jueves, 29 de enero de 2015

Why do we (EFL Teachers) need to know about Copyright?







Mainly because we need guidance.  Can we use internet based material for our classes?    The web is populated with lots of interesting authentic material we can´t wait to share with our students.  Every time one of my students finds something I´ve chosen for them interesting they say: "I didn´t know this was on the web! It´s amazing!"  So when this type of engagement occurs in my classes, it´s like music to my ears!

Here are my reflections and notes on the second and third week of the 2015 Educators and Copyright, Do the Right Thing




These are the links and notes I consider useful as reference material or that I might use in the future, taking into account my doubts and needs as regards copyright. (from Weeks 2 and 3 EVO Educators and Copyright Session, January 2015)












Useful tool: Open Attribute once installed an icon will appear in address bar whenever you´re on a page with CC licenses.  Clicking on this icon will give you an attribution line to copy and paste.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
A NOTE TO MYSELF!


We can copy and share ALL works with any CC license.


BUT

...only SOME CC licenses give us permission to
edit and remix. 

………………………………………………………………………………………………
What do we have permission to use?


Images:




Mixed media


List of works created under a CC license



A Sample Lesson with my questions about it...

My Sample Lesson for an adult upper intermediate student who loves British English but who is about to travel to New York City and wanted to get practice in speaking and listening  American English.
I sent her the Google Doc below with some links of material I considered useful and interesting for her to start getting used to the American accent and I gave her full freedom to choose the task she felt more comfortable with.  We would talk about and work with it in our first class.  The doc is shared only with her (and now with you for educational purposes) and we use it as an online notebook where we keep not only the links to the material but also her responses.


As you can see I have chosen Voice Of America, Learning English which was introduced to us in a TESOL conference last year in my country, but as regards the remaining 2 links (ESLGold.com and ESLPod ) I´m not sure if I can use them or how to reference them.



Travelling with Adriana
Getting ready to travel to NYC


Hello my dear student!


  1. The first task for you today is this:
Film.pngYou are going to watch a video report about “Mindfulness Meditation and Stress”. (Retrieved from VOA, Learning English )


Before:
Have you ever meditated?  
Have you ever been to a yoga class?
Do you pay attention to your breathing?
What do you do (when you are nervous or in a tense situation at home or work) to calm down?


Watch


After
  1. Write down words you consider important vocabulary.
  2. What is the definition of “mindfulness meditation”?
  3. What are the benefits of Mindfulness Meditation?
  4. Write your personal opinion about the subject. Would you like to try this technique?
…………………………………………………………………...
2. Conversation




In order to listen click on the link that says: “Click for audio”


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3. Listening
ESL Pod (Retrieved from ESLPod.com )
Explore the different options and choose one to listen. (Remember you can download the podcasts to your smartphone to listen on the go)

miércoles, 14 de enero de 2015

EVOSessions. Flipped Learning

Photo Credit: Photograph by Maria Colussa


Discussion Questions Week 1
Reflecting on what you've read and watched this week, please give a preliminary justification for flipped learning (or not) in your teaching situation. Please use the Week 1 section of our Google Plus EVO Community to post your comments and to respond to others' posts.
The case for the Flipped Classroom has been discussed lately as an approach which seeks to both optimize classroom time and cater for students mixed abilities and interests.  In my case, a freelance EFL teacher of English working mostly one to one with access to technology such as good internet connection, mobile devices and no behaviour problems, the idea of flipping to enhance certainly attracts me and I have to confess that after I read and watched the material from week one I was happy to see that I was doing some things in the right way.  Diving for my students main interests and identifying their strengths and difficulties is something I do and consider when I search for  potential content everywhere, mainly on the web.  However when we talk about flipping we mean more than that.  We also mean producing or looking for content that is specifically designed or tailored for my students.  I haven´t swam these waters yet, the production I mean, but I will surely give it a try this year.  
As with the E-book idea last EVO2014 sessions, incorporating these "new" approaches to teaching takes my brain a little while to get adjusted.  From what I gathered in the discussions in the Google Community I share some of the same concerns of my fellow "EVOers".  Will the students actually take the time to check what I send them?  Will they be engaged with the material?  How good will I be producing the content?  The question could well be: How do I flip appropriately?  We´ll see, I guess that as with many things in life I will be learning by doing and this is the place to start my first small steps...