Curriculum design is essential to improve education, teaching and the ways students learn, as it is not only an academic matter, but part of the reflection every teacher should develop in his career, those concepts are involved in our professional experience, as you are all the time doing a diagnosis of a situation and also, the implementation of a proposal to overcome all the difficulties and also to meet expectations and needs.
Curriculum is a systematic plan of instruction that should provide teachers with meaningful learning experiences in both in and out of schools activities. we, as teachers should built a practical and accurate curricular proposal for the school, I mean, we should apply a coherent theoretical and methodological framework built in order to guide learning and teaching process as well according to the specific context of the students, taking into account all the contributions and needs to do it more practical, easy to understand, and follow, and the most important with a sense of ownership, as all the community helped in the development of it.
The curriculum should also be suitable, that is that be relevant according to the school’s situation, taking into account student’s needs, human recourses, critical viewpoints about existing conditions and the need for adjustment and innovation. it should be student centered, that is they take part in the decision making about topics and tasks.
Curriculum should have and anthropological and axiological inspiration; a democratic participation; a cross curricular nature to be open, and affect everybody’s action; it should be flexible but well planned for not loosing its axis; also, it should be coherent to the needs; it should have realism, as it respond to community’s reality; it should have a project for the future, to be respected and evaluated in order to improve on every step of the process; and of course, it should be personalized, supported with ideas that can be integrated and focused on the concept.
In the curriculum and its process of building, and applying, there should be negotiation, tolerance, acceptance, reflection, and coherence. so regarding the correlation between the English program and the PEI, it is clear that evaluation guidelines become a central element when designing a curricular platform and also, we can empower a change in Colombia’s society.
Next time you and me are willing to design a curriculum, we have clear what to do, who to ask, and how to act to do a good job and improve and help society starting with our ouwn process of teaching and learning.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Literacy Memoirs involving Students in Meaningful Writing
Writing should not only be seen as a requirement to pass a grade, but also as a meaningful way to express themselves, their wills, their joys, sorrows, experiences, curiosities, etc. so it is important that they have no reluctance to write and show a significant progress while doing it. Literacy memoir is a very clever way to help students improve their skills of writing and speaking.
Literacy was understood as the ability to read and write, but nowadays this concept has changed in the way it also implies the competence to carry out complex tasks using reading and writing, it is a social activity that uses symbolic systems to represent the world to ourselves through the language.
Reading and writing are closely related as they both share similar linguistic and cognitive elements, they compose, plan (setting goals and prior knowledge), draft, align, revise, and monitor. So every one has a very deep influence on the other, as good writers tend to be better readers, good writers tend to read more frequently, and despite writing itself does not tend to influence reading comprehension, it does when it is taught for the purpose of enhancing reading as reading experiences have as great an effect on writing as direct instructions.
A Memoir is ‘like a window into a life’ students show a part of them through writing so it is a more accurate process and they develop their skill in a very meaningful way. And also, they have the opportunity to learn through a cooperative team, as they use their classmates to check their work before they type and print it. It is a very good and interesting way to teach them, and I am trying to apply this concept to my own teaching experience, it has worked pretty well.
Literacy was understood as the ability to read and write, but nowadays this concept has changed in the way it also implies the competence to carry out complex tasks using reading and writing, it is a social activity that uses symbolic systems to represent the world to ourselves through the language.
Reading and writing are closely related as they both share similar linguistic and cognitive elements, they compose, plan (setting goals and prior knowledge), draft, align, revise, and monitor. So every one has a very deep influence on the other, as good writers tend to be better readers, good writers tend to read more frequently, and despite writing itself does not tend to influence reading comprehension, it does when it is taught for the purpose of enhancing reading as reading experiences have as great an effect on writing as direct instructions.
A Memoir is ‘like a window into a life’ students show a part of them through writing so it is a more accurate process and they develop their skill in a very meaningful way. And also, they have the opportunity to learn through a cooperative team, as they use their classmates to check their work before they type and print it. It is a very good and interesting way to teach them, and I am trying to apply this concept to my own teaching experience, it has worked pretty well.
“Becoming a Reflective Practitioner: The Cycle of Reflection"
1. What is the meaning of the statement “Reflection is Cyclical in nature?”
Reflection is cyclical as it is a process whose steps are closely related one to the other, one starts where the other end; I mean, first, thinking about what is happening and why, after that, questioning the actions you have done and the way you should go to improve and increase students’ learning and you teaching strategy; after that, reflecting, on action and in action, that is thinking afterwards, and during the action, taking into account the past, present and future of the situations and experiences, so you can ‘finally’ and act, and implement new strategies which are more landed to students’ needs and expectation.
2. What is the “thinking cap” a symbol of? Are you willing to put on a "thinking cap?" Why so? or Why not?
The metaphor of the thinking cap is a symbol of the action of teaching reflectively, that is, to put on your thinking cap to consider education issues, themes, advances, form, habits, education processes, progress, needs, issues and practices to think and reflect so you can see what went wrong and how things can be different in the future. You develop sills to think, questioning, reflect and act, through deliberation and observation.
3. How do you consider teacher´s thinking can be made more purposeful?
Teacher´s thinking can be made more purposeful when they have into account students needs, environment and situations. Teachers should ask questions to help the of identifying relevant and irrelevant information, so reflective teaching help you answer those questions, solve the problems, and resolve the conflict.
Through reflection teachers have a look at teaching and learning, search meaning of class events, consider strengths and weaknesses, identify ways to improve, and formulate a plan of action.
4. What sort of questions would you ask yourself about classes?
What can I do to make this lesson more attractive and meaningful to my stdents?
What things are going well?
Is the class going according to plan? Why, why not?
How can I improve my teaching strategies so I can be a more effective teacher?
5. Concerning the fourth phase of the cycle of reflection, let's make comments on Freire's suggestive phrase "Reflection without action is verbalism. Action without reflection is activism"
When you act, you have to think first, so you have a clear vision of what you want to reach, in that way you are not going to waste your time doing things you don’t need, you are not going to improvise and the teaching is going to be more accurate and effective, in that way your students are going to learn better. It is not just doing for the sake of doing; it is doing with a purpose and a goal to reach. But also, if you just get stuck in the mere idea of thinking and thinking, without action, you are going to be full of thoughts, reasons and verbalism, you are doing nothing practical for your students, and you are not testing the theories you have reasoned out.
Reflection is cyclical as it is a process whose steps are closely related one to the other, one starts where the other end; I mean, first, thinking about what is happening and why, after that, questioning the actions you have done and the way you should go to improve and increase students’ learning and you teaching strategy; after that, reflecting, on action and in action, that is thinking afterwards, and during the action, taking into account the past, present and future of the situations and experiences, so you can ‘finally’ and act, and implement new strategies which are more landed to students’ needs and expectation.
2. What is the “thinking cap” a symbol of? Are you willing to put on a "thinking cap?" Why so? or Why not?
The metaphor of the thinking cap is a symbol of the action of teaching reflectively, that is, to put on your thinking cap to consider education issues, themes, advances, form, habits, education processes, progress, needs, issues and practices to think and reflect so you can see what went wrong and how things can be different in the future. You develop sills to think, questioning, reflect and act, through deliberation and observation.
3. How do you consider teacher´s thinking can be made more purposeful?
Teacher´s thinking can be made more purposeful when they have into account students needs, environment and situations. Teachers should ask questions to help the of identifying relevant and irrelevant information, so reflective teaching help you answer those questions, solve the problems, and resolve the conflict.
Through reflection teachers have a look at teaching and learning, search meaning of class events, consider strengths and weaknesses, identify ways to improve, and formulate a plan of action.
4. What sort of questions would you ask yourself about classes?
What can I do to make this lesson more attractive and meaningful to my stdents?
What things are going well?
Is the class going according to plan? Why, why not?
How can I improve my teaching strategies so I can be a more effective teacher?
5. Concerning the fourth phase of the cycle of reflection, let's make comments on Freire's suggestive phrase "Reflection without action is verbalism. Action without reflection is activism"
When you act, you have to think first, so you have a clear vision of what you want to reach, in that way you are not going to waste your time doing things you don’t need, you are not going to improvise and the teaching is going to be more accurate and effective, in that way your students are going to learn better. It is not just doing for the sake of doing; it is doing with a purpose and a goal to reach. But also, if you just get stuck in the mere idea of thinking and thinking, without action, you are going to be full of thoughts, reasons and verbalism, you are doing nothing practical for your students, and you are not testing the theories you have reasoned out.
Teacher impact through reflection
1. What kind of challenge is the lecturer talking about?
2. What is self-reflection the key of?
3. What suggestions does Heidi give us to encourage reflection?
4. What kind of impact can be achieved through reflection?
1. The challenge she is talking about is to use reflection, change and grow in our teaching in order to reach our aim of making a difference in our students’ lives. So she poses a technique to help us take the challenge, that is to video tape some of our classes and use this as a resource of self discovery, to improve our practice and to make impact.
2. Self reflection is the key of making difference in our learners’ lives, through this you improve your practice, define your style, and make impact in learners’ lives.
3. Some suggestions are to create a safe and respectful environment and learn from their mistakes; to know our students, their culture, background, and needs; consider student-teacher interaction, using different methods and approaches to improve our teaching styles and fit into students’ needs and wills.
4. Through reflection we can improve and change our classes and teaching style and in that way, our students lives as well.
2. What is self-reflection the key of?
3. What suggestions does Heidi give us to encourage reflection?
4. What kind of impact can be achieved through reflection?
1. The challenge she is talking about is to use reflection, change and grow in our teaching in order to reach our aim of making a difference in our students’ lives. So she poses a technique to help us take the challenge, that is to video tape some of our classes and use this as a resource of self discovery, to improve our practice and to make impact.
2. Self reflection is the key of making difference in our learners’ lives, through this you improve your practice, define your style, and make impact in learners’ lives.
3. Some suggestions are to create a safe and respectful environment and learn from their mistakes; to know our students, their culture, background, and needs; consider student-teacher interaction, using different methods and approaches to improve our teaching styles and fit into students’ needs and wills.
4. Through reflection we can improve and change our classes and teaching style and in that way, our students lives as well.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
REFLECTIVE THOUGHT
How different do you think is reflective thought from any other casual or idle thought?
Reflective teaching is the one in which you reflect, it goes beyond the simple recalling of memories, or pictures of your past or imagination, it’s more than an opinion or any idle idea than comes to your head. It is a more complex process; it is to think about reasons, whys, hows, and all the explanations you can come up with for a problem or situation. When thinking reflectively, you tend to find the solution, using any method or strategy.
Watch the video clip “Reflective Thought defined by John Dewey” and write down what is said about reflective thought. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGF-Oh_G7zc)
Reflective thought is not just an idle thought, it is a much more considered process, it helps you systematize your knowledge, to plan your thinking, to consider every detail as causes and consequences, it adds a richness of quality to our lives, it takes a little bit more than mere intelligence to be a clear reflective thinker, intelligence may help a person to become a good thinker, but intelligence alone is not enough, but what is more important is that you need a discipline of your thinking, your logic, and of the scientific method.
How do you personally read the following excerpt from Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam:
“And that Inverted Bowl we call The Sky, beneath which crawling, cooped, we live and die; Lift not your hands to it for help, for it as impotently moves as you or I!”
As it is a poem, it can take me through so many points and ways my imagination, perception and sensitiveness let. But, trying to focus on the context we have, I want to recall the part of the “inverted bowl” as the way we perceive the world that surround us, we see only what we want to, and we think the way we are used to, but it usually happens that something that seems so big and magnificent as the sky can just be a bowl who gives or take our liberty and limit our thinking. So in our world, in our mind this sky can be as broad, as huge, or as narrow and small as we can perceive, or think.
What would you add to the following Dewey´s definition of reflective thought:
"Active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusion to which attends
I would also add that it should tend to action, to the practice and the continuous growth of possibilities.
Reflective teaching is the one in which you reflect, it goes beyond the simple recalling of memories, or pictures of your past or imagination, it’s more than an opinion or any idle idea than comes to your head. It is a more complex process; it is to think about reasons, whys, hows, and all the explanations you can come up with for a problem or situation. When thinking reflectively, you tend to find the solution, using any method or strategy.
Watch the video clip “Reflective Thought defined by John Dewey” and write down what is said about reflective thought. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGF-Oh_G7zc)
Reflective thought is not just an idle thought, it is a much more considered process, it helps you systematize your knowledge, to plan your thinking, to consider every detail as causes and consequences, it adds a richness of quality to our lives, it takes a little bit more than mere intelligence to be a clear reflective thinker, intelligence may help a person to become a good thinker, but intelligence alone is not enough, but what is more important is that you need a discipline of your thinking, your logic, and of the scientific method.
How do you personally read the following excerpt from Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam:
“And that Inverted Bowl we call The Sky, beneath which crawling, cooped, we live and die; Lift not your hands to it for help, for it as impotently moves as you or I!”
As it is a poem, it can take me through so many points and ways my imagination, perception and sensitiveness let. But, trying to focus on the context we have, I want to recall the part of the “inverted bowl” as the way we perceive the world that surround us, we see only what we want to, and we think the way we are used to, but it usually happens that something that seems so big and magnificent as the sky can just be a bowl who gives or take our liberty and limit our thinking. So in our world, in our mind this sky can be as broad, as huge, or as narrow and small as we can perceive, or think.
What would you add to the following Dewey´s definition of reflective thought:
"Active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusion to which attends
I would also add that it should tend to action, to the practice and the continuous growth of possibilities.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
1. What is the difference between the four types of reflection (technical rationality, reflection-in-action, reflection-on-action and reflection-for-action) presented by Farrell in Table 1?
The difference is based on the moment we reflect and the results we get from every stage. In the technical rationality you examine your own concepts and skills, your theory base before teaching in order to teach; reflection-in-action deals with the fast, maybe intuitive way to solve problems we face when teaching, in class. Reflection-on-action or in-depth reflection is rigorous, systematic and ongoing, just after you have taught, you recall the actions and situations presented when you were in class and reflect on that. Finally, reflection-for-action is a proactive thinking of what happened and the best way to face with the same problems when they later appear, to guide future action.
2. In what ways can Reflective Teaching benefit EFL teachers?
There are many ways in which Reflective teaching benefit EFL teachers. To start with sth, reflective teaching helps teachers avoid or not fall into impulsive and routine behavior in class. Also, because it allows teachers to act in a deliberate, intentional, and planned way; moreover, it is a natural quality of our human nature as intelligent and rational thinkers. Finally, as teachers gain experience and grow, it allows teachers to reconstruct his own educational approach or perspective, innovating and improving his labor and routines with a sense of self accurate professionalism.
3. How do you think reflective teaching can be implemented in your particular teaching situation?
I personally believe that reflective teaching is a process I can start in my class, everyday, taking the rime to think about the best ways of teaching them what they need, based on how they learn and letting them understand the why of our actions during a lesson.
I really like the idea of recording my classes to have an accurate source of observation in order for me to criticize my labor and performance, as I am a very self critical person and I like to improve my teaching techniques every day, and to do the best I can.
The difference is based on the moment we reflect and the results we get from every stage. In the technical rationality you examine your own concepts and skills, your theory base before teaching in order to teach; reflection-in-action deals with the fast, maybe intuitive way to solve problems we face when teaching, in class. Reflection-on-action or in-depth reflection is rigorous, systematic and ongoing, just after you have taught, you recall the actions and situations presented when you were in class and reflect on that. Finally, reflection-for-action is a proactive thinking of what happened and the best way to face with the same problems when they later appear, to guide future action.
2. In what ways can Reflective Teaching benefit EFL teachers?
There are many ways in which Reflective teaching benefit EFL teachers. To start with sth, reflective teaching helps teachers avoid or not fall into impulsive and routine behavior in class. Also, because it allows teachers to act in a deliberate, intentional, and planned way; moreover, it is a natural quality of our human nature as intelligent and rational thinkers. Finally, as teachers gain experience and grow, it allows teachers to reconstruct his own educational approach or perspective, innovating and improving his labor and routines with a sense of self accurate professionalism.
3. How do you think reflective teaching can be implemented in your particular teaching situation?
I personally believe that reflective teaching is a process I can start in my class, everyday, taking the rime to think about the best ways of teaching them what they need, based on how they learn and letting them understand the why of our actions during a lesson.
I really like the idea of recording my classes to have an accurate source of observation in order for me to criticize my labor and performance, as I am a very self critical person and I like to improve my teaching techniques every day, and to do the best I can.
Monday, September 7, 2009
What are the main beliefs about teaching and learning a foreign language I think I am comitted with in my teaching practice?
I have learned a lot by practicing and interacting with my students throughout their process of learning and acquiring a new language. One of the most important things I have figured out is that grammar is the base for an accurate communication. At first, I tried to stick my practice just to "communicative" games and activities, but due to the lack of structures my students had, it was such a difficult task for them to perform well, and sometimes they got very confused and frustrated about some activities. So I started to change a little bit my methodology by giving them some basic structures they could use when performing their roles, so they just had to use the vocabulary we were learning and the structures. In that way they were more motivated to speak and participate in class and to perform other activities which require more complex structures.So I consider grammar as an important part in the process, it helps increase the motivation of the students by giving them confidence to take the challenge to speak. And it is also very rewarding to see your students are learning.
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