baw08participants wiki / week3threads

mmvcentro #1450 01/27/2008	Hello Everyone! It is nice to see you again! My name is Maria Eugenia del Campo, please call me Maru. My Yahoo ID is mmvcentro, I work at "MMV Centro Multidisciplinario de Asesoría Integral" as a Psychologis giving therapy. I joined this group to keep learning and to get more practice on e- tools to teach English. I took BaW07 where I found a warm, caring and giving community that opened my eyes to a new world which I would like to continue discovering. I am sorry to have joined on the 3rd week, I will pay more attention next year!! I will work hard to cover all the assignments. I want to express here my gratitude to all the moderators and co- moderators who will be leading us in this fantastic adventure. Love: Maru
Dafne #1451 01/27/2008	Hi Maru and welcome back to BaW! It´s very nice to have you with us again. I am sure you will be able to catch up in no time ;-) Warm hugs, Daf
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1460 (Response to #1451) 01/27/2008	Hi Maru, Welcome back. Don´t worry about being late. It is never late to start learning and sharing. We did spend a great time in BaW07 last year. I am so glad to see you here. I was wondering "Where is Maru from Mexico? I haven´t seen her around" I remember having chats withyou and you were really participative. We all missed you. Just let us know if you need any help Abraços José Antônio
Sharon Betts #1461 (Response to #1460) 01/28/2008	Maru, It is never too late to join and begin expanding your tool bucket. Welcome to BAW08. Sharon
Dennis Oliver #1474 (Response to #1461) 01/28/2008	Hola, Maru! It's good to be in touch again! I remember you well from BaW07! Like you, I've already decided to participate in next years BaW session. I'm also grateful to the moderators and co-moderators--and also to the BaW08 participants. The "warm, caring and giving community" that you and I found in BaW07 has been created here as well, and a very rich variety of e-resources has already been presented, with much more to come! I remember that you're from México, Maru, so you're kind of my "vecina" because I live in Arizona. Con mis más finos deseos y un fuerte abrazo-- Dennis in Phoenix
Hala #1478 01/28/2008	Dear Maru, Welcome home! Hala Fawzi
Teresa Almeida d'Eca #1479 01/28/2008	Welcome back, Maru! Better late than never!! Hugs, Teresa
Ronaldo Lima, Jr. #1489 01/28/2008	Hey Maru, good to see you here again.
MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1497 (Response to #1489) 01/28/2008	Thanks Daf! I will do my best!!! Today I will be reading the Baw08 digests to have a feeling of what's going on and then will proceed to do week 3 activities. I do not have computer at home this year so I will be working from a cyber place. Last year I downloaded so many conflicting programs to my limited PC that it decided to crash so I am saving to get a new one!!! I need someone who knows about software by my side! I would like to know what kind of hardware resources I need to have in a PC to avoid conflict and to support the software we are using. Could you direct me to a place to find out please? Love: Maru
MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1500 (Response to #1497) 01/28/2008	Hi Jose Antonio! Thanks for encouraging me!! Here I am, Maru from Mexico. You are right, it is never late to start learning and sharing and we did spend a great time in BaW07. Now I see that you are moderator, congratulations!! All the new students will benefit from your experience and kind way of teaching. I have missed you all too!!! Though I am limited in resurces now, because we have a construction project and my computer crashed last year, the fact that I am working at a cyber place will help us with a future teaching project wich involves students that have no computer at home. I bet a lot of good will come from this year's experience!! Lets continue learning having fun! Thanks for the support, I will be asking!!! Love: Maru
MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1501 (Response to #1500) 01/28/2008	Hi Sharon! Thanks for your warm and encouraging welcome. Of course it is never too late to expand our tool bucket. I will check the threads to visit your creations. Love: Maru
MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1521 01/28/2008	Hi Hala! You are right... This is home!!!! It surely feels like home. I am glad to hear from you. How many students do you have this year? Last year you had 400!!! How are your kids?, How is the weather in Sudan? Please send me the links to your students work, I would like to visit. Love: Maru
MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1522 01/28/2008	Thanks Teresa! I hope next year it does not happen again!! I will be more careful not to crash another computer!!! ha, ha, ha... poor thing, it was ideed limited! Love: Maru

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Week 2

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Wrap up

Silvia Colombo #1456 01/27/2008	Thank you all for your care and support during week2!, which , in my opinion, has been much more challenging than week 1! Hugs, Silvia.
Dennis Oliver #1467 01/28/2008	Re Teresa's message #1438: Dear Teresa and Dafne--and everyone, I'd like to add my own sincere "Thank you!" to both of you, to J.A., to Fernanda, and to the many BaW08 participants who, through working collaboratively, made Week 2 such a rich and robust learning experience. Kudos! I also agree that Michael Coghlan, Jeff Lebow, and Dave Cormier deserve special thanks. They were indeed fabulous! In addition, I was honored to see my name included in your message even though I feel that I didn't actually contribute very much. Finally, I'd like to add two names to the "Kudos" list: Derrall Garrison and Pam Shoemaker. Derrall and Pam were the main facilitators for the live sessions hosted by WorldBridges. I thought Derrall and Pam did a wonderful job of introducing each session, keeping things moving from topic to topic, addressing problems as they occurred, and providing an effective exit from each session. I also fully expect Week 3 to be another success and greatly look forward to the co-teaching and co-learning that we are sure to experience! Sincerely, Dennis in Phoenix
Dafne #1468 (Response to #1467) 01/28/2008	Thanks for your message, Dennis :-) I am not very clear what you mean by this: > Finally, I'd like to add two names to the "Kudos" > list: Derrall > Garrison and Pam Shoemaker. Derrall and Pam were the > main facilitators > for the live sessions hosted by WorldBridges. I > thought Derrall and > Pam did a wonderful job of introducing each session, > keeping things > moving from topic to topic, addressing problems as > they occurred, and > providing an effective exit from each session. > Dennis in Phoenix Are you sure you are referring to the EVO/BaW session? ;-) Cheers, Daf > __________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

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Tasks

Jose Antonio Da Silva #1458 01/27/2008	Hi Isabel, We are glad to know you have explored the tools and answered the questions. About them being technical, you are right. Once we are dealing with two tools that require some technical skills, we do feel it is necessary to know how some of the most important features of these tools work. However, we did not forget the theoretical and practical part, that´s why we had the week 2 readings (which are just great), a forum to discuss them, and of course the yahoo group mailing list where people have posted their comments on how they use or would use these tools. Of course people could just pretend they know how to use them. We are here to help, if they decide tolearn at any time, during this course, or during the rest of the year, there will always be a webhead to help. You are absolutely right "we learn by doing" and that is why we encourage people to test the tools throughout the course. Thanks a lot for expressing your concerns. I am sure some other people feel that way too. This, actually, reminds me of what Dennis said "Rome was not built in a day" Abraço grande José Antônio
amma2jo #1464 01/28/2008	BLOG: 1.A blog (short for weblog) : is a frequently updated website that often resembles an online journal. It's so easy to create and update a blog - it requires only basic access to the Internet, and a minimum of technical know-how. Because of this, it is one of the easiest ways to publish student writing on the WWW. It's almost as easy as sending an email. 2.Weblog, or chronological, online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often links to other Web sites provided by the writer. Others may subscribe to a person's blog, which allows them to read it and write comments in response. BODCASTING: Podcasting (a portemanteau of the words iPod and broadcasting) is the name given to the publishing of audio (usually mp3 files) via the Internet, designed to be downloaded and listened to on a portable mp3 player of any type, or on a personal computer. Wiki A type of Web site that allows visitors to easily add, remove, or otherwise edit and change some available content, sometimes without the need for registration. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for collaborative authoring. RSS Rich Site Summary (or Really Simple Syndication), a format for aggregating Web content in one place. Say you're a social studies teacher and you've found 20 or 30 Weblogs and media sites consistently publishing relevant information. Finding the time to visit those sites on a regular basis would be nearly impossible. A type of software called an aggregator or feed collector checks the feeds you subscribe to, usually every hour, and collects all the new content from those sites and sends it to your desktop. {{{ EH WHO MAKES NO MISTAKES MAKES NOTHING}}} MHMD Y. NOFAL
Pato #1475 01/28/2008	Hi everyone, Appart from this course I'm also attending Blogging4Educators and as this week we're starting to deal with blogs, wikis and podcasts I'd like to invite you all to visit my first try-out blog at http://reflectingonweb20.blogspot.com/. Hope you like the topic and help me with the reflections posting your comments. Thanks to all! Patricia (Pato)
Monica Veado #1477 01/28/2008	Hi Patricia, great first post, I look forward to further discussions! I left a comment there. Congrats! Let me just correct the url (there was an extra "." on the link):http://reflectingonweb20.blogspot.com Um abraço, Monica
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1481 01/28/2008	Hi Patricia, Very nice blog. Congratulations and long life to your blog. I am sure it will grow fast and get really big. José Antônio
Mirian #1513 01/28/2008	Dear all, I've posted a new entry at my audioblog. Hope you like it . (Your comments are welcomed!)http://matildos.podomatic.com/ <http://matildos.podomatic.com/> Mirian. ;)
Monica Veado #1517 (Response to #1513) 01/28/2008	Hi Mirian, that's a great audioblog! Unfortunately my headset doesn't seem to be working too well, I guess, so the sound was very low. Thank you for sending the link with another great tool to try with our students! Um abraço, Mônica
butgems #1529 01/29/2008	Hi Nina, Teaching, I guess, is the same wherever you go. Students and teachers seem to take after one another far and wide, be they in developed or developing countries. In this group I'm amongst you like a deaf person in a noisy ceremony or a blind one before an eye-catching scenery. Need much time to adapt..
Dennis Oliver #1537 01/29/2008	Hola, Mirian. In baw08@yahoogroups.com (message #1513), you wrote: Dear all, I've posted a new entry at my audioblog. Hope you like it . (Your comments are welcomed!)http://matildos.podomatic.com/ <http://matildos.podomatic.com/> Mirian. ;) COMMENTS: I really, really liked your audioblog/podcasts, Mirian, and have left several comments. I especially liked the fact that you've included tasks for each listening; this is an excellent way of encouraging students to listen actively. I also like the fact that you focus on listening passages that feature children's voices. Keep up the good work! Felicitaciones! Dennis in Phoenix
Sharon Betts #1538 (Response to #1537) 01/29/2008	What a fabulous use of podcasting! Sharon
Mirian #1558 01/29/2008	Well, I'm very grateful to you all for leaving me those wonderful comments, and for having taken the time to do so. This encourages me to go on searching for better and improved ideas. To Dennis, and about the question posed, yes the students are supposed to write the answers on another piece of paper. Thank you for all your suggestions as well. Bye for now.... Mirian from Buenos Aires.
María Lorena #1560 01/29/2008	Hi everyone, I just wanted to tell you that this week and the following I'm going to be "away" because I'm in Cordoba (one province in Argentina) and I don't have access to internet everyday. I will try to keep up and attend all the live meetings, but you may not see me that often. Thank you for everything, Lore
Nelba #1561 (Response to #1560) 01/29/2008	Hi, Lorena. I am going to Córdoba , too ... this week and the following. Where are you staying? Nelba María Lorena escribió: Hi everyone, I just wanted to tell you that this week and the following I'm going to be "away" because I'm in Cordoba (one province in Argentina) and I don't have access to internet everyday. I will try to keep up and attend all the live meetings, but you may not see me that often. Thank you for everything, Lore
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1562 (Response to #1561) 01/29/2008	Bye Lonerea, We will miss you. Enjoy your trip. Bring some pictures to share with the group. I would love to vistit Argentina one day. Hugs José Antônio
Janet #1586 01/30/2008	I've been quietly lurking lately. The beginning of a new semester is always busier than usual. I hope to get back into things soon. Janet
Natalia Malkina #1588 (Response to #1586) 01/30/2008	Dear Janet, Who said you are "falling behind"?. You are keeeping your own pace !!! And this is fine. Like you I am keeping my pace. Good luck Natalia
Monica Veado #1589 (Response to #1588) 01/30/2008	Don't worry, Janet, there's always so much to do when classes start! Take your time and join us when you can - you can find the links to all our activities and materials on the wiki, and don't forget that help is only a click away, so let us know if you have any questions or doubts! Um abraço and good luck! Monica
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1601 (Response to #1589) 01/30/2008	Hi Janet, Lurking is also part of learning. It is not always that we can dedicate as much as we would like to. We all do our share of lurking. We will be waiting for your return whenever you are able to do so. Hugs from Brazil José Antônio
MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1619 01/30/2008	Hi Janet! Lurking? You are here keeping your own pace, enjoy the ride. Love: Maru
Jose Antonio da Silva #1636 01/31/2008	Hello Everyone, I have just visited the wiki page Tools Created by Participants http://baw08participants.pbwiki.com/Tools-participants and it is looking better and better as participants continue posted what they have created there. I have see blogs and wikis. Some are newborn babies and some are babies with some months of age. It is great to see your learning process. Just one observation, when posting links make sure there is no period or comma or any other character close to it (always add a space, sometimes spaces are added automatically and the links are broken and you will have to remove the extra space). There were two wikis I couldn´t access. One is Natasa's http://lunas994.pbwiki.com/Natasa%27s+wiki. There was a period as you can see after the URL and I could not visualize it. I just removed the period and saw her baby wiki (congrats Natasha). The other one was Nouamane's wiki which seems to require a password to visit. So Nouamane, what you will need to do is change the settings. Contgratulations to all those posting there. I have posted comments of some of the blogs and will post some more later. Kind regards Jose Antônio
Carlos #1640 01/31/2008	Dear Mod, As requested I have just posted on the wiki page what I have done so far, it isn't much... but I'm proud of what I was able to do on my own... A question: does anyone know where I can write online quizzes, besides ESLvideo... It sometimes doesn't work very well with wiki(It tends to disspear! Don't ask me why?) Do you make quizzes? / multiple choice answers to questions - what do you use? Thank you Carlos
Ronaldo Lima, Jr. #1641 (Response to #1640) 01/31/2008	Hi Carlos, Week 5 will be only about creating online exercises, but I can already tell you that I use quia (www.quia.com - 30-day free trial), proprofs ( www.proprofs.com - free) and Script-O (www.readingmatrix.com/quizmaker free). Hope to have helped! regards from Brazil, Ronaldo
Lorena Recio #1642 01/31/2008	Jose Antonio, you can come and visit if you want. I'm taking some pictures, as soon as I can, I'll send you some pictures so that you can see what a great country Argentina is (politics apart!). I would also like to visit Brazil, I haven't had the chance yet. See you all around, Lore
MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1645 01/31/2008	Dear Natasha: Have a nice trip. Do you want a bet? I bet you will manage to catch up, are you in? Interesting questions, I have no idea but I am willing to learn. Was there a chat yesterday? My goodness! I am missisng a lot! Love: Maru
Carlos #1664 01/31/2008	Hello, Ronaldo Thank you for your help. I'll check the quizz sites you recommended as soon as I have the chance. Thank you so much. I only knew ESL - http://www.eslvideo.com/ but it frequently doesn't show upproperly in the wiki page. I'll give it a try. Thanks Carlos
Maite Martinez #1691 02/01/2008	Hi everyone! Hope it is not too late to catch up work...I was so enthusiastic about this 2008 EVO and then when it was about to start got compulsory work to do and as always...little time for the rest. I am not sure I shall be able to catch up with all that has been done so far...last year I joined B4B and was of so much use and fun..so I hope I am not too late this year... I am a primary teacher and this year I have really little ones...a 7-8 year olds and EFL to 3 year olds...amazing, right? believe it or not I love it. this is my class blog: mozartsegundo2007@blogspot.com it is in spanish....and mainly works as a resource room for them until we get the computers started at school (hopefully soon it is a new school)... I am settling down to read most messages so far and hope to get to e-know you all soon. Maite
Maite Martinez #1693 02/01/2008	Dear all, I had a sloppy start I guess...in post 1691 i misstyped an add instead of a dot...the blog adress is: mozartsegundo2007.blogspot.com sorry...Maite
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1697 (Response to #1691) 02/01/2008	Hello Maite, That is beautiful name. Welcome to the group. It is never late to learn. We are all teachers and we know how hard all of us work. I ma a little quieter this week because I was a little busy in the afternoon and I missed all the excitment that goes around this group, but was able to catch up in the evening. We are in the week of blogs, wikis and podcasts. So just choose a blog host and start playing with it and then move to the other tools, I am sure you will be able to catch up. If you aren´t, you can always continue lerning throughout the year. There is no hurry. You are a teacher already. By the way, teaching kids that age might be a fascinating experience. José Antônio
Nina Liakos #1751 02/02/2008	Welcome back, Maite, it is so nice to see you again! Nina Liakos
Monica Veado #1698 (Response to #1693) 02/01/2008	Hi Maite, I've just visited your blog and left a message! ;-) Um abraco, Monica
Sally La Luzerne #1712 02/01/2008	Hi everyone, I've just managed to put up my first blog although half of what I wrote seems to have disappeared! You can find it (I hope) at http://teachglobal.wordpress.com A good weekend to all of you! Sally La Luzerne-Oi **Please disregard the name Bernice on the address.
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1713 (Response to #1712) 02/01/2008	Hello Sally, Beutiful and interesting blog you have opened. I liked reading what yu have writte about blogs. It did not open at first bvecaus it had two extra spacesin the URL. Let me share with you and the group, what I do everytime a link does not open: I copy the URL and click CONTROL L ( a small window pops up on your screen) and paste the URL in this window and look for extra/weird characters and extra space (yours had two extra spaces and I revove them). Another thng I learned with Dafne is to put the URL in a line of their own. I ewill post the link again. I hope this time it will openhttp://teachglobal.wordpress.com Thanks for sharing José Antônio
Monica Veado #1722 (Response to #1713) 02/02/2008	Hi Sally, great blog, and the choice of topic was excellent. I'm a big fan of clean layouts and your page looks wonderful. Keep posting! :-) Um abraco, Monica
Teresa Almeida d'Eca #1724 02/02/2008	Hi, Sally! Your blog has a very soft, pleasant and peaceful template. And the content is based on a very interesting topic. I liked what I read. Congrats! :-) Teresa
Maria Rosario Di Monaco #1734 02/02/2008	To answer the question in activity 1-week 3, I followed the link there and ended up starting a new topic in the forum. Sorry if I wasn't supposed to!
OcsovszkyZsóia #1735 02/02/2008	Dear Cordinators, Moderators, fellows, in the last days I could read some news about some who announced his/her lagging behind. Now I join to them: due some other duty I have to carry out in these weeks (English exam :-( mainly) I could not follow and implement the activites in the way I wanted to do. As I have already told some of you: I am planning to set up a page (which tool could be the best-hmmm, thats the question for myself) for teachers in Hungary, to found a communitiy place soemhow and start a professional dialogue with them about using web in teaching, (since here, in Hungary is quite undeveloped) by giving them hints, best practicies from all around the world and encourage them. So this is my plan and after the next week, I hope I can start to work on this, meanwhile Iam dreaming and learning through baw sessions and emails, shared experiences which I would like to thank you all. I hope I will catch up soon. Of course, Iam online most of the time and reading the emails, just I can not be as hard working as I would like to be.. See ya all Zsofi
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1741 (Response to #1735) 02/02/2008	Hi Dear Zsofi, at a course like this, you always have a reasonable number of tools to explore and other activities as well and it is common fo people to fall behind. Don€ ¦´t worry, you can always catch up and in the end you will see how much you have learned. I think BaW is such a great even because people have choices of tools and activities and this is conductive to learning. As you have said, you have learned quite a bit already (I am glad to hear you are thinkingor a project) and I am sure you will learn more in the next 3 weeks. Please let us know if we can help you in any manner. Cheers, José Antônio
Sally La Luzerne #1743 02/02/2008	Hi Jose Antonio, Thank you for your kind comments, helpful advice and for reposting the link! As I wrote, part of the posting disappeared. (I had included a lesson plan that worked well for me.) I saved it repeatedly, so I'm not sure why it disappeared. Also the links within the blog kept running together even though they looked double spaced in the window I was typing in. I see two of them are still combined. In anycase, this activity broke the ice for me, and I feel more confident about trying to use blogs in my classes. Thanks again, Sally
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1747 (Response to #1743) 02/02/2008	Hi Sally, Thanks alot for your kind words. I am glad I could help. Blogs and lots of online tools are about trial and error. I have lost count of the times I felt frustrated with them. Just one thing I discovered about disappearning posts or comments in Wordpress. When you post a comment and ti disappears, pres the backspace key on top of your blog page and you will see what you have written. Then, you should copy it (just in case you lose what you have written) and try to post again, it has always waorked for me and my students. This also happesn in Blogger. Sometimes I have to submit a comment about three times. In Wordpress, when you have all your students submiting comments at the same time it says "Slow down cowboy, you going too fast" or something like that. Sometimes you get the post across, sometimes you just have to page back, like I said. Thanks again for your reply. José Antônio
Sally La Luzerne #1750 (Response to #1747) 02/02/2008	Jose Antonio, Thanks for another great tip! Sally
Sally La Luzerne #1752 (Response to #1750) 02/02/2008	Dear Hala, Monica, Ronaldo, and Jose Antonio, Thank you for your comments to my blog. I enjoyed reading them. Sally
Sally La Luzerne #1746 02/02/2008	Thank you, Monica, for your comments! I'll try to keep posting. Um abraco for you too, Sally
Sally La Luzerne #1748 02/02/2008	Hi Teresa, Thank you for your comments. I'm glad you liked the topic. A colleague and I gave a talk on using global issues in language teaching at a 2006 Hawaii TESOL Conference. At that time, we did extensive research on the online materials available. Yesterday I was disappointed to find that many of those links no longer work or have materials. One is now even charging for materials that were free downloads in the past. All the best, Sally
Melanie Ellis #1761 02/03/2008	Hello everyone, I'm participating here, a bit slowly, but just about keeping track. I've just set up my first, very basic, blog and I'd love you to visit and add some comments about what you do to proofread a piece of writing after you have written the first draft. You will find it at http://nkjowriting.blogspot.com Looking forward to hearing from you Melanie Ellis
Dafne #1770 02/03/2008	Very useful blog, Melanie :-) I have just left a message there :-) cheers, Daf
Mbarek Akaddar #1766 02/03/2008	Dear all Though I feel myself lagging behind with Szofi and others , I 'm still hopeful to catch up with the group one day. Meanwhile , I invite you to have a look at my blog where I embedded some google gadgets , youtube , vaestro etc www.akaddar.blogspot.com plenty of google gadgets are at http://www.google.com/ig/directory?synd=open&source=gghp"> http://www.google.com/ig/directory?synd=open&source=gghp Good luck
Dafne #1768 02/03/2008	Awesome blog!!! Congratulations :-) I left a voice message ;-) Cheers, Daf
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1769 (Response to #1768) 02/03/2008	Hi Mbarek, Nice Blog. I left a comment there. Thanks for sharing. José Antônio
Sue #1772 (Response to #1769) 02/03/2008	Dear Akaddar, What a wonderful blog. It inspires me to learn how to do it myself. Do you know if you can put a 'menu' at the top of your blog, as you have so many interesting things in it? Susan
Mbarek Akaddar #1786 (Response to #1772) 02/03/2008	Dear Daf , José Antonio , Hala ,Susan , Tereza ,Nina , Monica ,Ronaldo Thank you very much for your motivating and encouraging audio and text comments. I m very happy to share it with you. best Wishes
Sabrina #1775 02/03/2008	Hi Everybody! I have just arrived from my holidays and that's the reason why I haven't participated much during these three weeks. i have read as much as I could but I couldn't devote too much time to do the things we were asked to do during the course because I didn't have access to a good internet conection. However, I will try to do my best during these three weeks. I haven't been able to create a new blog but i would like to share with you the blog we have created at the institute where I work during 2007: www.challengeeducation.blogspot.com It would be great if you can tell me what you think about it and how we can improve it this year. Kind regards Sabrina
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1776 (Response to #1775) 02/03/2008	Hi Sabrina, I see you have been blogging for a while. Your blog www.challengeeducation.blogspot.com (there were some extra spaces in the URL) looks so beautiful. I like the way you customized it. I also checked and liked your voice thread post with a story with an open end for readers to finish. Teat is a great idea to work with voice tools. I am sure you will be able to catch up. Kind regards José Antônio
Sharon Betts #1778 (Response to #1776) 02/03/2008	Welcome Sabrina, Your company blog is very well setup and inviting. Don't hesitate to jump in with the week 4 activities and review weeks 1-3 as you find the time. We are happy to have you here. Sharon
Isabel Neves #1777 02/03/2008	I have been having problems in dealing with all the tasks to be done and since I have projects already going on , I decided not to create anything new. I have posted my links onto the database and if you want to have a look at my webprojects visit me at isabelcneves.googlepages.com Something I would like to experiment with are podcasts and I'll try to have a look at the resources on the wiki. Uploading a video requires html or the url , you just have to edit the page on html. If you want to invite people to write in your blog you have to make them authors, I guess and insert their e-mail. Inserting a photo in your blog is also easy to do... Well all the best isabel neves
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1783 (Response to #1777) 02/03/2008	Hello Isabel, Sometimes it is difficult to cope with so many tasks because we have other things to do. About the projects you have, I browsed some of your pages. The wiki you have is very interesting, I like the songs you have there. I think it is a great idea having a page like yours with songs for students to listen and sing along. A very nice idea. You have also opened a wiki on podcasts and videos and see that you are still working on it, but I saw you have some listening activities there. There are other blogs also with collaborative projects you have. I liked the way you set up a google pages to post all the links. This is great because your students won´t have to memorize so many links, they would just have to go to the google pages and they will find what they are looking for. I agree with you, you really don´t need to ceate any new blogs or wikis, if you already have those. Sharing them with the rest of the group gives us an opportunity to learn with you. Thanks for sharing such an interesting way of integrating your online work. Abraços José Antônio
Carlos #1787 02/03/2008	I've done my best to realise all the tasks. Unfortunately, a bit like Isabel we had a crazy week at school and I haven't been able to cope with all of it. I had, before Baw08, built my own blog and stsrted a wiki. This week, I started creating, along with Isabelle Aub, a joint blog for our stufents from both schools to communicate... you may consider it as a BAW08 baby... I went to chinswing and voicethread and, in both cases, created materials I plan to use in lessons. All of this is in the proper section of the wiki page - BAW08. Can't find questions to answer, only found points to reflect upon, and that even in the little time I had, I did... So I hope to go on to week 4... I need a hand, with blogger - how do I introduce questions with the possibility to include posts? I have tried but can't seem to find it. Thanks again Carlos
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1790 (Response to #1787) 02/03/2008	Hi Carlos, Week 3 really has plenty of tools to explore and I think this variety makes it richer and gives participants an opportunity to pick up tools they think will be more useful for their realities. It is hectic and people do fall behind sometimes. Nonetheless they get a glimpse of blogs, wikis, and podcasts and will certainly be aware of their main features and will probably be able to utilize them in the future if they need with little or no help from others. I have visited the links you have just posted on the wiki and I liked what you did with voice thread. I understand a little French and enjoied the slide show with audio you set up in voice thread. That is the spirit. About the questions in Week 3, in the item number 2 of the weekly activities there is a series of HOW TO questions (most of which you and many participant have already answered by creating your blogs or wikis). About Blogger, I guess ( if I understood your question correctly), you would have to include the question in the post. In Blogger and other blog hosts, each post is separated from the other because they are organized by date and time. If there is a way to do that, someone will tell us about it and I will also learn ABraços José Antônio
Sharon Betts #1792 (Response to #1790) 02/03/2008	Don't worry Carlos You are actually using some of the tools from week 4 which means you can continue your blog and experiments with those voice tools for another week. Sharon

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Problems

Jose Antonio Da Silva
#1459
01/27/2008

Hi Carlos,

Don´t worry. The server will certainly be ok today and you will be able to place your comment. We are looking forward to reading it.
A wonderful week 3 for you too.
José Antônio

Dennis Oliver
#1472
(Response to #1459)
01/28/2008

Olá, Carlos.
In message #1448 you wrote that you had had
problems accessing the BaW blog and wished all of us a wonderful week 3.
I also had some problems with the BaW blog, but not in accessing it. I
opened it successfully twice (with no problems at all), but one of my
comments disappeared after it SEEMED to be posted successfully. I have
had the same experience with other blogs (using WordPress, Blogger,
and other blog hosts), however, so when the comment mysteriously
disappeared, I just shrugged my shoulders, aid to myself "This happens
sometimes," and considered this frustrating experience to be part of
the learning process.
I echo your good wishes for all in Week 3.
Good luck in making your next blogpost!
Até logo—
Dennis in Phoenix

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Live Sessions

Fernanda Rodrigues
#1507
(Response to #1504)
01/28/2008

Hi, dear BaWers
I have finally managed to put the recording of Michael Coghlan's

presentation online.
You can find it here:http://streaming.prof2000.pt/
Here are some instructions:
Click on the URL, and you'll get a window requiring autentication; use
baw08 for the username and password;
then click on the folder baw08, and on the right window, click on the

file p2.mp3; then click on the player (arrow) on the left top. Enjoy!
Beijinhos
Fernanda
Fernanda Rodrigues
Setubal
Portugal

Dafne
#1508
(Response to #1507)
01/28/2008

The recording and instructions have also been added to
Michael's page at:
http://baw-08.pbwiki.com/Michael-YM
which is linked to our live sessions page.
hugs,
Daf

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Answers to Week 2 questions

Isabelle #1509 01/28/2008	Hey everyone ! I'm so sorry to be late to answer this week's questions. I've had a wonderful week end at Mont Sainte Anne, been skiing for two days... but now I have a lot of catching up to do (my, you guys post A LOT of things in one day !!!). How do you start a conference and invite guests at Yahoo Messenger? When I open YM, I click on "Actions", then "Invite to conference". Then a new dialog bow will open, asking me who, from my contact list, I would like to invite. I select the people and press "Invite". The conference then starts. How do you save your chatlogs to your hard drive at YM?When the conversation ends, click on "menu" and choose "save as". Give the conversation a name (I personally choose the name of the person I've been chatting with and the date!), and then click "save". *How do you display your picture at YM? Go to "Messenger" in the top bar, then click on "Display Image". Click on "Share my picture", a new window will appear. You can either choose one of the pics displayed or use the "Browse" button to look into your files and upload your own pic. Once it appears into the gallery of pictures on the left, select it and press OK. Sorry if I'm pretty inactive on the forum and blog, I try to catch up with all the stuff we're doing, listen to all the podcats,read all the tutorials, but it's a lot of work for me. I teach full time, and have little time left at all for this course. Thanks to all the moderators and co-moderators for your help, as well as to all participants for sharing great ideas and techniques !! I'm learning so much from it ! Talk to you soon! Isabelle
Monica Veado #1511 01/28/2008	Hi Isabelle, don't worry, you're doing great! It's not easy to teach full time and follow a course and that's why most things here happen in an asynchronous fashion! ;-) So take your time, there's no need to rush. All the links, texts and activities will be here long after the course is over, so you can always go back and try something different. Taking a break in the mountains sounds like a wonderful idea! Hope you can meet us tomorrow at 21.00GMT for Graham's session at WiZiQ. Here's the link to follow: http://tinyurl.com/2sf8m8 You can also check Dafne's message here (#1502) for details and instructions. Um abraço, Monica http://projectplatypus2.blogspot.com
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1516 01/28/2008	Hello Iabelle, It is never late to learn. I am so happy you are done with the week 2 tasks. We all deserve some rest and a vacation. So skiing? Wonderful. I wish I could ski. A Brazilian can€ ¦´t go that far. I have gone cross country skiing, though. It was really cool. I did not try skiing. I am too clumsy for that and I was afraid of breaking my neck I am gald you are back in the game. Week 3 is really exciting. Please let us know ifyou need any help. Hugs José Antônio http://thomasja.wordpress.com http://joseantoniook.edublogs.org

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Week 3

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Welcome

Monica Veado #1444 01/27/2008	Dear participants, As we move closer to wrapping up our very successful week 2, we would first like to thank you all once again for joining this session and for making it so special. Thanks must also be conveyed to our industrious week 2 moderators – Fernanda, Jose Antonio and Dennis - who seemed to be online 24/7 and were always around helping with our questions and doubts, encouraging further discussions and keeping the ball rolling. And many thanks to Dafne and Teresa for doing such an amazing job as coordinators! In week 3 we would like to invite you to explore the fascinating world of blogs, wikis and podcasts. We know that some of you have very impressive backgrounds using these tools in professional and educational settings, so feel free to jump in anytime to help us; the Webheads world is all about sharing and we will certainly benefit from your expertise! So have a look at what we have prepared for you visiting Week 3 page in our wikihttp://baw-08.pbwiki.com/Week3 and exploring some of the tools and activities posted. Do not feel that you need to try everything in one go; remember that the links will always be available there, so you're welcome to come back at any time to try new tools or revisit some of them! Check our suggested readings for the week clicking on the widget athttp://baw-08.pbwiki.com/Readings and post your comments and thoughts in our forum (click on week 3) http://www.hostingphpbb.com/forum/baw08.html Our guest speaker this week is Graham Stanley, a teacher and ICT coordinator for the British Council in Barcelona and also a teacher at the school of tourism of the Univ. of Ramon Llull. Meet us for a chat in WiZiQ http://www.wiziq.com on Tuesday, Jan 29, at 21.00 GMT. You can check your local time clicking herehttp://www.qlock.com/time/gmaps?map=1 There are some great videos on blogs, wikis and web2.0 tools in general in our Video gallery, check them out:http://baw-08.pbwiki.com/Videos Finally, we would like to draw your attention to other important links you can find on our wiki:http://dafnegonzalez.com/baw/glossary.html containing a very useful glossary with some of the most relevant web 2.0 terms, http://baw-08.pbwiki.com/Tutorials with explanations on how to use some of the most important tools used in this course, andhttp://baw-08.pbwiki.com/UsesofTools where you can find a collection of great ideas participants have come up with on how to use with your students some of the tools we have been exploring. So fasten your seatbelts and get ready for take-off! And remember that help is just a click away so do not hesitate to contact us at any time if you have any questions. Hugs (e um abraço!) Jose Antonio, Monica and Nelba Week 3 moderators
Nelba #1471 01/28/2008	Hello, dear BaW08 participants and welcome to week 3 about blogs and wikis. My name is Nelba Quintana and I will co-moderate this week with José and Mónica. I would be very pleased to help you with blogging. You will find me online at Yaho chat in the mornings ( I live in Argentina ) My ID is nelbaq. Looking foward to meeting you :)
Silvia Colombo #1491 01/28/2008	Hi Nelba! Thank you! I'm ready to start! Silvia from Argentina.
MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1520 01/28/2008	Hi Nelba! Thanks afor your offer of help, be sure I will take advantage of it. I am glad to "see" you again. I remember I met you for the first time last year and that you were then on holiday, I also remember myself thinking "This girl sure is a great teacher! Who on earth would be checking on a course being on Holiday?" You made a great blog along with Melba Quintana. Well, after the time we shared on BaW07 I could confirm my idea, and now to my pleasure I find you as co-moderator for Baw08, thanks for being there. I do not know in wich City you are, are you in Buenos Aires? Please let me know to try to contact you in the mornings. The whole country of Mexico has the same GMT time, is it the same in Argentina? Love: Maru

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Help needed

Elfina #1498 01/28/2008	Hello all! Do you know what the word HELLO means? If you visit Teresa€ ¦’²s website (http://fwe2.motime.com), you€ ¦’²ll find out what these 5 magic letters stand for: H=How are you? E=Everything all right? L=Like to hear from you L=Love to see you soon! O=Obviously, I miss you€ ¦’¥ So, HELLO! (from http://fwe2.motime.com) (I fell in love with your interpretation of HELLO, Teresa, the moment I saw it!) I would also like to thank Teresa, Monica and Sharon for your comments on our little chinswing experiment. I must confess it€ ¦’²s quite a challenge for me to keep up with all the events and activities happening here. I€ ¦’²m copying all the links, you are all sharing, to my Favourites folder to explore them later when I have more free time. I€ ¦’²m also printing out the articles from our Weekly readings to do some Metro reading :-) I would also like to share a problem I€ ¦’²ve been experiencing for some time now. Perhaps some of you have had a similar one and might help me to fix it. It happened during the Week 1 live online session. It was full house and the participants were having some technical difficulties now and then. I was using a Sandbox A for audio streaming with RealPlayer when all of a sudden the RealPlayer Message window popped up. It was something about RealPlayer cannot play the clip. RealPlayer went dead. I managed to use iTunes to listen to the session to the end. But since then it has been and still is a problem to skype anybody. I€ ¦’²ve tried a Skype test call, I€ ¦’²ve asked several people to skype me. I can hear people speaking but they cannot hear me (there is something wrong with my settings). I reinstalled RealPlayer, I checked the Volume Control settings (Microphone is not mute) but it didn€ ¦’²t help. The same thing happened when I took a tour to Second Life with David Winet and during our Week 2 live session (Part 2). I could hear others talking but my € ¦’±voice€ ¦’² was silent. Does anybody have an idea what might be the problem? What settings should I check or change to restore the microphone function? Or should I reinstall Skype? If I need to do so, how can my contacts be saved? I would very much appreciate your help. Thank you. Best, Elfina
Sharon Betts #1512 01/28/2008	Elfina, Can you test your microphone by recording something? Does it work in chinswing for example? or if on windows try to record something using the built-in recorder at Start > All Programs > Accessories > Entertainment > Recorder If those work, your microphone works and it is probably a setting in Skype. Sharon
Teresa Almeida d'Eca #1536 01/29/2008	Dear Elfina, Thank you for your enthusiasm with the meaning of "HELLO". Actually, I didn't invent, but wish I had. I got it in a message and thought it was appropriate for my students in that particular post. Hugs, Teresa
MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1543 01/29/2008	Dear Webheads: I reserved today to check the Baw08 digest, and when I finally finished and wanted to check the weekly activities to start on them tomorrow I found out that the Weekly Activities Wiki Page shows only the Pre Sessions Threads. I tried to find the history button to see if I could get back the whole list of activities but could not find it so I saved it without making changes. Could you please check that? Love: Maru
Dafne #1544 (Response to #1543) 01/29/2008	Hi Maru, I have just checked the activities page, and it has active links to all the weekly activities, and the threads for pre-session, week-1 and week 2. cheers, Daf
Marcia Maria de Farias Nunes Martins #1550 01/29/2008	I was esploring BaW blog as suggested in this week activities and this is what I found: "January 20, 2008...7:05 pm Tapped In Tour Sunday 29th Jan Jump to Comments Thanks to BJB for sharing her wonderful world with us. We all had a great tour of Tapped In today at 17.00 GMT" JAn 29th: Can anyone explain what calendar are we following? ;=) Thanks Márcia
Dafne #1551 (Response to #1550) 01/29/2008	Hi Marcia, This is our calendar of live sessions:http://baw-08.pbwiki.com/Live_Sessions Daf
Jaya #1576 01/30/2008	Dear all, Could anyone tell me some of the ways to teach reading comprehension,paragraph writing and essay writing through wiki for adult learners? I am a beginner. regards, jaya
Monica Veado #1593 01/30/2008	Hi Jaya, one of the simplest things you can do with your students is to have them edit a text on a wiki page. It's a simple activity but it's quite effective and it gives them the opportunity to have a first contact with wikis and how they work. You could focus on one aspect - grammar, putting paragraphs in order, separating the text into paragraphs, spelling, punctuation, word order, specific vocabulary, etc. Alternatively, you could ask them to create one text together, with each one adding to their classmates' sentences. One activity I'm preparing to try with my students focuses on mini- sagas (short stories with exactly 50 words). I tried it in the traditional 'paper and pen' fashion last year and they loved it, so I thought that wikis might be excellent for that! Once you start, I'm sure you're going to find lots of different things you can do with your students using wikis! Um abraço, Monica
Beyza Yilmaz #1605 01/30/2008	Dear jaya, I've been using wikis for five months and as my sts need to write lots of paragraphs .What I sometimes do in my class wikis is to post two or three paragraphs to them and ask sts to find the best one and why they have chosen it as the best paragraph.As they know how I grade their paragraphs (criteria),they need to base their ideas on the criteria.Another activity I do with wikis is errror correction.After checking their first drafts, I post some of the problematic ones to the wiki (without writing the name of these sts) and ask the sts to give some advice to their friends about how to improve their paragraphs.I can send you some of my class wikis if you like. Best wishes Beyza question on wiki Posted by: "jaya balasubramanian" jaichelluin@yahoo.co.in jaichelluin Wed Jan 30, 2008 5:28 am (PST) Dear all, Could anyone tell me some of the ways to teach reading comprehension, paragraph writing and essay writing through wiki for adult learners? I am a beginner. regards, jaya
MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1611 01/30/2008	Hi Jaya! A beginner? That's an excellent question, you have great ideas. I would also like to know the answer. Love: Maru
MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1628 01/30/2008	Dear Beyza I will take your offer, I would love to see some of your class wikis, could you please send the links? You mention that you have been using wikis with them for 5 months, could you also give me the profile of your students? I mean, age, grade, etc. How many students do you have per group?, Have you used blogs with them? Love: Maru
MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1629 (Response to #1628) 01/30/2008	Dear Beyza I will take your offer, I would love to see some of your class wikis, could you please send the links? You mention that you have been using wikis with them for 5 months, could you also give me the profile of your students? I mean, age, grade, etc. How many students do you have per group?, Have you used blogs with them? Love: Maru
MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1665 01/31/2008	Hi dear Bawers! Could someone tell me please how to upload properly and excel page to a wiki? After being uploaded the data shows alright but the format is lost! Is it possible to upload an excel page? or do I have to create a table inside wiki? The latter would mean a lot of pages re-doing but if that's the way a wiki works... Who am I to complain? Love: Maru
Angelika Carlson #1705 02/01/2008	A question to all BaW-ers who use MP3 players in their classrooms: I am looking to buy an MP3 player to play podcasts (and book-readings) in the classroom. What features do I need? Easy to read display is top of my list. But what about technical details? Is it enough if it plays MP3 format or should it also play ogg and other formats? Should the player itself have bookmark facility? What else is important? Thank you for your advice. Angelika P.S: Thank you, Jose Antonio, for your advice on del.ici.ous. Seems like you just have a better nomenclature system...
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1707 (Response to #1705) 02/01/2008	Hi Anglika, I am sorry for not eading that yu already use delicious. For some reason, the window that opened in my e-mail just let me read half of it. Just now I saw that you had mentioned it. Besides that, I guess I am just abig fan of delicious. I try to tag things with as many anmes as possible and than it is always possible to find. I also use Delicious to find out new resources. If I think I don´t have enough articles or sites on a given topic, I click on the tab ALL on top and find everything other people tagged with delicious and if they are good, I save them. I did that with Connectivism and I found fantastic articles and presentaions. This is one of the jewels I came accross clicking on AAL in delicious http://media.dicole.com/presentations/eden2007/index.html It is a presentation called Serendipity 2.0 the Third Place of Learning. I found it simply fantastic. If you have some time, watch/listen to it. About MP3, I generally fllok for the ones that have a good voice recorder, good memory capability. I guess other people will come along and give more suggestions. I export alot of things I record in audacity to my MP3 and then listen to them (especially presentations) while I am driving. Cheers José Antônio
Kat Urbaniak #1719 (Response to #1707) 02/02/2008	I second JA on a voice recorder and big memory. :-) Kat
Sharon Betts #1725 (Response to #1719) 02/02/2008	Great advice so far. We also found that players with easy to use buttons and ones that export directly to a USB port are very easy for students. We have several of the Olympus (no affiliation with the company) that plug directly in to the computer with no cords to lose. Sharon
MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1756 02/02/2008	Dear e-teachers: I need your ideas and comments to set up my project. Could you give me your advice please? Athough right now I am not teaching, I have a local group of teenagers who follow me (besides my nephews, nieces and friend€ ¦’²s kids that live in San Luis). I am determined to get a group of students and at the same time continue with my Apostolate and Community work. In order to practice the e-tools presented here, I will set my heart to persuade most of them to join me as students, the challenge is to keep them interested because it would be an extra curricular class, they would have to spare time, f2f contact does not have a schedule, we neither have a classroom or computer at home and I need to learn how to use blogs, wikis, yahoo groups, podcasts, etc. first!! The description of the local group is as follows: Their age range is 14 to 18 years old Some of them work and study Some go to school in the mornig while others go in the afternoon Non of them speaks English The older ones use the computer to chat, the e-mail to send PPP presentations and have metroflogs to post images. Some of them do not know how to use a computer. (Like me! :-) ) What I found at the Cybers around here is that: The PC€ ¦’²s do not have graphic cards. Only one of the Cybers has original programs. Most of the PC€ ¦’²s have XP system though I found one with Milenium, none of them has Vista. The PC€ ¦’²s memory varies: 248MB, 448MB, 480MB, 512MB, 1GB, The PC's processors: 945 MHz, 1.2 GHz, 1.8 GHz I am at the other end of Andy Pincon€ ¦’²s project, he works with imigrants in U.S.A and I have access to the children left in Mexico. As he found out there, we need to teach them how to use the computer first and then proceed with English lessons. Which would be an effective course design? How could I keep them going back to the cyber to learn? The lessons have to mean fun! Do you know of an online test to find out their English level? Could you direct me to computer tutorials in Spanish? Should I leave it open to any teenager interested to join? I am afraid I will have to set a course totally online, maybe if I start with the local group to see their reactions would be a good idea. To start and annual course sounds great! What do you think? Thanks in advance. Love: Maru.
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1759 (Response to #1756) 02/03/2008	Dear Maru, This seems to be an interesting and challenging project. From the tools we have seen, I guess twinning blog project would be good (a wiki would also work). The ideal thing would be finding a colleague who happens to have a group at about the same age and start the exchanges on a blog at the language level they are. You could have activities with introductions and so on having both groups posting to the blog and interacting. Having computers in the school or in students home helps, but if you don€ ´t have, a cyber cafe is a good solution. Their level of computer literacy won€ ´be a big problem, I bet they will learn how to use them in notime (this actually is going to make your classes very meaningful and interesting to them). It is very important that you plan ahead the activites you are going to doat the cyber cafe to avoid wasting precious time when you are there. You can always brainstorm the activity, have them talk about the subject, have them write a draft or an outline if this is the case. This makes them more confident and sets the mood for the computer activity. That is what I can think of for the moment. I am sure more people will come along with some other ideas. I am sure this will be a very interesting project. José Antônio
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1760 (Response to #1757) 02/03/2008	Hello Isabelle, I am not a specailist in blogger, but mine generally gives me all the bloggin options I need if I click on the buttom "Personalize/cutomize." The only think I could think of is the your role in the blog. Check the sttings to see if you are the author or just a collaborator, it might explain why your options are limited. I looked for it in the page "tools creaed by participants" and couldn€ ¦´t see how it looks. Maybe you could send us the link and post it there to get some feedback. I hope I could help. José Antônio
Ronaldo Lima, Jr. #1762 (Response to #1760) 02/03/2008	Hi Isabelle, Are you sure you are talking about blogger (www.blogger.com)? Because those ("Connexion", "create a blog" or "personalize") are not the options given by blogger. On the top right there is "dashboard", "help" and "sign out", and in each blog's dashboard there are the options "view blog", "new post", "manage posts", "manage settings" and "manage layout". As JA said, give us more details, as the url, and I'm sure many people will be willing to help. Kindest regards from Brazil, Ronaldo
Ronaldo Lima, Jr. #1763 02/03/2008	Guys, does anyone know if with the free version of PBwiki it is possible to remove the "quickstart" and/or the "recent activity" sections of the sidebar? Thanks! Ronaldo
Dafne #1767 (Response to #1763) 02/03/2008	Hi Ronaldo, Yes, you can delete the quick start, recent activity and any page you wish to delete. Go to "show all pages" at the bottom of any page, and then you will see all the pages listed, and on the right of each page there is a tab that says "delete". Click on it :-) I usually delete the quick start page, not so the recent activity because I like to see who and from where are the visitors to my wiki. I delete all pages when I am going to use a wiki for a presentation. In this way I have the whole page as a PPT slide. Like in this one:http://wiki-wholelanguage.pbwiki.com hugs, Daf
Mbarek Akaddar #1771 02/03/2008	Dear Maru, I'm actually working with my students on sudents unlimited project at www.iearn.org As a facilitator , I have registered my students ,I have given them passwords and got them to talk about their project to other students and teachers from different parts of the world .At this platform , you can find a variety of student projects that may help you to decide on your own .Once your registration is accepted , you are allowed to register your students who will be allowed to log in and participate in different forums and discussions with other students from all over the world.Their need to communicate with others and to talk about their project will motivate them to develop the linguistic and technological skills to do so.I hope this would help. Good luck Mbarek
Ronaldo Lima, Jr. #1779 02/03/2008	Wow Daf, thanks a lot! Now I'm even more in love with pbwiki. Looking at this menu (which I'm a little embarrassed to admit I hadn't seen yet...) not only could I remove the quick start page, but I could also do other three cool things: I added tags to my wiki - I got html code to have a little widget to promote my wiki (I added the widget to the tools created by participants page of baw08 wiki) - I submitted my wiki to google sitemaps (I didn't even know what that was!) About turning the wiki into one online PPT presentation, you said you delete all pages. How different would that be from using the "portfolio" option? Well, if you guys want to check my brand new wiki, I'd be glad to get some feedback, but I'm still working on it (I guess I've done half the work so far):http://strategiesproject.pbwiki.com Thanks a lot Daf! Kindest regards from Brazil, Ronaldo
Natalia #1781 (Response to #1779) 02/03/2008	Hi, Ronaldo , what a wonderful wiki. I like everything so much that I feel sorry that my course on "Psycholonguistic Foundations for Foreign language Learning and Teaching " is over. Strategies is one of the topics in the course:my students do questionnaires, readings and we have discussions. I am personally very much interested in developing cognitive strategies in L1 and L2 (FL1 - foreign language one) with primary children learning FL2 in the school context. I will have another group of students doing this course ( starts next September) and visiting and contributing to your wiki page could be one of the students' activities. I hope you do not mind. I am also interested in communication strategies in the classroom/ I have some publications on this topic but they are in Russian. Thanks for your site, Natalia
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1784 (Response to #1781) 02/03/2008	Hello Ronaldo, Waht a beautiful and interesting wiki you came up with. That shows how asking questions can be profitable. I really didn´t knwo how to get rid of that quick start tab, now I know and I have learned a little more. Thanks a lot for asking and sharing your progress. I am sure many of us have learned with you. Abraços José Antônio
Melanie Ellis #1780 02/03/2008	Hi everyone, I've had a good time looking through different blogs today and found quite a few where there are language exercises for EFL learners. If I want to make my own exercise, such as a reading text and then questions to go with that, that have an answer which only appears if you click on a button, which program can I use to do this? Is it HotPotatoes? Or what do other people recommend? I'm interested in different kinds of exercises- gap fill, multiple choice, true/false and quizzes. Melanie
Ramona Dietrich #1782 02/03/2008	Hi Melanie, You are talking about Week 5 - we are going to have lots of fun exploring tools that allow us to make interactive exercises. I just activated a 30-free trial version of Quia. I am having so much fun creating exercises for my technology classes!!! It's easy to use and lots of different activities and quiz options to choose from. Be patient and next week we will sort through all the possibilities:-) Beijinhos until Week 5, Ramona
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1788 02/03/2008	Hi Guys, I have set a blog in blogger and I would like to change the language to English. How do I do that? I mean the tabs with editing options should be in English. How do I change that? http://thomastg.blogspot.com/ José Antônio
Fernanda Rodrigues #1789 (Response to #1788) 02/03/2008	Hi, JA In Settings/Formatting, you can choose the language. Fernanda
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1791 (Response to #1789) 02/03/2008	Thanks a lot Fernanda., I tried a lot and couldn´t find it. Abraços José Antônio

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Chaotic Days

Dafne #1666 (Response to #1665) 01/31/2008	Today, I had a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day" It started very late last night or very early in the morning (depending on your view). At around 2 am I was struggling with a pbwiki set with the Point & Click editor to post two class modules that I planned for Second Life. Every time I saved my work, all the formatting of the pages changed: fonts became larger or smaller, blank spaces showed on different parts of the page, tables showed in different parts of the pages, not to mention that while I was writing, the screen became frozen :-( Well, in the morning, I had a meeting with my boss in Languagelab, and I my voice was choppy, he could not understand what I was saying. We tried skype and the problem remained. So, I decided to use my new laptop (HP, with Vista Business, 180 GB hard disk, 2G RAM memory, remote control, inbuilt webcam and mic, and very light). Surprise!!!!! Windows Vista had vanished from my two-month old laptop :-( When we were about to cancell the meeting, I remembered that my son has a Dell laptop, so I decided to download Second Life, and we had our meeting with clear sound, and easy movements :-) I phoned the technician who always fixes my computers, told him the problem, and left for the university for a meeting with the Dean of Graduate Studies. The meeting lasted 5 hours. After this long boring meeting, I took my car and for unknown reasons, there was such a traffic jam that I spent 3 hours to get home (it usually takes me half an hour) :-( When I got home, the technician was already working on my laptops. He was able to restore the sound on my old laptop. The problem was related to a router he installed last week. Then, he started working on the new one, there was no way to get WVista back. The recovery CDs did not work either. Finally, he decided to contact the support team via chat. After 2 hours trying all the solutions they came up with, nothing worked :-( They finally asked for all my information and they will send new recovery disks by special mail at no cost for me. So, I have to wait for 7 to 10 days to have my computer back to work, hopefully. Of course, all my work is behind. However, I decided that after this "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day", I should go to bed, and wish for a better day tomorrow. Hugs to all, and sorry for this long post, but I needed get all this out of my system ;-) Daf
Michael Coghlan #1667 (Response to #1666) 01/31/2008	I really feel for you Daf. This all sounds very stressful. One day a few years ago when I was travelling I had a day like this and I wanted to give it all away because it seemed whether or not the tools I needed to do my job worked properly was completely beyond my control. But next day everything was working again and I'm still here online :-) But days like you just had do test your patience and resolve to stay in this 'business.' - Michael
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1672 (Response to #1667) 01/31/2008	Hi Dafne, I am so sorry to know about that. Technolog and computers can be really stressful sometimes. I have been lucky this time not to have anytbig problems with mine. Nelba is still having problems with hers. I wonder how you felt having to wait for this long and at the end having to wait for 10 more days. José Antônio
Cristina Costa #1674 (Response to #1672) 02/01/2008	Dear Dafninha, I hope everything will get back to normal. Technology can be wonderful, but even it decides not to work it can be a huge pain! I have had techie problems in the most inappropriate situations too and it just gets on my nerves. I am surprised you are so calm. I would have gone bald by now, as I would have probably released all my stress on pulling my hair ... and jogging for hours. I hope it all comes back to normal very soon and that you are able to catch up with your work. These two first months of the year are so hectic...so I really hope everything gets back to normal really soon. I have huge black circles under my eyes and I am not doing even half as much as you. I don't know how you manage it. You are my hero and my mentor. Hang in there and please do take a rest. I hope you have had great night sleep. The pillow sometimes is our best friend. Beijinhos and tight hugs. Cris
Hala #1675 (Response to #1674) 02/01/2008	Dearest Dafinha, Things like these, when happen, we say in Arabic "taati al masaaybu tibaan." Meaning: bad things, or life crisis, combine together before reaching to you and then come one after another in no time. ( authentic translation!!) Two weeks ago, I installed SL on my PC getting ready for a trial that could create a new bond between us ( me and SL). It crashed! Last week I installed SL on my laptop for a tour with another session. It worked fine and I enjoyed the time I spent walking, flying, drowning, crashing and being dumb very much.So, I added my SL ID to our database. The day before yesterday, Wednesday, I uninstalled SL from my laptop.Why? Weird things began to happen and it started to be very heavy.To upload or open a page, you can make a nice tasty cup of coffee and come back before it comes up on the scree. I don't mean that the cause of this is SL ( I will be assassinated by SLanders.:-)) Great that you poured it out here and shared it with us. I am sure you had a good sleep and you will always be our wise cool Dafne! tight hugs, Hala
Monica Veado #1686 (Response to #1675) 02/01/2008	Dear Dafne, it's amazing that the exact same technology that was supposed to save you time and energy can actually make you more stressed, isn't it? Computers that have a mind of their own, cell phone batteries that go dead when you desperately need to make that call, cars that don't start when you are already late... It really looks like you're being tested, or that it's all just a really bad joke! Just like Murphy's Cyclist's Law: "No matter where you're going, it's always uphill and against the wind'! :-) But one thing we can be sure of is that every problem we have eventually becomes just an anecdote! My mother, possibly the calmest person I've ever met, used to say that on days like these we should think that maybe this whole mess was just your guardian angel keeping you out of bigger trouble... I'm glad things are working well now and it's certainly great to have you back. Um abraço, Monica
Teresa Almeida d'Eca #1683 02/01/2008	Dear Daf, I also feel for you! So to help you survice through these frustrating times, here's Gloria Gaynor singing "I will survive"!!!!! It always gets me in a good mood! Get out of your chair, dance... enjoy! :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVqWV5UmJPo Beijinhos, Teresa
Sally La Luzerne #1694 02/01/2008	Hang in there Daf. Hope today is a better day! Warm wishes, Sally
Dafne #1700 02/01/2008	Thanks Michael, Jose Antonio, Tere, Monica, Berenice, Hala and Cristina for your supportive messages :-) I am here, with my oldie laptop. I've just had a successful 2 and a half hour meeting at SL without any glitch ;-) So, I am back and happy to be online :-) warm hugs, Daf
Susan Burg #1706 02/01/2008	Dear all and dear Tere, First of all, Daf, that was a bad day and glad it is over...! Then I checked out the youtube video, Tere!! I was LOLing...it is so funny!! thanks.... Susan in Italy
Elderbob #1709 (Response to #1706) 02/01/2008	Actually, I prefer this version....makes me laugh. elderbob
Antonella Berriolo #1708 02/01/2008	Hi Dafne... it seems someone did vodoo to you ;o)) may be someone envious of your dancer qualities and habilities ;o) for the pbwiki, and everything in codes, when the page get to messy (i admit, i make tables in word and then "paste"... that can be very dangerous!!!) i use this free tool, many of you will know already http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/es/download.php notepad++ . You copy all the messy code, paste on the notepad++, save it as html...and all the code part is now in colours, beautiful, clear colours. and you can search words or codes in the document (you cannot in pbwiki), so it's easier to clean it or to spot where the problem is. Or to add some code, if you want to, for instance (I added anchors in a languagelab document). And for the vodoo... garlic, i was told. it keeps everything away. lol. Jocking. :o)) kisses. antonella
Isabel Teixeira #1711 (Response to #1708) 02/01/2008	Dear Daf, I´m really sorry for what happened to you.I also bought a brand-new HP, with Vista Business, 160 GB hard disk, 2G RAM memory, remote control, inbuilt webcam and mic, and very light last week. I also I had problem with the DVD driver and had to install Windows Vista again, but I had it back today.I hope I have no more problems with it because I´m really enjoyng it! I also hope you get yours working soon! Hugs, Isabel Isabel Cristina de Araújo Teixeira
Elderbob #1716 (Response to #1715) 02/02/2008	Smart cell phones and Linux....hmmmm.. elderbob
Lorena Recio #1731 02/02/2008	Dear Daf, What a horrible day! (and I felt short, but I can't find a proper term for it). How an awful way to start the following day... but don't worry, apparently things are going to brighten up and you will have the time and energy to catch up with everything. Those days happen once in a while... and sometimes even more than once, we just have to cope with them and hope that someone else will also help us, which was your case with your webhead friends. Hope you are back and kicking! Have a nice day and other good days too :) Lore
Isabel Teixeira #1753 02/02/2008	Dear Richard, If this happened to me I' d go nuts! This new notebook cost me a fortune! I hope you can get your computer fixed pretty soon.And let€ ¦´s pray that our HP notebooks just work fine . warmly, Isabel Teixeira ~~Brazil~~

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Words from the Heart

MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1668 01/31/2008	As a homage to the gate keepers of baw07 who rescued me more than once and to show newcomers that they are not alone in their pilgrimage to Become a Webhead at BaW08, I want to share my experiences and one anecdote. When I surf the net I tend to get lost, I was born without an internal compass, the same happens to me in the streets of Toluca . Sometimes I kicked myself out of a live session and could not get back in , on another instances I arrived an hour late to wonder where all the participants were, on countless occasions I messed up the participant€ ¦’²s wiki page. Regardless the reasons I found myself recurrently in a state of panic, shame, regret, frustration, etc. I worked long hours, stayed up late, woke up very early or in the middle of the night to run to the PC. As the course developed I realized that even when I was trying with all my might to mess things up€ ¦’¥ nothing terrible happened! I was even encouraged to continue messing around!? To my utter surprise, I always (I mean ALWAYS) there was an Angel, someone who showed me the way. They seemed to be lurking behind the bushes to jump in as soon as they sensed that I was in trouble. They are the guard keepers, standing at the gate of every site to watch over us. One day I was lost, for a change. I could not find Tapped Inn€ ¦’¥ although I had already registered! I did not know that I could mark a page as favorite! I ran in panic to Skype to find that Vance Stevens was online; I did not know who he was, I just knew that he was a Webhead that had allowed me to add him to my list of Skype contacts. I explained my situation and he willingly dropped me a salvation link to join the group; he even went to Tapped Inn as well. When we arrived to the room, everyone started saying: Hi Vance! It is great that you dropped by! Long time no see! How was your conference in Arabia? When are you planning to held de EVO Conference? Then I started to wonder€ ¦’¥ Who is this nice guy? When later I found out that he was THE Vance Stevens, a Legend among e-teachers, I felt a hole in my stomach. Wow! Everyone helps out in this Community; the Gurus and the newcomers. Love: Maru
Jose Antonio Da Silva #1673 (Response to #1670) 01/31/2008	Hi Maru, This is one of the reasons I missed you at the beginning of the session: your kindness. Thank you so much for having this genuine appreciation for the webheads. What you have just said is absolutely true. There is always someone a click away to help. Sometimes people would come to us and be really embarassed thinking they are disturbing, interrupting, and it is never the case. In generall it is very easy to help. It is just copying and pasting a link, or just giving some directions, a piece of advice. We are a great community, not as big as we should be, but big enough to help those who need to learn and multiply the webhead way of being . Hugs to all Jos€ é Ant€ ônio
Maria Rosario Di Monaco #1679 (Response to #1673) 02/01/2008	As my internet connection is miraculously holding on, I want to add myself to the homage. I identify myself so much with Maru's words. I can't stop wondering how you webheads manage to answer every query with the tons of messages you have to read. Thank you all!
Monica Veado #1687 (Response to #1679) 02/01/2008	Dear Maru, that was a truly wonderful post and I second you 100%. It's amazing how quickly and willingly people here simply jump in to help each other in any situation, and how committed this community is to sharing and collaborating. We do not necessarily find this spirit everywhere we go and when we do encounter it, it should be treasured. Thank you for reminding us that being there for the others is not only good and fun, it's a terribly important thing to do in a world that will certainly become a much better place when we 'contaminate' other people with this virus! Um abraco, Monica
Sharon Betts #1704 02/01/2008	Maru, What a nice tribute - what I find absolutely amazing is the way everyone grows and all of a sudden those that thought they were complete novices are helping others. More pats on everyones' backs. Sharon

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Tools

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Second Life

Mary #1452 01/27/2008	Thanks Monica! You are the best! Obrigadão Monica! Você é a melhor!
Dafne #1453 (Response to #1452) 01/27/2008	Dear all, We already have 20 participants interested in visiting Second Life. I have created a page on our wiki with preliminary instructions and some tutorial and informational videos at:http://baw-08.pbwiki.com/secondlife On this page we will post all the plans for our visit :-) Great week 3 for all! Daf
Mary #1454 (Response to #1453) 01/27/2008	Sounds good, dear Dafne. my new computer does not have a good enough graphic card to support second life. I asked if i can upgrade it and it can't be upgraded. My only recourse is to buy a better computer. I hope it arrives in time for me to go on the tour with you all.
Natalia #1457 (Response to #1454) 01/27/2008	Count me in for the the TOUr , too. Natalia
Teresa Almeida d'Eca #1480 01/28/2008	Dear Natasa, You're not alone. I haven't felt any attraction to SL, but I won't miss it with Daf as our guide. Maybe the same thing that happened to Daf, myself and other Webheads regarding blogs a year after we were introduced to them will happen for me and SL: I'll get hooked!!!!!!!! ;-) Hugs, Teresa
MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1514 01/28/2008	Thanks Dafne! A tour is a very good idea! I am in the same boat Mary!!! I have asked the owner of the cyber cafe if I can download Second Life and he will let me know tomorrow, I would like to take the tour like you. Keep your fingers crossed and I may join you!!! Love: Maru
Maria Rosario Di Monaco #1552 01/29/2008	Thanks Dafne! I AM taking lots of photos and I'd love to share them (well... some) with you. About the SL tour, when will it be? Sorry for asking, but I haven't had time to check all the messages. I'll add my name to the database as soon as I find out what my time zone is. Shame on me, I don't know yet :-( Love Mary
Dafne #1555 (Response to #1552) 01/29/2008	No time set yet for the tour ;-) Maybe week 5. All the info is here:http://baw-08.pbwiki.com/secondlife Looking forward to the photos :-) Daf
Kat Urbaniak #1585 01/30/2008	A little off the topic of EFL but here is an article about a woman that used SL to overcome her agoraphobia.http://tinyurl.com/2zoaky Kat
MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1627 01/30/2008	Hi Kat! Thanks for posting this link, it is very useful to me because I do not have access to second life for now. I will experience Second Life after all! Love: Maru
Saša Sirk #1633 01/31/2008	Thanks, Kat. A nice text to bring in class. I like the fact theat there is also the video version of the story. Cool. Hugs, Saša
MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1643 01/31/2008	Dear Kat: Do I have to download SecondLife do review the articule? The PC`s at the cyber do not have the power for Second Life, I do not want to crash someone elses computer by following the link!!! My curiosity led me to trouble last year, I am like a cat scalded by hot water... never peep around, be cautios!! Love: Maru
Kat Urbaniak #1657 (Response to #1643) 01/31/2008	No, you'll be fine. It is normal HTML and a video. :-) Kat PS Curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought her back. Unfortunately this doesn't work for computers.

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Cartoon Maker

Silvia Colombo #1455 01/27/2008	Thanks for sharing this tool with all of us! Hugs, Silvia.
MMV® Centro Multidisciplinario #1493 01/28/2008	Thanks Sharon! It is amazing to see that you keep producing, Congratulations!!! I loved to hear from you again. Let me catch up with week 1 and 2 to explore the site you shared. Love: Maru

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Blogs and Wikis

Rita Zeinstejer
#1462
01/28/2008

Hi, beautiful people,
If I had to choose among all tools available "up there" I'd certainly
pick "blogs" and "wikis". They are the framework, the hosts, the home
for all other tools and apps, the "must-have" for every single teacher
on earth. In short, these are the reasons why "blogs" are already
popular with EFL teachers:
. They allow instant publishing to the Internet
. They cost little or nothing
. They provide a comment feature that allows interaction from others
. They are dynamic and focus on content from the participants -
listening, talking, collaborating, having a dialog, sharing
. They work for any subject
. They are empowering - they give everyone a voice

. They make writing THE focus - send the message that writing matters
. They promote ownership of work
. They allow us to learn from our students
. They allow us to reflect on our teaching and our student's learning
think, review, rethink, an endless process
. They allow the interchange of thoughts and ideas
. They are exciting - seeing others comment on your
thoughts/anticipating comments and replies
And what can a blog be seen as?
. a way to improve our own writing
. a just in time learning arena
. a place to share
. an easy way to create a website quickly
. a way to connect with others and make connections to learning
. a perfect spot for quick writes
. a writing room you can make it be what you want it to be

. a place to visit daily, which provides elements of surprise
. a way to give students ownership of a personal web space, which
encourages active engagement
. a place to collaborate
. a personal way to include parents in the process
What can we, as teachers, use a blog for?
. to post short current events/ articles to invite students thoughts,
reactions, and possible solutions

. to create a literature circle
. to post photos and ask students to create captions
. to foster book discussions in the form of an online book club
. to encourage student writing to demonstrate learning
. to direct students to curriculum web sites and have them read and
make responses
. to communicate with another classroom
. to react to teacher entries about what they are learning and make
connections to how this learning is relevant for them

. to post quotes and have students write their interpretation and
apply it to something in their life
. to invite one student a day to post a summary and reflections on the
day's learning
. to observe the growth of plants or animals or keep records of
science experiments
. to spot and record student kindnesses or good deeds
. to develop new vocabulary by writing about the new word and having
students create sentences or a brief paragraph using new vocabulary

. enable students to post their ideas for the classroom or school
. let students write short reviews of books they are enjoying reading
. showcase their best writing pieces
. maintain communication with absent students
. challenge students by placing quizzes and tests online
. get parents more involved by giving them access to their children's
assignments
Students can create their own blog to:
. complete class writing assignments
. create an ongoing portfolio of samples of their writing
. express their opinions on topics you are studying in class
. write comments, opinions, or questions on daily news items or issues
of interest
. discuss activities they did in class and tell what they think about
them
. write about class curriculum topics, newly-learned vocabulary words

and idioms
Blogs features:
. Comment feature
. Archiving entries
. Linking
. Permalink