sexta-feira, 21 de janeiro de 2011

Public Education: changing paradigms

Education paradigms are changing worldwide. This entertaining animate, adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, a world-renowned education and creativity expert, shows you why and how. Enjoy! 

quinta-feira, 20 de janeiro de 2011

Logical deduction and memory

How many of you have never complained about your students' lack of studying skills, poor memory ability and the sort? In a world where the remote control and the keyboard are dominant tools, what could we expect? - Immediate disposable knowledge, of course!

This activity was intended to address that issue.

CONTEXT: after two lessons working on the topic Family (all the vocabulary had been worked before, except for the ...-in-law compounds, which were added as a challenge); delivered as a surprise activity at the beginning of the third lesson.

AIMS: developing studying skills; raising word formation awareness; reflecting on the amount of work done.


EVALUATION: The surprise element and the score control by the students engaged them; concentration levels seemed higher than normal; the scores mirrored the students' proficiency levels; they seemed to understand the need for organised vocabulary lists; more time was needed than previously expected (15 minutes, rather than 10).

REMARK: You don't need elaborate fashionable activities to help students improve their studying/ learning skills!

Dear student:

1. Click on the worksheet; enlarge the picture; copy and paste it on a Word document; print it and you're ready. 10-15 minutes will be enough to fill in the chart. Check the words you don't know in the dictionary.
2. Build other vocabulary lists. Organise them in a way that makes sense to you.
3. Notice any patterns (-tion, -er, -ment... as endings of nouns, for instance).

terça-feira, 18 de janeiro de 2011

The backyard

The backyard is where childhood memories linger. Unquestioned. Safe. The backyard is a personal territory.

But the backyard is also the place where common things happen. And those are the ones I'll share with you: teaching ideas, materials, impressions, doubts...