Evidence of talant, creativity and great learning / teaching.

MY WONDERFUL GROUP IN ACTION

The Great International Flash Mob Phenomena

Watch these two videos and see just how easy it is to use modern technological devices to get a whole load of people who don't know each other, and who will probably never meet each other again, to collaborate together to simply have fun.
Once you have watched, have a think about the questions and then do some YouTube searches for other Flash Mobs.

The Great Chicken Flash Mob.

Now this one, which plays on the 'freeze-frame' idea.

The Grand Central Station Freeze Flash Mob

Here are a couple of questions for you to ponder ...

1) How would you have felt if you had been there too ... either as an innocent passer-by who just happened to witness the event, or as someone who received the message in time and decided to go and participate in the happening.

2) How could these sort of organisational skills or the events themselves be adapted for your classroom use ?

Shakespeare's Sonnet 29

Matthew MacFadyen reciting Shakespeare's Sonnet 29.

MacFadyen is a RADA trained, British actor who has worked widely in film and on television and stage portraying classic and contemporary characters.

Watch him give this recital of Shakespeare's Sonnet 29 and see if it invites you to enjoy more classic literature through this modern, virtual medium.

SONNET 29
When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

Virtual Learning Environment Week 2 Homework

... to be handed in on Monday 20th

Design a post that you might place in your VLE to aid your Ss' pre-exam revision process.

• Think about content, design layout, saturation, focus, how T. controlled and how Autonomous-S. focused ?
• What links will you include ?
• What S. uploads will you a) invite, b) encourage and
c) insist on ?
• Which formats will it be best for you to use ? (doc., MP3, ...)
• Will you set time constraints ?
• How can you make you aims clear to your Ss who are using the VLE ?

You can hand this is drawn by hand on paper, printed on paper or uploaded to your blog/wiki/group and printed out on paper.

Thank you.

web site addresses reminders !

https://www.blogger.com/start
...for a tutorial and help for setting up a new blog.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY
...an amuzing wiki tutorial.

http://www.wikispaces.com/
...to see what wikis can do for you.

http://personalweb.about.com/od/designapersonalwebsite/u/gettingstarted.htm
...lots of help and advice for things to consider when working with blogs/wikis and social pages.

http://www.feedforall.com/podcasting-tutorial.htm
...a very good tutorial for helping to set up a pod cast.

At an international meeting of educators, parents, business people and the local community in 2006, the following conditions were recognized as critical elements of future schools:

1: Schools of the future must be open and flexible.
2: New communication should promote new collaborations and a higher level of cooperation and creative problem-solving.
3: Teachers must be supported in their use of new technologies for learning and also in their use of technology for professional development and collaboration.
4: Learners must be able to use technology to achieve new levels of learning and to acquire new information age skills and abilities.
5: Educational managers need to use technology as a tool for managing schools and learner communities.
6: Must be supportive of all learning styles.
7: Teachers must be researchers and mentors
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The rationale behind using a Wiki in class is ...

The idea of using Wikis is to create a collaborative teaching-learning environment, to develop not only language skills, but social skills as well, and to motivate students by using something they already are familiar with: the computer and the internet.

• The Ts new role nowadays is to become a reliable source of information and orientation in the Ss’ processes of research and learning.

• A T’s main skill becomes discernment.
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The advantages of using authentic materials in class are ...

•Presenting the real world to the students and proving that learning happens there too !
•Providing the Ss with up-to-date, motivating informational resources
•Not shying away from the true challenge-level of the real world, but presenting the hard truth
•Real ... Raw ... Reliable
•Providing Ss with tools for use outside the classroom
•Providing Ss with social and media competence
•Giving more opportunities for extended language learning
•Keeping ourselves up-to-date
•Forming interesting, informed and thoughtful young adults

What does being literate actually mean today?

Technological Competence: the ability to use new media (for example, the Internet) in order to get information and communicate with others.

Information Competence: the ability to collect information by all possible means, to organize data, to judge whether information is relevant or trustworthy and to process it in order to acquire a reasonable opinion on a broad level.

Creative Competence: the ability to produce and offer information with the help of the media.

Social Competence: the ability to understand the social consequences of the new media and to develop the appropriate responsibility.