Another ending, a new start.

My online course is finally over and I wont say I didnt learn, because I did, specially on webquests and rubrics. Im glad that it is over though. And as that ends, a new school year starts and it´s quite exciting? I just cant find the right word since right when my alarm clock sets off and starts ringing I just dont want to get up but once Im at work, time flies. 

Today was my first time doing the classroom decorations, I have helped mom before on that but it´s different when you do it for your own classroom and since it´s new it feels nice. Im not done with that yet, though. Another new thing is that in this firsts staff meetings we´ve been discussing what we will do to help the students and similar things but this last meeting was about the students profiles and I just couldnt help wondering if my profile had been discussed by my teachers, also I wonder, what would the say about me.

What I learned today, in the meeting, is that I need to make several adecuations for some students and I really want them to have a good experience with the subject I teach, however; so far I have to focus in finishing my paperwork.

Im hating this!

It´s definetely not my thing to curse, but oh my! I´ve been cursing this stupid assignment as soon as I got it.... I love reading and writing and teaching and combining colors but geez! why to do it again when I already have it??!! I wanted to use this one, but I guess if that had been the case then where my rant would´ve gone? to my other blog? heck no, that one´s special lol -right-

Now, I think, for the first time I´ve gotten a glimpse of how everybody else feels, geez, Im becoming normal! what a tragedy lol I´ve never have had problems in doing homework and assignments no matter how boring or easy they were or the fact that I knew them or had done them but now, Im procrastinating the things I dont like, I wonder if it´s because of my hectic life or the fact that I have so many matters of consequence in my head nowadays, like.... idk "adult" stuff that I didnt have, there were consequences only for me before but now... well, somehow I gotta make it I guess but how awful it´d be to flunk this stupid course just b/c I didnt feel like doing it when I know it.

I also think Im giving a bad impression on that course, so weird, maybe I just dont like it like that, no, I kind of was like this in all the classes that I had expected to get so much but didnt... cant believe Im saying I like those horrible to-die-for classes where they squeeze your brain and you are always on the edge of frustration and motivation (to prove u can do it, either to others or urself)... seems like I´ve learned better in those courses, like my typing class, I was terrified of that teacher, or my accounting class or my didactics class ofc there have been times in which I´ve fallen in frustration like my driving class or my comunicaciones class...

Of a 100% hw that I´ve had in that course 90% of the times I´ve done the day before or hours before the due date... dont like that... I´ll try to change that...

over-view of blogs in the classroom

The actual name is web-log. It is use to publish, often updated frequently, it´s some kind of a journal. To make it short, we call it blog which would be the "b" of web and the word "log" is added: Blog.

Advantages of using a blog as a teaching tool:
* Motivates students to participate
* Oportunities for read and write
* Mentoring
* Collaborative learning
* Many uses: informative, tutoring, assignments

Need-to-know when blogging
* As in everything, ethics is very important when blogging (quoting, not violating copy-rights, ways of expressing ideas, difamation....)
* Privacy and security: It is important to keep youself and students safe as well as respecting the laws. A few things to take into account in this point are: not posting addresses, complete names, passwords,  not posting children pictures without permission, not to post anything that might attemp with your security since a blog contains information that might and will be seen by, virtually, the whole world; unless the blog is private or the kind that can be seen only by those who have an invitation to see the blog.

The opportunities to read and write are many while blogging and indeed it´s very motivating though not to every student, some of them just hate reading and writing and for that I think it´s important to make short posts or as clear and straight to the point as they can be -that´s kind of a hard task to me, though. But also there is the other problem of relying in techonology only, what happens to those students that do not have internet? many might say, well there are cyber-cafés, libraries and even there´s the school. Not always, some kids just do not have access to internet, it is a fact. I was once one of those kids: my family simply didnt let me go out to a internet-café, gladly after they decided to get internet in our house.

Blog-time! (again)

The first time that I heard the word "blog" was two years ago at college. The subject was Informatica Educativa. I had no idea what it was so that time it was hard but I had some help -of course from my teacher- from the internet and friends; since then I´ve improved a little in that topic, so much that I have a few of them, not all active though.

Now, it´s blog time again. In my on-line course this is the second module, the creation of a blog. I´ve just asked the teacher if I can keep using this one, I hope he dont think that Im slopy -´cause Im not- but somehow I think it´s no good to keep creating blogs and blogs, filling the internet.

This part of the course has videos to help creating a blog. Well, Im going to read the hand-outs and see what new things I learn or what things I´ll refresh.

a bunch of CRAP

When I saw this new handout for the on-line course I started laughing, actually I opened my eyes widely then I started laughing but I think it´s a very good way to make people remember what it is about.

This module of the course is about dessigning and specifically about color! wonderful! I really like that. The first part there is the color theory, Im familiarized with it so it´s not hard and also that is one of my favorite topics plus, refreshing it will be really helpful for me and my blogs since I want them to be "handsome" -lol. Now on Color theory: first there is to know the chromatic circle or color wheel which basically is a circle with many colors and it is a tool to combine colors. The sencond point of the color theory are shapes. You can combine colors harmoniously using different shapes.

chromatic circle

Using an equilateral triangle you get a "triade" that is tree colors that complement and combine well, in the image, there is an equilateral triangle and the 3 colors you get are: yellow, orange red and blue purple. If you rotate the triangle you´ll get some more good combinations.

Using an isosceles triangle (only two out of the three sides are equal) you get two colors that are similar and one that is contrast (different or opposite) this shape also gives good combinations and one of the colors will stand out more than the others but keeping the nice visual harmony.

Using a rectangle you get a four-color combination and this as well, will be a good combination.

The one that I knew the most was contrast and that is the combination of opposite colors, for instance, the contrast color of black is white (everybody knows this one) and the opposite of blue is -no, it´s not red- it´s orange, the oposite of red is actually green. I really like this one because it makes the colors to stand out, dont you think?

As for CRAP talk, despite how funny it sounds, it´s actually a theory for the layout of web-pages or just any layout since it´s related to having a visually actractive page and dessign. It says to use contrast, it doesnt have to be only in color it can be in font as well. The R stands for Repetition, it´s not good to have a boring page but repetition not always makes something boring, when it´s well used it helps to create cohesion in the page, a sense of organization. For example a page that has too many font styles wont look good it will just create distractions from the text or content of it. The A is alignment, again this has to do with the order and organization of the elements of the page, this means all elements should have a visual connection, after all human brain loves patters -of course this shouldnt be done exagerating because it´ll turn boring. Finally there is P -which I forget for some reason- and this one stands for proximity, this means all related items should be together; web pages are supposed to be easy to use and one that is all over the place wont fulfill this requirement so, for me and everybody who is attempting to make a blog or web-page, make it CRAP!


Besides the theory of color and CRAP there is also TAP to take into account. TAP stands for Tools, Actions and Perceptions. As you can see, all this three topics have to do with what we see because sometimes even if something is good but the visual presentation is bad then no one -or hardly anybody- will want to use/read it. In TAP theory you have first the tools, and the tools are the font, shape, color, depht, space. There there are the actions: this are the actions you take to manipulate the tools as well as the changes you make to adress you audience, in this point there is also the CRAP theory. Finally there is the P or perceptions, this is related to hierchy (headings, tittles and subtittles, etc), figure/ground and harmony or unified theme.

This is a very interesting topic. Our world is filled with color so we might as well try to use it for our benefit in this case in dessigning instructional models where the contents are important but the way of presenting the content is as important as the content itself.

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NOw as a post scriptum or side note:  I just realized that par of  the assignment for this week is to write a report of the theory and I just did my draft in here yay! -n yeah, I do instant writing in here, not much editing, I probaly should but.... well... I´ll work on that later.
Also I´ll try to apply this -again- to the dessign of the blog.
now, to finish this post, I have to say Im very worried because of the rain in our country. I feel for the people that has lost everything. I feel sad for my bro that is away from us in another departamento and not able to come to us or us to go home... But hopefully this will pass soon and we and all those that we love -friends and family- will be alright

Instructional Technology

(topic 1)

According to the reading, instructional technology is the use of teaching tools and such tools can be as varied and simple as a calculator and as complex -though common- as a computer. There are some tools that I already knew such as web-quests, e-portfolios, blogs and web pages and others that I didnt even know that existed as Teacher tube (that name is rather funny isnt it?)

"Instructional technology is the use of a variety of teaching tools to improve student learning. We usually think of computers and computer software when we think of instructional technology, but instructional technologies are not limited to computers in the classroom."
  
isnt it?)instructional design:
"is the practice of maximizing the effectiveness, efficiency and appeal of instruction and other learning experiences. The process consists broadly of determining the current state and needs of the learner, defining the end goal of instruction, and creating some "intervention" to assist in the transition"

unny is The car metaphore: the engineers can design the car so that it runs certaing amount of kilometers with certain amount of fuel... these engineers can do nothing to make the future owner of this car to "treat" the car as they prescribe so that it runs the amount of kilometers with the amount of fuel they design it to run. In other words, you can desing the learning process and try it make it appealing and take into account learning styles but in the end the student is the responsible for adquiring/using/transforming it.


To make the Instructional Design there are various models but many of them, according to the reading, are variations of the ADDIE model which stands for:
A: analyze-- somehow a diagnosis
D: design --based on the diagnosis, you set the objectives and choose and approach
D: develop ---create the materials
I: implement ---use the materials
E: evaluate ---make sure that the materials helped to achive the goals

There are some other variations but mainly the ADDIE model is the core of them. According to the reading learning theories (constructivism, behaviourism...) play an important role when designning an instuctional materials since they´ll shape the outcome of such materials.


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One of the objectives of the course was to be aware of the ethics when using information gathered on line so I´ll try to write the reference of the reading I used and quoted.... (after a while) all right, I´ve given up...it´s hard to make a reference when there´s no author mentioned... but it was took from Richmond Editorial handout (laughs)

Finally!!

Oh my! this blog seems so dull!! in coparison -that is- with my other blog. Since I was forced by college to do this one I´ve learned a little bit more about this things.

My intention, for several weeks now, has been to bring back to life this blog. I´ve started working in April an it´s been quite an experience, I´ve been wanting to write all about it but for some reason or other -mostly by getting distracted on other things- I havent done it, but today I got my first e-mail with the information of this new on-line course that I´ve taken.

Such on-line course is named "How to Teach English Using Technology in the Classroom" it will be in English and it is given by Richmond Editorial, and well, it´s for free. Based on the last part, the being free part, I hope it wont be just advertisement but something that I can actually apply to my work.

So far, I´ve done some diagnostic test in wich I got 41/100 -way too low- but I wanted to be completely honest and being honest I hardly ever use technology, internet or ITC´s in my class for reason that I´ll discuss in some other post. Also, I already have an assignment -reading like 4-5 articles- and tomorrow there will be a discussion about it. It´s been almost a year since I didnt have assignments and Im in a way excited about starting this course but also a bit  distrusful  of it.

Now, this blog is not only back to life but it will also be my notebook for that course, my complaint paper for bad days in the classroom and just somewhere to write about my thoughts on teaching/learning/students/teachers and all related to my career.


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promise to myself: To update the layout of this thing... it looks so boring!! --done, sort of...