Fostering "Constructive Alignment"

Biggs (2003) has been influential in his work in the area of what he calls ‘constructive alignment.’ The basic premise of constructive alignment is that the curriculum is designed so that the learning activities and assessment tasks are aligned in order to support students to attain the goals intended for the course. This concept considers students to be responsible for their own learning. If students construct their own learning, then it makes sense that the real learning can only be managed by them. In light of this view, education literature (e.g. King,1993) prefers educators to think of themselves more as guides on the side, not sages on the stage.

This role leaves educators in charge of coordinating the activities required to facilitate the learning experience and adopting the necessary supportive learning strategies. In this sense, educators are responsible for  setting clear goals, and more importantly, expectations. If students are provided with this  alignment between the objectives and the learning outcomes, they will be more intrinsically motivated, and as a result, their performance will be enhanced and their perception of educator effectiveness will improve as well.(McKone, 1999).

What about you? Have you considered this alignment between your goals and  students expectations in your lesson plan? If so, good job! If not, go for it. Students expectations and a positive learning perception are vital for our success as educators. It’s not enough setting clear goals if they don’t meet  students expectations.

One strategy teachers can use is accounting for the students’ perception of learning at the end of each class by using the picture below. Teachers can make stick figures with the names of the students on it and they will go to the board to put their stick figure on the stair step they think they achieved that class. The teachers then has the chance to praise, question and elicit more information about the feedback they are giving. Think about it!

Hobson's choice? What does it mean?

Meaning: a free choice in which only one option is offered. As a person may refuse to take that option, the option is therefore taking the option or not; "take it or leave it".

Em português, ás vezes, quando não temos a opção de escolher, dizemos que a escolha foi por livre e espontânea pressão!!! A Hobson’s choice!!!

The Joker and Ace game!

Procedures: Give out 3 Jokers and 3 Aces to each student (it can be a real card or a printed copy). They make a statement while laying one of their cards face down on the table (if the Joker/ Acer figure can be seen through the back of the paper, they’ll need to hide it under a book). If their partner thinks it is false, they can call their bluff by saying “Liar!” If it was indeed a lie, the person who laid the card down takes that card back, and any other cards still on the table from previous rounds. If it was in fact true, the person who made the accusation has to take the card or cards on the table and add them to their own pack. If no accusation is made (people should say nothing if they think the sentence is true), the card(s) stay there for the next round(s). The first person with no cards left in their hand is the winner.

Hints for teachers: This game can be used to work with any grammar topic or vocabulary as long as the teacher gives them the language chunks to be used. Also, it can be used as a warm-up or wrap-up but then, instead of 3 cards, give them 2, so that the game don’t last more than 10 minutes. If you decide to play with 3 cards the game will take around 15 minutes.

Paper Clip Challenge! Fun way to learn about important facts of the English Language!

Challenge your students to play this true or false cool activity while they have the chance to enhance their knowledge of the English Language.

How to play: Give each student a strip of paper with a sentence (like the examples 1-10 below) and they keep it to themselves. After, students take turns to roll a dice and the first one to get a six will start the activity. This student will read his sentence aloud for the whole group. Students hide a small object like a paper clip in their right hand if they think the statement is something true and in their left hand if they think it is something false. After checking who got it right or wrong, the student who began the activity will choose the next one to read his statement and the activity goes on and on. The activity is very student-centered and empower students because they will be the ones to say if what they have read is true or false and not the teacher. The teacher will just act as a facilitator to guarantee the timing, organization and success. This activity will take tops 15 minutes!

1.   English is spoken today in all continents. (T)

2.   It is spoken as a first language by 370 to 400 million people. (T)

3.   The number of second language speakers and foreign language speakers is the same.(F)

4.   Brazil speaks English as a second language.(F)

5.   India, Kenya and Singapore use English as a second language.(T)

6.   English is the working language of the European Central Bank, although the bank is in Germany.(T)

7.   In Asia and the Pacific, nine out of ten international organizations work only in English.(T)

8.   The river name Thames, meaning dark river, derives from Old English and no one is really sure of the reason for it.(T)

9.   In Old English, there were no capital letters. (T)

10.Some names for the days of the week come from the names of gods and goddesses.(T)

Reference: Oxford University Press, The History of the English Language.

Phrasal Verbs: Wanted Dead or Alive!!!

If you are either an English student or teacher, you may already have the feeling that phrasal verbs are so difficult that you will never be able to learn them. But the thing is: NEVER EVER GIVE UP!

Challenge yourself and your students and try to find below the top 25 most common and used Phrasal verbs and have a chance to practice and improve your English! And remember, native speakers use phrasal verbs all the time in conversation!

addupblowupbringupcalloffcarryoncomeacrosscomeupwithfallapart

getalonggetawaygetovergiveupgoonholdonlookafterlookforwardtolookup

makeoutpassoutpulloverputdownputoffputupwithturnupwatchout

 

For more information go to:

http://www.grammar.net/phrasalverbs

http://www.abaenglish.com/blog/english-grammar-learn-english-with-aba/25-most-useful-phrasal-verbs/

http://learnenglishfromhome.blogspot.com.br/2010/12/top-20-most-common-english-phrasal.html

What is at stake in the "teaching business"?

Day after day, teachers all over the world are faced with classroom situations that demand a great deal of self control and a high ratio in emotional intelligence (not to say "gut"!). This ‘business’ of the typical classroom setting can easily lead to feelings of cognitive overload. Students expectations towards learning have changed and sometimes teachers just cannot see what to do  to make their lesson plan meet this end. Taking a logical approach to course design and lesson plan, as well as interacting with our students is useful but it does not fully make us the teachers we are. It’s well known that students who feel valued and rewarded are more likely to approach their learning tasks with a sense of intrinsic motivation, whereas those who perceive less regard for their autonomy and competence are more likely to exhibit extrinsic motivation or to disengage from the learning process entirely.   True that, by and large, changes in lesson plan may be the key to success but there are a number of situations that will demand a little more from teachers...so I invite you to think whether you are able to teach with your gut and share some hints!

1) share your frustrations and expectations with more experienced teachers. Sometimes a person who sees a situation with the benefit of no emotional involvement may give you nice suggestions. Furthermore, a large factor determining how an individual teacher fares in this “psychoclutter” is amount of experience (Feldon, 2007).

 
2) ask a peer to watch your class. When we are teaching, juggling a myriad of things, we may not see something that is right between the eyes. On the other hand, an observer will manage to see many details and give precious hints.
3) talk to your coordinator or school counselor. Sometimes the situation you are facing with may require support from the parents.
4) research, read and study about the issue. Sometimes it is important to see that we are not alone and other people have been faced with similar situations worldwide.

For more information on the topic follow the link below:

http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2011/march-11/teaching-with-your-gut.html

Vocab hints!

There are these three expressions I have always wanted to know how to say and I finally found out. I hope it helps you too:




brinde - freebie
tudo junto (quanto você fala um e-mail, por exemplo) - all-in-one word. Meu e-mail, por exemplo, eu diria: anaisacunha, all-in-one word at hotmail dot com.
ser unha e carne com alguém: to be joined at the hip. E.g: I can go to London without Mike. We're not joined at the hip, you know.