Assignment for August 31st

FCE

What do you think about the work we have been doing with the FCE reading section? How difficult is it? Are we moving too slow? too fast? Are you going to improve your score for next simulation? What areas of your English do you need to improve? Are these reading exercises helping you in your progress as a reader? Have you enjoyed the readings? the topics? the challenge? Do you have any suggestions for upcoming activities?

Waiting for your posts.

Best regards,

Marcela.

Assignment for August 17th

Classes

What do you think about taking simulations of international tests in class? This is something that is not considered in the official program, but it is something that's important for students to have an equal or, at least, similar proficiency in the language when graduating.

Also, what do you think about the video watching in class?

Waiting for your posts.

Best regards,

Marcela.

Assignment for August 10th

Winter vacation

What did you do on your winter vacation? Did you stay home? Did you travel? Did you study? Was it interesting? relaxing?

Waiting for your posts.

Best regards,

Marcela.

Assignmet for July 20th

Still life

Watch this shocking but well-made video and comment.

Don't forget about our blog during vacation time!

Waiting for your posts,

Marcela.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La6T8Bq6CsU

Assignment for July 13th

Christian the lion

Watch this awesome video and give your opinion and feelings about the mysteries of animal behavior. Food for thought.

Waiting for your posts.

Best regards,

Marcela.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btuxO-C2IzE&feature=fvst

Assignment for July 6th

World Builder

Enjoy this video and comment. Talk about the artistic quality, the intention of the director and, if possible, extra info about this short movie. If you have any other suggestion for similar videos, just post! Best regards from your teacher, Marcela.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzFpg271sm8&feature=fvst

Assignment for June 29th

Teaching through videos

Hi everybody, the assignment for next Monday consists of answering a couple of questions. Before answering, please take a look at these links and enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDmESBJKMYw&feature=PlayList&p=A7F32E320BB41FA2&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=54

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xTreaklNr8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XqDXt4GVyA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSq_u2XhUqo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6W0mVxrvP4&feature=related

What do you think about teaching or reinforcing your teaching by using videos? Is it very difficult to get the infrastructure so as to do it in a school? Are schools willing to invest money on technology so as to make your classes more interactive, motivating and meaningful? Waiting for your posts. Best regards, Marcela.

Assignment for June 22nd

First semester evaluation

What is your evaluation of the first English IV semester? Do you consider that you have progressed or that you're stuck? What do you think about the activities we've had so far? Do you recommend other activities we could do in class? Have you been a good student? What can you do so as not to lose contact with the language during winter vacation? What factors have favored/ affected your learning?

Waiting for your posts. Best regards, Marcela.

Assignment for June 15th

Thesis

Are you already working on your thesis? What is your topic? Does it meet your needs and expectations? Does it reflect your interests? Is your thesis being written in English or in Spanish? What is the purpose of a thesis work? Is it better to work alone or in group? What are the difficulties of working on a thesis? How much of your time should be devoted to it?

Let me tell you that my thesis was written in English, I had to work with four other people, and it was on American literature. It took us one year and it was fairly easy to compile the info, but it was hard to put it together on paper, given that we were five. I would have preferred to have worked on Phonology or Linguistics, but Mr. Sandoval was the only teacher left available that semester, and I didn't want to wait a whole year to find available teachers to work with. Needless to say that American literature was not my cup of tea, so I didn't feel like I was giving the best of myself. The experience was OK, but next time I have to write a thesis, I will do it alone and on a linguistic topic. I'm looking forward to taking that second chance.

Waiting for your posts. Best regards, Marcela.

Assignment for June 8th

Children or adults?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of teaching children? What are the advantages and disadvantages of teaching teenagers/adults? Speak from different points of view, say, behavior, learning, time, expectations, and the like. Base your answers on what you have learned in Methodology and Linguistics. In this way, you may discover the kind of people you would like to work with in the future. Waiting for your posts. Best regards from your teacher, Marcela.

Assignment for June 1st

Teaching English

Thanks for posting. Don't stop doing it, since it's a fantastic way to exchange opinions, ideas and stimulate the use of English out of the classroom.

Let's go down to business. Most of you are already teaching. Please, mention the most difficult aspects of the teaching activity. Mind you that by aspects we mean linguistic, behavioral, environmental, or any other aspect that you consider should be changed in order to get the best from your students. What can we do to change these aspects? Read your classmates' posts and suggest them solutions or speak from your own experience or intuition. Best regards from your teacher, Marcela.

Assignment for May 25th

Oral presentations

What was the best oral presentation you saw during the first cycle? Give your arguments and consider all the elements evaluated in the peer evaluation rubric. Waiting for your posts. Best regards from your teacher, Marcela.

Assignment for May 18th

The best teachers

Good teachers make all the difference. According to research by academic-testing expert William Sanders and others, the effectiveness of the individual classroom teacher is the single biggest factor affecting students' academic growth.

In one study, for example, Sanders found that students who had been taught by three ineffective teachers in a row scored below the 50th percentile in mathematics by the end of the third year. By contrast, those with three highly effective teachers scored above the 80th percentile. Teachers' effect on academic growth dwarfed other factors, such as class size, that have been given so much attention.

In California, too few students have access to qualified teachers, especially in schools serving children of color and children from low-income families. The Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning reports that in schools with the highest percentages of minority children, more than 20 percent of teachers are underqualified, compared with 5 percent of teachers in schools serving a low percentage of minorities. Perhaps not coincidentally, in the lowest-performing schools, as ranked by the Academic Performance Index, 1 in 5 teachers is not fully credentialed, compared to 1 in 20 in the highest- ranking schools.

Stanford University economist Eric Hanushek found that having good teachers five years in a row could eliminate the average achievement gap between poor students and their higher-income peers. Clearly, if we want to give all children a chance to succeed, we need to invest in the quality of our teachers. We need to give teachers good preparation before they enter the classroom as well as continued support and opportunities to develop their skills after they begin teaching.

Comedian Bill Cosby knows the importance of teachers, and, in fact, attributes his own phenomenal success to a teacher. As a sixth-grade student in Philadelphia, he was inspired by his teacher, Mary Forchic, to follow his dreams of becoming an entertainer. Recognizing his natural storytelling abilities she suggested to him that he "become either a lawyer or an actor, because you lie so well." Forchic remained one of Cosby's lifelong friends.
Cosby has devoted a great deal of his time to ensuring that all children have the opportunity to benefit from teachers like Forchic. An example of his efforts to promote effective teachers for all children will be seen today. Partnering with Stanford's School of Education, Cosby is "celebrating teachers" in a benefit performance on the Stanford campus, with proceeds going to teacher fellowships. Cosby's performance will be followed by a fund-raising dinner hosted by another teacher advocate, TV journalist Tom Brokaw, and preceded by a conference honoring a group of extraordinary Bay Area educators. The goals of the events are to call attention to the importance of investing in teachers and to honor teachers for their commitment and hard work.
We could all follow Cosby's lead and express our gratitude for the enormous contributions that dedicated teachers make to our children's lives and to our community. So many teachers in the Bay Area are at school early and stay late, correct papers and plan instruction evenings and weekends -- working hard to meet the educational needs of students, some of whom struggle to make progress despite the stress of living in poverty, lack of proficiency in English and many other challenges. Teachers buy materials with money from their own pockets and volunteer their Saturdays and vacation time to attend workshops to develop their own skills. They don't do all this for the money, I assure you. They do it because they care about the education of our children. As another school year comes to a close, it is an appropriate time to thank the effective and dedicated teachers in our schools.

Taken from The San Francisco Chronicle

Waiting for your posts giving your opinions about this article and also contrasting with the Chilean educational reality according to your own experience. Best regards from your teacher, Marcela.

Assignment for May 4th

Student Centered Vs. Teacher Centered Classrooms

What's the difference between a teacher centered classroom and a student centered classroom? Is one approach more effective than the other? What does the continuous improvement classroom look like?
Student centered classrooms focus on the needs and abilities of students (rather than the adults) and on topics that are relevant to the students’ lives, needs, and interests. Students are perceived as customers and stakeholders. In this type of classroom, students themselves are actively engaged in creating, understanding, and connecting to knowledge and learning.
In student-centered environments, there is a higher motivation to learn as students feel they have a real stake in their own learning. Instead of the teacher being the sole, infallible source of information (the sage on the stage…), the teacher shares control of the classroom and students are allowed to explore, experiment, and discover on their own. Their diverse thoughts and perspectives are a necessary input to every class.
In a student centered environment, students are given choices and are included in the decision-making processes of the classroom. The focus in these classrooms is on options, rather than uniformity. Essentially, "learners are treated as co-creators in the learning process, as individuals with ideas and issues that deserve attention and consideration.”
Student centered classrooms are focused on quality and continuous improvement. Students participate in creating ground rules, mission statements, SMART goals, student data folders and student-led conferences.

The assignment is posting a comment on one of these issues: Which of the two approaches seems more interesting? more effective? which groups of students could benefit from one or the other approach? What age groups could benefit from one or the other approach? Find out and send your posts. This methodological discussion can help you improve your practice if you're already teaching. Waiting for your posts. Best regards from your teacher, Marcela.

Assignment for May 4th

The Swine flu

It is a contagious respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza viruses. Pigs are hit by regular outbreaks. There are many different types of swine flu and like human flu, the infection is constantly changing. The outbreak in Mexico seems to involve a new type of swine flu that contains DNA typically found in avian and human viruses.

The assignment is finding out and giving more information about this dangerous outbreak in Mexico that could eventually infect the whole world. How do humans catch it? What are the symptoms? How dangerous is it? Why should we be worried about it? What is a pandemic? Will it spread to Chile? What is being done in Chile to prevent the infection? Waiting for your posts. Best regards, Marcela.

Assignment for April 27th

Fasa admits loss of client trust following price fixing
"We have to confront it just as we have confronted this entire situation", stated Andrés Hidalgo, who is the marketing manager for the company.
Economía y Negocios Online
Sunday, April 19, 2009

SANTIAGO.- The head of marketing for Farmacias Ahumada (Fasa), Andrés Hidalgo, stated today that the company has put forth "its best effort" to compensate clients, but they are still aware that customers are distrusting due to the price-fixing agreement reached for medication.
"Apparently the trust or the feelings that some groups of customers might have, are decisions to be made by them and we have to face this just as we have faced the rest of the situation, with our eyes fixed on the future", the executive told Radio Cooperativa.
When questioned about the sum of the reimbursements, Hidalgo assured that the money awarded for damages "was established along with Sernac; they considered all of the products from the period of December 2007 to March 2008, the 220 products, the price before the hike was taken and the increase in the price was subtracted, producing a difference and that difference was multiplied by 220 and that was multiplied by the total number of products sold during the period, and that is how we reached the final sum".
Hidalgo also stated that "there is going to be an independent company, well-known auditors, which are going to make sure that the process is perfectly audited".

Waiting for your comments on this annoying situation that has affected everybody. What do you think? do you suggest any solution? Best regards from your teacher.

Assignment for Monday, April 20th

What are some strategies or activities you would use so as to be a better teacher in the classroom? Recommend websites, books, material or games you would use or have used and indicate the age and level of the students. Waiting for your posts!!! Best regards from your teacher, Marcela.

Assignment for Monday, April 13th

Legalisation of drugs could save UK £14bn, says study

Duncan Campbell
The Guardian, Tuesday 7 April 2009
Article


The regulated legalisation of drugs would have major benefits for taxpayers, victims of crime, local communities and the criminal justice system, according to the first comprehensive comparison between the cost-effectiveness of legalisation and prohibition. The authors of the report, which is due to be published today, suggest that a legalised, regulated market could save the country around £14bn.
For many years the government has been under pressure to conduct an objective cost-benefit analysis of the current drugs policy, but has failed to do so despite calls from MPs. Now the drugs reform charity, Transform, has commissioned its own report, examining all aspects of prohibition from the costs of policing and investigating drugs users and dealers to processing them through the courts and their eventual incarceration.
As well as such savings is the likely taxation revenue in a regulated market. However, there are also the potential costs of increased drug treatment, education and public information campaigns about the risks and dangers of drugs, similar to those for tobacco and alcohol, and the costs of running a regulated system.
The report looked at four potential scenarios, ranging from no increase in drugs use to a 100% rise as they become more readily available.
"The conclusion is that regulating the drugs market is a dramatically more cost-effective policy than prohibition and that moving from prohibition to regulated drugs markets in England and Wales would provide a net saving to taxpayers, victims of crime, communities, the criminal justice system and drug users of somewhere within the range of, for the four scenarios, £13.9bn, £10.8bn, £7.7bn, £4.6bn."
Titled a Comparison of the Cost-effectiveness of the Prohibition and Regulation of Drugs, the report uses government figures on the costs of crime to assess the potential benefits and disadvantages of change. The document, co-written by Steve Rolles, head of research at Transform, uses home office and No 10 strategy unit reports to form its conclusions.
It finds: "The government specifically claims the benefits of any move away from prohibition towards legal regulation would be outweighed by the costs. No such cost-benefit analysis, or even a proper impact assessment of existing enforcement policy and legislation has ever been carried out here or anywhere else in the world."
Taxing drugs would also provide big revenue gains, says the survey. An Independent Drug Monitoring Unit estimate, quoted in the report, suggests up to £1.3bn could be generated by a £1 per gram tax on cannabis resin and £2 per gram on skunk.
The report follows calls for legalisation or a full debate on reform. Last month, the Economist concluded: "Prohibition has failed; legalisation is the least bad solution."

Welcome to our blog!!!

Hey guys, finally we have our own blog to share posts. The idea here is to post comments everytime you want to or you're asked to. Your posts will make up a participation grade by the end of the year, but don't just do it because you have to. This is an excellent way to keep in touch and maybe to get to know one another!!!!! Best regards from your teacher, Marcela.