Friday, September 18, 2015

Lesson plan samples


Hi guys,


Hope you are all excited about planning your lessons for the web site activity. As I promised here are two sample lesson plans using different approaches and I have added one of my own lesson plans which is not perfect but it will help you get more ideas of what I want to see. Keep working hard!

PPP lesson plan: http://www.slideshare.net/willys007/ppp-sample-lesson

PDP lesson plan: http://www.slideshare.net/willys007/pdp-sample-lesson

Extra lesson plan: http://www.slideshare.net/willys007/sample-lesson-plan-willy-45520268

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Syllabus!


Hi guys,

Here is the summary of the four concepts kept in mind when designing a syllabus. Keep the hard work!

LEARNABILITY
This concept explains that some structural or lexical items are easier for students to learn than others.

Based on this concept we teach easier things first and then increase the level of difficulty as students’ language level rises.

This concept might tell us that, at beginner levels, it is better to teach uses of was and were immediately after teaching uses of is and are, rather than follow is and are with the third conditional.

FREQUENCY
This concept tells us that it would make sense, especially at beginning levels, to include items which are more common in the language, than ones that are only used occasionally by native speakers.

Thanks to this concept we are in a position to say with some authority, for example, that SEE is used more often than UNDERSTAND, than it is to denote vision (e.g. Oh, I see). It might make sense, therefore, to teach that meaning of SEE first.

COVERAGE
 This concept explains that some words and structures have greater scope for use than others.

We might decide, on the basis of this concept, to introduce GOING TO future before the present continuous with the future reference, if we could show that GOING TO could be used in more situations than the present continuous.
  
USEFULNESS
 This concept explains the reason that words like BOOK and PEN figure so highly in classrooms (even though they might not be that frequent in real language use) is because they are words normally used in that situation.

This concept helps understand that words for family members occur early on in a student’s learning life because of the context of what students are linguistically able to talk about.

Web-based activities



Hi everybody,

Some of you might have still questions about the web based activity you are to share with your classmates for the second grade of the module tomorrow. Here is a list of the steps and the link to access the samples I showed you the other day in class. Have a blast!

1. Select a non-educational web site.
2. Create a lesson using that web site.
3. Write a lesson plan for the class. (Keep in mind the elements and approaches we talked about as well as the instructional objectives material)
4. Talk briefly about the web page and the activity in class. (Thursday September 17)
5. Send the lesson plan by mail. (Deadline: Saturday September 19) This means you will have Sunday to get ready for the next module. Isn't your teacher the best?

Looking for solutions.



Hi everybody,

Here is our last forum. We discussed some of the disadvantages of using a book but we did not talk about possible solutions. So here is the chance to do so. Look at the following chart presenting some common difficulties students and teachers might face when using books. Choose a problem and post a solution to overcome that difficulty. Thanks for sharing!"

Weakness
Teacher/Student Difficulty
Ways of Overcoming Problem
The textbook is designed as a the sole source of information.
Students only see one perspective on a concept or issue.

Textbook is old or outdated.
Information shared with students is not current or relevant.

Textbook questions tend to be low level or fact-based.
Students assume that learning is simply a collection of facts and figures.

Textbook doesn't take students' background knowledge into account.
Teacher does not tailor lessons to the specific attributes and interests of students.

Reading level of the textbook is too difficult.
Students cannot read or understand important concepts.

The textbook has all the answer to all the questions.
Students tend to see learning as an accumulation of correct answers.

Advantages and disadvantages of using books


Hi again,

As I promised here is the summary of the pros and cons of using books we discussed in class this morning:

Advantages

It is easy to follow.
You don’t really have to make a plan.
You can revisit a topic as many times as you need.
Students have enough exercises.
Students can make progress on their own at home.
It is an organized way of looking at learning.

Disadvantages

It might get boring for students.
You might lose flexibility. It may require you to be too rigid.
It does not encourage creativity.
The student might become too dependent.

Books might be too expensive.

Thanks a lot.

Writing instructional objectives



Hi guys,

As we already know writing objectives is vital for teachers because it helps us to get a sense of direction as well as to know what kind of activities include in order to get what we want from students. Here are two links with the presentation on how to write instructional objectives and an article I put together with a more specific explanation on how the ABCD model works. Hope you like it and use it to write your lesson plan objectives. Have a lovely rest of the week!

Prezi presentation: https://prezi.com/bspn9-lqk9ff/what-are-instructional/

Article on the ABCD model: http://www.slideshare.net/willys007/the-abcd-model-for-writing-objectives

Approaches to lesson planning (Part 2)


Hi guys,
Here are the links to the description of the three approaches you worked with. Anytime you want you are free to peruse them.

Have a good one

PDP

PPP

TTT

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Approaches to lesson planning

Hi everybody,

I want to thank you for your hard work this morning and for helping me with the class. You did a great job and here is the result:




Educational Technology: Good or Evil?




Hi everybody,

Here are the link to two videos I'd like you to watch. Once you have watch them post your comments to the following question: Is the use of Educational technology taking us away from the real nature of teaching?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA1Aqp0sPQo

http://www.ted.com/talks/ramsey_musallam_3_rules_to_spark_learning#t-381128

Monday, September 14, 2015

Team 1: Anyela, Christian, Nelmarie and Luis


Welcome team 1,

Your mission should you choose to accept it is to go through the following 4 steps individually (20 minutes), then with your partner discuss the use of the different tools in EFL teaching (10 minutes) and finally present your ideas to the rest of the groups (10 minutes). As always, should you or any of your team be lost surfing the internet or caught visiting other webpages, the teacher will disavow any knowledge of your actions. Good luck!!

Step 1:
Watch the video on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI
Think of what language skills a teacher could promote using blogs.

Step 2:
Check the following link. What skills could students practice with it? http://edu.glogster.com/

Step 3:
Go to: http://translation.babylon.com/
How could an English teacher use a site like this one?

Step 4:
Check the following two links. How could students benefit from using these two websites?
http://www.ted.com/talks/browse

http://esl-bits.net/

Team 2: Pat, Juliana, Neyla and Juan Pablo




Welcome team 2,
Your mission should you choose to accept it is to go through the following 4 steps individually (20 minutes), then your partner discuss the use of the different tools in EFL teaching (10 minutes) and finally present your ideas to the rest of the groups (10 minutes). As always, should you or any of your team be lost surfing the internet or caught visiting other webpages, the teacher will disavow any knowledge of your actions. Good luck!!

Step 1
Go to the following link and listen for a while:http://splendidspeaking.podomatic.com/player/web/2006-10-26T05_07_12-07_00
This is an example of podcasting. How do you think a teacher can use this tool with his/her students?

Step 2
Check the following online dictionary: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/
Take a look at the different dictionaries they have in there. How could a teacher maximize the use of a tool like this with his/her students?

Step 3
Check the following sites: 
http://online-voice-recorder.com/es/

https://voicethread.com/

What kind of activities could teachers ask students to do here?

Step 4
Check the following two sites:
https://storybird.com/

https://prezi.com/

How appealing do you think students will find them?

Team 3: Daniel, Juan Manuel, Yolanda and Marcela


Welcome team 3,
Your mission should you choose to accept it is to go through the following 4 steps individually (20 minutes), then with your partner discuss the use of the different tools in EFL teaching (10 minutes) and finally present your ideas to the rest of the groups (10 minutes). As always, should you or any of your team be lost surfing the internet or caught visiting other webpages, the teacher will disavow any knowledge of your actions. Good luck!!

Step 1
Go to google and find a page that can tell you a little more about what a wiki is. Think of some ways of using this with your students

Step 2
Check the following site: http://www.newspaperme.com/
How would you integrate a site like this to your classes?

Step 3
Check the following link: http://vocaroo.com/
Is a site like this of any help for a student? How could you help your students to use it?

Step 4
Find the name of two online encyclopedias. Take a tour of the site and make a list of advantages and disadvantages of using a site like these with your students.

Team 4: Ommed, Daniela, Elizabeth



Welcome Team 4,
Your mission should you choose to accept it is to go through the following 4 steps individually (20 minutes), then with your partner discuss the use of the different tools in EFL teaching (10 minutes) and finally present your ideas to the rest of the groups (10 minutes). As always, should you or any of your team be lost surfing the internet or caught visiting other webpages, the teacher will disavow any knowledge of your actions. Good luck!!

Step 1
Visit the following site: http://es.englishcentral.com/videos#!/index/all/all/trending/0

What kind of skills could students practice here?

Step 2
Check the following site: http://penzu.com/
Is there anything a teacher could do with his/her students in class using this site?

Step 3
Visit the following cartoon genrator: www.toondo.com
What kind of skills could students practice here?

Step 4
Find out what a wordle is. What could teachers do with this tool?

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Elements of lesson planning


As we already know teachers develop their own personal styles to plan their lessons. There are many things you can include in a lesson plan and the possibilities are endless. Here is a list of elements you can find in lesson plans. Read the list and choose 5 elements you consider essential for your lesson plan. Post the list of the 5 elements and a short explanation of the reasons behind your choice.

See you next class.

Elements of lesson planning

Lesson planning styles


Hi everybody,

Here is the link to the presentation on the different lesson planning styles. Hope you find it useful.

The planning continuum

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

TEFL overview



Hi everybody,

Here is an overview of the work plan of Module 3. Hoping we all learn the most from each other.

TEFL - MODULE 3 - WILLY S.
CURRICULUM AND MATERIAL DESIGN

CHAPTER 21 – PLANNING LESSONS
CHAPTER 11 – EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY AND OTHER LEARNING RESOURCES
VIRTUAL SUPPORT COURSE   www.2015teflmodule3.blogspot.com

DAY 1: September 10, 2015 (10:00 – 12:00)
Goals:
Understand goals and work plan.
Talk about the importance of planning a lesson by discussing some general beliefs.
Learn how to work with the virtual course by checking the blog.

DAY 2: September 15, 2015 (8:00 – 12:00)
Goals:
Learn about the main elements of a lesson plan by prioritizing from a list.
Discuss two different planning approaches by making posters.
Understand how educational technology has impacted ELT by learning about its development.
Research on different ways of using technology to enrich EFL classes by having a virtual quest.

DAY 3: September 16, 2015 (8:00 – 12:00)
Goals:
Talk about textbooks by discussing their pros and cons.
Practice how to write instructional objectives by following a model.
Discuss tips to use a textbook by reflecting on a graph
Talk about syllabus criteria by learning the features of different types of syllabus

DAY 4: September 17, 2015 (8:00 – 12:00)
Goals:
Talk about the different uses of objects, pictures and things in the EFL class by making presentations.
Share some hints on how to use some presentation aids by preparing an activity.
Review the contents of the module by experiencing some communicative activities.
Present web based activities and their lesson plans.

Assignment 1: Participation in the support course (A minimum of 2 entries per activity)

Assignment 2: Lesson plan for the web-based activity and presentation.

Advantages and disadvantages of lesson planning.




Here is a short list of pros and cons of lesson planning. Do you think it is necessary to have a written lesson plan for every single class we teach? Explain your answer.

Some advantages and disadvantages of lesson planning - HIMANSHU MALLICK

Advantages of Lesson Planning

1. It inspires the teacher to improve the further lessons.

2. It helps the teacher in evaluating his teaching.

3. It develops self confidence in the teacher.

4. Proper care is taken on take into consideration, the level and previous knowledge of students.

5. The teaching matter is organized in a time-frame.

6. It inspires the teacher to ask proper and important questions.

7. It provides guidance to the teacher as to what and home he should teach.

8. It helps in creating the interest of students towards the lesson.

9. It stimulates the teacher to think in an organized manner.

10. It helps the teacher to understand to objectives properly.

Limitations of Lesson-Planning

1. In new or odd situations teacher feels himself helpless.

2. Sometimes simple matters become complicated.

3. More time is required to plan a lesson.

4. Teacher cannot work/teach independently.

5. There is lack of flexibility in lesson-planning.

6. The teaching process becomes more difficult.