Pamela Arraras» Uncategorized

Virtual Macbeth in Second Life

Pam.A — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 05:13:35 +0000

Quick post. Overworked, so no time for fancy prose…or maybe YES! If you are in Second Life, please visit Virtual Macbeth. This way of learning Shakespeare is so much nicer than how I had to study Macbeth!!

Check out Virtual Macbeth

Culturally teaching

Pam.A — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:32:40 +0000

A very good friend of mine, Cate Brubaker, has just posted the first part of the “School Snapshot” on Argentina as part of her website. I was delighted to work with her on this, and I’m very happy to see it published!!!

Please visit her blog, Culturally Teaching, it’s amazing stuff!!!

Why I am a teacher

Pam.A — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:04:00 +0000

Today I had one of those moments when all it’s clear; the purpose of your life is right there before your eyes…well, not that much, but I can understand why I am a teacher. It was a student’s face expression when he finally figured out how to use a dictionary after trying for 45 minutes. His face when alphabetical order finally dawned on him was priceless. Nothing could keep me away from teaching today. That’s what keeps me through the never ending paperwork, the boredom of testing, the frustration of laws that are intended to hide the lack of concern for real learning. Today, I touched the sky with my hands; I helped a kid understand how the world works. Today I am a teacher, and I wouldn’t change it for all the money in the world.

Online adventures update

Pam.A — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 04:01:56 +0000

Ok, it is official. This is information overload. I have by now joined 3 Ning groups, and have my own pages in each of them: Multiliteracies, Virtual Worlds, and Digifolios. And on top of that, I’m trying to attend the NNEST live webcasts! The only drawback is that GCS does not allow access to Ning on our computers, so I am missing a lot of the fun … I’m not saying I would be there all day, but during lunch I would like to use some of that time to collaborate. The wikis are also amazing; over 300 people networking and learning from all over the world. Just amazing.

Talk about the global village: I had to install 3 clocks on my desktop to keep track of things: GMT/UTC time to coordinate live webcasts, PST time for Second Life meetings, and of course, home is where the heart is, so Argentina time…I love Google’s sidebar, it has a lot of goodies. Those clocks have saved my day more than once this week! Anyway, it takes time to get used to the craziness, but I’m enjoying the ride. Pamela out.

2009 is here…

Pam.A — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:23:22 +0000

And new projects are here too! First of all is the TESOL’s Electronic Village Online workshops I have signed up for: Multiliteracies, Digifolios and Virtual Worlds. Here’s a screenshot of my own avatar, Pam Vayandar:

I am also preparing myself to collaborate with my ESL supervisor and provide examples of learning strategies I use in the classroom. I am using the CALLA model, which has been very useful when it comes to teaching content-based ESL classes. You can access a copy of the CALLA book published by Chamot and O’Malley clicking here. I downloaded this copy for free from the ERIC database, which is fantastic.

Last but not least, this month I am taking a class on Moodle from Learn NC, an organization which provides educational services for educators and students in North Carolina. So…I’ll keep you posted (as much as possible). Wish me good luck!