Wow, Having Mexico English Teachers’ Alliance :: META Web 2.0 featured on the Ning Blog (and the Network Creators Ning, see below) is quite an honor! META is the social/professional network that was created about 1 year ago to allow English teachers in Mexico (and friends) to begin developing their professional learning networks and connecting with other teachers.

Ning Blog : Blog Archive - Teaching English in Mexico

Ning Network Creators

Having not a clue what was going on at American Idol for 3 years now (in Mexico without cable), I was really happy to stumble upon this young man’s video singing Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Think of Me.” Now 17 years old, only 16 when auditioned. Incredible and inspirational. Makes me want to be 17 again!

More videos from David Archuleta

Last weekend on April 18 and 19, 2008, I had the pleasure of meeting Brigitte Miller at MEXTESOL Morelia Chapter’s 8th Regional Convention. I participated in her workshop, Fun and Games: Oral Fluency and Motivation. We had a blast! Thanks, Brigitte! Check out Brigitte’s blog: Senior English Language Fellow’s ELT Mexico Bulletin. Brigitte is an English Language Fellow with the Office of English Language Programs, US Embassy in Mexico City.

Even thought these games do have a competitive element, Brigitte was clear in conveying that they are played in the context of teamwork and shared goals, not individuals working in isolation to “win.”

Anyway, back to the fun stuff. After a little “Find someone who…” icebreaker, we got to play some really fun fluency games like:

1. Round Robin Toss - we split up into small groups with little crumpled paper balls (no more hunting for real balls now!). The person with the ball describes a famous place in Morelia (insert location of your choice). The others then have to guess the name of the place being described. Once someone correctly guesses the location, the speaker then tosses the ball to a new team member, and so on. The first team to cycle through all members wins. P.S. My secret location was The Planetario. (topic can be varied: describe a room in the house, a famous person, etc.)
2. The Birthday Line - I liked this one because we got to gossip while others eavesdropped then tattled on us. Sounds like real life you say? Hehehe! Everyone lines up in order of their birthday and then describes “the perfect Bday celebration” to the person next to them in line (so each person has a chance to listen and talk). A few people are identified beforehand to be “gossips” that sneak up and down the line listening in to all the “private” conversations. After a few minutes everyone returns to the classroom and the gossips report on what they heard. And, no, I was not the guy that said that he wanted to be “unmarried” on his ideal Bday.
3. Why Have You Got a Monkey in Your Bag? - This was great imaginative fun. One person starts by passing a bag (purse, portfolio, lunch sack, whatever, etc.) to another team member and asks, “Why do you have a monkey (pumpkin, car, bottle, brick, shoe, etc.) in your bag?” The responder must come up with a convincing explanation and answer other team members’ questions. The bag is then passed on and the cycle repeated until all have a chance to ask and reply. Then the team reports on the most interesting response to the entire class. Great way to extend vocabulary and get some fun listening and speaking practice. Why do you have a monkey in your bag?
4. Messenger - I really liked this game; I think because it really tapped into the teams collective intelligences and collaborative spirit. One artist and several messengers working together to decode an image from memory. OK, here is the setup. One team member is designated as the artist (we had a volunteer, someone that liked to draw). The teacher/facilitator has a predetermined image on her computer (or on paper, etc.). One by one different “messengers” from the group take a look at the image and report back to the artist. So those students that are better at say color organization and spacial relationship get to shine and participate in a way that they learn best. Then maybe the next student is more “texty” and literary and can report back on the exact words that he saw in the image. Perhaps the next person has good interpersonal skills and can better “see” relationships played out in the image. The naturalists might remember best the animals, plants, trees, etc. Of course, let the kinesthetic students take a 2nd and 3rd trip back to the image. And all the while that students are shining in their strong intelligences and contributing collaboratively in a proud and meaningful way, they are also exposed to and challenging their weaker strengths and growing in a more rounded fashion. At the end, all teams show and compare their drawn images to see which most resembles the original.

Like, I said, “We had a blast!” Also be sure to check out Brigitte’s other blog, Fun Web Tasks for English Learners (for all the good 21st Century stuff).

Check out this very nice resource of online reading materials for children, International Children’s Digital Library.

ICDL - International Children’s Digital Library

“She was only ten years old, and was completely alone. There were women and men around but everyone had a child of their own. Nobody could love her in just the way parents love their kids. She simply did not belong to them.”

Related reading:
Reading Rockets: 21st Century Literacies
Read the rest of this entry »

From the National Council of Teachers of English

Toward A Definition of 21st-Century Literacies
Adopted by the NCTE Executive Committee
February 15, 2008

Literacy has always been a collection of cultural and communicative practices shared among members of particular groups. As society and technology change, so does literacy. Because technology has increased the intensity and complexity of literate environments, the twenty-first century demands that a literate person possess a wide range of abilities and competencies, many literacies. These literacies—from reading online newspapers to participating in virtual classrooms—are multiple, dynamic, and malleable. As in the past, they are inextricably linked with particular histories, life possibilities and social trajectories of individuals and groups. Twenty-first century readers and writers need to

• Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
• Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and
cross-culturally
• Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of
purposes
• Manage, analyze and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous
information
• Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts
• Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments

For more 21st Century literacy resources, visit the following Sites:

21st Century links at del.icio.us … and more
21st Century Diigo links
21st Century Learner - AASL Learning Standards
21st Century Skills - Campus Technology