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.
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