REFLECT ABOUT TESTING AND INFORMAL ASSESSMENT

Can you implement both in your teaching context? How?

I think that it is a good idea to work with both of them. Since the testing is used for many schools to see improvements, I think it is good to see results and have clear the rules, further more when this kind of exams are used in Icfes and international exams I think it is important that students know the techniques so it will be easier for them to solve those questions. And also I think it will be good to implement the alternative assessment as part of the whole because the students can show more of the learning process, they can be more motivate to implement their own ideas to be assess, for instance they can work on a project they like or purpose.


What advantages? Disadvantages do you see in each form of assessment?

TESTING:
What advantages?
They are easy to score.
That you can implement them in different forms like: Multiple choice, matching items, true or false, depending on the thinking level you want to test, for higher level you may use multiple choice or for lower level may be matching items.
The students are getting close to the icfes format and may be other international exams that also use this kind of testing.
Since they are easy to score, teacher will have more time for other activities.

What disadvantages?
The students may found them easy to answer or copy.
The test format doesn’t let you see the four skills or the learning process of the students.

ASSESSMENT
What advantages?
The teacher can implement activities to assess the four skills
It let the teacher to review the whole process.

What disadvantages?
The class may disorganized.
It takes more time to created and development.
Since it is a new way to assess the students and fathers may get confuse

LENGUAGE SKILLS

1.What knowledge did you refresh?
All the knowledge was new for me and very interesting.
2.What did you learn?
I learn about teaching language skills. I conclude that all skills are important, but some times when people ask if you know English most of the times they refer if you speak that language. Some times the student need to learn more reading or more listening so it will be good to reflect on that before staring a course if that is not the case, that we have learn for general is that there is a silence period on the speaking process so I think it is important to ask students to talk in English but also work in the other skills because these will give them self confidence and determination.
3.What skills did you develop?
The skill that I develop the most in class was writing because we had the chance to make many activities.
4.How could your teaching be improved?
My teaching is improve because our teachers share with us some many activities to implement in class. At this moment I believe that it is good to work in reading with the students and also for the teacher because this helps a lot with the other skills, keeping on mind that “We cannot teach what we don’t do”.

READING AND WRITING SKILLS

From the module of reading and writing skills we were asked to answer this questions:

1. What questions were answered?

-How can I help to a student that is not good at reading? In class it was said that I will be good to do individual work to see what is going on, also star to read with the students and make questions. Get readings that students will like.
-What is a extensive writing? It is an exercise that improves the way you are writing. Steps: 1. Two minutes for skiming. 2. Write about what you skimed. 3. Read about what you wrote. 4. Skim the book again then star writing again.

2. What do you think you can do with the questions didn’t answer?

The reading: “Reading strategies of successful readers through the three phase approach”, it has an survey and at class we didn’t go over the results. I will check it again by my self.

3. How do you feel with experiences in the ELT – USB?

I have feel good. It has been a great experience for me because I have learn to many new things and they are different from what I do every day. I have had great teachers and classmates, to whom practice my English by learning about teaching the language.

BEING A GOOD TEACHER

From the reading of “GOOD TEACHING: THE TOP 10 REQUIREMENTS.”

There are many advice for teachers to be more professional at job. From the one that I like the most, “is reflected in what is said, but more importantly by what is done.“, I will say how it is done, I see many qualities from teachers. When I stared this course I thought the knowing the topic was a big point but now also I see that the way you can transmit the knowledge involves pedagogical skills that make easy to learn, and require teacher patient, preparation, creativity, disposition to change, to learn and teach how to learn, leadership, to be practical and enjoying being a learner and a teacher.

THE NEW ROLE OF STUDENS IN ELT

Questions:

1. Relate the words Autonomy, Active Learning and Learning Strategies.

In Active Learning the students are the center of the learning process, because the activities used in class need their participation since the teacher create the opportunities for applying information, but depends on students attitude to engage the materials to their learning process, it requires students motivation to develop thinking and interpersonal skills, so it is necessary that students take the decision to take part in the activities as a new way to improve the learning process, in that case we are talking about autonomy.

Students can also improve the learning language by using learning strategies because they can think about the way the learning process is taking place. It gives the opportunity to identify what learning strategy has been used for practice and self evaluation so they will be able to create a systematic path according to his/her needs and possibilities. The capacity of the students for taking a look inside of him/her self to see how is the learning process taking place and how to choose the strategies according for his/her self skills in order to get target language is all about students autonomy, because they realize a goal and choose the best strategies to get it.

2. Are you using the Active Learning approach in your classes? Give some examples.

No as a teacher but as a student. I had enjoy very much the class with active learning activities. I see that I used some skills that made easy and enjoyable the learning process, developing thinking skills as memory, to deduce, or infer from information as we did at the INFORMATION GAP ACTIVIY, working with others as we did we did THE ROLE PLAY, understanding better a subject and using all the language skills, as we did at THE NAME OF THE RECIPE.

3. From the different concepts mentioned in my module. How could you implement Autonomy. Active learning Activities and Learning strategy instruction in your classes?

Autonomy. At class, it was mention this: “learners Autonomy is concomitant to teacher autonomy” It means that if teacher is autonomous it will be easier to students to be too. So it will be good trying to asking them to participate, to let them bring material to class, do not answer all the questions, give them space to make mistakes and for reflection, giving responsibilities.

Active Learning. “ I hear an I forget, I see and I remember and I do and I understand”. To implement active learning activities in class the teacher has to create the environment for students to participate according to students age, the size of the class, physical space, time, goals.

Learning strategy. Having in mind the basic structure for introducing strategies, 1. Preparation : There are a lot of ideas that students may have at the begging . 2.Presentation. The teacher name the strategy, and explain when and how to use it by modeling it means to give an example. 3. Practice. When the student do the activity. 4. Evaluation. The student make a self evaluation, by sharing to a pair or in small groups or answering if was it useful? 5. Expansion. It is when the student can I apply the strategy to learn a new topic.

ELT METHODS

The Audio lingual Method
TPR
CLT
CBLT

1. Does it make any sense to you that forming questions / answers through a chain drill may be a worthwhile activity but it is not generating purposeful communication? Can you state the reasons that justify your answer?

The Audio lingual method often uses this kind of tools. The drills suppose to create habits for the student. But in real situations students may not have and exact event as the one learned by the drill. So the drill by itself it is not making communication. I think it will help the student to identify grammar and in that way it will be useful for him in a real context.

2. Should teachers overlook certain student errors in the beginning? If so. What type of errors should be disregarded?

At the Audio Lingual Method not mistakes are allowed. It was developed on 1950`s with other priorities and concepts of education. It has some good aspects but not in this point. Other methods accept error as sign of learning rather than failure. I think that teachers can ignore some errors at the begging in order that students can win self confidence but later the teacher must find a way to make emphasis on what was going on and what will be the appropriated way to do it but with out affecting students attention and participation.

3. Non-verbal behavior is an important aspect of any culture. Why is its use relevant in CLT?

Because in this method students learn English to communicate and language is one way for people to communicate but there are other ways for us to understand each other like: hands, signs, drawing, singing, all our body express something about us. This use of behavior is relevant because will give emphasis on meaning and preparing students using English in a real situations.

4. Since CBT has been designed around the notion of competency not around the notion of subject knowledge, do you think that competency-based approach is suitable for every subject? If yes. What subjects?

I think this approach is good depending on the students you want to teach, depending on their needs, since this method was developed for immigrants that need special needs for jobs but not for family, making friends, or buying. So it will be good for teaching vocational activities, like bilingual secretaries, and also for special situations in a teal context like taking the subways, buying or selling by phone, making an order at restaurant, checking in and out the hotel room, buying tickets, asking information.

The Grammar Translation Method

This method was primary used to teach Latin and Greek, and the main purpose it was to teach to read and write other language. But now the world has other needs because every one is so connected and may be people will need to speak and listen rather than write and read. So I will rescue from this method the importance to learn the grammar rules in L2.

Also It surprise me that this method is the most used around the world because I taught that now there will be so many new and better techniques for teaching.

Personally, I see it as a basic tool to learn to read and write in other language by your own, because with out any one who teaches you, you will just have grammar, vocabulary and structures from your own language so you will try to applied to a new language by using your dictionary, it is hard but it works at least from Spanish to English.