MD400 and I....

I have been having a great time in this course.

I've learned things I never thought I would....And I am also struggling with others...

The website is probably the assignment that is consuming my time the most...but step by step I have been doing it..

The digital story and photoshop are probably my favorite assignments so far. I used both to create pictures and "movies" to send to my family and friends back home...

It is really interesting to see how we can use technology in class, not only with older students but also with the younger ones too...They can be more creative, work as individuals or groups, and learn much more from it...

**Value Added**

It has been really interesting for me to learn how the media and technology can be so useful in the classroom and during the students instruction. When we look back, schooling was the teacher lecturing and the students learning by listening and by being assessed by taking tests only.

Now the teachers can use additional resources such as videos, music, softwares, pictures, etc in order to teach their students in a "fun" way.

Not only the students will be in contact with what their teachers have been preparing, but they will also make their own projects and be in contact with their peers' too.

The use of the "universal design for learning" will create an individualization instruction, where each student will have their own projects that will be made according to their point of view and interests. They can also be assessed by their teachers according to the goals and materials of the project.

Students will also proceed from what they already know to reach their objectives with the use of the additional resources.

I don't think in the future teachers will be raplaced by computers, but together they can be a great "team" in order to provide students better quality in education!

Inquiry-based learning

The first thing that crossed my mind while I was reading the article was :"Do it yourself, try it, get involved with it".

It doesn't matter about what we are talking about...once we try to do ourselves, we learn much more about it.

I am seeking my MA in bilingual ed., and as an English teacher, and even an ELL myself, I can say that once we leave the books and anotations aside for a while and we start communicating things go further.

Instead of reading and repeating the numbers after the teacher, let's try to use it in real life, let's pretend we have a supermarket in the class and try to buy "five" apples for "two" dollars. Let's learn about the animals by going to the zoo, to the farm, let's bring our stuffed animals from home, and let's see how they are in real life. Let's have a cooking class by mixing the flour, with the sugar, with the eggs, with the cocoa powder, to see and understand how a cake is baked.

To give answers to the students is easy, but to make them get to their own conclusions and understand the process of how things are made or how they happened is how they really learn. To learn from their own mistakes is one of the best ways during the learning process.

I come from a "traditional" school, where teachers would talk and I would write down and read. I was pretty much memorizing and learning for the tests. When I decided to become a teacher, I started working on a "constructivist" school, where students would cook, plant, construct, label materials and places inside the school by themselves to find the best way to learn what is what, and where is where. I kept thinking to myself everyday, how I would have learned much more by going to a school like that....

Standards

Discipline: World Languages
Grades: K-4

I decided to use the Standard as seen on the World Languages discipline, since that is my career choice. I have a major in translation, and I am getting my MA in bilingual education. Before coming to the US ,I was teaching K level classes in Brazil, and also tutoring English to Brazilian kids.
I am going back to do it when I go back home. Keep teaching kids about different cultures and other languages. As an ELL myself, I know how interesting and even important it is to learn not only the language itself, but also the culture of other countries.

Universal design for learning

I liked this article although it was quite a difficult reading.

It gives a lot of information how to use technology in the classrooms.

Really useful!!

My photoshop experience.... =/

It took me some time to come up with an idea for my picture.... I had so many things I would like to do...and maybe, with time I will get them all done....


I finally decided to make something with my parents... I haven't spent Christmas with my family for the past 3 years..So I decided to put my parents and myself together in front of the X-mas tree my "host family" had last year.


Next summer I am coming back home, and next Christmas Eve can be pretty much like this picture... =)

*The original pictures used: The Targowski's tree/ my father and I/ my mom, my grandma and I/ my father, my cousin and I....

27ºF

What a great day....to stay at home, read some books, and have a cup of hot chocolate... I will miss this when I go back home.... No snow at all there!!!!!!