Open mind

When I read this article I thought immediately that this was a great idea for those who cannot afford a real course at the University. At the same time, I felt kind of segregated because I try to put on people’s shoes because they do not receive any certificate about their performance on the course. I understand that the main purpose of the course was not to provide any recognition. However, I consider that people who watch them through the computer spend considerable time seeing these. One of the main goals of such courses was to increase the access to knowledge and improve the practices of teaching and learning.

I strongly believe that O.E.R. can be the most effective way to improve education. Nevertheless, in Chile this cannot produce the same impact that in an English speaking country. Another positive aspect of these courses are the virtual simulations, labs and tutorials allow for continuous feedback that helps the student along. The student’s progress is tracked step by step, and that information is then used to make improvements to the course.

Group 1

Wednesday, April 6th Group 1

• Student motivation and engagement

I decided to write about this group because I think they achieved motivation from the students. First of all, the topic was interesting but more than that the way my classmates presented the class was stimulating.

One of the most difficult tasks for a teacher is to get students motivated. My classmates did it with no problem. At the beginning they gave the task and the instruction. In fact, they even gave an example which is always necessary when we do an activity.

To finish I would like to say that my classmates developed one of the most significant aspect during the teaching practice which is critical thinking. During the video I could see how they asked not just for the correct answer but also the reason of it. When students said that one of the pictures was correct my classmates asked the reason why. I consider that this micro teaching shows a very good way of getting critical thinking from your students through an interesting and motivation game.

Group 6

Monday, April 11th Group 6

•
Teacher talk and student interaction

This was the aspect I chose from my group of classmates. I think one of the most important aspect in the classroom is the interaction between the members and mostly if it is a language lesson.

What I observed from this group was about the interaction between the students and the educator. I consider they gave enough opportunities to students participate. In fact, they waited considerable time to students take their time which I think is a very good strategy. Students do not have the same proficiency level, so teachers have to take that into account.


As a conclusion, I would say that classroom interaction is a big matter at school. Students do not have enough time to participate. But also, interaction is required to achieve communication within the classroom. Language acquisition requires communicative interaction. This group was supposed to be working with young kids which mean that interaction between peers is kind of difficult, so this has to be with the teacher.

Grammar transalation method

The site: http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/tenque.htm I found interesting things about learning Spanish such as, the grammar translation method. Such mode is one of the most common methods within Chilean classrooms. This method involves little or no spoken communication and listening comprehension. One of the most important aspects about this method is the lack of communication, because the class is grammar oriented.
I consider that this method does not achieve the language learning as a whole. As everyone knows, learning a language has to do with the four skills: listening and reading (receptive skills) and writing and speaking (productive skills). As in our Chilean classrooms this website takes into account just grammar letting aside the other aspects. The following example demonstrates how grammar oriented this site is:

These examples illustrate the contrasting uses of these two expressions:
María tiene un examen el lunes. Ella tiene que estudiar.
María has a test on Monday. She has to study.
No es fácil aprender el español. Hay que practicar mucho.
It isn't easy to learn Spanish. It is necessary to practice a lot.

As a conclusion I would say that acquiring a new language has to do with different aspects which have to be considered by the instructor or at school by the teacher.