Toolbox

My Study Room- Compulsory Tasks

1.This weeks forum: Tell us something about yourself: if you had to choose a colour which represents how you are feeling right now, which one is it and why? How do you feel about doing this module online? What are the advantages and disadvantages of learning online? Respond to other students’ comments.

You can also discuss what you think about making mistakes. Do you feel it’s OK to make mistakes when you are learning English? Are you embarrassed if you make a mistake and it is corrected in class? Read this article by Steve Kaufmann,
Why you should make mistakes, to help you think about the issue.

Assessment: participate

2. Learning Styles Survey:
It is said that language is best learned when we use as much of the brain as possible. For example when we learn through a combination of the ear (auditory), the eye (visual), and by movement (kinetic). However each person has different learning styles. To maximise our learning, we should know which type of learner we are. We should identify our learner style and apply our findings to our study.
Do this test on learning styles: Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire

Once you’ve finished, read your results and the Learning Style Descriptions. Find out what type of learner you are:

ACTIVE, REFLECTIVE, SENSING, INTUITIVE, VISUAL, VERBAL, SEQUENTIAL, or GLOBAL LEARNER?

Write down in your journal how you can help yourself to maximise your learning.

Assessment: complete the questionnaire and write down (in your notes) the results and your ideas on them.

3. Goal setting skills: We are doing CESOL II (level 4), which is the last level of ESOL offered by TAFE. We have to start thinking about our future plans. Do we want to continue studying? Do we need more English before we study a mainstream course (a regular course for anyone, not just for Speakers of Other Languages)?

It’s a good idea to make a short/long term learning plan. Read about different courses that may interest you, like English for Further Studies (EFS ).
You can use the internet to get more information. You can also visit the counsellors at the Counselling Unit in your college. They will help you think about what courses could be good for you.

This is a diagram of English for Speakers of Other Languages: Study pathways for ESOL students. Print it and highlight your own pathway.

Read this worksheet and fill it in. It will help you think about your career pathways: Personal Action Plan

Assessment: upload your answers

4. Time Management skills: Read these two pages on time management and fill the timetables.
a) An example of a study timetable and her reflexion on the activity (2005 EFS student): My study timetable.

b)Ideas on how to organise your time: Organising your time.

Assessment: upload your answer

5. Reflective skills: Learning Diary/Journal/blog
“Reflective skills in learning” means having the ability to stop and think about our learning. This enables students to understand our own learning processes. If you understand the way you learn, you can become more independent in your learning. One of the best ways of thinking about your learning is keeping a journal.

Read Activity 1, and Activity 2 before you do the assessment.

Activity 1
Your journal can be written in a notebook, a Microsoft word document, an online journal or a blog. Read the following article about keeping a journal: The Reflective Learner. Answer these questions in your notes (or email your answers):
1. Write a paragraph about what a reflective learner is
2. Why is it important?
3. What can you write in your journal?

Activity 2
One way of recording your thoughts about your learning is by creating your own blog (a blog is like a web based journal) or online journal.
Read about both systems and choose one.

E-MAIL ACCOUNT
Before you create a blog or online journal, you will probably need to have a web based e-mail account. Here are some instructions to help you:
How to set up a web-based e-mail account.

BLOG
You can learn how to create your own blog in several ways:
· Go to Blogger and try to do it (hands on learning) OR
· Print and read these instructions joining a blog instructions (uploaded file) OR
· Have a look at this online tutorial Blogger.com Tutorial

See an example in Patrick’s blog.

JOURNAL
You can create your own online journal by following these instructions:
· Chose one of these hosts: Online Journal Hosts,
· This will help you select one: Selecting an Online Journal Host
· If you want to add images, read this: How to add Images to your Journal.

Assessment: Write a journal in either a blog, online journal or the notes in this toolbox. Post a link to your teacher. Your teacher will help you with language issues.

posted by rosa ochoa @ 9:43 PM