Wishing you a challenging and amazing New Year!

Thinking about the past twelve months helps us to reflect and take challenging decisions in order to being reloaded in 2010. It may help us to relocate our energies on new demanding goals we wish to accomplish or things we would like to try, such as PNL (Personal Networking Learning) Whether we are disappointed in our progress on virtual social networking during the past year, or energized by what we have already accomplished, growing as educators. Let´s start on our New Year’s resolutions, right now.

Connecting with our outstanding colleagues on a personal and academic level builds trust, relationship and credibility. Offering your professional services, expertise or help to peers. It is acceptable to promote your services when asked. The old saying rings true: it’s not what you know; it’s who you know.

Clink a virtual champagne glass and toast your friends! CHEERS!!
HAPPY 2010 TO YOU!!!
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Merry Christmas to all my e-Friends.

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.

Charles Dickens
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Personal Learning Network is challenging.

As Peggy George says: "Every day I learn new things from my personal learning network." I strongly agree with her, there is so much to learn from people engaged on different social networking. Nowadays, having a PLN is a must for educators, as well as, using this amazing tool called Twitter Mosaic for creating a picture of their followers on Twitter. I am actually connected with all my colleagues and friends sharing knowledge, resources, and point of views; answering questions; socializing among us; and providing support/encouragement in my professional development. As a matter of fact, I recommend you to sign up and get one, and go on networking, lively. Thanks to Peggy, a new Twitter friend, for sharing this on her website.

Get your twitter mosaic here.

Need of teaching language learning strategies?

According to Rebeca Oxford, "language learning styles and strategies appear to be among the most important variables influencing performance in a second language. Much more investigation is necessary to determine the precise role of styles and strategies, but even at this stage in our understanding we can state that teachers need to become more aware of both learning styles and learning strategies through appropriate teacher training. Teachers can help their students by designing instruction that meets the needs of individuals with different stylistic preferences and by teaching students how to improve their learning strategies." 

Teaching to use better strategies such as: "metacognitive techniques for organizing, focusing, and evaluating students' own learning; affective strategies for handling emotions or attitudes; social strategies for cooperating with peers in the learning process; cognitive strategies for linking new information with existing schemata and for analyzing and classifying it; memory strategies for entering new information into memory storage and for retrieving it when needed; and compensation strategies to overcome deficiencies and gaps in learners' current language knowledge" (Oxford, 1990); may help students to improve their language performance, also be aware of the most beneficial strategies to employ. However, some research not to seem motivated as Lucia Garcia's investigation result:  

El 46% de los alumnos de inglés no usan métodos de aprendizaje ( Diario Córdoba - 03/02/2007 )

Support bilingual education

Cuando el alumno entiende un idioma extranjero pero no lo habla, nos referimos a la actitud pasiva que el/ella asume; sea porque aún no está preparado para hacerlo o por comodidad. En consecuencia, ¿Debemos respetar pacientemente la elección de los alumnos de hablar en Inglés en el momento que lo deseen teniendo en cuenta que ellos siguen desarrollando el idioma en forma pasiva?; ¿Debemos incentivar el uso de material auténtico en la L2 como libros, revistas, películas, canciones, juegos, etc. y exponerlos a situaciones comunicativas reales: cocinar, ir al mercado, ir al cine, etc.?; ¿ Debemos interesarnos por lo que dicen, por sus sentimientos y sus necesidades, tomarse el tiempo para escucharlos, conversar con ellos acerca de qué le gustaría hacer, qué paso durante el día, etc.?

What about bilingualism in Latinamerica? Are there any programs that promote bilingualism, biliterate, bicognitive, and multiculturalism development? What are the most effective immersion programs in closing the achievement gap and promoting bilingualism? According to Baker (2006), the concepts students learned in L1 can be transferred to L2; so to what extend L1 system is well achieved to support the Interlanguage process? I think, the best way of supporting bilingualism in our communities is, firstly, supporting and evaluting the teaching and learning process in primary schools when children learn their L1.

Education & Technology Quotes

Apologies for my absence from blogging; I've recently started a new job and am editing an anthology on North American Literature, both factors which are taking up extra energy I normally direct toward talking about teacher education. But I've just been working on history of English and North American literature, and I got back to my searching task this weekend. Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Education & Technology Quotes

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World Teachers’ Day | EDUCATION | UNESCO

Teachers open our eyes to the world. They give us curiosity and confidence. They teach us to ask questions. They connect us to our past and future. They are the guardians of our social heritage. [...] Life without a teacher is simply not a life.*

Les enseignants nous font découvrir le monde. Ils nous donnent la curiosité et la confiance. Ils nous apprennent à poser des questions. Ils nous relient à notre passé et notre avenir. Ils sont les gardiens de notre héritage social. [...] La vie sans un enseignant n’est tout simplement pas une vie.

By Jonathan Sacks

World Teachers’ Day | EDUCATION | UNESCO

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Peru: Reforming financial policy in the education sector

The heading of this article posted by the GTZ on 10 March 2008 caught my eye in all conscience. Nowadays, Peruvian teachers of state schools are really concerned in empowering their cognitive, linguistic, communicative, and pedagogical competences attending in-service teachers training courses offered by Peruvian universities. The PRONAFCAP is being developed thanks to funds the Peruvian Ministry of Education has allocated in supplementary budgets over the last three years. However, we must be aware of a great deal of teachers are being trained inadequately because of deficit of well prepared trainers. In spite of this cruel reality, the Peruvian Government continues investing huge amounts of money in the “new” education reform. I think, a reform should start from the authorities of the Ministry of Education to every member of schools. What do you think? Here you are the article:

Achieving equal opportunity while reducing poverty
Money alone is not enough to improve a country’s education system. But without adequate funding for school buildings, technical equipment, teaching materials and teacher training, education reform is doomed to failure from the very outset. The Peruvian Government is well aware of this: for its planned reform of the education system, it has put a new distribution key for budgetary funds at the top of the agenda.
Last year, on behalf of BMZ, GTZ advised the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Education on budget planning and implementation. “So far, allocation of funds to Peruvian schools has been based on teacher numbers alone,” reports Janos Zimmermann, head of the advisory programme “Good governance and inclusion”. “This meant that schools in rich areas always received more money, which just exacerbated the country’s education gap.” Schools in poor, rural areas have classes that are full to bursting and employ inadequate numbers of teachers, most of whom are poorly trained.
Now, for the approximately seven million school children there is hope. Following the example of its neighbour Ecuador, the Peruvian Government has boosted funding for the primary school sector to USD 90 million in a supplementary budget for 2008. “What is even more significant, however, is that criteria such as population figures, the region’s poverty rate, the condition of school facilities and the number of classes and pupils are now the key factors in allocating funds,” Mr Zimmermann reports. This will ensure that, in future, funding will get to where it is urgently needed.
By the end of June 2008, over 40,000 schools are to benefit from this programme. As of this year, the funds are transferred directly to school head teachers, who are responsible for how they are used. Two newly established committees, consisting of representatives from parents’ associations and the mayor, will ensure that the allocation of funds is carried out appropriately. “With this innovative distribution and monitoring system,” says Mr Zimmermann, “the government is showing its commitment to finding grass-roots solutions. And with a better school system that benefits children from poorer backgrounds in particular, we will be able to improve their chances of escaping the vicious circle of poverty and inadequate education”.

Inspiring our daily work

As a matter of fact, most of us have ever been inspired by one of these inspiring quotations. This presentation will encourage us to persevere increasing our sincere commitment to delivering our students qualified teaching and getting from them amazing learning outcomes.

Let's experience these impressive slides.

English Language Teaching Contacts Scheme (ELTeCS)

I am subscribed to the ELTeCS Latin America and the Caribbean electronic forum.
ELTeCS is for teachers who want to know what's happening in ELT in Latin America and globally.
ELTeCS is a knowledge sharing network for English language teaching practitioners worldwide, run by the British Council and six regional newslist Editors.
ELTeCS offers teachers access to information about development opportunities in their region and further afield, such as:
* workshops, Hornby schools, online courses
* conferences and other events
* online resources and activities
* journals and newsletters
* teacher projects
* job adds
* queries about ELT
Many - but not all - of the services, products and resources mentioned are from UK ELT experts, trainers and providers.
ELTeCS provides this information through six regional email newslists, one each for:
* Africa and the Middle East
* Central and South Asia
* East Asia
* Europe, Caucasus and Russia
* India and Sri Lanka
* Latin America and the Caribbean
ELT practitioners can subscribe to a maximum of two of these newslists free of charge. You can subscribe in just two minutes by filling in the online questionnaire at http://www.britishcouncil.org/eltecs-join.htm and selecting the regional email newslist you wish to receive. In response, you will get a message from the Editor, within a few days, welcoming you. Digests of news items will appear automatically in your email inbox once or twice a week. ELTeCS members can post their own announcements, queries and requests.
The Editor for the ELTeCS Latin America and the Caribbean newslist is Renate Thummler Blum, based in Mexico at blum1957@yahoo.com.mx
The newslists are backed up by the website http://www.britishcouncil.org/eltecs which contains a global ELT event calendar and Teacher Association contact details, as well as reports on past teacher projects.

The Networked Teacher of the 21st century

Few years ago, teachers used to work with Typical Teacher Network, interacting with curriculum documents, colleagues, popular media, print and digital resources, their family and local community. Nowadays, we, educators, are called The Networked Teachers because of we are able to manage blogs, wikis, video-conferences, chat, social networking services, and other tools for interactive learning and teaching.
Furthermore, we attend conferences, get technical support, and do pro-d sessions, from different parts of the world. I wonder if we and our students will benefit from this kind of learning. Yes, I think so. We shouldn’t conduct our classroom quietly anymore.
What makes a well rounded teacher? Just his/her personality, curriculum, pedagogy and practice? No, technology must be included in teachers’ daily work. Let see, which one is better? To use a laptop or paper and pencil; see math problems in 3D instead of doing odd problems; access the most dynamic information rather than printing and photocopying it; select your own learning styles in place of teacher’s favourite learning styles; collaborate with peers around the world rather just with your classroom peers.
Up to now, I can’t teach without technology in consequence of Blogging is learning by sharing with each other, helping others learn, and keeping everyone connected even outside of school/university. In addition, as we know, technology could fail and things could move very slowly. However, the benefits are more meaningful, I mean, students will edit, link, seek, comment, question, and socialize MORE in order to be reflective and challenge each other seeing the opportunities rather than the obstacles.