martes, 20 de diciembre de 2016

Evaluation of Blog Experience

Level 3 >> Post 10 (week 14) Evaluation of your Blogging Experience

Write about your experience using blogs in the English class.

Say:

> What you think about the experience in general
> How much you feel your writing skills have developed
> What you would like to include in the future
> What else you would like to write about


Wordcount: 200
Make comments on 3 of your classmates' posts and on your teacher's as well.
_________________________________________________________________________


Evaluation of My Experience With Students:


As I have always said, when being here in front of a group of people in a class, I feel lucky to have the chance of being able to be their teacher, and I take very seriously and passionately the fact that the work I can make may change History someday – No one knows for sure if some of the people you were teacher’s to, might grow to become a future senator or the future president.

Having said that is time to reflect upon the practices and understand the ways in which the experience of the process of teaching and learning has enriched one’s life. It is time to assess one’s motivations, one’s teaching practice and the learning gained from the students.
By doing the self-analysis exercise, I realize that by being related to the academic affairs of a wide diversity of students from several faculties and majors, this term as well as the former ones, I have learnt and deepened in areas which were unknown to me and so I have learnt about the world of Dentistry and the different functions of the different organs involved in teething. Furthermore I have explored the world of cinema and the many dimensions to it and that are not always displayed for the mere spectator; I have enriched my understanding of the current national affairs just by listening to my journalism students and the discussions they have in the hallways or when just having a coffee with their peers.

From the interaction with my students –in English most of the time, I always insist - I have seen art in a way that was distant to me, I could finally appreciate artistic forms that before seemed sterile to me and needless say that as a whole, when reflecting upon the learning I have obtained from my students, I understand how wonderful my profession is and that from that nourishing feedback we both, teacher and students, receive from each other,  I believe we may endue the world with ways to stop inequity and contribute for citizens to overcome deprivation.

In the future I aim at opening up more to look over students learning styles, to take their ideas and try to include them in class activities that are even more profitable and beneficial not only for the academic endeavor but furthermore for the pursue of happiness.

The "Secret Friend" Trauma


Level 3 - post 9 (week 14) >> THEMED POST 3 


 Write about the national custom of giving presents to random and unknown mates during Christmas. Refer to anecdotes, funny situations, hardtimes finding the present or so.

- The students have to leave comments on at least 3 of their mates' posts  and on their teacher's post. - Wordcount: 190
 

The "Secret Friend" Trauma 

In my country, among all the traditions and cutoms we have, every end of the year, especially in offices and workplaces, people celebrate something we call "The Secret Friend". This is a way of giving presents to each other, without promoting preferences nor considering the rivalry that may exist within the team, it means just to give a present to someone who doesn't know who will be giving them the present.  

The tradition works like this: 

Firstly, one person (most of time the leader of the team) makes little papers with all the names of the people who compose the team. Then, every person gets, at random, one of the little pieces of paper with someone's name and mustn't tell anybody about who's name they got. The person whose name was in the paper is secret (that's why the 'secret friend') and everybody has to buy a present for the person they got.

Most of time, the team schedules a day and a time to give each other the presents, and also they get some biscuits and nice things to make a 'little Christmas' celebration because this instance takes place just before Christmas day, also, in many places, the prices for the gifts are set according to everybody's opinion, i.e. the present you buy must be worth a certain ammount, not usually more than five thousand chilean pesos.

In my life, I haven't played this game many times because it is very unusual that I have to work in a team and it is because the job of a university teacher, although not quite coherent with my teaching standpoint, is quite lonesome and though you work with many people, you don't have colleagues like people working in an office.  

I have tried to play it with some of my students from certain courses, but to be honest, I only want to give everybody a present and in the end, as obvious, I end up giving away small presents to everybody, and finally, that is not a proper 'Amigo Secreto'  game. Maybe in the future I will do it, but by now, I feel quite happy without having to over think a present for someone I don't really know.

martes, 13 de diciembre de 2016

A Subject You've Enjoyed.

Level 3 - Post 8 (week 12) A Subject you've enjoyed studying this semester


Write about your favorite subject this term. Among others, include:

> Name
> Describe what you do in classes
> Mention the main contents you have seen
> Explain why you like the subject

> Word Count: 180
> Make comments on 3 of your patners' posts and on your Teacher's.



As a child, I really liked studying but I honestly disliked going to school because I felt I couldn't learn much and I used to see the institution with remorse for being more than a school, a jail to me.
I also disliked the type of things we had to learn, but all amd all,, I started to really enjoy a class where we had to use tools to build pieces of furniture, small robotic devices, etc.  The class does not exist in the school system anymore, it was called "Técninco Manual"

I remember the biggest challenge when I decided to work with metal an welding tools. It was just great! I could share a  lot with my sather, getting to have a very healthy and loving environment for both of us to share and I developed a taste for achitecture I did no have.


Learning to do things with my hands helped me in many dimensions. Nowadays, becuase of all the effort me and my family ans school made, I have a lot of knowledge that is very useful. 

martes, 6 de diciembre de 2016

An Expert!

LEVEL 3 >> Session 7 (week 11) >> Career-Related Website OR An Expert on your Field

For this post, the students have to choose only ONE of these  2 options:

Post 1 (Instructions). 
Write about a career-related website that you enjoy visiting.
You have to:

- provide the link
- describe the website (sections, features,etc)
- say how often you visit the site
- explain why you like the site.




>Add comments to 3 of your classmates’ blogs + a comment on your teacher's post
>Word Count: 170

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Post 2 (Instructions)
Who is a person/expert on your field that you admire?

Say:

-Who she/he is. (short biography)
-What she/he has done. (examples of their work)
-Why you like her/him.
-Include his/her image

> About 170 words
>Add comments to 3 of your classmates’ blogs + a comment on your teacher's post.




ExampleThe man in the picture is Noam Chomsky, He is a very well known and widely respected Language Scientist. He is american and all his life, he has done research in the areas of grammar and language development among others. The core of his theory lies on that the principles underlying the structure of language are biologically determined in the mind and therefore it is genetically transmitted, in other words, we are born with an innate capability for language development.He changed my perspectives of why people learn a language, on how people learn it and how can that process be reproduced in an adult "learning", or moreover, as he says, "acquiring" a foreign language.He is considered the Father of Modern Linguistics and because of his extensive research, many new methodologies to language study, and also many new areas have been open up, an example of this, is the applications of his language theory into Neuroscience and IT. And still, nowadays, he is a must-study, for every linguistics or language-related-area-student.

THE SOUNDTRACK OF MY LIFE

Level 3 >> Session 6 (week 10) >> 2nd Themed/Free Post

- Number of words: 160
- Students have to leave comments on at least 3 of their mates' posts  and on the teacher’s post.

My Life as a Playlist

Music is without any doubt, one of one's life important aspect, especially in the sense that by listening, even just by chance, to a sound-music-tune that is engraved in your memory, you can go back in time and live memories and feelings, once again.
When thinking about this new blog session, I came accross with this very interesting website: http://www.abc.net.au/arts/playlist/#!/home .In there, by posing a set of questions (perhaps a bit too many for my taste), the author helps you to identify the key songs of your life. In doing so, I had many memories coming back again, some of them, really happy, some others, well.... you know happiness is best valued when not feeling it...LOL


I remembered the 90's, when TV was opening up to new tendencies; nationwise, there was a time of trying to relief old tensions, and I remember there was a soapy that marked my life.
I was starting5th grade in primary school and some of my earliest, school-years memories are joint with these old tracks.
 

I also remember that year was the year I fell in love for the first time and by listening to some of those songs, I remember my childhood intensity...It definetely makes feel somewhat nostalgic, but happy.

The soap opera was called "Adrenalina", it was a group of high-school girls in the new santiago, they all used to go the this disco, where all the characters came together, and the name of this disco was "Adrenalina" (the facilities used in the soapy were the same that of today's Broadway Disco)

Here, I give you some videos from music of the time, I hope you enjoy:

INTRO:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJIf6kJ0Urk

De Kiruza: Bakan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvP0AmlY3Jo

VENUS: ESTAS BORRACHO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNEVNVq3voo

More:............

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqzGNAs3h6c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmWDhT-eAW8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCbgktso6OQ&list=PL3B02C81865427FD7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCjM-3KlHgY