Meet the Blended TOEFL iBT class

Dear all,

I’d like to introduce you to the Blended TOEFL iBT Course students.

Since August, we’ve been sharing a new, innovative experience called Blended Learning, a combination of face-to-face and online learning. We meet at ARICANA every Saturday morning and work throughout the week on a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) called Moodle. They also have lab sessions and have done some of the same assignments you’ve worked on, but, most importantly, they share many of your goals, fears and dreams.

Together, we’ve faced the challenge of teaching and learning online, of becoming a community, of learning through the language and beyond it.

I’m sure you’ll have a lot to discuss and learn from each other.

BubbleShare: Share photos - Here comes Halloween!

Early Spring Musings

Is it all coming to an end? I wonder…
An amazing bunch, the TOEFL group fills up my life with challenging questions, compelling discussions and endless correction hours. As the end of the year approaches, some of you have to leave early to meet required deadlines and achieve your most cherished goals.
The TOEFL test is definitely not an end in itself, but a point of departure. Just like a crowded platform before a journey, filled with promises, hurried good-byes, a bit of anxiety and anticipation, it is a path to new beginnings.
After Vani’s farewell party , I have to confess I felt a bit sad, but before I could get too gloomy, it dawned on me that this space is a treasure box where some of those unique moments we spent together will be kept. And then I thought we can keep it rolling for new groups, new stories…
Why let this channel of communication dwindle when it can thrive and bloom with new voices?
What do you think? How do you feel about sharing this blog with another TOEFL group?

Mrs. Dalloway

"Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself."

If you want to find out more about Vanina's book, you can check out the following links:

. . Mrs._Dalloway . . . . . Virginia_Woolf . .

Class Project

What is the difference between a group of students and a community of learners?

"In a community of learners, teachers and students together construct a culture that values the strengths of all participants and respects their interests, abilities, languages, and dialects. Students and teachers shift among the roles of expert, researcher, learner, and teacher, supporting themselves and each other." Aída Walqui, West Ed, San Francisco, California

I think one of the strengths of our class is the possibility of learning form each other's knowledge and experience. Although this is exactly what we've been doing since the very first day, the aim of the present project is to create a collection of mini-lectures on specific academic topics related to your fields of study and close to your hearts. Topics that matter.

The start couldn't have been more powerful. Delivered with great clarity, passion and commitment, Maxi's presentation aroused great interest on a topic that is both too important and too painful to be forgotten.

Remember you can read a summary of his presentation on the wiki and you can also give your feedback or ask more questions there. Each presentation will then contribute to a kind of TOEFL iBT wikipedia we are building together.

I look forward to the rest of the presentations!

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