Welcome April - July 2011 Class

Welcome, everybody!

This new trimester, we will be learning in a blended connected way. But what is that? you may be asking yourself. Well, let's try to explain what it is about. To start with:

1. It is mostly about learning and practicing your English.
2. You will be reading, listening to, writing and talking about different topics in English.
3. It is about learning English using technology. That means we will be using computers and internet to find real updated information concerning your different interests. We are going to experiment and play with new ways to learn autonomously. Learning for life. Learning to learn. Learning by doing. We will watching and listening to videos as well as making videos. We'll have the chance to use different tools to express our ideas and interact with people.
4. It is about learning and practicing your English in groups, in community. Be ready to meet students and teachers from the university and the world. Of course, there will be tasks you must complete on your own.

That was a general description of the course. Now, how the classes take place:

• If you can't come to classes, you can connect at home or wherever you have access to a computer and Internet.
• You need to get a google account, since we will using different tools provided by Google. make sure to register to Gmail, Google Reader, Google Talk, Google Doc, and Blogger
• Blogs are going to be your personal journals. There you will register everything we do in class. All your homework and tasks should be there.
• Every class will be a taken as a workshop or TALLER. Try not to miss your classes and if you do, keep your blog updated.
• Homework will be assigned for each one of the units covered in class. The dateline to hand in your homework will be the day of your test. It means you will have the chance to work on your blog till the exam day.
• Corrections to writing will be done through Google documents and with the help of tutors.. try to get one.. Go to Bloque F and meet our tutors. .or find a friend that watn to help you-
• We will also use social networks to keep in touch: Facebook and Twitter
• Get a microphone and headphones for this class. Register to Skype
• Get an avatar we will join a project on a virtual world. Register to Second Life to get your avatar.

Things you need to do to take this class:

• Get a Gmail account and register to Google services: reader, Google talk, reader and blogger.
• Get a blog at Blogger. For instructions on how to that get the power point presentation from our box or follow the tutorial prepared by Vance Stevens.
   

Well, hope you can learn a lot and have lots of fun in this class! Once more welcome everyone!

Keep on shining Love and Peace!
Doris3m

Introduction to Second Life Viewer 2

These are resources that will help you on understanding how SL viewer 2 works...

1. Introduction to Second Life Viewer 2 - ICT4LT 
This is a woderful guide prepared  by Graham Davies

2. A video Introduction to Second Life Viewer 2

Russian Venezuelan Project!

Here, we have some more info on the project....

There should be 6 meetings every week starting next week. Let me know if it is not convenient for you or your students.

1st meeting: Getting to know each other. Interviewing about family/friends, personal likes/dislikes, character traits.

2nd meeting: Compare Venezuela and Russia: climate, cities, people, myths and stereotypes, why you are proud of your country, 3 things you like and 3 things you dislike about your country, places that are worth visiting

3rd meeting: Students' Daily Routine: typical working day, ways to relax, typical problems of a student, what you like and dislike of your being a student, opportunities for students

4th meeting: Home and Food: house/flat in your country - how people live, national cuisine, exchange a recipe, what food is popular, fast food and attitude to it

5th meeting: Hobbies: popular hobbies in the country, what books you read, what films you watch, what music you listen to (may be exchange some tracks), what sites you like on the web

6th meeting: Active Life: a sport you like to do or to watch, popular sport in the country, fans, extreme sports, dancing as a sport and as a hobby.

Well, these are our friends from Russia....

  1. Alice Sokolenko                                Leiver Caballero
  2. Dana Berdauletova                            Andreina Bohorquez
  3. Aleksander Kozhukhar                      Veronica Fernandez
  4. Natalia Kolesnik                                Freddy Siu
  5. Svetlana Ionas                                   Enyurelys Nava
  6. Lusine Yeghoyan                               Jose Mancini   levi vivas
  7. Maria Shelenberg                              Carlos Arrieta
  8. Anastasia Shakutneva                        Gerardo Guerra
  9. Maria Petina                                      Jose Mejias
10. Yulia Agafonova                                Daniel Ekmeiro
11. Kristina Gaponenko                          Gustavo Naveda
12. Milalika Plyasovskikh                        Luiggi Lozada    Gerardine Cubillan
13. Darya Shalabina                                Carlos Rodriguez  Pierangela Calini

A project proposal...

Well, we got invited to do something out of the ordinary... This is going to be our final project for this level. How would you like making friends with a Russian EFL student?.... Read the following project proposal from Professor Olga Scheglova, from Omsk:

Dear Doris and students,

I'm Olga Scheglova, an English teacher from Omsk, Siberia, Russia.  I visited your presentation at CO2011 and really liked it.

I thought that if you are interested, we could have a joint project with our students. The idea of the project is crosscultural communication. It is an opportunity to practice their speaking and writing in English, to learn more about people from another country (some of them are studying Spanish at the moment) and to introduce more technology in their lives.

My students are 17-18 y.o., there are 14 of them, their English level is intermediate (Some have upper-intermediate, some have pre-intermediate). They started learning English at school and now they continue to become translators.

The project can be as following: we pair up the students, first thay exchange e-mails and discuss when it is convenient for them to meet online. Then every 2 weeks they have a topic/ a question they have to ask their foreign partner in skype. After each conversation they write a report in a blog/forum about what they have learned. Also they are encouraged to read and comment each other's reports.  The final product can be a presentation "Now I know that in Venezuela/Russia..."

I wonder if the idea seems interesting to you. I'm looking forward to your answer.

Sincerely yours,
Olga

Omsk F. M. Dostoevsky State University

Well, I think this will be  a great opportunity for you to practice your English and meet new friends...all you will have to do it's to talk to your partner in Russia and tell him or her about our country.. You will report on your blog the conversations and at the end of the trimester your will introduce your friend to the class.

We'll try to meet them on line next Wednesday... please bring your mics...

Medieval Roleplaying in Arstonia in Second Life

Well, to start with the project.. we need to get an avatar and star thinking about your character. Here you can find some info on how to create an avatar for your medieval roleplay. First visit the Vilage's wiki:
The Village of Artstonia in Second Life

1. New Player Card Format
2. Character Creation Resource Page
3. RP Character Development Profile
4. Complete Character Sheet

Don't forget to include a photo of your character... this is Pionia Destiny.. a Master Mage in the Magic Guild:

Firts Term Jan-Apr 2011

Hello, there! for this frist term you'll grade will take what you have posted in your blog and your oral presentation.

In your blog I'd like to read and listen to about:

1. Your intro and welcome to your blog. Include your physical description. Leave your comment here: http://www.voxopop.com/topic/e6a27ec4-1897-485a-9643-377e40c0b3d0 This is a model: Welcome
2. Some info about your classmates.
3. Your take on beauty. http://www.voxopop.com/topic/b928e42f-945c-49fc-b59d-8e76c556c756
4. Your take on Technology. leave your comment here: http://www.voxopop.com/topic/b928e42f-945c-49fc-b59d-8e76c556c756
5. Your opinion about the Katy Perry Video. Firework: WE are all Fireworks!!!!!!!
6. A fun task: write a poem (optional) Fun EFL Task: Writing a Poem
7.  Got an avatar and wrote about it in your blog: this is an example.. Jose Mejias' blog

For the Oral presentation:
1. Look at Eugenia Cristina's presentation: http://eflcenterspeakinggroup.blogspot.com/2010/09/blog-post.html
2. make a powerpoint presentation like hers... and record your voice  explaining the presentation.
3. Post it to your blog.
4. Be ready to present it Live in class.

Meeting Eugenia Cristina!

Well, hello there! I'd like you to meet Eugenia. She was a level 6 student back in 2008. At that time she created this presentation that now will help you create yours... smiles..

This is she.. talking about herself:

My full name is Eugenia Cristina and I'm a simple girl looking to make the most out of life. I love going out with my friends, I'm a total fanatic for design and I like to try different things. It is very important to know english because when you want to travel that will be the medium for which communication will become easier.

Well, this is our model for the first term... can't wait to see yours..
Keep on shining Love and peace!
Doris3m

Discussion » Beauty... what's beautiful or who's beautiful to you? why?

Second Discussion.. get your mic and leave your opinion!!!

Discussion » Beauty... what's beautiful or who's beautiful to you? why?

Keep on shining Love and Peace!
Doris3m

Welcome Group Sep-Dec 2010!!

Welcome, everybody!

This new trimester, we will be working with The Speaking Group. But what is that? you may be asking yourself. Well, let's try to explain what it is about. To start with:

1. It is mostly about learning and practicing your English.
2. It is about learning English by talking about different topics. You will be reading, listening to, writing and talking about different topics in English.
3. It is about learning English using technology. That means we will be using computers and internet to find real updated information concerning your different interests. We are going to experiment and play with new ways to learn autonomously. Learning for life. Learning to learn. Learning by doing. We will watching and listening to videos as well as making videos. We'll have the chance to use different tools to express our ideas and interact with people.
4. It is about learning and practicing your English in groups, in community. Be ready to meet students and teachers from the university and the world. Of course, there will be tasks you must complete on your own.

That was a general description of the course. Now, how the classes take place:

• Classes are going to be held at the lab. I f you can't come to classes, you can connect at home or wherever you have access to a computer and Internet.
• You need to get a google account, since we will using different tools provided by Google. make sure to register to Gmail, Google Reader, Google Talk, Google Doc, and Blogger
• Blogs are going to be your personal journals. There you will register everything we do in class. All your homework and tasks should be there.
• Every class will be a taken as a workshop or TALLER. Try not to miss your classes and if you do, keep your blog updated.
• Homework will be assigned for each one of the units covered in class. The dateline to hand in your homework will be the day of your test. It means you will have the chance to work on your blog till the exam day.
• Corrections to writing will be done through Google documents.

Things you need to do to take this class:

• Get a Gmail account and register to Google services: reader, Google talk, reader and blogger.
• Get a blog at Blogger. For instructions on how to that get the power point presentation from our box or follow the tutorial prepared by Vance Stevens.
  Benchmarks:
  At the end of this class. I should have:
  
  
  
  • Read my class guidelines
  • Met my new classmates
  • Worked with the introductory task
  • Registered at Google and have a Gmail account.
  • Registered to Google readers.
  • Registered to Google doc.
  • Downloaded Google Talk and activated my IM.
  • Downloaded Answers.com alt+ click software to my computer.
  • Opened my Blogger account and posted my first entry.
  This is a mind map of the class program

May-July 2008 Final Week Class

Hello, There! Introducing a voice forum for our last week class... From now on... we are going to record our participations in class in these forums. I know... we are finishing our level 6 but you can keep in touch with us through these conversations we are going to have in UTTERZ.

Let's get started with our first Conversation... All you have to do is ... click on the replies... Look at the tittle tutorial I put together for you (click on the image to see a larger picture of it).... if you have any questions... you know you can ask your partners or me.


And now, the conversation.... click to listen to the question and participate with your opinion... leave a message to your classmates and teacher.

What would you like to say on your final week class to your classmates and teacher?

Mobile post sent by doris3m using Utterz. Replies. mp3

Creative Thinking

How To Improve Your Creative Thinking


How To Memorise A Speech Using A Mind Map

Are you creative? Do you know how to create a mind map?

Announcing our weekly meeting in WizIQ!

Everybody is invited to join us every week! Sessions will take place in WIZIQ Fridays at 9:30 pm... Venezuela Time. We are -4:30 GMT

This week: we will getting familiar with WIZIQ and we will be meeting people from the world. All you have to do is to introduce yourself and tell us about your blogs and school life.

Friday, 20 June, 2008
9:30 PM To 10:30 PM SA Western Standard Time
The link to the session is this: Click here


You can view a recording of a WIZIQ session here. Click on view recording to check what WIZIQ is like.

AuthorStream.... Check it out!

For our classes we are using our always popular PPT.. power point presentation + recordings of your voice to upload it to the Internet and finally post it to your blogs... Watch the video and check out all the things you can do by using AuthorStream.

A meme!!!

What is a Meme?
Here there are some definitions:
A meme is:

An idea that, like a gene, can replicate and evolve.

A unit of cultural information that represents a basic idea that can be transferred from one individual to another, and subjected to mutation, crossover and adaptation.

A meme (pronounced /mēːm/) consists of any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that gets transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.

This a meme I found when I visited my friend Bertha's blog. We are going to experiment with our first meme... so here it goes.... I answered these questions about my life and I am going to pass them to some of you... later you will pass those same questions to 3 more classmates you would like to know more about.

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago... 2008 now... so that was 1998. I was in my last year at LUZ and having my practice classes at Liceo Escolastico Andrades in Mcbo. I had already gotten married and was pregnant with my first son Leslie Enrique.

5 things you have to do today:
Today, I have two of my classes to teach.. I am also teaching teacher Patricia Charles's class. I have to go to the pharmacy to buy some medication for chicken pox. My son got it from my little son.

Snacks I enjoy…

I love chocolate. Specially Nutella. my favorite snack is to have nutella with bread.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

I would buy a house for my mom and another one for me. I would donate some of the money to a children or elderly institution and probably start my own language school. Of course, i will go on a vacation to a exotic place like Fiji.

Three of my bad habits:

Being strong headed sometimes... working too much...

5 places I have lived:

I haven't lived in many places... I lived in Ciudad Ojeda and Anaco once.

5 jobs I have had:

I have always worked as a teacher.. language teacher..

3 people I want to know more about:

I would like to know more about: Mariangely Caldera, Jose Pirela, Helimenes Hernandez

Announcing bloggers for our May-July 2008 Trimester!!!

Level 6
Andrea Escalante http://www.acm3scal.blogspot.com/
Jimmy Khadaj http://www.tarek-im-crazy.blogspot.com/
Helimenes Hernandez http://helimenes1812.blogspot.com/
Daniel Rodriguez http://danielrodriguez-manotas.blogspot.com/
Andres Fuenmayor http://www.andres6989.blogspot.com/
Luis Fuenmayor http://www.englishfritanga.blogspot.com/
Andreina Arrieche http://www.andreina.bas.blogspot.com/
Maria Linares: http://marealunares.blogspot.com/
Antonio Visentin http://www.tottytotona.blogspot.com/
Pamela Barrios http://www.thebeautyofurbe.blogspot.com/
Mariangel Marin http://www.mari89m.blogspot.com/
Carlos Mendoza http://www.cmendoza1989.blogspot.com/
Jose Pirela http://www.deathsights-jose.blogspot.com/
Alejandro Ricciulli http://www.djoutlex.blogspot.com/
Francisco Ferrer http://franciscoferrer.blogspot.com/

Mariangely Caldera: http://mariangelycaldera.blogspot.com/

Hilda Guanipa http://hilda-carolina-guanipa.blogspot.com/

Angelica Castillo http://www.angelik21.blogspot.com/
Exequiel Linares19: http://www.exequiellinares.blogspot.com/
Luisiana Castillo: http://luisicasmor5.blogspot.com/
Jaime Fuentes: http://jaimefw.blogspot.com/
Jose Paredes http://kyozzle.blogspot.com/
Victor Ocando http://victorocandof.blogspot.com/
Esvaldo Villasmil http://www.esvaldoblog.blogspot.com/
Silvia Lopez: http://www.silvialopezserra.blogspot.com/
Eymi Adrianza http://eymialejandraiv.blogspot.com/
Bianca Perez www.biancabizzarro.blogspot.com/
Jose Barboza: http://www.juggling-and-desing.blogspot.com/
Oriana Atencio http://www.orianaatencio.blogspot.com/
Eddy Amador, http://platanomaduro6.blogspot.com/
Cesar Rondón http://cesare89.blogspot.com/
Davide Di Turo http://davide-di-turo.blogspot.com/
Maria Martinez http://www.mardelmarmartinez.blogspot.com/
Kelvin Ferrer http://kferrerb.blogspot.com/
Tania Rincón: http://taniamaria1.blogspot.com/
Josue Vielma http://josuelaw.blogspot.com/
Luis Castillo http://www.luismicas.blogspot.com/
Eucaris Garcia: http://www.themostspecial.blogspot.com/
Ibrahim Araujo http://halamadridmcbo.blogspot.com/
Luis Repizo http://www.luisrepizo.blogspot.com/
Veronica Pereira http://veronikelena.blogspot.com/
Eduardo Rumbos http://www.walorumbos.blogspot.com/
Josmar Lopez http://www.josmarlopez.blogspot.com/
Joel Molina http://www.joe-jf3.blogspot.com/
Angel Ferrer http://elorangu.blogspot.com/
Andres Nava http://lostunivofcotto.blogspot.com/
Aleris Rivas http://daneinblue.blogspot.com/
Andres Navarro http://www.kingandres.blogspot.com/
Mayela Romero http://www.mayelamayela.blogspot.com/
Eddy Amador http://platanomaduro6.blogspot.com/
Victoria Valbuena http://victoriavalbuena.blogspot.com/

Welcome May-July 2008 Class!

Welcome, everybody!

This new trimester, we will be working with The Speaking Group. But what is that? you may be asking yourself. Well, let's try to explain what it is about. To start with:

1. It is mostly about learning and practicing your English.
2. It is about learning English by talking about different topics. You will be reading, listening to, writing and talking about different topics in English.
   
3. It is about learning English using technology. That means we will be using computers and internet to find real updated information concerning your different interests. We are going to experiment and play with new ways to learn autonomously. Learning for life. Learning to learn. Learning by doing. We will watching and listening to videos as well as making videos. We'll have the chance to use different tools to express our ideas and interact with people.
4. It is about learning and practicing your English in groups, in community. Be ready to meet students and teachers from the university and the world. Of course, there will be tasks you must complete on your own.

That was a general description of the course. Now, how the classes take place:

• Classes are going to be held at the lab. I f you can't come to classes, you can connect at home or wherever you have access to a computer and Internet.
• You need to get a google account, since we will using different tools provided by Google. make sure to register to Gmail, Google Reader, Google Talk, Google Doc, and Blogger
• Blogs are going to be your personal journals. There you will register everything we do in class. All your homework and tasks should be there.
• Every class will be a taken as a workshop or TALLER. Try not to miss your classes and if you do, keep your blog updated.
• Homework will be assigned for each one of the units covered in class. The dateline to hand in your homework will be the day of your test. It means you will have the chance to work on your blog till the exam day.
• Corrections to writing will be done through Google documents.

Assesment




Things you need to do to take this class:

• Get a Gmail account and register to Google services: reader, Google talk, reader and blogger.
• Get a blog at Blogger. For instructions on how to that get the power point presentation from our box or follow the tutorial prepared by Vance Stevens.
  
  
  
  • Register to the International Collaboraction Ning social network. You need an invitation from your teacher or from one of your classmates. Make sure to write name, last name and class session you belong to when registering at our social network.
  • Take these surveys: My EFL Classes , what I know about technology use in my English class
  Benchmarks:
  At the end of this class. I should have:
  
  
  • Read my class guidelines
  • Met my new classmates
  • Worked with the introductory task
    
  • Registered at Google and have a Gmail account.
  • Registered to Google readers.
  • Registered to Google doc.
  • Downloaded Google Talk and activated my IM.
  • Downloaded Answers.com alt+ click software to my computer.
    
  • Opened my Blogger account and posted my first entry.
  • Registered at the International Collaboration Ning social network
  • Taken two surveys
  This is a mind map of the class program

Last Task Before We Say Good Bye Jan-Apr 2008 Speaking Gruop

Please, visit your partners blogs and leave a comment on their blogs... you can say something like what you like about them or something like.... how well they did or how lucky you were by being together .. please, keep shining and blogging.. I promise I will keep reading what you have to say... Love you all... you were a really cool group. I know that each one of you is very talented and that you are going to be great professionals in your fields.

Cinthia Osorio www.cinthiaosorio23.blogspot.com
Johana Reyes www.jane3001.blogspot.com
Joselin estaba www.joselin21.blogspot.com
Dionerio Gonzalez www.dionerio1104.blogspot.com
Enrique Govea www.kikegovea.blogspot.com
Eugenia Perez www.eugenia-eugeniaperez.blogspot.com
Patricia Perche www.pachiexplainsall.blogspot.com
Ricardo Molina www.superricky87.blogspot.com
Eduardo Montaña www.edenmoad.blogspot.com
Antonieta Viloria www.antonietaviloria.blogspot.com
Daniela Soto www.danielita087.blogspot.com
Jose Arraiol www.arraioljose.blogspot.com
Gabriela Corona www.shadowgmc.blogspot.com/
Daniel Soto www.dansso.blogspot.com/
Luis Perez www.ceterisguitarperez.blogspot.com/
Daniel Sanchez www.dansanchezg.blogspot.com/

Well, here there are the links... so go ahead and say hello and goodbye to your partners in EFL adventures.

Photo by sliceoflife

Daniela, Luis and Gabriela!

To listen to this show go to Daniela's blog...

Antonieta, Jose, Gabriel and Daniel

Uploaded on authorSTREAM by anto

Bloggers ... January - April 2008

These are our bloggers of the EFL Center Speaking Group... Lots of fun, we had!

Cinthia Osorio www.cinthiaosorio23.blogspot.com
Johana Reyes www.jane3001.blogspot.com
Joselin estaba www.joselin21.blogspot.com
Dionerio Gonzalez www.dionerio1104.blogspot.com
Enrique Govea www.kikegovea.blogspot.com
Eugenia Perez www.eugenia-eugeniaperez.blogspot.com
Patricia Perche www.pachiexplainsall.blogspot.com
Ricardo Molina www.superricky87.blogspot.com
Eduardo Montaña www.edenmoad.blogspot.com
Antonieta Viloria www.antonietaviloria.blogspot.com
Daniela Soto www.danielita087.blogspot.com
Jose Arraiol www.arraioljose.blogspot.com
Gabriela Corona www.shadowgmc.blogspot.com/
Daniel Soto www.dansso.blogspot.com/
Luis Perez www.ceterisguitarperez.blogspot.com/
Daniel Sanchez www.dansanchezg.blogspot.com/