https://padlet.com/Elizabeth_Churata/Bookmarks "Putting thoughts into words & feelings into icons and drawings" en-us 2022-02-06 20:17:24 UTC 2022-02-24 14:56:07 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f30a.png Elizabeth_Churata https://padlet.com/Elizabeth_Churata/Bookmarks/wish/2031869804 It's been a long time since I last took part in a tech training, and to be honest I thought I things were going to look alien to me, but they weren't. During today's session Mrs. Kemp-Jackson, my tech trainer, toured us through the goals, resources, activities and topics that we will be covering during the coming weeks, I found it all useful and appealing. We started talking about the 21st century skills, which are necessary for every teacher and learner in the age of the internet. The most insightful idea I am going to keep in mind all the time is this: "Technology is a tool and we use it with a pedagogical purpose in mind". ]]> 2022-02-06 21:50:39 UTC https://padlet.com/Elizabeth_Churata/Bookmarks/wish/2031869804 Elizabeth_Churata https://padlet.com/Elizabeth_Churata/Bookmarks/wish/2031888727 During today's session we had the chance to read from an article about how to successfully move from offline classes to online lesson. I kept two important ideas, the first one is about the big mistake teachers make when assuming students know how to interact with their peers and work collaboratively with them on a given task. I must admit last year I uncounciously made this terrible mistake. Fortunately, most of my students got along and respected each other so things worked out well most of the time. The second idea is connected to how we organize our virtual classroom. Sometimes we believe that moving to online lessons, is just about providing information or posting assignments, but that's not the goal of teaching virtually, we have to see our virtual classroom like a learning space where each and every student is given the chance to keep developing their English skills. 
Among the 21st century skills I still need to focus on,  I realized I have many important aspects to consider when designing activities in my lessons. Although I know that students can learn inside or outside school, as a language teacher, I should help them develop their "Life skills" such as being flexible with themselves or taking risks to face new challenges, in that way I would be contributing to their whole education. ]]> 2022-02-06 22:21:25 UTC https://padlet.com/Elizabeth_Churata/Bookmarks/wish/2031888727 Elizabeth_Churata https://padlet.com/Elizabeth_Churata/Bookmarks/wish/2038814390 "Teaching ideas using a tech tool"
We easily decided to choose "padlet" as a tech tool to focus on developing collaboration and teamwork.We believe "padlet" allows students to actively engage in  class activities because there is a wide variety of resources that students can use with this tool. Students can share their ideas by using pictures, drawing, videos, audio,etc, and I think this is positive for any learning process because in this way all students would feel that they can contribute with a group task or activity proposed. 
On the other hand, I was checking the list of tech tools available for teachers to apply in class and I realized that there are tons of resources for us, the problem is that sometimes we don't dare to use them, we don't take so many risks and try new things. I will do my best to incorporate more tech tools in class, but of course, having a pedagogical goal in mind.]]> 2022-02-09 20:12:51 UTC https://padlet.com/Elizabeth_Churata/Bookmarks/wish/2038814390 Elizabeth_Churata https://padlet.com/Elizabeth_Churata/Bookmarks/wish/2049201180 In this class I realized that there are tons of  sources available for teachers to use in classes. Searching and learning about the diverse tech tools made me reflect about how well-equipped I am as a virtual teacher, and to be honest I need to invest more time in learning how to apply a variety of useful tools. During the time we had to work in teams and search information about Volley and discord, I love finding out the first one which consists on video messaging asynchronously; I have interest in using it for my classes.]]> 2022-02-15 18:02:25 UTC https://padlet.com/Elizabeth_Churata/Bookmarks/wish/2049201180 Elizabeth_Churata https://padlet.com/Elizabeth_Churata/Bookmarks/wish/2055502501  LMS (Learning Management System)

During today' session we learned about LMS, the way they work and the features they contain. In my team we explored "edmodo" and we realized than in comparison to Google Classroom , the current LMS we use at school, it also provides a wide variety of pedagogical functions for teachers and students. There are some add-ons that edmodo has and Google Classroom doesn't, and the other way around. I think that as educators we should explore each LMS carefully and see which one is the most suitable for our students. ]]> 2022-02-18 16:00:53 UTC https://padlet.com/Elizabeth_Churata/Bookmarks/wish/2055502501 Elizabeth_Churata https://padlet.com/Elizabeth_Churata/Bookmarks/wish/2055556898 Today's challenge was innovating because we had to think about selecting an alternative LMS OR  keeping Google Classroom with add-ons. After reflecting on the variety of LMS we explored last session, we decided to stay with Google Classroom but with some add-ons so that we could enhance it and make it more appropriate for students. This activity made me think about how challenging it is for LMS experts to consider all the functions, and features an LMS should have and allow teachers to do. I love working on this mission since this is how we get involved in designing and ameliorating our tech tools and resources. ]]> 2022-02-18 16:30:44 UTC https://padlet.com/Elizabeth_Churata/Bookmarks/wish/2055556898 Elizabeth_Churata https://padlet.com/Elizabeth_Churata/Bookmarks/wish/2064707120 Last class we started out by discussing about the order of how our students develop their skills when learning English. There were different outlooks on whether students learn receptive or productive skills first. I realized that most of the time the way we learn a language is the way we teach it, however, this rule does not apply to everyone because there are some people who teach exactly the opposite way they were taught. ]]> 2022-02-24 14:55:05 UTC https://padlet.com/Elizabeth_Churata/Bookmarks/wish/2064707120