Post your Reflections about BAW-06

 

Remember what your profile was 6 weeks ago?

 

Results of the week 1 diagnostic survey

 

Tell us about:

 

 

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***What you liked:**

I liked almost everything. It has been a great experience. I´ve been very impressed by the enthusiasm of beawers for sharing their knowledge.

 

*What you did not like:

 

I didn´t like to be buried in a mountain of links and stuff. The feel like exploring everything got me lost at the beginning.

*What you learned:

I´,ve learned many things blogging, despite not having one yet, a little bit about websites, recordings, podcastings...I would highlight the audacity tool, for making recordings; the quality of the sound is excellent.

*What you would have liked to learn:

Well...I don´t know what to say about. Perhaps I would have liked to learn more about the 1st week subjects...

*What will be your next steps:

My very first step is to look over the links and stuff, and reorganize them.

*Any other comment you would like to share with us:

It comes lots of thoughts to my mind to express how important has been for me to learn about such fantastic people from all around the world. I have no words to put into. Hugs and Kudos for you all.

Luis.

Spain

 

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My reflections:

 

What you liked

I have liked everything. All tools that have been introduced to us are great sources to enhance our ELT practice.

 

What you did not like

I have not liked having short time available to work on all the tools, as I wanted to. I have too much work, however, I did all my best to learn and practice.

 

What you learned

Many things. All has been "learning".

 

What you would have liked to learn

More about wikis and blogs

 

What will be your next step

Creating a blog for my students

 

Any other comment you would like to share with us

I just want to thank the moderators, co-moderators, guest speakers, and presenters for such a wonderful online workshop. My special gratitude and congratulations to Dafne and Tere. You have done an excellent job. You have been so open and kind sharing your knowledge and time with us, just for free. There are no words to thank you.

 

Evelyn

Caracas-Venezuela

 

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***What you liked**

I liked everything: experimenting with webtools, communicating with members via Skype and YM, attending live sessions etc.

***What you did not like**

I didn't like that I hadn't enough time to complete all the tasks and those thechnical problems which I had faced to.

***What you learned**

Oh, I've learnt a lot of things: to create blogs, wikis, podcasts, surveys; to use alado, learning times and worldbridges, to use skype and YM; to use Audacity and to send voicemails, recorded in Handybits and about Tappedin, where I've even created my office, though haven't it "furnished" yet.

***What you would have liked to learn**

More about podcasting, wikis, word.dot, creating sites. And I wish I tried Alado and Learning times as a moderator with my students. And I wish I tried all those tools which I haven't tried due to technical problems, such as Springdoo, Horizon-Wimba, etc.

***What will be your next step**

I'll use my blog, podcast and audacity in teaching english phonetics. I'll try to learn more about and experiment with those tools, which I haven't tried yet. On the 3d of March I'm going to speak about BaW and webtools during sub-faculty meeting at my Uni. I'm currently guiding my students in their preparation for a spring conference "PC and Internet in teaching english language as a foreign one".

***Any other comment you would like to share with us**

I'd like to thank all moderators and co-moderators, all guest speakers and cyberfriends for their kindness, desire to help and to share their knowledge. Thank you ever so much. I hope we'll keep in touch.

 

Julia

Russia

 

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***What I like and deeply apprecciate**

The effort put into the course by our dear mods and co-mods to create a warm, friendly, stimulating learning experience; the wonderful people from all over the world interested in similar things, sharing successes, frustrations, reflections, explorations, ideas; posts spiced with humour, artistic touch and human warmth; great selection of readings, fascinating synchronous events.

***Not like**

Can't think of anything – maybe the fact that day has 24 hours and I a limited amount of energy

***What I learned**

I've learned about various useful tools for language teaching, what you can do with them, how to do it, seen many great examples done by the rest of you and also learned about many great ready-made materials to use.

I knew before that there's lots of useful stuff out there, but I felt helpless trying to put together the bits and pieces on my own. I now feel I have gained a basic sense of orientation and feel much better with all the webhead arsenal by my side. And – I got used to hugging and getting hugged. It sure feels good.

***What I would have liked to learn**

There is so much of everything that has yet to sink in… Like Julia, I'd also have loved to try out Alado and LT as a moderator.

***My next step**

I now have a few weeks before I start my EFL course with college informatics students:

– I'll try to prepare some activities and materials for them uwsing some of the tools discovered.

- having read Graham's post about Bubbleshare and its audio possibilities, I thought that maybe my students (in pairs or small groups) could share with the class pics of their holidays or choose some other topic, and add audio comments, and then we could vote for the best photocast or something like that.

- I would also very much like to organize a synchronous meeting of my students with peers from some other country

***Other comments**

This has been a really intensive cyber field trip for me – my first of this kind and an unforgettable one – THANK YOU ALL. I've had a great time.

 

Hugs,

Sasa, Slovenia

 

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***What I like and deeply apprecciate**

I deeply apprecciate the moderators and co-moderators promt replies to all of our questions. I really can't figure out how you manage to work, take care of your family, go to the supermarket, pick up kids at school, and still be so kind to all of us. I am also really happy for all the new friends I met in this lovely community.

 

***Not like**

Not being able to read the optional readings (I plan to do that soon) and not being able to read all e-mails and answering everyone.

 

***What I learned**

Everything was very new to me. I had never used skype, yahoo messenger, Alado, Learning Times and Worldbridges. I didn't have a blog, and I had never heard of voicemail and wikis before.

The suggested readings were really inspiring!

 

***What I would have liked to learn**

I agree with Julia and Sasa. I would like to experiment with Alado and learning Times as a moderator, but I would be very scared to try it out.

 

***My next step**

Visit the links Carla and I have bookmarked, but have not had time to check.

Start blogging with my students.

Use more voicemail.

Try other tools suggested by Isabel Perez to build online material. (I only use Quia and Hot Potatoes and I have to try others)

Share all this information with my colleagues (or, at least, some of it)

Play with audioblogs.

Keep in touch with the Webheads as long as I live.

 

***Other comments**

I am really in love with the Webheads. You can't imagine how enthusiastic I am about all the new things I have learned. I wish more teachers at my school were involved, and I will do my best to bring more people to this fantastic community.

 

Mil Beijos (10.000 kisses)

Erika, Brazil

 

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What you liked

I liked everything. I was fascinated with the live sessions .Although I couldn’t talk, because I didn’t have a mic, it was great .I listened like being in that “offices” in real.

Receiving the chatlog of the sessions is a DETAIL !!! I was taking notes “with four hands”, then somebody told about the chatlog, I relaxed and enjoy the session. Lol.

But the most impressive thing was the feeling of warmth created by moderators and co-moderators, sharing what they KNOW !!!!

 

What I didn’t like

My lack of time, I would need days of 48 hours.

My lack of knowledge, I couldn’t add anything to enrich the group. Just my poor blog

 

What you learned

I learnt to make a blog, to add myself to a yahoo group, my picture to the banner anf to the map. To enter live sessions in Tapped in ,add comments and messages on whiteboards.

 

What you would have liked to learn

Well, I’d have liked to learn everything. I had used a lot of ready-made activities from the web (Just because I’m curious),but I’d like to learn to manage the new tools you’ve shown .

I know BAW webpage will be available on the net , so I’ll go ahead working and enjoying all year round. Of course, I won’t miss BAW 07 !!! I’ll be there.

 

What will you be your next step

I’m planning to start a blog with my students in 3rd Polimodal. They are intermediate level . We’d start watching JesusChrist Supertar , the rock opera (masterpiece) by Andrew Lloyd Weber. We’ve got the 2000 version, broadcasted by Direct TV in Latin America. The idea is to work about the characters, the lyrics, etc. It would be great if any teacher join us with his/her group.

 

A second point would be to work with another teachers in Spanish blogs, (I’m the only English teacher at school) just to share all this fascinating world you opened for me.

 

Any other comment

To:Dafne, Theresa,Hala,Leane,Maria teresa,Cora,Cristina,Gladys,Barbara,Sharon,Cristina

And all the other Bawers who were so kind and ready to help any moment.

Thanks, claps, hugs and kisses !!!!!

Don’t you think you’re changing the world?????!!!!

 

Susana Canelo

Argentina

 

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***What you liked**

I liked sharing, building an online community, reading, interacting, having fun, experimenting new tools,attending chats, webcasts, learning everyday new ways and tools that could be applied to my EFL context.

 

***What you did not like**

I didn't have much time to explore the tools, links, blogs, online materials I wanted to.

 

***What you learned**

I learned how to use voice tools in the classroom, wikis, all about sharing and building an online community, a lot on how to use blogs efficiently. I learned that this group of teachers do what they do because they love it and they are never tired enough to share and care. I learned that we can make friends even having never had the chance to meet them f2f!

 

***What you would have liked to learn**

More about audioblogs

 

***What will be your next step**

Training teachers to use some of the the things I've learned; Testing online tools to use with my students;

Participating in the webheads sessions;

Inviting baWers for online collaborative projects

 

***Any other comment you would like to share with us**

It is hard to put into words all the knowledge I acquired, the bonds I made, the special people I met... I had taken other online course, but it has never been so intense, so humanized. I've never had such emotionals exchanges online. I will never forget january and february 2006! It was an unforgettable trip to the extraordinary possibilities of the cyber world that will reflect on the kind of work I do.

 

Thanks to you all, co-mods, and a very special thanks to Dafne and Teresa, my virtual idols and role models!

 

Beijos e abraços apertados!

 

Carla Arena in brasilia, Brazil

 

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*What you liked: 1) learning by doing and getting to know different kinds of sites by using them (BaW blog, wiki, forum, yahoo group, surveys, LT, tappedin, Alado Worldbridges); 2) being part of a supportive and caring community with “facilitators” always there to help one out with patience and knowledgeable experience; 3) "watching" enthusiastic colleagues grow while designing creative and highly effective sites and sharing their newfound jewels with all of us; 4) not feeling so completely guilty at not being able to keep up with the hectic pace of six too intense weeks; 5) having the opportunity to be in contact with such a special group of international colleagues who could be possible project partners in the near future … and much more.

 

*What you did not like: Not having available time to follow up the session properly. I know that there will never be a perfect time for all participants so knowing I can go back and check materials later takes away part of that personal anxiety.

 

*What you learned: I got to know certain tools for blogs and how to solve certain problems (thanks to Claudia, Jane and Sus), but also became aware of the potential of wikis, the need to have bookmarks at de.li.cious, sites for audiomails and audio recording and how to post them in blogs, differences in uses of websites, blogs and wikis, and above all, how a virtual community of colleagues with common objectives works fantastically thanks to the modeling of the moderators and co-moderators.

 

*What you would have liked to learn: nothing comes to my mind.

 

*What will be your next steps: to go back and check the zillion of wonderful recommended sites, build up my data at de.li.cious, create a static webpage with information either as a professional portfolio or even a content page about one of my favorite topics “Teaching EFL with the brain in mind”, create a new blog but this time with a clearer objective and structure, and play around with tools to build exercises for my students according to the suggestions offered by Isabel Pérez and all BaW and WiA friends.

 

*Any other comment you would like to share with us: You have been so wonderful that there is nothing else I can say … well, maybe to suggest future EVO session participants to include in their messages the link of the page they are making comments about. This way it is easier to sort participants´ sites among the jungle of messages before threads are made. It took me a while, for example, to get to Isabel´s movie survey and had to go back several pages of previous messages to find it. Just an idea, though. Something that I found very useful was to have “suggested” and “optional” readings instead of a list of four of five links to read. It eased my stress and minimized my load. I also learned from the answers to the questions of the week when I did not have enough time to look for them myself.

 

A final comment: Thanks, thanks, thanks for your generosity and dedication. ;-)

 

Warmly, Berta from Venezuela (and possibly in Toronto for BaW-07)

 

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Nina's reflections:

This is the short version of my thoughts on BaW-06 (for the long version, see my blog):

It has been an incredible experience. Before BaW, I was something of a technophobe, overwhelmed by the myriad possibilities and the rapidly changing technology. Now, I feel less intimidated, more able to strike out and explore. Making online friends has been fun, and as I become more familiar with the technology, I am beginning to think of ways to incorporate it into my teaching. I hope to build on the foundation I have laid with your help and to share what I have learned with my colleagues at the University of Maryland and potentially, with members of our local TESOL affiliate, WATESOL. I am excited about joining the Webheads and hope to stay connected for a long time to come!

 

Nina (Maryland, USA)

 

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*What you liked

 

***What you did not like**

 

 

***What you learned**

 

 

***What you would have liked to learn**

 

***What will be your next steps**

 

 

***Any other comment you would like to share with us

 

Kudos to you all!!!

Thank you for sharing. Teresa and Dafne, you are the best followed shotly by Hala, Leanne, Cora, Chrissan, Barb, Gladys, Sharon, Cristina, Moira...

I don't want to mention any of the participants names because I'm sure somebody will be missing and I have so much to thank eveybody. Thank you for been so Kind and inspiring!

What about having a page where we can see all the blogs, wikies and surveys? Is it already posted??? Has anybody registered everythig? Can we share?

So maaaaaany thanks!!! ¡Hasta la vista! Muito obrigada.

Angeles, Spain

 

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My Reflections

 

Posted to my blog at: http://webheadcoakes.blogspot.com/

 

Cheryl, USA

 

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Dear Colleagues!

Though I did not manage to participate actively in all the breathtaking events and activities I tried to follow the course of the seminar and even in this format found it to be extremely interesting, educative and useful.

I got so much from the correspondence among the participants. Each of you contributed something to the work so brilliantly planned, organized and monitored by the moderators. I feel very grateful to them and to all of you.

 

Alla, Russia

 

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Paddy's voice farewell

 

Paddy, Portugal

 

 

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My Reflections

 

What you liked

The journey, the adventure, the climate, the guides, the travelling mates, the thicket, the clearings, the explored and the unexplored territory.

 

What you did not like

The dizzy heights (of data peaks).

 

What you would have liked to learn

How to dodge off-the-journey distractions.

 

What will be your next steps

Rerun the routes.

 

Any other comment you would like to share with us

“Webheads inspire

feats of deeds.

Newbies perspire

beads of deeds.

 

Each guide is high.

 

Lurk or work,

Crawl or climb,

Each guide

has a ticket to ride.”

 

Analía, in Argentina.

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What you liked:

Everything! It's been like a shot of energy and enthusiasm.

 

I think the new 'toys'- podcasts, wiki's, blogs, etc will be fun, but the most significant difference for me is that I have a changed perception of what it means to be teaching a 'class'. The boundaries have changed. I used to think of a class as meeting from 9:00 to 10:35, Mondays and Wednesdays. But online access means that a class can meet anytme. I used to think of my class as meeting in Johnson 104. But access from home, work, the library, (really anywhere) means that location is no longer static. The source of information used to be the text, the instructor, classmates, the occasional speaker or field trip. Now I can think in terms of audio and video files, online lectures by guest speakers, and many more opportunities for collecting information from primary sources. The boundaries have also expanded as to student population. I think I will be much more able to accommodate the specific needs of individual students. My ESL students typically have uneven proficiency as to speaking, listening, reading, and writing. All these tools mean I can zero in on activities that personalize the course. And the variety of tools: audio, text, whiteboard, etc. can take advantage of a student's learning style.

 

What you did not like:

There was so much to absorb - it will take me a good while to figure out how to use it all - not actually a problem!

 

What you would have liked to learn:

My main project at this point is to continue exploring all the great capabilities that were presented in the course.

 

What will be your next steps:

I've just completed a Front Page workshop. I'm planning to put together a website that includes many of the things I've learned.

 

Elise Couper, USA

 

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Final Reflections

 

by Maria Claudia Bellusci

 

 

What a difficult task to build on what has already been said of BaW! The experience has been simply unique. Learning through discovery, collaboration, fun, friendship, encouragement, advice, sharing… who could ask for more! This is what I had been looking for, not even knowing that it existed.

There’s nothing I didn’t like, really. I’d only wish my day had had a dozen more hours to be able to explore even more and use all the tools presented in the workshop. I’ve got a long list of “to do’s”. Will you all still be there when I finish with it?

I’ve learned how to build and “decorate” (I loved this, did you notice?) a blog, a website (still under construction), a wiki, a favourites list with Del.icio.us and Blinklist, a Yahoo Group, how to record, edit and post a podcast, send a voicemail, do voice chat with Yahoo and MSN…well I’ve learned lots of things. But there’s something I’ve learned that will be my guide in my future teaching practice: building a safe, caring atmosphere helps learners to lose inhibitions and feel free to ask for help and make their own contributions even though they may be just novices. That’s how I’ve felt from the very beginning. I’ve always been the shy, quiet kind of learner who would rather go to the book instead of asking questions. Well I’m a new-born kind of learner since Baw06. My queries have always been answered in such an attentive way that I never felt afraid of asking even silly questions.

Would I have liked to learn even more? I don’t think I could have been able to absorb more than this.

My next steps will be to go deeper in all I have done so far and start creating my own activities to use with my students this year. I will also hold on to this community and spread the word among my fellow teachers.

My final comment goes to this exceptional bunch of moderators and co-moderators that have done a wonderful job. God bless you all for your generosity, hard work and human qualities. You are simply THE BEST. A very very big THANK YOU.

Claudia, Argentina

Now go to the HugRelated page and get your well deserved HUGS

 

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What Janet liked

 

I liked all the verbs: Winking and Wiki-ing, Wimba-ing, too; Springdooing, Skyping, Snipping and Posting; Blogging and Blinking, Hugging and Thinking; Threading and Tapping, Vod- and Podcasting, Questioning, Answering, Del.icio.ous Chatting, Learning, Lurking and...Diving back in!!

 

I enjoyed the wonderful acceptance, no matter how much I was able to participate or not.

 

I was warmed by the sense that the community here is so much more than a sum of the parts, and based so deeply on sharing and caring.

 

What Janet did not like

 

The fact that I am teaching a subject that doesn't seem to lend itself to blended learning (singing)....YET!

 

What Janet learned

 

I learned big lessons in how to learn on-line, my vision of how the internet can be used for good has exploded out-of-the-box; I learned how easily strangers can become friends.

 

What Janet would have liked to learn

 

All of my expectations were exceeded!

 

What will her next steps be?

 

Reviewing the weekly threads (thank you so much to those of you who took on this daunting task), looking for chances to teach and pass on what I have learned, and keeping in touch as much as possible with others who will be "around".

 

 

Thank you thank you thank you!!!

 

Barrels of thanks to Daf and Teresa, Hala and Leanne, Maria Teresa and Cora, Chrissan and Barb, Gladys, Sharon and Cristina, Bee and everyone who shared and helped, for the fun, the responsiveness, the honesty and humor, the ideas, the expertise, the hugs and the strokes.

 

Blessings, hugs and congratulations to everyone!

 

Janet

 

 

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Isabel- Brazil

What you liked

What you did not like

What you learned

What you would have liked to learn

What will be your next steps

Any other comment you would like to share with us

 

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My reflections:

What you liked

It was a wonderful session. I am very grateful for all that I have learned, the tool box I have begun putting together, the world-wide connections with fellow teachers, the references, the enthusiasm, the fun, and especially, the opporturnity to keep going. Also, some fantastic presentations online!

 

What you did not like

Intense when one is working full-time! Though the emails and exchanges were enriching, interesting, and often plain nice, there were a LOT of them! Some online sessions were a bit disorganized and impromptu, so when one wakes up in the middle of the night for them (ouch...), it's disapointing -- on the whole, though, they were great!

 

What you learned

A great deal! Really, it's been very enriching. The key will be to keep learning ;-).

 

What you would have liked to learn

I have plenty to keep me going! I'm especially interested in ways to integrate all of this "in the classroom" (whatever that now is ;-).

 

What will be your next step

Going over the session, learning, and applying some of those funky new tools I wasn't too familiar with ;-).

 

Any other comment you would like to share with us

Daf and Teresa, thank you wholeheartedly!

And to all those involved as well, a great huge "Thank you!"

(Co-moderators, fellow BaW-06ers, Webheads, EVO, supporting family, friends, pets, co-workers, you name it!)

 

Danièle

(Canada but currently living in Japan)

 

 

 

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Moira's Reflections

 

 

 

What you liked

 

I liked the dynamic interaction at all times, the mountains of emails, the guest speakers and all the new tools to try and test. The support from everybody was magnificent and it was wonderful meeting up with people from all over the world!

 

What you did not like

 

I, too, would have liked more time to develop some of the tools to a greater degree within the six week period, in order to get further advice and feedback from the group. I volunteered to do the the threads, but whilst I was doing them I did feel that I was 'missing out' on some of the fun being had by others during that period. Next year, I shall just have to book my holidays and do nothing but the BaW07 session :-)

 

What you learned

 

A tremendous amount, but above all, I met a wonderful group of people with whom I intend to stay in contact in the future.

 

What you would have liked to learn

 

I have a lot to learn about podcasting with video which will keep me busy for some time.

 

What will be your next steps

 

I have already started to create a website integrating some of these tools. I will also be considering why, when and how I would like to design certain online courses integrating certain tools encountered here.

 

Any other comment you would like to share with us

 

A huge "Thank you" for the investment you have all made to make this possible!!

 

Moira in France

 

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