I was getting used to being a regular here, but this week has really exhausted me. Dealing with three tools and activities at the same time isn’t easy. There are all those penzu pages to read and comment. I have to be often online to see who is in the chat and move things a bit and there’s wallwisher to check and notes to take down.
As I mentioned in an earlier post I decided to use some classes to work on error analysis and correction and it worked so well! I really came home yesterday with that feeling of “mission accomplished”! The students got incredibly involved in the task and by the end of the class they were already able to spot a lot more errors and find out how to correct them. They even asked for homework, so I gave them some more texts and excerpts to try and correct at home. Today I shared my dictionaries, vocabulary and grammar stacks with them, so that they can have some websites they can refer to in case of doubt. And then we’ll do the rest in class. Isn’t this the dawning of learner autonomy?
Today I received a penzu share that I really appreciated.
The image is here, but maybe it will be difficult to see, so let me explain: one of the students went back to the page she had corrected in class, she edited it marking all the mistakes she had made and then she wrote the corrected text below. I think it was fantastic. I’m sure that after dealing so much with some of the mistakes she has made, she will probably remember what not to do next time. I think that this type of attitude towards work not only shows the student is involved in her own learning and working beyond the initial task, but it also makes the teacher feel that they are turning the assignment into something useful, relevant, real! Thank you, kids!
Hello Luisa.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you corrected mistakes with your class and what that girl did is great.
As you might remember, I have been on a four-week "break" between terms and the majority of my project has happened in the vacuum between terms. Now I am thinking of ways to do error correction with my students when I see them face-to-face on Monday, so I am grateful for your ideas.
Natasa
Glad I've helped, Natasa. But remember thsi is a life-long journey. They may remember one or two things for next time but unless they practice, they will keep on making mistakes. Some kids are great and they immediately spot most errors, but others have a hard time trying to figure out what is wrong. There is a lot of interference from the mother tongue and as they translate directly, they think it has to be right. Difficult!
ReplyDeleteA comment from Yuliya
ReplyDeleteHi, Luisa!
It is great that the students got so involved that they even do extra work without even being prompted. This is what I also appreciate, initiative is great!
Like you I feel desperate from time to time about the project, yes you are right, we probably expect too much. Sometimes I don’t dare to breathe when I enter the blog, I keep fingers crossed and luckily there are comments and task completed though not all of my students meet deadlines.
You know that I want to make my students work on their own mistakes too. You made your students work in pairs, good idea! Did you underline the mistakes or did you somehow give them a hint? I am going to give my students a list of points on the most commont mistakes so that they can analyze their posts in terms of that. (e.g 1)ending “s” in third person singular Present Simple, 2) adverb + adjective 3) artcile a + abstract nouns?, etc)
Luisa, this is the link to the video on how to use ppt in prezi http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ayA4niOmfJ8. Good luck and thank you for collaboration!
Hi Luisa,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations.
Your students did great jobs thanks to your whole-hearted guidance.
I am also very happy with what my students did this week. Lots of mistakes in their posts, but they started to participate actively in my Nicenet class.
The
Thanks The.
ReplyDeleteIt's absolutely gratifying when you see that at least some students are profiting from the project. I'm glad yours are also engaged. Good work!