domingo, 28 de março de 2010

USING INTERNET FOR PRONUNCIATION




We´ve found this interesting way to teach pronunciation.
Sometimes we repeat the words as parrots and we think that this is enough for the students to know how to pronouce it... but we do not think of a way to make the students visualize what is being pronouced..This video give us some useful hints.

Is this teacher good enough ?



Many teachers have faced the same question: To be or not to be a teacher ? Am I going to be well paid for all my knowledge and all my efforts?
For those who have already faced this situation here there are a great statement that we can think of...

Learning and teaching using the internet






Another thing that us teachers need to be aware of is how to deal with new technologies to be updated and to be part of our students´lives.
Many teenagers and kids know how to manage a computer and spend their time using it, so as teachers we need to know it and know how to grab our student´s attention using the internet to help us.
I found a lot of useful information on BBC webpage and I post one about blog to help us using blogs in our classes.

Why blog?

So, why should you blog with your students? There are many reasons why you may choose to use weblogs with students. One of the best reasons is to provide a real audience for student writing. Usually, the teacher is the only person who reads student writing, and the focus of this reading is usually on form, not content. With weblogs, students can find themselves writing for a real audience that, apart from the teacher, may include their peers, students from other classes, or even other countries, their parents, and potentially anyone with access to the Internet.

Here are some other reasons for using blogs:

To provide extra reading practice for students.
This reading can be produced by the teacher, other students in the same class, or, in the case of comments posted to a blog, by people from all over the world.
As online student learner journals that can be read by their peers.
The value of using learner journals has been well documented. Usually they are private channels between teacher and student. Using a blog as a learner journal can increase the audience.
To guide students to online resources appropriate for their level.
The Internet has a bewildering array of resources that are potentially useful for your students. The problem is finding and directing your learners to them. For this reason, you can use your tutor blog as a portal for your learners.
To increase the sense of community in a class.
A class blog can help foster a feeling of community between the members of a class, especially if learners are sharing information about themselves and their interests, and are responding to what other students are writing.
To encourage shy students to participate.
There is evidence to suggest that students who are quiet in class can find their voice when given the opportunity to express themselves in a blog.
To stimulate out-of-class discussion.
A blog can be an ideal space for pre-class or post-class discussion. And what students write about in the blog can also be used to promote discussion in class.
To encourage a process-writing approach.
Because students are writing for publication, they are usually more concerned about getting things right, and usually understand the value of rewriting more than if the only audience for their written work is the teacher.
As an online portfolio of student written work.
There is much to be gained from students keeping a portfolio of their work. One example is the ease at which learners can return to previous written work and evaluate the progress they have made during a course.
To help build a closer relationship between students in large classes.
Sometimes students in large classes can spend all year studying with the same people without getting to know them well. A blog is another tool that can help bring students together.


http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/blogging-elt- Blogging for ELT - Submitted by TE Editor on 6 March, 2005 - 13:00

quinta-feira, 18 de março de 2010

Teaching English Nowadays


Being a great teacher requires great efforts nowadays!!!Now let´s add something more challenging : Becoming An English Teacher...
How to be a great English teacher in a Globalized World? Full of peolpe that have traveled abroad and have studied English and think they are able to become an English teacher???
How to become a great teacher among those who really don´t care about the student´s learning and get the job as a teacher only to raise their salaries or worse than that to get any salary???
This Blog was created to discuss the Englih Teacher Role nowadays and help us and others to survive in this ELT jungle...