Dear friends
I would like to share this article with you on how precious honesty is. If you are not in the mood of being reflective, you can use it to prepare a Reading and Discussion lesson on this global value. If you are interested in a lesson plan to use this text, just write to me and I will be more than happy to help you customize one together.
M.of Ed. Maria Luisa Mu
Promises are easily made. Keeping them often proves more difficult because when we are pressured to strive always for perfection, we find it simpler to agree to undertake impossible tasks than to say no. Likewise, there is an infinite array of circumstances that conspire to goad us into telling falsehoods, even when we hold a great reverence for truth. When you endeavor to consistently keep your word, however, you protect your reputation and promote yourself as someone who can be trusted to be unfailingly truthful. Though your honesty may not always endear you to others—for there will always be those who fear the truth—you can nonetheless be certain that your integrity is never tarnished by the patina of deceit. Since frankness and sincerity form the basis of all life-enriching relationships, your word is one of your most precious and powerful possessions.
When we promise more than we can deliver, hide from the consequences of our actions through falsehoods, or deny our true selves to others, we hurt those who were counting on us by proving that their faith was wrongly given. We are also hurt by the lies we tell and the promises we break. Integrity is the foundation of civilization, allowing people to live, work, and play side by side without fear or apprehension. As you cultivate honesty within yourself, you will find that your honor and reliability put people at ease. Others will feel comfortable seeking out your friendship and collaborating with you on projects of great importance, certain that their positive expectations will be met. If you do catch yourself in a lie, ask yourself what you wanted to hide and why you felt you couldn’t be truthful. And if life’s surprises prevent you from keeping your word, simply admit your error apologetically and make amends quickly.
Since the path of truth frequently represents the more difficult journey, embarking upon it builds character. You can harness the power of your word when you do your best to live a life of honesty and understand what motivates dishonesty. In keeping your agreements and embodying sincerity, you prove that you are worthy of trust and perceive values as something to be incorporated into your daily existence.
Dear friends
I would like to share this article with you on how precious honesty is. If you are not in the mood of being reflective, you can use it to prepare a Reading and Discussion lesson on this global value. If you are interested in a lesson plan to use this text, just write to me and I will be more than happy to help you customize one together.
M.of Ed. Maria Luisa Mu
POWER IN HONESTY
Staying True to Your Word
Staying True to Your Word
Your honest word is one of your most precious and powerful possessions.
Promises are easily made. Keeping them often proves more difficult because when we are pressured to strive always for perfection, we find it simpler to agree to undertake impossible tasks than to say no. Likewise, there is an infinite array of circumstances that conspire to goad us into telling falsehoods, even when we hold a great reverence for truth. When you endeavor to consistently keep your word, however, you protect your reputation and promote yourself as someone who can be trusted to be unfailingly truthful. Though your honesty may not always endear you to others—for there will always be those who fear the truth—you can nonetheless be certain that your integrity is never tarnished by the patina of deceit. Since frankness and sincerity form the basis of all life-enriching relationships, your word is one of your most precious and powerful possessions.
When we promise more than we can deliver, hide from the consequences of our actions through falsehoods, or deny our true selves to others, we hurt those who were counting on us by proving that their faith was wrongly given. We are also hurt by the lies we tell and the promises we break. Integrity is the foundation of civilization, allowing people to live, work, and play side by side without fear or apprehension. As you cultivate honesty within yourself, you will find that your honor and reliability put people at ease. Others will feel comfortable seeking out your friendship and collaborating with you on projects of great importance, certain that their positive expectations will be met. If you do catch yourself in a lie, ask yourself what you wanted to hide and why you felt you couldn’t be truthful. And if life’s surprises prevent you from keeping your word, simply admit your error apologetically and make amends quickly.
Since the path of truth frequently represents the more difficult journey, embarking upon it builds character. You can harness the power of your word when you do your best to live a life of honesty and understand what motivates dishonesty. In keeping your agreements and embodying sincerity, you prove that you are worthy of trust and perceive values as something to be incorporated into your daily existence.
For more information visit dailyom.com
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Courses
Dear Colleagues
As you know, getting a degree is an important step and, fortunately, there are many options available in the market today. With this message, I am attaching the information for the Sistema de Educación Semipresencial of Universidad de Piura. It´s a programme for those of us who want to obtain the "bachillerato" and later the "licenciatura" in Education. The good thing for us is, unlike other offers in the market, that this programme has a speciality in teaching English. Plus the obvious benefit of having a degree from one of the most prestigious universities in our country.
Think about it.
More information at http://udep.edu.pe/educacion/sistema_educacion_semipresencial.html
Cesar Klauer (information sent by ELTeCS Peru - October 2011)
Dear friends
As professor of the module Observation & Research for the semi-virtual Master Degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language from Universidad de Piura, I have asked my students (practicising teachers) to start doing some classroom observation that may lead to some action research as preparation for their Practicum and / or Master degree thesis and that I am sure you may find equally useful.
The article was taken from www.teachingenglish.org.uk , a page that some of you may be very familiar with and was written by Julia Tice, one of the editors of the page. Please allow me to invite you all to read it and become a reflecting practitioner. a model for teacher professionalism and to visit the BBC teaching English page where you will find lots of interesting articles and downloadable material that will suit your needs.
All the best
M.of Ed. Maria Luisa MuReflective teaching: Exploring our own classroom practice
Submitted by TE Editor on 15 June, 2011 - 13:10 from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/reflective-teaching-exploring-our-own-classroom-practice
Reflective teaching means looking at what you do in the classroom, thinking about why you do it, and thinking about if it works - a process of self-observation and self-evaluation. By collecting information about what goes on in our classroom, and by analysing and evaluating this information, we identify and explore our own practices and underlying beliefs. This may then lead to changes and improvements in our teaching.
Reflective teaching is therefore a means of professional development which begins in our classroom.
Why it is important
Many teachers already think about their teaching and talk to colleagues about it too. You might think or tell someone that "My lesson went well" or "My students didn't seem to understand" or "My students were so badly behaved today."
However, without more time spent focussing on or discussing what has happened, we may tend to jump to conclusions about why things are happening. We may only notice reactions of the louder students. Reflective teaching therefore implies a more systematic process of collecting, recording and analysing our thoughts and observations, as well as those of our students, and then going on to making changes.
- If a lesson went well we can describe it and think about why it was successful.
- If the students didn't understand a language point we introduced we need to think about what we did and why it may have been unclear.
- If students are misbehaving - what were they doing, when and why?
The first step is to gather information about what happens in the class. Here are some different ways of doing this.
Teacher diary
Here are some suggestions for areas to focus on to help you start your diary.
Peer observation
Recording lessons
Audio recordings can be useful for considering aspects of teacher talk.
- How much do you talk?
- What about?
- Are instructions and explanations clear?
- How much time do you allocate to student talk?
- How do you respond to student talk?
- Where do you stand?
- Who do you speak to?
- How do you come across to the students?
What to do next
Once you have some information recorded about what goes on in your classroom, what do you do?You may have noticed patterns occurring in your teaching through your observation. You may also have noticed things that you were previously unaware of. You may have been surprised by some of your students' feedback. You may already have ideas for changes to implement.
- Talk
If you have colleagues who also wish to develop their teaching using reflection as a tool, you can meet to discuss issues. Discussion can be based around scenarios from your own classes.
Using a list of statements about teaching beliefs (for example, pairwork is a valuable activity in the language class or lexis is more important than grammar) you can discuss which ones you agree or disagree with, and which ones are reflected in your own teaching giving evidence from your self-observation.- Read
- Ask
Conclusion
- What are you doing?
- Why are you doing it?
- How effective is it?
- How are the students responding?
- How can you do it better?
As a result of your reflection you may decide to do something in a different way, or you may just decide that what you are doing is the best way. And that is what professional development is all about.
Contributed by Julie Tice, Teacher, Trainer, Writer, British Council Lisbon
Reflective teaching is a cyclical process, because once you start to implement changes, then the reflective and evaluative cycle begins again.
Pose questions to websites or magazines to get ideas from other teachers. Or if you have a local teachers' association or other opportunities for in-service training, ask for a session on an area that interests you.
- Think
You can also ask your students what they think about what goes on in the classroom. Their opinions and perceptions can add a different and valuable perspective. This can be done with simple questionnaires or learning diaries for example.
Video or audio recordings of lessons can provide very useful information for reflection. You may do things in class you are not aware of or there may be things happening in the class that as the teacher you do not normally see.
Invite a colleague to come into your class to collect information about your lesson. This may be with a simple observation task or through note taking. This will relate back to the area you have identified to reflect upon. For example, you might ask your colleague to focus on which students contribute most in the lesson, what different patterns of interaction occur or how you deal with errors.
This is the easiest way to begin a process of reflection since it is purely personal. After each lesson you write in a notebook about what happened. You may also describe your own reactions and feelings and those you observed on the part of the students. You are likely to begin to pose questions about what you have observed. Diary writing does require a certain discipline in taking the time to do it on a regular basis.
You may begin a process of reflection in response to a particular problem that has arisen with one or your classes, or simply as a way of finding out more about your teaching. You may decide to focus on a particular class of students, or to look at a feature of your teaching - for example how you deal with incidents of misbehaviour or how you can encourage your students to speak more English in class.
