IMPORTANT!!

Hi there!!

I'm really sorry but this Thursday I will be unable to attend....we will start with the Workshops the following week.

I apologize again...

Planning and organizing our second term

Hello!!!

Here I am...back after some hectic weeks....

Here I am to remind you that for Thursday you have to read chapters 5 and 6 from the Douglas Brown book (on Learning Styles and Personality Factors).


Also, here I am to refresh groups and workshops:

• Teaching Strategies

Ayelén, Ivanna, Flor L., Celeste and Grace                                   19/9 or 26/9

• Teaching Vocabulary

Yami, Yami, Noelia, Majo and Nancy                                           26/9 or 3/10

• Teaching Receptive Skills: Reading and Listening

Haydée, Bárbara, Antonella, Belén and Natalia                            3/10 or 10/10

• Teaching Speaking and Teaching Pronunciation

Flor FB, Valeria, Paula, Camila and Sebastián                             10/10 or 17/10

Remember to check the material in the bunch....use that as a guide and feel free to add any material of your own.

Well, that is all for now...

Relax and enjoy the much deserved winter break!!!

Hi my dear students!!

Well...the most important thing to tell you this time is to rest and be happy!! This break is essential to not only survive the second part of the year but also profit from it...

I have been veeeery kind and have given you no homework, except for getting organized in groups of 4 or 5 for the workshops you will have to deliver and for the series of assessment tasks we will carry out in the second term....

Whatever doubts you have do not hesitate to contact me!

And if you can...keep your blogs alive during this month!!

Test, make up and homework

Hi there!!

How are you?... I am here...correcting term tests....

So just  a couple of things:

• Date of the make up: August 29th
• Homework for Thursday: Read chapter 10 by Douglas Brown: Theories of Second Language Acquisition

Well...I'll get back to correcting now...

About Thursday

Hi there!!!

I talked to Moni yesterday and she said we can use one of the upstairs classrooms....soooo... we can have our last class on Thursday!!!

I'm really looking forward to seeing you!!

Sharing the rest of the feedback...

Hi!!!

Here I send the link of the feedback presentations....

feedback on teaching reading

feedback on teaching listening 1

feedback on teaching listening 2

feedback on teaching listening 3

feedback on teaching speaking 1

feedback on teaching speaking 2

Have fun reading!! All the presentations make interesting points!!

VERY IMPORTANT!

Hi there!!

As you probably know, the building where we usually have classes will be closed on Thursday. As we have our term test, I asked the secretary of the Institute, and she said we can use a classroom in the main building. So, we are meeting in school number 2 on Thursday for our term test.

Soon I will post the links to the rest of the feedback... but I wanted to tell you about the Thursday issue as soon as possible.

Coming next...

Hi dear!!

How are you? Lazying on a rainy Sunday afternoon?

We have already dealt with SLA, Learning Styles, Personality Factors and most of Mistakes and Feedback...

Next Thursday we start with the Workshops...so come ready to participate and observe keenly for the feedback task!!

We will be starting with the Workshop on Teaching Strategies (both Direct and Indirect)...

Thursday class

Hi there!!

Last Thursday we worked in groups on SLA. A crazy thing happened: I prepared a grouping activity with cards related to different rock bands...and as it turned out, as you picked the cards, you ended up grouped exactly as you were sitting!!

You worked on a questionnaire, and each group had to deal with a different theory.

Also, we reached an agreement on how the second term is going to be assessed. We will have a combination of evaluating activities. We will have a traditional second term test, but including only a few topics. Then, there will be the workshops you will have to deliver. And also, there will be a collaborative task involving the use of technology.

For homework, you should post something in your blogs. Free entry.

Next class we will finish dealing with SLA; we will have the feedback on the assignments on FLA and if there is time we will start working on leatning stlyes.

Well, that is all for the time being...

Back to work!!

Hi there!!

How are you? Enjoying this sunny weekend? I hope so!!

On Thursday we started working on Second Language Acquisition. We brainstormed factors that play a role in the process and we highlighed the differences between FLA and SLA.

For next class you have to read chapter 10 by Brown on Theories of Second Language Acquisition,; you have to add an entry to your blog related to either FLA or SLA (or both) and you have to get organized into four groups of four for the workshops you'll be in charge of in this second term.

Please remember it is important to respect deadlines. Last class the assignment on FLA was due, but not everybody handed it in.

Well...that's all for the time being!!

Winter break and others

Hi there!!

How are you? Enjoying the Winter Break in this amazing weather??

Just a few lines to remind you of the essay you have to write on First Language Acquisition:

Write an essay explaining the P and P model and FLA. Please use your own words. Make sure to include explanations of what priniciples are, what parameters are, how it is that children acquire language and what the main arguments are to support this model.

Remember that you must also read Pinker's chapter "Baby born in talking describes Heaven", which will contribute information and examples for your essay.

The due date is August 16th.

Well... that's all... you can continue resting now!! See you soon!!

Sorry for the delay

Hi there!!

First of all, let me apologize for not having kept you posted in the last two weeks...my internet connection was working poorly and I have been busier than usual (work and mum stuff).

Second, I wanted to let you know that on Thursday, after the term test you will be free to go... I think the test might take two hours and you will be tired afterwards... we will continue with our discussion of FLA on July 5th.

Well, that's all for now...

Hi again!

How are you? How are you spending your weekend?

Last class we finished working on Second Language Learning and Teaching Styles...it is a very important topic because nowadays, in the post methods era, you can choose to combine different methods...but it is important that you do it conscientiously and not just because.

Then we started working on TBLT, chapters 1 and 2. You are grouped by movie genre preferences...so please remember next Thursday to sit in the same way. We'll devote the first part of the class to working on the activities on ch 1 and 2, and the second part of the class to playing a game on chapter 3.

So... for next class you have to read chapter 3 on TBLT. For Thursday 31st you should prepare a summary and an activity on one of the chapters about CLIL (this time, you chose the groups...). And bear in mind that the Term Test will be on June 28th.

Also, I want to apologize because I am behind with my corrections of your blogs...it doesn't usually happend to me and I hate it when it happens. I'll be catching up in the next few days. And again, I am sorry.

Finally, here there is a video I'd like you to watch.... then we will comment on it:

Review of Methods and Approaches

Hi there!!

How are you?

First of all, a brief summary of what last class was about. We dealt mainly with a revision of methods you studied on previous years. We also talked about the blog you have to create and about preferneces for how to work in class.

For next class you have to read the chapter by Cook on Second Language Learning and Teaching Styles. You also have to finish the chart with weaknesses and strengths of different methods, to discuss in class (not to hand in). Finally, you have to create your blog. Here I leave you a tutorial to complement what Matías explained to you on Thursday:

Whatever doubts you may have, we'll devote some class time to clearing them next Thursday. So don't worry!

2nd class

Hello, hello!!

How are you, my dear? I hope you are awesome!!

Last Thursday, apart from singing Happy Birthday to Hernán (I'm still not sure if he owes us a cake or we owe him...haha!), we discussed the concept of Language. It took longer than planned, but I think it was worth it because different concepts, ideas and doubts came up that deserved being attended to.

We worked partly in groups and partly with the class as a whole... I haven't asked you yet...what do you prefer? Individual work? Pair work? Group work? Class work? (please leave your comments below)

For homework you have to read the chapter by Yule on The Properties of Language and the syllabus, and you have to check Matías´ blog and the blog from my list The Wizarding World of English. In that way you can start thinking about what kind of space your blog will be...

Second Workshop...check!

Hi there!!

How are you?? Tired? Probably yes... but you have only one more month to go!! You can do it!!

Last Thursday we had the second workshop on Teaching Listening, delivered by Carolina, Emiliano and Julia. You then wrote some feedback for them.... We all enjoyed the workshop and would have liked it to be longer!!

Today I'll finishe correcting the short stories and then you have to give them an attractive layout, using some application. After that, we'll have the feedback step of the assessment project.

And, next Thursday we have the workshop on Teaching Reading!!

First workshop...check!!

Hi my dear 4th!!  How are you? I hope you are doing well!!!

Last Thursday we had the first Workshop, delivered by Cecilia, Celeste and Belén. It was about Direct and Indirect Strategies. They told us about the classification and all the options there are as regards strategies. They made us play too!!

For next class, I need you (the ones who were present on Thursday) to write some feedback for the girls (you should hand it in to me).

In fact, the last part of the class was devoted to dealing with how to provide feedback and with how important it is to provide enriching, and adequate feedback.

Next Thursday we have the workshop on Teaching Listening...I'm really looking forward to it!! Also, next Thursday is the deadline for the short stories! (In the Google document so I can correct...later you will use an application to illustrate it and give it a more attractive presntation).

Well... that's all for now...

Class cancelled.... reprogramming

Hi there!!

How are you?

Last Thursday we were all there but we could not have classes.... since classes were cancelled because there were no janitors.

So... this would be our new calendar...

Group	Topic	Likely date
Celeste, Belén and Cecilia	Teaching strategies	October 5th
Emiliano, Carolina and Julia	Teaching listening	October 12th
Joaquín, Matías, Daiana and Noelia	Teaching reading	October 19th
Eugenia, Gustavo and Marina	Teaching writing	November 2nd
Johanna, Aldana and Claudio	Teaching speaking	November 9th

Anyway... we can talk about any doubts on Thursday!

Mistakes, feedback and others....

Hi!!

How are you? How is your weekend going?

On Thursday we worked on the chapter on Mistakes and Feedback. First, we did a grouping activity based on a classification of people difficult to cope with. We reflected s little on the different types of difficult people, and the idea is to try to think about how to deal with them... You should select two of the categories and write in your blogs about how you think you should deal with them.

Once you were organized in groups, you worked on a questionnaire....I walked around the class, trying to help clear doubts and clarify concepts.

We are next meeting on September 28th, since on  the 21st we have the day off. That day we are having the first workshop, the one about Teaching Strategies (direct and indirect), so you should read the two chapters on this topic.

I'll be correcting your presentations and providing feedback... so we'll be in touch!

And remember the deadline for the short stories of our assesment project is October 12th.

Learning Styles and Personality Factors

Hi!!

How are you?? I hope you are doing great!!

Last Thursday we finished dealing with learning styles, with the different ways of classifying them, different quizzes to find out about them and the implications for teachers. We mentioned briefly some ideas related to strategies, but we did no go into details because we will soon have a workshop on that!!

Then we briefly discussed personality factors. We just mentioned them and explained a few central ideas, but we did not have time to go deeply into it.

The idea is that if yu have any questions or doubts on the chapter you ask me next class at the beginning of the class. And after that we will focus on Mistakes and Feedback, so make sure to read chapter 8 by Brown.

Well, finally, I hope tomorrow you all spend a wonderful day!!