Understanding by design chapter 4

When we talk about understanding we are also referring to a multi-faceted comprehension of itself. These facets are related to different approaches which are important an necessary in order to have a mature understanding.

• able to explain. it is related to the ability of explain, justify, make connections and give examples of a certain issue providing facts and data
• able to interpret. the ability of owning learning experiences and be able to explain them by using stories, ideas and events (personal dimension).
• able to apply. Related to the capacity of transform the understanding in actions. Do the subject in real contexts
• have perspective. be able to observe and listen to different point of views under the light of the critical thinking.
• able to empathize. take into account what other people might find odd. Perceive how other experiences are related.
• have self- knowledge. Be able to identify my own prejudices, beliefs and ideas. Show metacognitive awareness reflected on the meaning of experience and learning.

All these abilities might help to clarify the desired understandings, the best assesments and learning activities that are most likely to help students to achieve the goals of the course. In other words, we help to avoid missundertsandings and we make sure that the class design is an enabler of expected knowledge and performance.

Understanding by design chapter 3

Gaining clarity in our goals.
When we design a curriculum or we plan a class, we have to consider the following path about goals in order to do not get lost and make the class more richful and meaningful:

1. Identify the goals.
We do not have to forget the purposes of the class. We must have these goals clearly identified. hence, the class is straight to the point and we avoid going by the trenches.

2. Understand the goals
We have to clearly comprehend the sheer matter of the goals we have identified beforehand. then, we have to ask ourselves how important they are, and how we are going to take them into account in our planning

3. Considering skills and a framework
Before we have identified and understand the goals for the class, we have to contextualise them with the reality of the class. Which abilities does my students have? which ones they need?. before we have that clear, it is possible to start planning.

4. goals achievement
At this point, teachers have to be able to identify what are the skills students need to do a specific activity and which ones they are going to acquire. also we have to know what is the expected learning and how it is related to the main purpose of the class.
it is asked to be aware of the importance of all the aspects in the lesson planning. Teachers have to discriminate activities in order to use the class available time in the best way possibe.

understanding by design chapter 2

"Understand"... do we really understand what does "understand" mean?
there is a problem related to the difference between knowledge and understanding. According to what Wiggins said about understanding, it is a menthal process which is more complex than just knowing something. Understanding is the process of comprehend and assimilate what is the main trunk of something in order to fully comprehend all the branches.
Hence, there is evidence of how important understandig is. Teachers have to understand many things before design a curriculum:
What is the importance of this content? is it really useful?
does this activity work? what can the students learn from it?
When we understand all these questions before designing and we do not lose our object of sight, we will improve the class efficiency and students proficiency

Understanding by design chapter 1

"Teachers are designers. An essential act of our profession is the crafting of curriculum and learning experiences to meet specified purposes" Understanding by design Grant Wiggins and Jay Mc Tighe

When a company does not take into account the potential customers' interests, it is almost sure than in few years or even months it is going to go bankrupt. when we think that students are our "customers" we should take into account their interests motivation and many other features in oreder to achieve one big purpose that is learning. It is in this case that teachers are designers.

We have got to set and make plans in order to help our students learn english. It is not all about going to the classroom and stand there, there has to be a thorough plan that supports our teaching methods and the assesments that we use.

Hence the need to better plan or class in order to achieve the desired results. this process consist of three steps or stages:

1.identify desired results. we should ask orselves before plannig what our sts should know or be able to do. it is important to have a goal to achieve or a mindmap in order to better achieve our learning goals. it is crucial in this stage to consider all the aspects (national standards, curriculum, and even more importan classroom reality)

2. determine acceptable evidence how do teachers determine that the goal is achieved? it is important to think about the mechanisms we will use to evaluate results and desired learnings. When you think and plan this stage before implementation, it helps the teacher to forecats further situations and overcome frustation. What it is more, it helps to avoid frustration and save time.

  3.plan learning experiences and instruction. after we have already all the mind processes involved in learning, we have to go over the practical part. which methods are the best or better work out in our foreground (classroom)? this is the stage in which teacher have to link their experiences and knowledge to achieve the desired results.

To sum up, it is important for teacher to better plan their classes and consider that we are leraning builders/designers. We have one goal that is help out our sts to learn english. with that purpose in mind, we should start up and design for learning.

final post

Hi everybody!
Firstly I have to say this week is kind of crazy and a little bit stressing, because we have a lot of exams and worksheets. But we have to make our last effort and do our best, so well luck to everybody and work hard.
I liked to work on the blog, I’ve never blogged a before, and I think it was sort of great read the commentaries from my classmates and be a little bit pro active to upload our tasks.
Of course, it made me improve my written English and increase my vocabulary, because so many times I had to seek out for the words that I thought were the appropriates to express what I wanted to say. In addition, I think it was well used by the teacher and we could profit from the different news, articles, videos, conferences, etc.
I think this activity, was so beneficial for us and I don no think there were deficiencies or disadvantages. At least for me was pleasant to be here, the tasks were interesting and make me write a lot.
Probably, I shall use the blog with my students because is a good mechanism to make the write and be constantly reviewing what they have been doing, and obviously check the whole process and how they have been getting better.

Finally about myself, I think this semester has been really fruitful and helpful, I feel that I have improved all my skills in every area, but I think I have to do more and practice more. I am absolutely conscious that I am responsible for my learning, and I have to do my best. Maybe I have to use more vocabulary from the book, because it seems the more important issue in the oral exams, instead of the improvement of the communicative skills and the development that I reach through the semester. Although I got no good marks, I am happy because I got better and I liked many of the topics that we review.
That’s all, take care.

news !! :D

Berlin marks 20 years since the fall of the wall

The November 9th was remembered yesterday with a big ceremony were the wall of Berlin supposed to be 20 years ago. The event called the attention of many important figures from many areas, politics, arts, etc.
The first chancellor Angela Merker retraced the first step doing as well thousand of Germans did 20 years ago.
In the ceremony was Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, who was applauded because of his crucial role in the end of the cold war.
Many artists performed operas and songs as a tribute to this human act which finalized the civil war in Germany.




Degree required, but you don’t have one

In many job’s interviews, the interviewer used to ask to the applier if he/she has a degree? This issue is really important, because, how many cases there are people who studied at college but for different problems and intervenes they have not finished the career.
Katy Piotrowski, a career counselor based in Fort Collins, Col., author of the Career Books, said that is really important for the appliers always says that they have studied at college and had the skills to apply for the job, in addition to that they have to be completely confident about her/his skills, this shall show to the interviewer that this person is qualified to occupy the post.
Who wants to get the degree, Jacqueline E. King, assistant vice president for policy analysis at the American Council on Education, remarks that there are many facilities and opportunities to do it, because the college plans are more flexible now and there are many schedules and different ways to assist to classes, for example, online classes.

It is important finish your career if you have the possibility and the time, because it’s going to help you in future interviews and to apply for high posts in almost most companies, supported Mrs. King.




Coke warned but given zero penalty for sms spam campaign

Coke Company was warned about the sms campaign. These not required messages reach the number of 100.000 and caused the nuisance of many cell phone users in Australia. But coke south pacific just received a warning instead of fact other three companies had to pay thousands of dollars as a penalty for this criminal act.
The authorities said, there is no explanation about how the company got the cell phone’s numbers, but those may have been obtained through information on mail accounts.
The company was advertised, if a situation like that repeats again, coke co. shall have to pay a fine.