... “because knowledge is available on every Internet-connected device, what you know matters far less than what you can do with what you know. The capacity to innovate — the ability to solve problems creatively or bring new possibilities to life — and skills like critical thinking, communication and collaboration are far more important than academic knowledge. To read the entire article, click on the following link: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/31/opinion/sunday/friedman-need-a-job-invent-it.html?_r=0
Experienced teachers sometimes ask themselves the question, 'Am I ready to be a teacher trainer?' They may ask in response to a request from a boss to run a workshop, in response to seeing a job advertisement, or in response to their own desire to keep developing and moving on in their professional field.
Each individual needs to answer the question for themselves, of course. But in this article, I’ll provide a few areas you might like to think about when turning the question over in your mind.
These are:
What do you need in order to be any kind of teacher?
Do you need anything more in order to train, educate or mentor other teachers?
How can I judge if I’m ready to be a teacher trainer?
To read the rest of the article, click the following link:
After I have spoken to teachers about my work, teachers often say to me something like "Thanks for the talk. But you don't understand. Here, we have a lot of mixed ability classes". To which my reply is something like "But I do understand. Which teacher – in any part of the world – doesn't have mixed ability classes? Mixed ability classes are the norm, not the exception. So you are not alone!"
And there is another point, though I must confess that I do not always say this openly. It is this: just as students come with mixed abilities, so do teachers. No one is perfect, or equally good at everything. Students have good days and bad days, and so do teachers. Teachers have things that they like to teach, and things that they don't. In my own case, I like teaching stories, reading, and even pronunciation. But teaching writing scares me to death! Consequently I am not very good at or confident about teaching writing. Therefore I have my own 'teacher mixed ability' to deal with, as well as the mixed ability levels of my students. And like all teachers and students, I find that if I am well, I perform much better than if I have toothache! To read the rest of the article, click the link below:
Patricia Kuhl shares astonishing findings about how babies learn one language over another -- by listening to the humans around them and "taking statistics" on the sounds they need to know. Clever lab experiments (and brain scans) show how 6-month-old babies use sophisticated reasoning to understand their world.
Phonetics is the study of the characteristics of speech sounds.
As second
language learners, most of us have had difficulties
in pronouncing certain sounds in English. When I was an ESL student,
it was quite difficult for me to pronounce the [θ], [r], as
well as [ð] and [æ] sounds because they either don't exist in Turkish
sound system or are produced differently. With the help of
my undergraduate phonology course, I became more aware of all the
individual sounds in English.
Therefore, as an English instructor, I believe that teaching pronunciation explicitly is vital in an adult ESL class. Although
there are biological, socio-cultural, and personality factors as well as the
effects of the native language, it is the teacher’s responsibility to design
his/her lessons for students to practice their pronunciation both through
drills and meaningful context. That way, the pronunciation of the target sounds
can be more salient for students.
In the
video, I work with one of my Chinese students, Hua, to pronounce /s/ sound in combination with /w/ sound. Before our practice, she pronounces the verb "swept" as /ʃwept/. Although Hua can
distinguish /ʃ/ and /s/ sounds and pronounce them individually in a correct way, she has hard time to pronounce the /sw/ sound.
In such circumstances, it's important to inform the student that it is
not a failure but a result from the fact that these two sounds do not used
together in Chinese. After the student practices combinations of /s/
and different vowel sounds, she can produce the /sw/ sound. It is just a matter of
practice. Please don't keep it from them!
Dave Eggers talks about how his 826 Valencia tutoring center inspired others around the world to open.
Five days a week, dozens of students of all skill levels and interests come to 826 for free, one-on-one tutoring. Most of these students are from the predominately Latino neighborhood, and few speak English at home. When their homework is finished, some children work on extracurricular writing projects; others prefer to grab a book off the shelves and do some quiet reading.
CYI's Summer Leadership Institute (SLI) is getting ready for its THIRTEENTH annual summer session and we're looking to assemble our strongest team yet!
If you... - are passionate about social issues, - believe in community mobilization through youth empowerment, - and want to be a part of a kickass for-youth-by-youth organization,
consider applying to be part of this summer's SLI staff!
The program consists of a series of weekly workshops, in which high school youth engage in exploratory activities and discussions. These workshops aim to facilitate identity and leadership development, as well as to enhance awareness of issues affecting underrepresented communities.
Zunal Webquest Maker is a web based software for creating Webquests in a short time with no cost.
Check my WebQuest "Writing to Show- Not to Tell": http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=90917
The 34th Annual Applied Linguistics Winter Conference will be held on Saturday, March 2, 2013 at Teachers College with a focus on TESOL and Applied Linguistics & Technology .
At the end of this month, high school seniors will submit their college applications and begin waiting to hear where they will spend the next four years of their lives. More than they might realize, the outcome will depend on race. If you are Asian, your chances of getting into the most selective colleges and universities will almost certainly be lower than if you are white...
