Trick or treat:Let's log in!

BubbleShare: Share photos - green toy news

Halloween has been celebrated at our school for over a decade, and different courses usually take part in different ways. Children dress up, play games and go trick-or-treating all around... Teens and adults may enjoy scary movies or read horror stories... and I've heard some teachers wear just black and orange on October 31st!

So, last year, the CyberLCB team felt somehow we HAD to join in... As usual, the idea hit us at the very last minute (shame on us!), and so we were only able to invite those teachers who had already tried some work with us during 2007. The result? Five Children 1 and 2 classes from four different LCB branches contributed with texts, photos and audio, and we put it all together at our wiki for young learners.

It was a humble first step, but we were proud of this collaborative effort, and expect to repeat it in 2008. Actually, we were thinking of organising it better, so that all courses can contribute... How would you like to join in?

Gladys Baya
Central and Barrio Norte

My first steps

Ma. Laura Pérez
Martínez

Telling "Toy Stories"

Valeria Durand
Barrio Norte

Do adults like blogging?

Last year I was assigned a level 1 course for the second term starting in August. About three weeks after the beginning of the course, I explained to them -in Spanish- that teachers at the Liceo were working on a project to integrate technology into their classes and asked them if they were interested in being part of it.

As they assented I told them that we had already started a blog and asked if they knew what a blog was. Some of them did so spoke out what they knew. As some others didn’t know, I enlarged the idea by telling them it was a website where they could communicate with other students who were studying in the six different branches at the LCB by using the knowledge they had already acquired in the course. I put emphasis on the fact that the blog was only for students who were attending levels 1 and 2 and therefore they could freely write without worrying about making mistakes.

Next I explained the steps to follow. As I had already asked for all my students’ e-mail addresses and I knew most of them had one, I told them they could write their introductions and e-mail them to me and that I would be in charge of uploading them to the blog.

They didn’t write immediately so I had to insist a couple of weeks later. By that time, we had already covered the topic “likes and dislikes” so when I insisted on the subject I asked them to add their preferences. I also suggested they could enclose a picture of them.

Luckily and to my surprise, I got the pieces of writing of 5 students a few days later. But they forgot about the photos. I uploaded the info and sent all my students an e-mail (including those who hadn’t written anything) to let them know about it and included the link for an easier access - LCB Level 1-2 Blog/introductions. I advised them to visit the blog regularly to check if someone had posted any comments. Unfortunately, only some of them did.

So I think adults like blogging or at least the idea of posting their information on the internet. The big setback –in my opinion- was the students’ lack of time and tiredness, but above all, the lack of experience in this type of activity. What do YOU think?

Post a comment with your suggestions on how to improve the use of this tool and any other idea you’d like to share.


Sonia Amato
Callao

Blogging with beginning adults

Hello everybody! My name is Andrea Sánchez and I've been working at the Liceo, Barrio Norte branch for 1 year and a half.

Last year, as part of a level 1 class project, we started our own blog. The original idea was to do all our writing assignments on line, so that anybody from around the world could be in touch with us. Some students were reluctant as they were extremely busy to go through all the trouble of learning how to blog, which was why we decided that it was not going to be compulsory to take part in the blog.

At the beginning, everybody involved was very enthusiastic about it: the students and I chose the template together in our coordinator's office, we took a picture of the group and started to blog. I sent an e-mail to Cyberlcb yahoo group telling other LCB teachers about it. In this way, I met Fabiana Lasalle, from Belgrano branch, who happened to be doing the same! You should have seen my students' faces when they got a reply from somebody that was not me!! They were delighted!!

After the winter holidays, Fabiana suggested integrating both blogs into one so that other teachers and their classes from any LCB branch could join in. I talked to my students and they readily agreed! From then on, we created the blog LCB Levels1-2 , which you're invited to visit:



I can say that it was a great experience: it is true that at times I had to insist that they visit and comment on the blog but, all in all, they loved it. I believe that it gives students the chance to use English in a meaningful way, with a purpose which is what we sometimes lack when we give our students a writing task.
How about you and your classes? Have you tried blogging with them? Would you be interested in having your classes join the LCB Levels1-2 blog? Leave your comment to this post!

See you around in cyberspace,
Andrea Sánchez
Barrio Norte

Online dictionaries... and more!

As a teacher, I have often wondered how to be updated and how to motivate students in the learning process. I´ve tried many things but I was a bit reluctant to introduce technology into the classroom out of lack of knowledge as well as confidence. However, I began to feel that technology has become a useful and "almost" essential tool to use. So, I started learning and surfing the web. I was amazed to find countless websites which can be used in the learning process.

One of the websites which I find really interesting and profitable is Englishpage.com. You can find different types of English dictionaries. Moreover, there are plenty of exercises for students to practise and check. Try it! I guess you and your students´ll benefit from this page. If you know of any similar pages, why not post a comment to this post?

Silvia C.
Barrio Norte

An (un)successful attempt?

During the last school year, after inviting the parents of my 2nd Children course to visit the Children and Juniors Wiki, so as to let them know what it was like, I told the children to have a photograph taken while having breakfast and write a few sentences about it using "Adverbs of Frequency", which is one of the issues on the syllabus.

By the time the children e-mailed me their photos, their parents had already signed a note allowing those pictures to be published on the Internet. Finally, I published the photos and descriptions in the wiki, and brought a printed copy into the classroom so that everybody could see the final product.

Even though only two members of the group (five in all) took part in the activity, which is quite disappointing, I prefer to see the bright side of it: those two members were really happy in the end. As for me, I will have to make the necessary adjustments. Trial and error again, essential in the use of new technologies!

Leticia Car
Belgrano

The Past and the Present: a Blend

Everybody speaks about the wonders of technology and how our lives have changed since we had access to internet. But the moment we enter our classrooms we go back to the quiet past. And so one day I wondered what I could do to profit from this wonderful technological tool, without either being unfaithful to the textbook or making use of precious minutes we needed to practise for the coming term test.

This is how the idea of the Into The Future Design Project came to me. The project was an optional task given by the textbook. Traditionally, the kids would have done the pictures, then, we would have glued them to some cardboard and, finally, the poster would have been hanged up on a classroom wall to be seen by the authors themselves and some other bored student in the middle of some other class. Instead, I picked up the pics and made use of an hour's time at home scanning and uploading them to the lcb-childrenandjunior wiki , which I had previously introduced to my students and their parents.
How many times do parents come to the classroom and see what their kids have done? How many times do they question why there is nothing written down in their kids' copybooks? How can they show other relatives and friends what their kids are doing in English?

All these questions were dancing in my mind while I was working at home. Now parents, grandparents and other relatives - maybe living far away - would be able to see these kids' production without moving from home and with just a click.

And even more rewarding it was to see these kids' faces at the prospect of having some work published and shown in a public site just like adults may do.

To me, the experience was like making a poster, though with the prospect of having a wider audience. It meant using a traditional technique and enriching it with new technology. A blend of the past and the present.

This slideshow sums up the whole process. Enjoy!

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Educational Project
SlideShare Link

Pat Maceda from Barrio Norte