Project Oriented Learning as teaching methodology

The new Education Act stated that outcomes based education (OBE) have to be introduced,
not only in schools, but also on tertiary level. Technikon Northern Gauteng embarked on
Project Oriented Learning (POL) as a teaching methodology for OBE.
Project Oriented Learning is a teaching methodology where a group of learners,
independently, works on a real life problem or question. The problem is analyzed, and
according to the specifications given in the task or assignment, the group works to an
outcome.

POL simultaneously supports important objectives of higher education:
• Acquisition of knowledge, which is retained and usable
• Self-directed learning
• Learning to analyze and solve problems

Working in groups (tutorial groups) occupies a central role in POL. The difference between a
tutorial group and a class or lecture is that a tutorial also offers a platform for learners to
exchange knowledge and ideas. To be able to exchange knowledge, communication has to
take place within the group. Learners are expected to ask questions, give opinions or explain

Metodologia 2 Manual:

http://cid-e57ad46b7956f5a2.office.live.com/view.aspx/2011/POL%20Metodologia%202%202011.docx

Metodologia 1 Manual:

http://cid-e57ad46b7956f5a2.office.live.com/view.aspx/2011/POL%20Meto%201%202011.docx

Macmillan Children's Dictionary

Macmillan Children's Dictionary
By Carolyn Barraclough | Macmillan ELT (2001) | ISBN: 0333953037
PDF | English | 14.1 MB | 96 pages

I know that a lot of teachers are working with kids right know, so, I will share with you this eBook, even if you are not working with children but you want to learn in a graphical way more vocabulary. A greatly illustrated photographic dictionary with over 800 words and pictures. It includes British and American vocabulary and spelling, as well as a range of graded reading, writing and speaking activities.

Enjoy it and send me your comments.

Link:
http://cid-e57ad46b7956f5a2.office.live.com/self.aspx/eBooks/Macmillan%20Children^4s%20Dictionary.pdf

Organize your classes (pt 1) Technology

The people that know me, know that I love teaching, but I hate paperwork, administrative tasks and non-teaching things in general, but sadly all paperwork comes with the territory, therefore, I have tried to organized my classes to have fewer problems when the administrative work comes, so here are my tips:

1. Use technology, when technology is used properly nothing can go wrong:

a) Plan you classes using a computer and make your own format with all the necessary information required in the class

b) Use USBs and spaces like skydrive or google documents to store important files

c) Scan documents or activities with pictures, drawings or similar characteristics or re-do them if they are only words (using a new and fresh format)

d) If you have some topics or subjects that you use frequently, do a powerpoint presentation and if you don't have a projector the day you will use it, you can easily print it to be handed out.

e) Always innovate, with today's technologies many things can be different, better, improved, just worry a little more to learn new ways.

NOTE: DO NOT forget the rule # 1, BACK UP everything, find a good portable HD, USB or DVDs, but BACK UP CONSTANTLY!! losing your ALL your files is like being in hell, time is money and lost files is like losing time, money and a piece of your mind!!!

POL Presentation 2010

This is the introduction translated by Lex and Dany, both students of Licenciatura de Idiomas in their 8th, and final, semester, they did a great job, they soon will be great Licenciadas, so I guess that in coming days I will upload some more videos from that presentation.

This POL was presented by 4th and 6th semester of LI, you will see some good performances, some performances that could be better, but they will improve with the years and practice.

Akeelahand the Bee

This is a movie that can be used in class, it has a very good plot and leaves a good message along with vocabulary.

In 'Akeelah and the Bee' Keke Palmer plays Akeelah Anderson, a bright 11 year old who just wants to fit in. Despite her intelligence, she is not a good student. She is unmotivated and often misses class. Since the death of her father five years ago, she only seems content when she imagines playing Scrabble with him. Nevertheless, her talent for spelling gives her an opportunity to shine.

This is on of the better movies I have seen this year. This heart-warming and inspirational story is about a girl who, despite all the hardships at home, finds a way to utilize her skill at Scrabble. With a little help from her coach (Laurence Fishburne) she not only learns a lot about language, but she learns how to appreciate the environment around her. She finds out that she is rich in ways she did not realize.

It is very difficult to find fault with this movie, there is something in it for everyone (even a few surprises). Both Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne are awesome. I was particularly impressed with Keke Palmer. I would compare it to 'The Karate Kid' meets 'Finding Forrester'.

INFO:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437800/

DOWNLOAD ACTIVITY:

http://cid-e57ad46b7956f5a2.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Activities/Akeelah.docx

Parts of the Speech

This is a very important powerpoint 2007 presentation, especially if you want to learn the 8 parts of a speech... you can download it from this link, it's a skydrive link, if you have any problems downloading it, please write down a comment:

http://cid-e57ad46b7956f5a2.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/TOEFL/LearningthePartsofSpeech.pptx

Choose Text for Students Reading

One of the most boring skills for the students to practice is reading, and that's because most of the teachers relay on the reading material that the books provide, therefore, it is imperative that we can find more sources of information, subjects that can be appealing and attractive enough for the students to get interested, so today I will post some criteria to choose text that can be useful and fun:

These texts should

* provide a framework that gradually introduces strategies required for skilled reading
* deal with themes and issues relating to the everyday lives of the readers
* provide opportunities to revisit some subjects, themes and characters
* use a simple language structure, so that students don’t have to review many oral language forms to access meaning
* offer opportunities for exploring language at the text, word, part word, and letter level
* provide opportunities for the acquisition of alphabet letters, letter clusters and common sight words in natural contexts
* present many of the conventions of written language including spelling, punctuation and capitalization
* encourage problem solving on text by having to make analogies, predictions, checking and self-corrections
* have illustrations that give maximum support for the emergent reader, gradually extending experience as reading is more confident
* use appropriate book structure, text size, spacing and layout to match text type, text difficulty and reader skill.

So every time that you want to use a text, try to choose a reading not because it's easy, but because there will be some new things, you and your students will learn.

5 Thoughts about...

5 strong thoughts about teaching English:

1) We have always been the underdogs in education, I think that authorities don't realize the work we do every day, they want us to give results without any kind of help, some schools think we are magicians, and after a long break without English, They want us to take back the classes as if the students had been practicing every day.

2) There are a lot of pseudo-teachers that don't help us increase the reputation of our job, people that are teaching languages just because they know enough to speak it, but lack of the methodology to really make the students learn.

3) English is what makes a difference between a mediocre professional and an outstanding one, we are that part of the career that will make the difference with that "extra" the students have to offer to the company to get the job

4) Foreign teachers are not better than local teachers, they are a good complement to achieve goals, but we are all needed to give the student what they need

5) One of the teachers' most typical mistake is the fact that they want to adapt the students to his/her particular way of teaching, we need to take into consideration the group's personality in order to prepare a good class.

So I say it¡¡