Last Tuesday, November 18th, I had the pleasure to present in a Cambridge University Press panel at the BETT Leadership Summit. Here’s the full version of my very condensed talk about a topic that is dear to me. In the past, when I thought about teacher training in the Educational Technology realm, it was in […]
Conferences are made of connections, gatherings, new acquaintances. The BrazTESOL International Conference in João Pessoa was no different, except that it was totally different for me. The premises of the Bilingual School Cidade Viva were amazing, with great infrastructure for an international event. The people working there had a special vibe, very solicitous always, and […]
Some people have such a strong and memorable presence in our lives that it is almost like they are immortal, or maybe they really are. They imprint some of them in us. When they are gone, at least physically, it is almost as if our hearts immerse in silence, and our minds process in such […]
As an educator and teacher trainer, I always suffer from FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). I’m sure we all do in a way or the other, when we say how fast our kids grow, how short time is compared to all we have to do, how much we have to learn with so much on […]
I have an aunt, tia Mercês, who is incredible passionate and knowledgeable about everything art-design-related. She is all for building local communities of artisans to make their lives a decent one that goes much beyond survival. She wants to empower people through their skills, traditions and passions. Yesterday, she sent me some some stunning […]
I´ve just come across this box of mlearning treasures that an art teacher/teacher trainer has put together. Though the focus is on digital art, many ideas can be adapted for the language classroom. http://drydenart.weebly.com/creating-on-ipads.html Mrs. Fuglestad has also created a Smore page with ideas for ipad creation. What I think could be the […]
Yesterday I was talking to a very experienced teacher who I know suffers from the same syndrome I do and most of the teachers out there do. The how-can-I-reach-teens syndrome. We all develop strategies, sometimes war strategies, we think and re-think ways that we could better engage our teens. The roller coaster is always […]
One of my favorite bloggers, Annie Murphie Paul, has written a post about homework that every educator should consider as a guideline for better learning opportunities. Her claim, based on Neuroscience and Psychology research, entails making better use of strategies that are effectively proven to have an impact on learning. Annie mentions three strategies […]
I´ve already mentioned Learnist as an interesting learning playlist tool that can be used by educators and learners. This Learnist is one educators will love, with all kinds of digital resources in one single place. http://learni.st/users/bryanNchrissie/boards/4090-web-2-0-tools-for-the-classroom
Besides using Haiku Deck app to create visually-appealing presentations, what if you used it with students to help them use language with content produced by real people. So, it is the old “this is..; she does this and that” with a twist in authenticity. Take, for example, this presentation: Created with Haiku Deck, the free […]
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I’ve always had this natural inclination to add images to whatever lesson I was teaching, and now even more so when I see the neuroscientific reason for doing it. James Zull, in his book “the Art of Changing the Brain”, mentions that “Our concrete experience contains much of the information we need for understanding, because […]
Do Something is a non-profit organization in the intersection of teens and social change, activism. There are tons of ideas on their site to help young people take action. I especially liked one about what makes you mad and the call for changing things around.http://www.dosomething.org/actnow/actionguide/become-activist As I have a tight schedule, I was considering adapting […]
For some, I might seem confident and a bit tech-savvy.However, with teens it seems that I’m bond to failure. That’s how I feel so often. Teaching them is like a roller coaster. Yes, don’t get me wrong! Sometimes I fear I won’t reach them. Every time I prepare my classes I have the feeling that […]
IATEFL was just some days ago, but things get so hectic when we get back that it seems that it was so long ago… The highlights of an international conference like IATEFL is always related to the people you meet and talk to and the networking that takes place everywhere, on the streets, on Twitter, […]
This is the time of the year that I get totally thrilled. Convention time. IATEFL, Liverpool. Promising. My second time in one of the best EFL teaching conferences in the world with wonderful professionals willing to share best practices, research, classroom ideas that can really make a difference in our classrooms. Digital Curation for […]
In the Binational Center I work for writing is taken seriously. There is a program for all levels. For the Teens and Intermediate courses, students work on paragraphs, but when they get to the Advanced level, the requirement is more demanding. Learners are exposed to different kinds of genres and are supposed to hand in […]
Educreations, Showme, Screenchomp are simple and multifaceted for the language classroom. These free screencasting apps have multiple possibilities, ranging from recording students’ dialogues or letting them freely talk about a subject as they show on the screen what they are exploring. There’s drawing, typing a text or inserting an image while recording. The students can […]
Trending topics, those hot topics of the day or sometimes the hour, are everywhere on social media. They represent what is ruling the world for different tribes. So here’s a very simple activity I’ve done with my students that has long-lasting, impacting effects in our classroom because of the emotional connections it enhances. Trending Topics […]
Evolving, progressing, developing. Not always an easy task, mainly for very busy English teachers who have heavy schedules, different groups with varied age range and levels of proficiency. But still, they are up to the challenge of after a long day of work to come to a Teacher Development Course to keep improving to become […]