
ePortfolios Ownership We can have different types of Portfolios: - Individual ePortfolio - Institutional / Organization ePortfolio A good example is the European Language Portfolio - Individual ePortfolio within an institution/organization
I am already familiar with the European Language Portfolio:
In Education ePortfolios offer the opportunity to create and manage an online space of digital artefacts that provide evidence of competencies and abilities acquired over a specific period of time.
They should support growth and change .
My Reflections and what I would like to do in class with my students
First think about modern tools which can be used by them: Google Apps and in particular New Google Sites can be used to showcase their artefacts.
Here are some interesting Tutorials: I have just started my new website and I must admit that it is very easy. I might therefore support my students but I am sure they will be successful.
As a teacher I will continue blogging ....................................
As a teacher I will continue blogging and I will write about my profession and for my CPD as education requires reflecting on what we do in class, what we have learnt and how we can improve our methodologies:
