Work in Progress

Thank a Teacher

2010-11-23T18:12:00.000-08:00

I have just come across this wonderful video and I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the amazing teachers who have had such an influence in my life. Even though I first got a degree as a Translator, deep inside I always thought I wanted to be a teacher. We all know life is not always roses and cupids and we have those bad hair days but I believe I have come to a point in my career I can say I would not know what to do if I were told not to set foot in a classroom anymore.
How about you? Why have you decided to embrace this career? Who has influenced you the most?

Hope you find the video as inspiring as I have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_pGiUeVFEU

Josh Groban - "Higher Window" Lyric Video

2010-10-29T16:52:00.000-07:00

I originally started this blog to reflect upon the use of music in the classroom. This is something I have been doing for a long time (22 years now!) and since the beginning I've always resisted the tendency to bring pop, meaningless songs to my students. I don't mean that pop music is always meaningless but I've tried to take the opportunity and introduce them to artists they might not have the chance to know for different reasons. Josh Groban is one of these artists. He has never disappointed me, if I can say so. What I mean is students always love his music although so far he should not be considered a pop artist at all. He is about to release a new album and his producers have been making good use of the new medias to promote it. I believe that's why we now have this brand-new song available before the CD reaches the stores in a few days.

Youth Ambassadors 2011

2010-10-26T18:06:00.000-07:00

October 26th, 2010 - A very special day.

Today the American Embassy announced the names of the 35 students from public schools who will have the chance to travel to the United States in January. A fantastic program the Embassy has which offers these students the chance to open their horizons and see there is so much for them to discover. A very tough selection this year. There were more than 6,000 candidates and I strongly believe that each and every one had something special to share.
I am particularly happy because we have managed to have a candidate selected, Natanael, who is a very special young man. We are sure he will be really successful in the future given his tenacity. I was also selected to travel with them as a coordinator with the organizers of the program. I am sure this is going to be a milestone in our lives. There will be a lot of things to be done before the trip. We'll be leaving Brazil on Janurary 7th and return on January 28th.
I am really glad for the opportunity. It's true we have all worked really hard to make sure everything would be all right - online work (this year), written tests, interviews, visits to the candidates' homes - but it was worth it.
It is really a pleasure to know we have the chance to make a difference in people's lives and I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, these "kids" will learn a lot and they will also have a lot to share with the American people they will be in contact for three weeks in January.

Stay Relevant

2010-08-17T05:38:00.001-07:00

We are always discussing what teaching in the 21st century is all about. As digital immigrants it is quite tough for some of us to let go of some old (successful) practices in favor of new ones. Again, the painful situation of leaving our comfort zones.
The thing is, as Educators, we MUST be ready or at least willing to learn more about everything that might facilitate students' learning not to mention their survival in a world without walls. The attached video will show how important it is to be aware of these changes in the world we live and the way we communicate. Are we supposed to rush and get to know EVERYTHING about it? I would never say that. However, I strongly believe we should be open and receptive to it if we want to survive as well and still be heard. The video is another variation of Karl Fisch's, "Did you know?" video.
I would really appreciate to know about your opinion. Have you been using these social medias? How can you implement it and make a difference in your daily teaching?

Teaching x Learning

2010-06-29T19:58:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

I have just read an awesome post about this young teacher who has decided to give up and try something else, maybe just for a while.
Having been on the road for almost 23 years now I can understand a number of points she is considering. I have been teaching EFL in a Language School, a Binational Center and she comes from the so called regular school teaching fifth graders. However, I think many of the points she highlights will sound familiar for any teacher who happens to be worried about his/her career and what happens in the classroom. It reminds me of a workshop I once attended and the title was "What's happening when nothing is happening in the classroom?".
I know some people who really do not spend any time (waste time in their words)asking so many questions we may never find the answers.
I can't agree. I believe that if we are to survive and be successful as real 21st century teachers/educators there must be room for such discussions and maybe endless questioning.
Recently we have been working a lot on Professional Development and what is said to be effective planning. This is an area I believe we have so much to learn about. Is there really one single effective way to teach? Can't we question rules/theories? Is there room for adaptation? How far can we go? Her considerations about this area in particular struck me the most. I suggest you read her post in hopes you'll be as intrigued as I was and I would appreciate your personal comments.

To tweet or not to tweet?

2010-06-24T05:32:00.000-07:00

I have said many times I cannot imagine my professional and personal life without my PLN. I remember being introduced to Twitter back in 2008 when I did my online course Webtools4BrazilianEducators with Carla Arena from Casa Thomas Jefferson. I must confess at that time I was a bit lost and maybe because I'm rather anxious I wanted to use everything I was being introduced to at the same time.
Well, those days are gone but Twitter, in particular, has been a must have for me. I intend to devote some of my time now, maybe during the break in July, to evangelize my colleagues at CCBEUFRANCA and bring them to this enriching community of devoted Educators who have been so helpful whenever I need either to solve a tech problem, discuss some pedagogical issue or simply share something I may have come across and find interesting. Because of my awesome PLN, I have just come across this great video I believe you should all watch and see the amazing potential of Twitter for all of us.
Hope you enjoy it and, as usual, I would love to read your opinions about it. Have you started using twitter yet? What have you been doing with it? Has anything let you down?

Save them

2010-06-13T07:33:00.001-07:00

I know it's not an easy task but I have started thinking more seriously about this responsibility we have in our hands as Educators - save (help) the students that would not be considered the most brilliant ones. The inspiration for writing/reflecting came after reading an oustanding post by another must-follow blogger Shelly Terrell.
I have made a number of mistakes as a teacher and I'm glad I have had the chance to be honest about it and try to see things in a different perspective. Isn't it what living is all about? Learning from mistakes. I can't help thinking about a song "Lessons to be learned", the main idea being in life "there are no mistakes, just lessons to be learned".
Back to the ideas from the original post, I was particularly touched by a list of suggestions, kindly shared by another educator in the comments section of Shelly's post, for us to follow as Educators if we are to survive and make a difference in at least one student's life who is close to us.
From the 15 pieces of advice mentioned I guess number 15 really called my attention and it reads " We have time schedules where students are required to meet a certain level. Yet some can’t work within that time limit. It takes them longer to understand. Should we penalise them?"
This is a dilemma I have faced quite often in my career as an EFL teacher and two weeks ago I was talking exactly about it with a student of mine. She is redoing a course at the Binational Center where I teach and she's not doing "as expected" by the system again.
However, I told her I can see a lot of improvement in her performance since we started working together in February. So just like the other teacher commented she may not have reached the "expected" level of performance to move on to a higher level, yet she has made a lot of progress in the last 5 months and this must be taken into consideration.
So, this is a great opportunity for reflection. I think more often than not we end up turning our backs to "problems" assuming there is not much to be done. We are, as teachers/educators, many times overworked and it's only natural to feel demotivated to fight even harder to motivate the so called difficult, hopeless students. Who is going to motivate us? Well, different people will certainly have a different answer. As for me, I can say it is extremely gratifying when you see someone coming close to you to thank you because you were simply there for them when they themselves have thought about giving up.

Endless Possibilities

2010-05-23T09:38:00.001-07:00

Thank to my PLN and the fantastic Silvia Tolisano, whom I have been following on Twitter for quiet some time now I came across an amazing collection of quotations from Flickr and I was immediately caught by this one. I could not help connecting it to one of my favorite songs sung by Barbra Streisand - "Children will listen". As teachers/Educators we must be fully aware of the power we have in our hands and the astounding power of the words: good and bad. Coincidentally, before going to twitter and the whole idea of this blog post come to my mind, I had just finished reading VEJA and the horrid details about this psychopath who beastly tormented a two-year-old girl she was supposed to take care of and become her adoptive mother.
Sad days, crazy days the ones we have been living. Yet, we know we should always be optimists and actually do something so we can live in a better world.
It is no easy task but, again, we know we have been given some special power and we MUST do our best to guide these children so they may, in the future, look behind and say "Mr.Mrs whoever did make a difference in my life and I'm glad I have followed the right road ".
How about you? What have you been doing with your students? Have you been open enough and resourceful enough to make a difference in their lives? I really hope so.

Open Letter to the Teacher Who Said “I Hate Technology.”

2010-05-10T19:33:00.000-07:00

Open Letter to the Teacher Who Said “I Hate Technology.”

I can't help sharing this other fantastic post. I believe we'll all find something relevant while reading it. One of the greatest points for me is the fact that many times we might be afraid of technology just because we may wrongly think we'll be useless in the classroom. This is definitely not true and adapting must be the key word. Honestly, when I think about our local reality I believe students may also be afraid of this new way of teaching which will inevitably affect their way of learning. Leaving one's comfort zone is never easy and most of our students are used to the spoonfeeding they have been receiving for ever and the obsession of "learning" to be successful in quizzes and tests. Well, loads of food for thought here.
Enjoy the reading.

What Makes a Master Teacher?

2010-05-10T18:45:00.000-07:00

What Makes a Master Teacher?

An awesome post I have just come across about the characteristics of a Master Teacher. I believe we can all learn a lot from it and do our best to come as close as possible to this ideal situation so our learners can feel more comfortable when we are together in the classroom.

Reading is the Key

2010-03-28T18:07:00.001-07:00

I have just come across an awesome video while I was reading the highly recommended blog by Angela Miers. I believe this might be a great way to motivate students to read more.

Effective Professional Development

2010-03-10T18:33:00.000-08:00

Great post by Peter Pappas about Professional Development and some essential questions we should all think about before we invite anyone to join us on this adventure. I think there is a lot of food for thought here and many times in life it seems we have to look back and reflect. Maybe, just maybe, we are not going on the right track. The worst part might be that most of the time we are so well-meaning.
Click here to read his post and the ones related to the same topic, which I highly recommend.

Education & Technology Quotes

2010-02-17T16:13:00.001-08:00

I've just learned about this awesome collection of quotes related to Education and Technology and I should thank Andressa Cardoso (http://rightobe.blogspot.com/)who shared it via Twitter (@dessa24). This is the true power of caring and sharing.

Education & Technology Quotes

View more presentations from Tony Vincent.

reBlog from Angela Maiers: Angela Maiers Educational Services

2010-02-14T13:08:00.001-08:00

I found this fascinating quote today:

As I reflect on these past 20 years of working in this great profession of education, and particularly the past few years of worldwide connections I've been fortunate to find due to the blogosphere, I'm excited about learning now more than ever. I strive for at least one WOW each day.Angela Maiers, Angela Maiers Educational Services, Feb 2010

You should read the whole article.

PERFECTION

2010-02-13T13:07:00.000-08:00

Well, this must be a pain for the perfectionists (myself included) but the question is: is there such a thing as perfection? I have decided to name this personal bog "A work in Progress" because that's truly how I see myself and this idea became even clearer after my getting into Web 2.0 and everything I learn every single day.
I have just seen this video at John Spencer's blog and I invite you again for reflection. There is a lot of food for thought here and I'd love to read from you.
Hope you like it. To watch the video, please click here.

2010-02-04T04:49:00.000-08:00

I have just heard about this tool which translates text to speech in different languages. It seems to be a great tool. I've tested it with a short text in English and checked the translation into Portuguese, Spanish and French (the languages I can understand) and I am impressed with the result. Of course whatever you type in English can simply be converted into speech and I can see a lot of potential for students to improve their pronunciation.
All in all, I highly recommend you give it a try. Take a look here and enjoy it.

John Wooden on True Success

2009-12-30T10:25:00.000-08:00

A must watch for any Teacher/Educator. I particularly love his use o Poetry and some Quotations.

BigHugeLabs: Do fun stuff with your photos

2009-11-07T14:06:00.001-08:00

BigHugeLabs: Do fun stuff with your photos

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Barbra Streisand - If You Go Away (Ne Me Quitte Pas) - 2009

2009-09-27T16:23:00.001-07:00

One of the gems from Barbra's new CD "Love is the Answer" produced by Diana Krall to be released on September 29th in the US. This is Barbra at 67!!!! taking another classic and delivering a definitive rendition (IMHO). Just awesome and inspiring.

Barbra Streisand - If You Go Away (Ne Me Quitte Pas) - 2009

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7th Casa Thomas Jefferson Seminar-July/2009

2009-07-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

Last week I was in Brasilia for the 7th Casa Thomas Jefferson (a Binational Center in Brasilia)Seminar as a presenter. I was invited by Carla Arena as we have been in contact since September/2008 when I did her webtools4brazilianeducators course.
It was a very special experience for me , actually my first experience out of town as a presenter. The event was fantastic, very well organized and it was a great opportunity to meet face to face some people I have been in contact for quite some time in cyberspace. I decided to focus my presentation on the transformative power of Technology/Web 2.0 and the way my daily life as an EFL Teacher/Educator at CCBEU has changed drastically ever since I did the course and started learning more about the tools and their endless possibilities.
I believe that this is certainly the best way for us to keep in touch and promote professional development. Some of my colleagues had the chance to watch the presentation via SKYPE, which was only possible because of Technology.
I was inspired by Barbra Streisand and her movie YENTL since the main idea of the movie is the fact that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE and although I have been teaching for 20 years now, after I started using more technology I realized everything I had learned so far was nothing but a Piece of Sky.

A piece of SKY

2009-07-30T07:30:00.001-07:00

So here you should have the presentation. Some slides were added because some information was provided to attendees and it's important whoever visits this blog should be able to fully understand my idea as I developed the presentation.

A Piece Of Sky

View more presentations from Gilmar Mattos.

PERFECTION

2009-07-09T18:39:00.001-07:00

They say there is no such thing as perfection. However, when I come across this kind of music I am not sure I would agree with it. It has always amazed me how gifted some people are. It does not matter the kind of art they represent because I think that no one can resist real talent when one is introduced to it.

WELCOME

2009-04-30T07:54:00.001-07:00

Get a Voki now!

Anywhere...

2009-04-30T06:25:00.000-07:00

As you can see I can be literally anywhere...

A picture is worth...

2009-04-30T05:59:00.000-07:00

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I've just discovered this new photo editing tool (FunPhotoBox) and decided to have some fun with it.

EARTH DAY

2009-04-22T16:25:00.000-07:00

Truth be said, we have all been so busy it's only human to forget about so many important events. As they say, better late than never, and I would like to share my 2 cents here about the Earth Day.

If you want to read more about it, click here

My Saturday Group - Adv 1

2009-04-21T20:18:00.001-07:00

A great group - 2009

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The Time of your life - woices.com

2009-04-20T19:23:00.001-07:00

The Time of your life - woices.com

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A day at CCBEU

2009-04-06T19:08:00.001-07:00

Social Notworking? Don’t blame the employee

2009-03-18T05:49:00.001-07:00

Social Notworking? Don’t blame the employee

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Work in Progress

2009-03-08T09:57:00.001-07:00

Myspace Graphics, Inspirational Quotes Graphics at WishAFriend.com

Work in Progress

2009-03-08T09:21:00.001-07:00

Myspace Graphics, How Are You? Graphics at WishAFriend.com

Did you know?

2009-02-15T20:03:00.000-08:00

Awesome

2009-01-13T11:59:00.000-08:00

I have always been a huge fan of music and its power to change the world. I could quote Barbra Streisand (again) when she says "Music is the connective tissue among souls". I could never define it any better. Today I was a little bit gloomy maybe because I've just seen my doctor and I have to do an "uncomfortable" exam because of this chronic intestine disease I have. Well, while doing my daily reading I came across this video posted by Luli Radfahrer and it was an amazing experience for me. Well, I hope you enjoy it and see that many times we complain just because we've got used to this ugly habit. Enjoy the video - learn the lesson.

Web 2.0 - Favorite images

2008-12-16T07:17:00.001-08:00

2008-11-20T08:41:00.000-08:00

2008-11-20T05:04:00.000-08:00

2008-11-19T19:48:00.001-08:00

2008-11-19T19:26:00.001-08:00

HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN

2008-11-06T06:05:00.000-08:00

Touching, inspiring, motivational - to say the very least. I don't know much about politics but I can "feel" when people are sincere and speak from their heart. To quote Barbra "Happy days are here again". May God bless us all!

Relationships

2008-10-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

It is funny. I have just arrived from school today and there was an unusual situation there. I've started teaching two new groups - students who are preparing for the ECCE Michigan Exam. The unusual situation was my arriving 5 minutes late for the very first time in my career. I don't mean to criticize anybody who has problems with being punctual but I feel miserable if for any reason I happen to be late for an appointment. So maybe this was life teaching me we can't have everything under control 100% of the time. It's difficult for me , the medicine did taste bitter but I guess the patient needed. To make matters worse I had another surprise in one of the groups. One of the students, who shall be nameless here, was the last person I could imagine seeing there because we had had some problems in the past.Two lessons on the same day?? Knowing me I am sure there's room for a lot of investigation here. On my way back home I was listening to Barbra (as usual) and this song seemed quite appropriate. The song is about difficult relationships. I guess we should all agree we face a number of difficult situations everyday because of the career we have chosen. There are wonderful days -not a shadow of a doubt and hopefully that's why most of us have been around for so long. Speaking of our careers..."in a very unusual way you've made me whole..."

TeachersxMothersxLearners

2008-10-14T17:43:00.000-07:00

I have just arrived from a friend's house who has just had her first baby. This friend, who also happens to an EFL teacher/educator, is a very sensible and sensitive person. It was sheer pleasure the couple of hours we spent together. As I was driving back home I was thinking about a song that could be used to describe this experience. As we are celebrating Teacher's Day tomorrow I started thinking about our very first teacher/educator/guider - you name it : our moms. I think if I tried to be politically correct I should mention our parents but I'll follow my initial inspiration and my heart and just write about our moms. I am sure no one can deny this is the purest kind of love one can think about. There was another very special friend there - another amazing, very devoted mother. So, this is my opportunity to share with you this lovely song which best (or very well) summarizes the kind of love I'm talking about. I, for one, have no doubt any mother would certainly mean each and every word here. As a teacher myself I should also take the chance to congratulate you all out there and once again connect it to this homage to our moms - definitely our very first instructors, role models for the years to come.
Trust me I'm sure if they could, they would - just like us teachers/educators.

PastxPresent

2008-10-12T20:14:00.000-07:00

More often than not I have been talking with friends and colleagues about this crazy world we live in. Only now did I realise I have this wonderful tool (blogging) to hear from more and more people. Am I alone or do you also feel the days, the weeks, the months, the years have been passing way too fast? It is scary, IMHO. I still perfectly remember what I did last December for Christmas and we are now in mid October!!! Remember the good (??) old days?? It would actually take for ever from one Chritsmas to another. I could mention all the other events - Carnaval, Easter,Mother's day...our blessed vacations... What's going on?? I have some explanations which I have gotten from my religion but I do not want to influence anybody's opinion. The only thing I cannot help is adding a song - awesome, IMHO to help you stop, take a deep breath and reflect. I'd love to hear from you all. Now...enjoy Sarah Brightman /Bee Gees (it can't get any better than that).

Inspiring

2008-10-08T21:14:00.000-07:00

This is another song I have used many times with my groups and they always respond very well to the message. Once again it's been used with Exam Classes and those Advanced groups that for some reason come to the point of thinking "Enough is enough - I've got more than I should/could". The song came to my mind and I think it could also be used as a motto to our group. We all knew how challenging, time consuming and a bit disorienting (to quote Carla) this journey could be. So...DON'T GIVE UP! Enjoy the clip and Josh's awesome voice.

Lessons to be learned

2008-10-02T18:47:00.000-07:00

I have already said Barbra Streisand is my favorite singer. I have used many of her songs throughout all these years in the classroom. I usually choose those songs that lead to some reflection, discussion - some food for thought. This song here has always been succeful. I remember sending it to a group of students I prepared for the ECCE Examination from the University of Michigan. I knew some of them would not be successful but even after having a very sincere talk with them they insisted they wanted to try. I got home and started to think how frustrated they'd probably feel if they really had to face "failure". Well, to make a long story short again, in the middle of the night this song came to my mind and I sent it to the group. It proved to be really helpful as I got a number of emails thanking me for the support and specially for the song. They really got the message and realized we do learn from our mistakes if there is such a thing because as Barbra puts here "there are no mistakes...just lessons to be learned..." How about you? Is there any personal experience you would like to share? A "mistake" which turned out to be a good lesson to be learned. I'd love to hear from you.

The Power of Music

2008-10-01T18:26:00.000-07:00

I have always been interested in the use of music (songs) in language teaching/learning. I consider myself a very "musical" person. Some of my friends make jokes because they say I always have a song for any situation. I must admit it's quite true and more often than not I find myself saying "Hey...it reminds me of a song..." I have even been thinking about singing. Some say I have a strong "powerful" voice and they may be right. However, I have never tried singing and as a perfectionist I'd certainly have to spend hours with vocal lessons and all that. I believe no one can deny music is a very integrating tool if I can put it that way. It is a way to connect people and many times I think people do get together thanks to music. Now that we live in this globalized world it's even easier to actually get to know a lot more about other cultures and musical manifestations. I try to be kind of selective whenever I use music in the classroom. Honestly I don't like the idea of giving the students a song because it's been playing on the radio(sounds so old-fashioned)or because I would have nothing else to do in those last/first 10-15 minutes of the lesson. Whenever possible I try to find something connected to whatever subject we've been studying and if it's not the case I like to show them things they'd probably not come across if they were doing things by themselves. I must admit it's risky because you may simply choose something they "hate" and the whole idea would be a failure. So far I have been quite lucky. I have never ever expected to please everybody all the time - this is totally utopian,IMHO. I am a true believer that people surrender to real talent and quality. It may not be the kind of thing you would personally look for and when we think about music maybe you would not buy the CD/DVD let alone pay for a concert but as you are introduced to it you have to recognize its quality. And this has, as I said before, happened quite often throughout these almost 20 years I have been in the classroom. The video you find here is an example of the kind of music most of my students (teenagers and young adults) would not see if I had not found the appropriate time to share. Recently I had been teaching a lesson about storytelling and I remembered Loreena Mckennitt had this wonderful song (IMHO) called Penelope's Song based on the story of Penelope who waited for her beloved husband for more than twenty years- from The Odyssey by Homer.We had a brief discussion about the story and in every class there were 3-4 students who knew a lot about it so they could share with those who knew less or nothing. I prepared a short summary for the whole group, we listened to the song and had a traditional "fill in the gaps" activity with the lyrics and concluded with a group discussion about dedication, faithfulness, patience and other aspects which are clear in the story. The same has happened many times with some other artists like Barbra Streisand, Josh Groban, Alanis Morissette and some others. Now, enjoy another fantastic song by Loreena and also her reflections about a historical event which led into the composition of Dante's Prayer.

2008-09-30T21:38:00.000-07:00