Write to me

Classdigitools: Task 3

2012-02-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

Here I am again! Very late with my tasks, by the way, because I have been up to my eyes in work, so I just couldn´t sit and do my tasks. Even so, I´m still keeping faith and living the famous "Better Late Than Never" motto.

Let´s get down to business, shall we? Creative writing is something I love doing. I have always enjoyed using my imagination when writing and sometimes I use such activities in class, with flashcards in particular, which work perfectly. I usually place them around or tape them on the board. Students select a few and write a story based on those pictures. They enjoy the process, thinking about it makes them smile wondering how funny or crazy their stories are and how their peers will react to them once they read them outloud. And of course, the best part is sharing them. They have a lot of fun. The task assigned for week 2 is here: http://classdigitools.pbworks.com/w/page/47831193/Week2. All we had to do was briefly select one among different characters, settings and plots and create a short starter for a story. Then, we posted them in the comment area.

Sandbox: Part 4

2012-01-25T12:10:00.000-08:00

PROFESSOR GARFIELD is a mind blowing digital tool for comics. The teacher could use it as a wrap up activity. I can´t wait to start using them in class. Fun and easy! I only didn´t know how to give the strip a tittle, but I will find that out eventually.

GO ANIMATE also allows us to create comic strips. You can either have the information typed or recorded. The fact that it becomes a video makes it even cooler. Very easy to be used and a great wrap up activity. For this video in particular, I used infinitives for purpose.

GoAnimate.com: Lost in a desert island by cleiden

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Kind of Stuck

2012-01-24T12:07:00.000-08:00

Right now, I´m kind of stuck. I fell behind in both EVO sessions. Although I was supposed to be starting week 3, I´m still in week 2. I got kind of overwhelmed but still keeping faith and feeling fascinated by the new discoveries.

Sandbox: Part 3

2012-01-20T18:13:00.000-08:00

Today, I was able to explore a little more of the sandbox. I was able to use DVOLVER, a movie making digital tool, super easy and fun. The great thing about it is that you don´t even need to register. Kids will learn how to use it, practice the language and have fun.

http://www.dvolver.com/live/movies-671266
I also learned about VIMEO. I had already heard about it and how effective it is, but I had never actually used it. Here´s the link for my video: http://vimeo.com/35295376 Superlatives and Members of the Family from Cleide Nascimento on Vimeo.

Because I´m not being able to catch up with the others, I´m kind of frustrated. However, I´m still willing to do as much as I can. I´m learning about new tools and sharing my thoughts, opinions, reflections and ideas. It´s been fun!

I also used VIMEO, which I had heard about but I had never actually used. It´s also very easy. Here´s a video I created for teaching the superlatives. I was kind of wondering if we could create a video from Vimeo but I guess that´s not possible. What I did was upload a video I had made with Movie Maker. It worked just fine.

http://vimeo.com/35295376

Superlatives and Members of the Family from Cleide Nascimento on Vimeo.

Sandbox: Part 2

2012-01-18T17:30:00.000-08:00

Dear all, my computer crashed and I was out for three days! However, I´m back now and while playing with the sandbox, I discovered a tool called STRIP GENERATOR.What is interesting about it is that students, after being taught how to use it, can easily work on their own stories. There are characters, frames and items to choose from. Very fun, indeed! I decided to try it, so here´s a little story: http://stripgenerator.com/strip/610384/freako-and-weirdenson/

After trying MAKEBELIEFSCOMIX, I have to say that although it´s also super fun, because the possibilities for characters are broader, it´s a "little" more complex to make use of it (in case you try, you will see what I mean) and students might get a little impatient. Nevertheless, they would be perfectly able to create a story on their own (keeping in mind of course that they would have to be taught first, because modeling should not be left out). Furthermore, the result is fantastic! Students will flip!!!!

Sandbox: Part 1

2012-01-18T17:21:00.000-08:00

While browsing in the EVO page and checking out my course mates´ intro presentations, I found out about a tool that I just loved! SLIDEROCKET! Presentations look just beautiful. There are many options for page transition, images and you can also add a song!!! There are many more interesting features and it´s not difficult to be used. Take a look.

I also learn about ABOUT ME, which is another way to create a biographical page in order to introduce yourself. Leave a comment on your experience with webtools, pleeeease!!!

Digital Story Telling 4 Kids: Play in the sandbox

2012-01-15T12:37:00.000-08:00

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalStorytelling4Kids/

I´m also participating in a session on story telling. I must say I haven´t even started and my mind is blowing already! One of our tasks is to play with some of the many tools suggested in a sandbox list and reflect on the use of such tools in class.

Classdigitools: Task 2

2012-01-13T04:12:00.000-08:00

For this task, we were supposed to reflect upon the Technology Integration Matrix provided at http://fcit.usf.edu/matrix/matrix.php and reflect on where we currently are and where we´d like to be. It was great to see where I am now, which is the active (I would dare to say "collaborative" also) adaptation level. There´s still a lot to improve, and I´m willing to reach a level in which students are able to choose a tool and work more independently to achieve an outcome. I had the opportunity to see that happen last semester, but with a few students, not all. Most of the time, I determined what tool to be used for a particular task and guided them all the way. Also, helping students use the tools more collaboratively and constructively is my goal for the next semester. I hope I can make it. There´s a long way ahead, but I´m optimistic about it.

Classdigitools: Task 1

2012-01-13T03:49:00.000-08:00

For our first task, which is make an introduction of ourselves, I decided to do something different this time. I´m used to draw or use images, but this time, I didn´t want to do that. I wanted to do something new, so I´ve written a song. That´s right! I wrote a song about my teaching experience with digital tools in class. Here is the result:

http://youtu.be/QQnSZgULXV8

POSSIBILITIES (By Cleide Nascimento)

My name is Cleide and I've been an EFL teacher for twenty one years now
And in case you're wondering...yes, I've had a blast!
Never before did I consider using technology in class
But something happened, things changed
All of a sudden I had available in my classroom
A computer, data show, and a flashdrive

In addition to all these things, I was introduced to webtools
I was so overwhelmed, but eventually, I got the hang of it!
I got the hang of it! I got the hang of it!

With the passing of time, I've come to realize
And got so excited about all the things that I can do!
I'm really excited about the possibilities!
There are so many possibilities!
My classes won't ever be the same with all the possibilities

With all the things that I can do! With all the things that we will do!
I will be a better teacher using webtools!

Electronic Village Online: Free Professional Development

2012-01-13T03:28:00.000-08:00

http://classdigitools.pbworks.com/w/page/44702717/Welcome

Hi everyone!!! I´m back. Still on vacation from work, but for the next five weeks, I´ll be participating in the EVO. During this time, I´ll be connecting with other EFL teachers, sharing and learning as well.I´ll be participating in two sessions: "CLASSDIGITOOLS" and "STORYTELING4KIDS". I´m super duper excited and I´ll try to keep you posted as much as possible. One of our tasks is to create an online space where we'll keep our tools, reflections and material we produce. Since I already have this space, I´ll be using it!Hope I have a lot of fun and learn a lot! By the way, I´d like to apologize for not posting this before. I´ve just realized that would have allowed you to join the group on Day 1.

One more year is gone

2011-12-11T08:12:00.000-08:00

Time really flies when you´re having fun! Well, well, well...did I have fun! This has been a very productive year and I´ve learned so much. Hope next year is even better. I´ll keep sharing. See ya!

Glitches here, glitches there...glitches everywhere

2011-11-16T17:31:00.000-08:00

OMG!!!!!! I struggled to post my students´ latest work. I guess something was wrong because the links I made for their projects wouldn´t open. I hope it´s ok now.

Digital Projects 2/2011: Junior

2011-11-15T05:49:00.001-08:00

Besides working digitally with my teens groups, I also assigned digital taks for my elementary groups. For three of the digital tasks carried out this semester, we covered the lesson, which included a grammar point and vocabulary. Then, students were assigned a written task, in which they were supposed to use what they had learned and which was corrected and then translated into a digital presentation. In order to accomplish that, a data show presentation was given, so students learned how to use the digital tools, they worked individually at home and when they finished, they presented ther final work to peers. However, other digital activities either didn´t take much time to be accomplished (SONGIFY and BLABBERIZE) for we finished it and presented it on the same day or were digitally made by me and then shown to them (PHOTOPEACH).

To see all the projects, click on the links below:

Songify
Blabberize
Mixbook
PhotoPeach
Scribd

MIXBOOK: My breakfast - Students wrote about what they have for breakfast.

| View Sample Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

PHOTOPEACH: Food Vocabulary - Students drew and wrote about their favorite foods.

The foods I like - 2/2011 (Class D9) on PhotoPeach

BLABBERIZE: The Third Person - Students learned the third person of the verb like to talk and write about a person´s likes and dislikes.

Digital Projects 2/2011: Teens

2011-11-15T03:54:00.000-08:00

Our digital projects were carried out the following way: We covered the lesson, which included a grammar point and vocabulary. Then, students were assigned a written task, in which they were supposed to use what they had learned and which was corrected and then translated into a digital presentation. In order to accomplish that, a data show presentation was given, so students learned how to use the digital tools, they worked individually at home or in pairs in the computer laboratory and when they finished, they presented ther final work to peers.

To see all the projects, click on the links below:

Mixbook
Movie Maker
Glogster
Blabberize
Voicethread

MIXBOOK: The third person - Students learned how to describe a person´s likes and dislikes.

Antonio

| View Sample Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

Julia

| View Sample Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

MOVIE MAKER: Superlatives - Students used the superlative form of adjectives to write about their family.

BLABBERIZE: Routine - Students wrote and talked about their lives.

The kids are on fire!!!

2011-11-11T08:08:00.000-08:00

Unlike the previous semesters, this year I focused on working digitally with my teens groups. Boy, did they work!!! Of course, there were a few uncooperative students, either because they don´t have a computer at home, which would make it difficult for them to carry out tasks assigned for homework, for example) or because they were not interested at all. In other cases, there were some technical glitches on the way. Nevertheless, most of them got involved, as much as possible, in each and every project proposed, which was a total of five. I had never thought it would be possible to carry out so many digital activities in one semester. I'm super excited to show you guys the result. The thing is... As soon as I organize everything in its place, I'll post it here. See you!!!

USED TO and WOULD for Past Memories

2011-10-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

My intermediate students are learning USED TO. Unlike last year, I gave them the opportunity to choose what to write about. They could write about a real past memory or create a story using the picture of the trees, the same picture I used before with my 2/2010 students (See Would X Used to).

2/2011:

This semester, I gave the students the chance to choose what they would do as a written task in order to practice the structure learned "USED TO". They chose from writing a creative text or writing about a past memory.

When I was a child, I had good memories about my past. But there is one thing that I´ll never forget. It is my favorite place "the park. Until today, my parents go with me and make picnic, play and talk there, every Sunday. I really love this park. (Julia Serpa)

When I was a child, I used to go to a very beautiful forest. There, I used to play with the monkeys, climbing some trees or swimming in the river. But one day, everything changed. Two hunters entered in the forest killing and destroying all they could see. I was very angry, perhaps I couldn´t do anything. When I lost hope, the hunters drank the river´s water and something happened. In some minutes, the became trees. In a few years, the forest recovered herself and I could go there many times. (Marcus)

When I was a child , I used to play outdoors, go to school, draw a lot. It was cool. I used to wake up on Saturdays and see TV Globinho. I didn´t worry about the future. (Maria Carolina)

When I am walking and I see talll trees, I remember parts of my childhood. It was great. I remember that I used to climb a lot of trees as high as I could, but the fear of falling down when I was climbing down was terrible of course. The feeling of climbing the tree, the clallenge that the tree imposed to me was much greater than that little fear, and as long as I saw a tree, I was there climbing it. (Victor)

Sometimes we just forget about how powerful life is and appears in different ways, like a tree, for example. A tree used to be a seed first and it can be a seed for a long time without growing but it doesn´t mean that it doesn´t have any life. It´s like the sun. It´s not because it´s night that the sun is dead. A seed used to be a frozen form of the tree. Then, the tree grows and it´s as complex as an animal life. The tree is there, it can´t talk, it can´t move, it can´t demonstrate its life, but it´s breathing and nurturing, every single day, and it´s because plants exist that there are other forms of life. (Thainá Leão)

In the middle of a forest, near a big city, there used to be two trees. These trees used to shelter small creatures like little fairies, they lived there for many years and they were responsible for protecting the forest and controlling the seasons. One day, men from the big city wanted to destry the forest with machines to cut down the trees and remodel their houses, but the fairies were too small to defend themselves in a fight, so they reclaimed the source of power they had to protect the forest. In the end, they resolved the problem peacefully with the agreement they both left the forest in peace. After that, the place turned into a sacred place for both, representing their love for nature. This used to be a story told from generation to generation about those trees. (Maria Fernanda)

When I was younger, I used to play Super Nintendo. My favorite game was Super Mario World. I liked Rock n´Roll Racing too, and all the five Bombermen Games. I played those games until today. The new video games aren´t so cool. (João Felipe)

One nostalgic memory I have was when I was a child, I used to live in São Paulo and I had a friend who lived in the same building. We used to go to the groundfloor and play games, ride a scooter and swim. It used to be fun and we spent a lot of time making jokes and having fun . That was one of the best memories I have when I was a child. (Rodrigo)

I used to have an imaginary friend, he was my best friend when I was 4. We used to play cards together and talk a lot , but when I was 5, I didn´t believe anymore in my imaginary friend. (Fernanda)

When I saw a tree, I remembered my brother. When I was eight, we had one guava tree and we treated the tree like a person. When someone hurt the tree, we used to put one bandage. It was our friend and our club. We used to spend our afternoons on the tree. One day, someone cut down our tree and we stopped going out to play. That was a good time. Now, we can´t come back to this things because we have many things to do.(Dayene)

Mary was sitting under the trees. She used to think and read in a calm place. She used to see birds and the sunset. Mary thought it was beautiful. She would run on the long streets around the trees, sometimes she felt alone but the books had all kinds of characters and everytime she read a book, she used to have a new adventure. (Amanda)

When I was a child with my brother, we used to climb up trees to joke or pick some fruit or to take a break. Normally, we climbed trees to pick fruits and we sometimes needed to climb the trees to pick the ball. I love to climb trees, I´d like to do it now. In the picture, we can see two trees and the space between can be a goal and the trees are good for the environment and I already planted trees and I expect to plant others. I think that little children need to play outside instead of being in front of the computer and the TV. (Sebastien)

Why are they such a pain?

2011-09-20T19:20:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder whether teens wake up in morning saying: Today, I´m going to make someone´s life very difficult!!!! It´s amazing how good they are at pushing our buttons (by the way, they know exactly where each button is) , even the most experienced teachers have to figure out ways to deal with their constant nagging, candy eating - which they insist on doing although you have told them a million times not to - their eye rolling and more than ever before, their fiddling with their cell phones. Urghh!!!!!!! Those cell phones!!!! It makes me wonder what´s so important that can´t wait till the end of the class. Task assigned today: a written one. They were supposed to discuss and write about an ad for a travel agency tour. When I said the word write, they all started whining...annoyingly by the way. They only gave in when I told them what that writing would become afterwards. A digital project, in which they are expected to make a poster (with GLOGSTER) with information on the tour and which will provide them with an opportunity to use the vocabulary learned in the lesson. GLOGSTER (www.glogster.com) is a tool that allows us to create colorful posters with pictures, text and videos. Totally awesome.

Keep swimming ...keep swimming....

2011-09-07T08:04:00.000-07:00

Every time I watch the animation Finding Nemo, I have fun with Dory. Especially because she reminds me of myself (I also happen to be forgetful and absent-minded), but recently, I have been experiencing her persistent optimism. There are times when teaching becomes really difficult, a struggle per say, either because we have to deal with so many different people at the same time - people who have different ways of seeing the learning of the language and I dare to say that some resist that in every way - or because all the aspects involved in this craft demand attention, responsibilities, time, response and dedication. And I have been trying to insert my students in this world called "digital". Writing digital to be precise. And I got to tell you all that "keep swimming" is my latest motto now. I have an intermediate EFL group and since the first week, I´ve been persistently encouraging them to post material in my wiki. I assigned two activities actually, in which they were supposed to describe a party they´ve been to and also post a link or a picture of a popular festival around the world. At first, nobody did it, which did not surprise me. I expected they wouldn´t. But after some time, little by little, (I mean "reeeeeeeeeally slowly) they started posting. Even the ones I thought would absolutely not do it at all because they didn´t care. For my surprise, they did. And Dory came to my mind. Keep swimming... keep swimming... I´m glad I persisted and I´m happy with the responses I have had so far.

My first book

2011-08-12T10:32:00.000-07:00

I was going through my illustrations the other day and it dawned on me how beautiful they were and all the things I could still do with them, in terms of classroom activities. After talking to a few colleagues, I decided to take one step further and have just published my first book, which will be available in a week time (business days) at www.lulu.com

Our wiki has been improved!

2011-07-23T18:53:00.000-07:00

http://digitalcommunication1.pbworks.com/w/page/43555425/Front-Page

Open publication - Free publishing - More classroom

São Paulo, here we go!

2011-07-07T20:32:00.000-07:00

Taking off to São Paulo on the tenth to present the Digital Communication Project along with Dani, my partner.We're excited about it since we had such a positive response here in Brasília. We hope to have the same there.Below, is the latest version of the presentation.

Open publication - Free publishing - More communication

And learning takes place...

2011-07-05T05:36:00.000-07:00

During our bonus week, we had the opportunity to participate in a short digital project, the EdTech Academy, in which we would be using video tricks. The video could be about anything, as long as it could be used for pedagogical purposes. The teachers who decided to participate had a week and they could do it anywhere and at any time, as long as they did it and posted it in the Youtube. I loved the opportunity to learn how to use one more digital tool, by the way, easy to be used and perfect to make videos with the students´work. This video in particular could be used when the topic is family or growing up. Students may write about their own childhood or someone in their family.

Feedback: A Gold Mine

2011-07-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

Something I experienced this semester was keeping in touch with parents on a daily basis. At the beginning of the semester, I got all the parents email addresses and saved them in my Contact List. I would contact them every class to inform them about homework that day or any other event that might have happened, regarding the students' attitude or even their material. I sent them the link for the parents blog I created especially for them, so they could proudly see their children's production.I was wondering if parents would comment on the blog posts ...well...they didn't. And that reminded me of something Dani Lyra said during our presentation of our Digital Communication Project last year.She said that although parents don't leave comments on the posts, that doesn't necessarily mean that they don't read them. They didn't comment on the blog posts but they did in their email responses, since they received my emails regularly. Reading their feedback was precious and encouraged me to continue. They considered the daily basis contact a great way to make them aware of what was going on in class and far better than the telephone,which presents time constraints.Unlike phone calls, which depend on the availability of the parents, emails can be read at any place and time.In sum, it was a great experience,which allowed me to reach parents more effectively and profitably.

Simple Past: Biographies

2011-06-23T16:56:00.003-07:00

Dani Lyra asked me to draw a set of drawings about John Lennon´s biography in order to use it as a teaser.The teaching point here is the past form of the verbs.The teacher shows students the pictures and they guess the sequence of events and come up with the story. Another option is to simply show the students this video and elicit the story. Dani used it as a writing activity. They will listen and at the same time see the illustrations, which will make their understanding easier.

Junior Projects: Landscapes

2011-06-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

For this project, which is our last one this semester, my students learned how to describe a landscape using the verb There To be. They were supposed to draw, color and describe a landscape of their own and use there is a + singular nouns and there are + plural nouns. Other possible forms such as uncountable nouns or unique nouns (for instance, "smoke" and "sun"), which happen to appear in some of the descriptions, were not addressed.

Open publication - Free publishing - More coloring

Junior Projects: Shapes

2011-05-14T17:29:00.001-07:00

Shapes: For this project, students made a collage using shapes. They cut them out and pasted, creating landscapes and ordinary objects, also learned in the book. I demonstrated how to do it by making one collage myself. By doing so, they understood very clearly what I expected from them. Here is the result.

Junior Projects: Shapes

Open publication - Free publishing - More collage

Junior Projects: My Family

2011-05-14T17:19:00.001-07:00

During the making of this project, students practiced the two different ways learned to talk about families and the members of the family. Each student received a sheet folded in four, six and eight parts. They drew and cut out the shape of a person. Then, they drew and colored their relatives´ features and pasted them on a colored sheet of paper.

Open publication - Free publishing - More aunt

Junior Projects: My Secret Animal

2011-05-14T17:05:00.001-07:00

Dear educators, I´m sorry I took so long to restart posting but I was up to my eyes in work. Still am by the way...but thanks to my dear colleague and friend Dani Lyra, I was able to post these three projects, made by my Elementary 1 and 3 students. Dani, I can´t thank you enough for helping me!!! You´re the best.

My Secret Animal: After learning characteristics used to describe animals, students were supposed to write a description and draw a secret animal. By using this digital book, the teacher will be able to play a fun guessing game, in which the students will share their own writing material.

Open publication - Free publishing - More animals

Mourning

2011-04-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

"Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God." (Matthew 5: 8)

Struggling!!!!

2011-04-17T18:57:00.001-07:00

Right now, struggling to get back on track.

I´m back!!!!!!!!!

2011-01-24T11:52:00.000-08:00

Yes, I´m back. I arrived on the 10th. I hear I have some elementary and pre-teens groups to teach this semester. Unfortunately, I won´t be teaching teens and adults (there is only one group actually, of adult beginners). Most of my classes will be with the little ones. I can´t wait to have a lot of digital fun and share it with you guys!!!! P.S.: C´mon, leave a comment on my trip to Sampa!

Time Off

2010-12-30T16:12:00.000-08:00

I´m on vacation at last. Yeah, it´s been a hectic journey. Writing for this blog has been really awesome and I´ve learned a lot. Sharing my teaching experience with you guys has been priceless, especially because I used a blog for that, which was something new to me. Hope to be back soon and share a lot more. II´ll be away for a few days, I´m on my way to São Paulo. Hope I like it because I´ve never been there, I mean, as a sightseer. There´ll be lots of reasons to write, so I decided to post about it on the site that a couple of workmates and I created for our students. In case you´re interested, here is the link: http://travelandvacation.pbworks.com/ . It´s easy to find, my name is on the navigator list. I´m leaving on the third of January. I´ll keep in touch. See ya! HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!

My sibling´s routine

2010-11-27T09:35:00.001-08:00

This is an extension of the Digital Project in Unit 8 "My Routine", but now my Elementary students are using the action verbs to describe the routine of a third person. They were supposed to write about a sibling. The tool chosen here was the MIXBOOK (http://www.mixbook.com/) because it was the easiest one to be taught and used in the little time we had, which was two weeks. Also, this tool allows us to add photos or images, which makes the book extremely appealing. Because some parents don´t allow their children to have their photos on the internet, I gave them the option to add ordinary images. Every class I would gradually teach them one step at a time. They were supposed to work at home, by themselves. I did not promise any kind of reward or points. I simply assigned the task, which was supposed to be completed as soon as they could and presented to the entire class. Surprisingly, five of the students made the mixbook. After reading their books, I managed to sugggest corrections to some of them but one was left unrevised, due to time constrains. Nevertheless, It´s worth to take a look at them and see how cute they are. Here is one of the books. In this one, the student, Guilherme, didn´t use photos. As soon as I have the permission of the parents, I´ll post the other books here. I don´t think they will oppose to that, but I want to ask them anyway. Meanwhile, the books are only available in my wiki.

View Sample Photo Books
Create your own Photo Book

Despite the complexity of this tool, the challenge of doing something on their own without the teacher´s supervision was very appealing to them. It was not the book itself, but managing to do it, being able to add the photos and the text. I think this was the main contributing factor for the success of the few people who worked on the project. I was glad there were five, considering the complexity of the task. They felt really good about themselves. Some of them told me they are working on other books already, personal projects per say.

Would X Used to

2010-10-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

In order to practice the use of WOULD and USED TO, I showed my students the picture of a tree.

Students in groups were supposed to create a short story about that tree. They complained at first, claiming they couldn´t think of anything, but then, their creativity started flowing. When they finished, they read their story to their peers. They enjoyed the activity very much because they realized how creative and touching their stories turned out to be.

"When I was a child, I used to go to my aunt´s farm. It was very cool, I have good memories about this. I used to swim in the lake and spend hours climbing on the trees. In the end of the day, I used to watch the sunset and in the nights, I usually used to watch stars crash in the lake. I hope I will return there someday and check if the stars still shine in the same way". (2/2010 - Filipe, Kely and Sinara)

"When I was young, I used to go to my grandparents´ farm and there, I used to play outside in the garden. My favorite place to play was under the trees, especially during the summer, when the sun was amazing. The sunset was really wonderful. When I climbed the tree, I used to watch that sunset, it was a very beautiful landscape. I used to have great moments on the farm". (2/2010 - Antônio, Edilson and Monique)

"In the beginning, when the pangea still existed, we used to have many trees and many animals and vegetation. The sun used to shine bright and the climate used to be stable. After the humans arrived, the Earth changed radically and the nature was extremelly modified. The trees were replaced for concrete and builds and the sun didn´t shine anymore because all pollution". (2/2010 - Camilla, Marina and Stephany)

In the end, I showed them the animation based on the book and drawings by Shel Silverstein "The giving tree". They loved it.

Digital Communication Project 2/2010

2010-10-11T09:32:00.001-07:00

Elementary 4 - Video - My routine.wmv

http://www.storyjumper.com/book/index/687814/4caa8de00ec21

Digital Communication Project Spot the Lie

Class D2 - 2/2010
http://www.tikatok.com/view/book/my-routine-class-d2-2-2010/unlock/true

Travel Tips

2010-09-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

I and two other workmates are working on a digital project with our Advanced students. They are learning vocabulary and grammar used to talk about travel and vacation. So, during the time we have to cover the unit, they are supposed to find information and pictures of any place in the world. In order to have all this information in one place and therefore, to make it easier for us to find it, we created a wiki. travelandvacation.pbworks.com .

Digital Communication Project 2/2010

2010-09-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

Meet my Friends on Prezi

Elementary 4 - Digital Communication - Unit 7

Authentic audience

2010-09-03T18:31:00.000-07:00

Some of my students posted interesting material in the wiki. Take a look and leave a comment. They would be thrilled to see that there is authentic audience reading their writing and commenting on it.

Shared Reading for VERY young learners

2010-08-30T07:02:00.000-07:00

Daniela Lyra invited me to illustrate a project she´s working on along with Ana Maria Scandiuzzi, another workmate here at Casa Thomas Jefferson, the school we work at. The book is about FAMILY and it´s supposed to be used with very young learners, who are learning family vocabulary. Dani did not specify what she wanted. She simply told me she needed some drawings of family members, mother, father, etc...Because I was involved with the Super Duper character, which I drew using Paint Brush and whose result I liked very much, I decided to draw the family members using the same technique. I liked the way the trace looks when it´s finished. It doesn´t look pompous or professional. On the contrary, it looks raw and childish, which is exactly what I like about it. I enjoyed the result very much, the colors are great and the book looks super cute! Check it out!

Digital Communication Project 2/2010

2010-08-29T09:13:00.001-07:00

http://ctjconnected.pbworks.com/Unit+6+-+Lesson+overview+and+resources

| View Sample Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

Breakfast Around the World on Prezi

Learning from Songs

2010-08-27T05:05:00.000-07:00

My Teens 7 students were learning adjectives and adverbs. As a wrap up activity, I showed them a video of a song that had been illustrated by the students of a school in South Korea. Then, I photocopied the lyrics of The Logical Song and cut it into individual sentences. I gave each student a slip with one piece of the song and they illustrated it. In the end, I colected all the drawings. Daniela Lyra made the video.

Once upon a Time...

2010-08-22T10:42:00.001-07:00

Video Segments

Students´Videos

My intermediate students are learning the Simple Past and Past continuous to tell stories.

1) Students watch two video segments;
2) Students are divided in two teams;
3) Each team will be assigned one of the stories;
4) They will decide what they will say and who in the group will say what. They have to know who the characters are, the setting and the plot;
5) Students in the group will tell the story to the other group and vice-versa.The teacher records them in audio or video.

Based on the audio/video recorded in class, the teacher will prepare for the following class, a transcription of both stories. As a WRITING TASK, students will receive each a copy of the transcriptions and with the monitoring of the teacher, they will add what they might think is missing and correct any grammar problems, such as verb tenses or word forms.

A blog for the parents

2010-08-17T20:49:00.000-07:00

My dear friend and colleague Dani Lyra, suggested that, along with my wiki, I also create a blog to post my students´work, so parents can see it. Here it is.

Writing Task: The foods I love

2010-08-17T20:35:00.000-07:00

Last class, I asked my elementary students to draw their favorite foods. After they finished, I asked them to write a sentence using the vocabulary learned. After I collected everything, I made this Guessing Game using PhotoPeach, in which students were supposed to look at the illustrations and guess what their peers liked to eat.It´s super duper fun. Check it out.

"The foods I love" on PhotoPeach

My wiki - part 2

2010-08-14T13:30:00.000-07:00

It´s been really exciting to work on the wiki . I admit that although I don´t have much time for that, I´m having a blast drawing the super duper character. Carla suggested that I created a character for my wiki, something that would be appealing to the students.I had never drawn something with such passion, passion that helps me create them very easily. Also, seeing the students work is a plus. Of course, there are just a few, but I´m not worried. I´m letting them take their time to get to know the wiki and use it. A few students have already posted some work in it, which they do at home, after I teach them in class . It´s been great to see their commitment to it.

My wiki

2010-08-04T09:17:00.001-07:00

I finally learned how to use a wiki. After having an enlightening session with Carla Arena, I realized that the wiki I had created was all wrong. It´s great to see everything in the right place at last.As soon as I organize my students work in it, I´ll have it available here.

I can´t wait!

2010-07-29T03:18:00.000-07:00

It´s curious. This year I´m posting material more often than last year. I hope I can keep doing it. I admit I´m more excited about it than before. New term, new students, I can´t wait.

Why teachers tend to avoid digital tools

2010-07-28T17:26:00.000-07:00

We created this video to introduce our presentation in the 8th CTJ TEFL seminar. It was suppose to be our "hook". We liked this idea because it perfectly illustrates why teachers tend to avoid using technology in class. I was one of these people. However, if you stop to think about it, these reasons are not really obstacles for you to use webtols in class. Let´s see, shall we? Reason 1: It´s too difficult. (Well, actually, it doesn´t need to be. There is always someone who knows the tools and uses them effectively and who is generous enough to teach you. All you need to do is ask. Besides, there are online courses, take advantage of the courses offered in your school, for example.) Reason 2: It´s too slow. (Of course that you can´t always count on the internet in class, so choose activities that are downloadable. Keep them in a flashdrive and your problems are gone). Reason 3: I don´t have the time. (A possibility here is to adapt an activity you have already planned to assign, by adding a webtool). As you can see, you can at least try.

Jerry´s morning

2010-07-26T17:55:00.001-07:00

I used this activity with my teen students last semester. They were very participatory and cooperative. In this activity, they were supposed to watch the first 7 minutes of the movie "Three o´clock high" and then discuss and put slips with sentences in the past (provided by the teacher) in the order they appear in the movie. After that, students wrote a paragraph describing the segment. It was supposed to be a graded task and I evaluated the use of the verbs in the past, sequence and linking words.

Suggested sentences:

Yesterday, Jerry had a very busy morning.
He woke up.
He looked at the clock.
He got up
He washed his hair
He looked for clean clothes.
He found a pair of jeans.
He found a wet shirt.
He put the shirt in the microwave oven.
He also put a cookie in the oven.
He grabbed the tooth paste and the tooth brush.
He grabbed his sweater.
He put on his shirt.
It was hot.
He grabbed the keys and his books.
He ran to the car.
The car had a problem.
He took his mom´s car.
He brushed his teeth in the car.
He put on his sweater.
He stopped to pick up a friend.
He drove off to school.
This is why Jerry´s morning was so busy.

Tip: Not all of the slips have to be used.

Jerry´s Morning

These are my students first drafts.

Digital Communication: Our wiki

2010-07-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

Our project is divided in four lessons, in which you´ll find a lesson overview, a final outcome (proposed by the teacher), resources (produced by the teacher) and the students´work. In case you want to take a look at our students´production, our wiki is http://www.tellingstoriesinclass.pbworks.com/ . Every picture is clickable. You click, and you´ll be there.When planning your lessons, you can adapt them to your students needs, but remember, young learners need to be guided, so the resources should be there, so they know what is expected from them.

Digital Communication: Our Final Project

2010-07-23T18:31:00.000-07:00

Web2.0 and Young Learners

The computer went crazy again. Go figure! Anyways, these are just "some" of the tools we experimented with. There are so many more out there that you´ll be speechless. Scribd enables you to make a book with your students. Have fun.

The tool used here was Voicethread, which allows you to post a picture and record your voice to leave a coment. If you don´t want to record your voice, you can also type a comment.Take a look and leave a comment for us. We´d love to know your opinion.

The beginning

2010-07-23T18:07:00.000-07:00

Here´s the video I made for my final project in the "Webtools for Educators" online course. Participants were supposed to make a storytelling project using a digital tool. It´s funny because I don´t like sports, but at the time I was teaching an advanced group and the topic of the unit was soccer. I made this activity for our blog, the blog I had just started, so they could write about a game they had watched. It was originally just the text, so students could read and understand what they were expected to do. The idea of making a video with illustrations was Carla Arena´s, who suggested that I should do what I could do best, which was drawing. It took me the whole day to draw everything, but it was worth it to see the result. I made the video and a lesson plan for it to be posted in our wiki (a space for the participant teachers to share their final projects). Funny how things started out. It was then that I had a glimpse of what I could do with webtools. My colleagues, the ones that saw the video, strongly advised me to post it in this blog. I should have done it right after I finished the course, but I never did...go figure. I think that it was because I didn´t see any relation between the video and the blog at the time. Anyways, since the whole digital journey started then, I think it´s fair to post it now, at last. Hope you like it.

Text: I´m not a sports fan and I have never been. However, in 1994, I was lucky enough to watch what I consider the best game ever! The whole family was gathered at my grandma´s porch. On TV, Brazil and Italy played in the World Cup Final, held in the United States. I had never seen Brazil win a Cup before that day. I was born in 1970, when they won their third Cup, so 1994 was my chance to see it happen. At the time, we had Romário, Bebeto, Dunga and Taffarel, to name just a few. The Brazilian players entered the field holding hands "again", a ritual they had been repeating for awhile and which they believed had brought them luck up to that moment. We loved to think that their holding hands had something to do with their getting to the finals. It was kinda magical! We sat on the edge of our chairs, bit our nails, prayed and suffered. Despite all that and the breathtaking moves and dribbling, they ended up in the extra time. That was it. I will never forget that moment and I believe no one will. The streets outside were all quiet. Everyone was in front of a TV at that very moment. Roberto Baggio kicked the ball out of the net and it was a thrill impossible to describe. "We" had won the game. "We" beat the Italians. "We" were four times the best. "We" were so proud of our country. The players were like children crying, screaming, celebrating, running around the field and also praying, a mixture of different reactions. The crowd invaded the field wanting to be part of that, wanting to hug, touch, talk to the players. Finally, that glorious event was crowned when Dunga kissed and held up the trophy, the "cup" they deserved to win after playing so beautifully and winning every single game. For these reasons, I think the 1994 World Cup Final is the best game I have ever watched in my entire life.

I simply couldn´t resist and posted the soccer game. Although I don´t watch soccer games, I get goose bumps whenever I watch this one ( for sentimental reasons, of course, I mean, impossible not to get emotional when you see your country´s soccer team win the World cup for the first time). C´mon, wouldn´t you?

Technical problem

2010-07-23T17:38:00.000-07:00

Due to an unexpected glitch, I had to remove my last post. Hope you don´t mind. I´ll be soon posting it again.

Digital Communication: My Digital Journey

2010-07-17T13:39:00.000-07:00

A year ago, if you asked me how I felt about the use of technology in class, I would definitely answer "I don´t know about that! It´s too complicated to deal with and time-consuming. I just can´t handle that. I have a 40-hour job and a tight schedule." When I look back and think about it, I´m flabbergasted to see how much I´ve changed, how the way I see technology in class changed. I absolutely love teaching and I don´t see myself doing anythingelse in life, but now I have something ELSE to help me get there, reach a teaching goal, reach my students.And all it took me was a little practice, time to use, explore the tools I had available and see what they could do for me. Choose from, experiment. And that´s what I did this year, while working on this project. I realize now that all I needed was a little push and I realized it´s not that hard. We´ll never learn to do something unless we try. I was known as a digital illiterate (and there is still a long way, I know)and people might wonder why I am involved in a digital project. The thing is, I needed this little push to get started and the love for writing was what brought me this far.I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I did.

Digital Journey (Cool) on Prezi

A way with words (part 3)

2010-07-17T10:14:00.001-07:00

The blog I referred to in the previous post is by Karl Fisch. He developed the presentation I posted previously. An updated version can be seen here, by the way.

A way with words (part 2)

2010-07-17T09:22:00.000-07:00

I was wondering if you blog readers could help me out! I was trying to find out the term we use when we change a word to fit a certain phrase or context. For example, I was reading a blog yesterday (unfortunately, I can´t remember the name) and it was written "shift happens" (which totally made sense in the text). How do we call that?

A way with words

2010-07-17T05:26:00.000-07:00

After blogging all day long yesterday, I felt compelled to write a post about words. I have always admired the American way with words and the fun aspect of it, which is something I don´t usually see in my native language, portuguese. An example is the film Bruce Almighty (2003), in which a beggar holds up a sign with interesting messages. Their creativity comes to a point that I often wonder, what will come next? And I often can´t wait.

Who´s willing to get their hands dirty?

2010-07-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

I was reading the Weblog "Word and Image" by Sigrid Jones and I saw this picture and I loved it. It says so much to me. It reveals (this is the way I see it due to the experience I had last semester and I´ve been having regarding Web Tools) to me the need to roll up our sleeves and make it happen. This semester, I´m working on a seminar presentation about digital learning for young learners and during this period, which actually started last semester, when I was introduced to web 2.0.(by taking the online course Webtools for Educators), I´ve been facing challenges (and by the way, overcoming each one of them)that for some educators would make them think why bother? , but instead of asking that question, which I honestly was inclined to, I decided to see where this road would lead me. So, challenged (in a good way) by my dear colleague Dani Lyra to be part of this project, I was determined to enjoy the journey, implementing the tools in class and sharing my discoveries. The feeling of accomplishment and the faces of the students after they see their final work posted for everyone to see, parents and friends in particular, is priceless. Cool feeling indeed.

A moment of silence: A reason to write

2010-07-03T09:58:00.000-07:00

The day after Brazil´s defeat by the Netherlands, we Brazilians still couldn´t believe it. It was like a bad dream we would wake up from. But, unfortunately, it was not. Galvão said: "We must keep in mind that it´s just a soccer game." Julio Cesar, our goal keeper, who was brave enough to talk to a reporter right after the game, said: "The world won´t end". And they´re right. Well, let´s hope they win in 2014. Will they?

Digital Communication

2010-07-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

For this digital communication project, Dani Lyra and I expect to make our students go the extra mile in terms of writing. Besides the book, they´ll have the opportunity to create a piece of writing in which the grammar structure learned is used along with a digital tool. Each task is presented with a different tool, chosen by the teacher, according to its practicality.

A Fantastic Story

2010-06-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

A Fantastic Story

Let´s get down to business!

2010-03-01T06:33:00.000-08:00

My friend and I

Long time no see! Ok, here is some news. Daniela Lyra, a co-worker, and I are working on a digital communication project for young learners. Our main goal is to develop activities that promote the use of webtools in class in order to foster students´ writing skills in a lively and fun way. I am also working on writing tasks with my teen students. After learning the third person of the Present Tense, I showed the students two slides in a powerpoint presentation. I told my students that the first slide showed items that said something about me and the second slide showed items that were meaningful to my sister. Students were supposed to look at the slides and come up with sentences about me and my sister. For example, "teacher, you like soda" and "your sister likes juice", or "you don´t listen to pagode" and "your sister listens to gospel music.". As students came up with the sentences, I wrote them on the board in the form of a paragraph. I also added an introduction (My sister and I are different in many ways) and a conclusion (These are the reasons why we are so different). After checking comprehension of the verb forms used, students wrote a paragraph describing the differences between them and a friend or a member of the family. They were supposed to add the introduction and the conclusion.

Hi there!

2010-02-16T17:04:00.001-08:00

Hi there! I´m back. I was away for the holiday. Actually, I haven´t had the chance to post anything since I arrived from my vacation spot, on January 25th. I promise I´ll be posting new stuff soon. See ya!

Calm Down!

2009-11-26T11:23:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, I took my students to the M.A.L.L. (Multimedia Access to Language Learning), so they could use the blog and practice the structure learned, which was the future form. They were supposed to talk about their plans for their vacation. Reading their posts made me write to you. When assigning a writing task in which students are supposed to practice a certain grammar point or new vocabulary, make sure they remember to use the structure suggested. Only then will they practice and be able to use it at all times. Tell them to try not to let their native language interfere in their writing. We know they want to sound spontaneous by using their own words, but using the structure suggested is the perfect way to practice what they learned in class. Once, a student told me that he didn´t use the structure suggested because he felt like he was copying my words or the words from the book and he didn´t want to do that, he wanted to be original. Be it as it may, a grammar point or new vocabulary, students should use it as much as possible. At first, yes, it will sound mechanical and artificial, but later it will come out naturally because they´ll be used to it. The more they use it, the better.

Busy, Busy, Busy...

2009-10-31T20:22:00.000-07:00

I haven´t posted anything lately because I´ve been up to my eyes in work. But soon, I´ll be updating the blog.

One small step after another

2009-10-06T16:14:00.000-07:00

I had the courage to create two blogs, one for my advanced level group and other for my basic level group, and present them to my students. I took them to the computer lab and explained what I expected from them. They commented on the posts and posted them successfully. Of all my students, only one shared he didn´t think it was important and that we could be doing other things rather than writing for a blog, but the others enjoyed it very much, although I admit they were a little reluctant at first. Some are not used to expressing themselves and others claimed not to be creative enough, but I managed to convince them otherwise. Check it out:
writingloungeforstudents.blogspot.com and writingloungeforstudents1b2.blogspot.com.

Students´ blog

2009-09-25T10:35:00.001-07:00

Well, it´s been 15 days since I started this blog and I was wondering when it would be the right time for me to have a students blog. I asked Carla Arena, an expert in digital communication, if it was the right time to do that because I didn´t want to start something before I was ready. Anyway, I decided to try and created a blog for my advanced students. I want to see what their response will be and whether I can engage them into writing regularly.Let´s see...

Fun writing

2009-09-23T20:04:00.000-07:00

For those who already know about these activities, good for you. For those who don´t, enjoy. For those who know about them but do not use them, give them a chance, will you?

What the hell...?

2009-09-21T08:50:00.000-07:00

Have you ever struggled to figure out what your teacher was saying?

Writing Rules

2009-09-21T07:30:00.001-07:00

Beautiful and Meaningful

2009-09-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

Writing is fun!

2009-09-17T18:09:00.000-07:00

What does this picture say to you? Do you agree with the tittle? Why? Why not?

"Now" is the time

2009-09-17T11:48:00.001-07:00

"The past is history, the future is a mistery and now is a gift. That´s why it´s called present."(ancient saying).I don´t know why I remembered this saying. I remember hearing that in the film Kung Fu Panda by Disney. It just popped into my head. I was wondering if I could relate it to this blog somehow. After having started this blog, just now I realize that no matter what you did in the past with your students regarding writing, it´s never too late to change, to reinvent, to explore the unknown. We also can not predict what results we will get, whether they will enjoy the task or not or whether they will be able to do it or not. All we have to rely on is the present, make a move, dare to try something new now, not to wait for the next semester, or a more appropriate time because maybe then, we´ll be more likely to succeed. Now is the time.

Techniques that work

2009-09-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

Feel free to comment here on the writing techniques you use in class.

CALVIN

2009-09-15T18:10:00.000-07:00

Why are you making that face?

2009-09-15T17:32:00.000-07:00

Assigning a guided writing activity in class is a painful task. The faces they make and their sighs, the "I hate it" attitude towards the assignment is something dreadful. As if I am dragging them to be hanged. Despite of the pain and the ugly faces, the task is accomplished and for my surprise, some of them do a pretty good job. Although it is a guided task, some are creative enough to add new ideas to their pieces of writing, keeping the flow. I am proud of some and worried about others. A mixture of feelings that I believe every teacher goes through one day or another.

OMG!!!!

2009-09-14T06:45:00.000-07:00

Food for thought.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zguzAtKxU98

Why not writing?

2009-09-12T14:56:00.000-07:00

Writing is one of the skills we learn when we are in school. Unfortunately, not many students are very fond of it. Consequently, they have difficulty in expressing themselves through writing. Others don´t even know how to start. I remember that when I was a high school student, I enjoyed my writing classes. I would spend hours trying to find the right words for every story that I wrote. That´s right, I was very careful when writing. I would make use of my dictionary everytime I was not sure about a word. I remember getting excellent grades on my papers, too. All the effort paid off. I´m not afraid of writing and I´m not a lazy writer either. For this reason, I am worried sometimes when I see that my students don´t want or don´t like to write. Whenever I assign homework, the exercises that require crossing out or checking, or making an X or filling in the blanks are all done but the ones that require writing are not. Why is that? There is something I have learned during all these years. We only learn to do something by doing it. If students don´t write, they will never learn to write. Of course I´m talking about formal writing, compositions, contextualized sentences , etc... Students do write, they write emails to friends, they text messages on their cell phones, that´s true, but what about school? I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that someday my students enjoy writing as much as I do. I also hope that this blog thing helps me to achieve that.

Here I am!!!!

2009-09-11T20:00:00.001-07:00

I don´t know where I´m supposed to go from here, but it´s been exciting to have come this far!!!!