Isto são outros "quinhentos"....

Você sabe dizer a expressão isto são outros quinhentos em inglês? Observe o exemplo:

Writing a paragraph is easy but writing a 200-word essay is A WHOLE NEW BALL GAME.

(Escrever um parágrafo é fácil mas escrever uma redação de 200 palavras é outros quinhentos)

The Limitations of spellcheckers

• "In fact, you have to be quite good at spelling and reading in order to use a spellchecker effectively. Typically, if you have misspelled a word the spellchecker will offer a list of alternatives. Unless your initial attempt is reasonably close to the correct spelling, you are unlikely to be offered sensible alternatives, and, even if you are, you have to be able to make sense of what is on offer. You and your pupils also have to be aware of the limitations of spellcheckers. First, you may correctly spell a word but simply use the wrong one; for example, 'After I had eaten my super I went straight to bed.' A spellchecker will not spot that it should be 'supper' not 'super' (did you spot the mistake?). Second, the spellchecker does not recognize some perfectly acceptable words."
  (David Waugh and Wendy Jolliffe, English 5-11: A Guide for Teachers, 2nd ed

Desenvolvimento da Escrita para crianças

Queridos pais e educadores,
Compartilho esta tabela da Neurosaber que ilustra muito bem o processo de escrita dos pequenos

See, watch, stare and look. Difficult?

Os verbos de percepção em inglês são bem mais ricos que em português e a equivalência, às vezes, fica difícil.  Mas acho que com estas ilustrações ficará mais fácil para você.

Where is the WEB driving education?

The question of this post has been o my mind for some years. Fortunately now, some answers have emerged because I have been taking a course on Web Science at the University of Southampton which aims at shedding some light to attendants where the web came from, where it is now and where it may go.

Needless to say that the World Wide Web has changed the ways we communicate, collaborate, and educate. We increasingly live in a Web-dependent society in a Web-dependent world. The Web is also the largest human information construct and it is growing faster than any other system we know about.

As educators, we need to understand the current, evolving, and potential Web so that we can get the most of it in our classes. If we just standstill, things change at the speed of light and our teaching practice may become out of date. It is our role have an awareness of current and emerging research questions for Web Science.

In brief words Web Science is the study of the social behaviours in the Web at the inter-person, inter-organizational and societal level, the technologies that enable and support this behaviour, and the interactions between these technologies and behaviours.

Take some some time and have a look at this dense but cutting edge topic. Feel free to share any comments with me or make any questions if you will.

To start I invite to watch the TED talk :

Tim Berners-Lee: The next web | TED Talk | TED.com

https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_berners_lee_on_the_next_web

Useful Apps for Education

A mobile app is a computer program designed to run on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers.
Apps are usually available through application distribution platform, which began appearing in 2008 and are typically operated by the owner of the mobile operating system, such as the Apple App Store, Google Play, Windows Phone Store, and BlackBerry App World. The term "app" is a shortening of the term "application software". It has become very popular, and in 2010 was listed as "Word of the Year" by the American Dialect Society
I have been using a number of apps in my classes but I will list below some that are really resourceful for classroom management and general study.

1) Coin Flip full free : Wanna flip a coin for a hard decision? This app let you select your favorite coins and sport backgrounds to try your luck. Beautiful coins from 28 nations and different beautiful backgrounds to choose. Students love it!
2) Random Student Picker: This app is designed for teacher who want to quickly and easily pick students at random to answer questions, complete tasks or join groups. Classes can be added by entering names or copying and pasting. 
3) I love English (English videos): English Conversation Listen" is a helpful app to practice english conversation for everyone. With more than 1 english channels categorized in 6 levels, you can strengthen your english speaking and listening skills perfectly.
4) Too Noisy Lite online:  As the noise level in a classroom increases beyond an acceptable level the noise level meter dynamically indicates the level of noise, and the background graphics within the app change to reflect the noise levels.

What about you? What apps have you been using in class? Share with us!

Do you know how to say "firme e forte" in English?
Alive and kicking

E.g: How are you feeling after a long day studying for the test?
 Alive and kicking.

Reference: Englishexperts.com