Learning through Games

It all happened here, on this virtual spot. An image, a word, a comment sparked the initiative.

Last Thursday a failed meeting ended up in a gaming session. Childhood memories, an old Monopoly game from NYC, a common interest, a shared language, similar goals?
A new plan:
TOEFL iBT Prep Class Game Night Monopoly NYC Edition
And some basic rules you worked out :
- Always speak English
- Have fun, it's just a game

Here's what Bernie Dodge, the creator of WebQuests, thinks about the power of games in education:
Power = Attention x Depth x Efficiency


http://www.infinitethinking.org/2007/03/itm-extra-p-x-d-x-e.html

And you thought you were just playing a game!?

Just as I told Vani in a recent e-mail:
Remember when we talked about experiencing the language at the beginning of the year? This is exactly what you are doing. I knew an exam prep course could be more than just grammar and drilling. It's about people and connections. You've proven me right!
Have fun tonight!

Update: TOEFL iBT Monopoly Game Night Video

Have a nice winter break!

Dear TOEFLers,
I’m glad you could all get together to celebrate the end of the first term and your first complete practice test. I’m really sorry I missed it! : (
I’ve added a couple of videos to the wiki in case you have time and want to enjoy some top notch resources while honing your listening skills. The picks include:

Steve Jobs’ Commencement Speech at Stanford University
Google Tech Talk by Kevin Kelly “The Next 50 Years of Science”

See you all on July 23rd.
Hugs, Carla

Meeting post Mid Term

Hi everyone! We'll meet at OConnel's at 9 pm tonight.

TOEFL iBT Photo Album

This album is powered by BubbleShare
I've uploaded the first group photo to an album. If you bring your cameras next class, we can add the rest of the photos here.

I just want to wish Pablo the best of luck in his new life in Spain. We are going to miss his him a lot!

And remember to get ready for the mid-term next week!
Complete test coming soon...

Welcome to Cyber TOEFL Prep

Nowadays, with such a wide array of online communication and collaboration tools available, there’s no excuse to stop learning, working and sharing during a long holiday week, right? So, here I am, ready to go beyond the walls of the classroom with you once again.

First, there’s a site called Exam English which has free online exercises for the most important ESL/EFL exams. Nik Peachey , a British learning technology consultant I met in Córdoba, has prepared a reading passage for the TOEFL iBT .
You can try it out here.

Wiki News
Vanina has sent us a link to a funny video, so I’ve added a new wiki page to share videos related to language learning or any other relevant topics. I’ve also made some changes in the Vocabulary Page. Each vocabulary item is a link to a new page, so in order to read the definitions you have to click on each word. In this way the vocabulary “home” page will feature a glossary of the available words and other relevant vocabulary resources such as concordancers and exercises.

As you can see, you have plenty of possibilties to work throughout the week. Choose your own TOEFL iBT adventure!

Mini Test

Next Week

Dear all,

As you already know, I'm traveling to Córdoba this Monday to attend the first Congress on Applied Technology in Language Teaching that is held in Argentina. I really hate to leave you, but I think it is essential for us teachers to keep abreast of the latest developments in our field. I strongly believe the successful integration of electronic tools in language classes can enhance students' performance by fostering authentic communication and providing access to a wide array of multimedia material.

Anyway, everything is set for you to go on working, so here's the plan for the week:

Monday (20.30-22.00)
You'll take your first mini-test at the computer lab.
The mini-test will feature the following tasks:





Reading: 1 reading passage (20 min.)

Listening: 1 conversation
1 lecture (15 min. approx.)

Speaking: 1 Independent Task
2 Integrated Tasks (15 min. approx.)

Writing: 1 Independent Writing (30 min.)

At the end of the test you'll check your scores on the reading and listening tasks. Please, write them down since Leda is going to keep a record of your scores. As regards the speaking and listening tasks, you'll record your responses and print your essays so that I can correct them the following week.

Important: Please, be punctual so that you can do the whole test within the time allotted.

Try to do your best and enjoy the experience!

Wednesday

Beatriz will meet you in room E2 at the usual time. Please, bring your book and booklet and remember to do Vocabulary Ex. 8.

Do not hesitate to leave your comments or questions here. I'll keep in touch throughout the week. I'm really going to miss you a lot. (I mean it!)

Good luck!!

How do you feel about having a class wiki?

I'm sure all of you have heard about Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia anybody can edit.

A wiki is then a fully-editable user-generated website that allows a group of people to share and build knowledge collaboratively. For example, I'm sure each of you keeps a record of new vocabulary. What would happen if every student added a word to a common vocabulary page on a daily basis? We would soon have a huge resource of relevant vocabulary. The same would happen with writing tasks and extra reading resources.

Anyway, this is just a suggestion. You can visit our baby wiki at www.toeflibtprep.pbwiki.com . I just started it today, so I could only add a couple of pages. Once in the wiki, click on the sidebar on the right to see the pages. Also, the default home page features two videos: one on how to edit a wiki and the other on the use of wikis in education. Have a look!

I'll send you the password by mail just in case you want to give it a try.

Class Update

Last class we started dealing with Lesson 1 (Factual and Negative Factual Questions) in the Guide to Reading section. This lesson features three short articles you have to scan in order to find specific information. We worked on the first passage (on Dentistry) in class and the other two were assigned as homework for Wednesday.

Apart from learning about the unusual origins of dentistry and its early fearsome methods, we had a look at some modern dental procedures such as scaling and root canals. In addition, we read some real stories written by people suffering from phobia of dentists or dental phobia and discussed its causes as well as some possible ways both dental professionals and patients can cope with this problem.

By the way, I found this wacky website about Unusual Phobias and was surprised to see the weird (completely illogical) phobia I suffer from is actually one of the most popular ones. Can you guess which one it is? ;)

Next Monday, we are going to start working on the Grammar Tutorial in your books. You are supposed to do the exercises on pages 706-708 for homework.

See you in class!

An early bird...

Mariano has sent me an e-mail to let me know he’s already signed up for the TOEFL. He’s also posted an entry on his blog: New development on the road to happiness where he wrote some nice words about our group and the time we spent together. He’s planning to drop by on Monday to tell us about it. I really hope we can keep in touch and share all the exciting experiences he’ll have along the road.
Thanks, Mariano, for your enthusiasm and contribution to our class.
Best wishes,
Carla