This keeps us going

Last night Sonja and I led the first in this year's series of webinars for senior students. This is the fourth year in a row that we organize webinars aimed at students to help them with their exit exams. We had special guests from the Ministry of Education, the National Centre for External Evaluation of Education, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, the Agency for Science and Higher Education and the Open University Algebra. Technical support was, as always,  given by CARNet.

Today Sonja and I received a wonderful thank -you message by Hrvoje Lisac from CARNet, who made this (and many other previous webinars and teachmeets) run smoothly and without any glitches. In his message, Hrvoje said that this was one of the most visited webinars ever - all 200 seat were taken almost as soon as we opened the "door". Live streaming was functioning perfectly, with more than 350 views- 

So yes, we proved again that students really want to use new technologies for learning. And despite all obstacles, Sonja and I made it all happen. Together with our guests, we brought first hand information to students' homes in all parts of Croatia. One of the students wrote in the chatbox that the wind was blowing fiercely on his island making the internet really slow and even though he struggled with the sound, he was happy to be there with us. It's this what keeps us going, isn't it? 

Unlock Learning with Ollie Bray

I've just finished reading yet another must read by Ollie Bray -  Using 1:1 to Unlock Learning. It's a fantastic resource on how to deploy 1:1 computing at your school.  It can be downloaded for free on Slideshare and as a pdf.

Using 1:1 to Unlock Learning from Microsoft Education UK

Ollie gives lots of practical information on what teachers, school administrators and policy makers need to take into consideration if they want to deploy a 1:1 learning environment. I highly recommend this book, even if you don't have any plans for using 1:1 computing whatsoever. Because it's learning and teaching that this great e-Book is about. Or as Ollie says, "Adding technology doesn't mean more learning and adding technology to a boring lesson may not make a lesson more interesting."

With Ollie in Swindon, 2012 

HOW TO LEARN ENGLISH IN 30 DAYS

 

Hi Guys, My name is Abhishek Mall the (Creator) of this blog post.

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude for viewing my blog. If in today’s world we don’t write or understand or speak good English then we lack behind from others in every field. To have a better livelihood or to attain higher position or to be successful in life we need to have strong communication skills. Not only English, but a degree in any of streams and a decent personality to some extent is also needed to accomplish the goals in your life.

Hence I have created this blog so that people like me and many more out there in this competitive world can get rid of the same problem that I had; the (Communication barrier)…
This online day-wise learning session will help you to read, write and speak good English in 30 days…that’s my challenge. I have created all the chapters on my own and have added the scanned copies on my blog which will help you better understand how to translate sentences, words or phrases from Hindi to English. Anyone from an amateur to Pro can read this blog as it is meant from everyone. This blog will enhance your vocabulary, pronunciation and approach towards English ultimately resulting in improvement of your communication skills. This blog will help us to understand English is not that tough language to learn if you give your best effort without losing hope.

A small step for the betterment of yourself taken by you today will change the world’s perception towards you.


All the best Guys!!! Let’s Rock…

ABHISHEK MALL
abhi.kno@gmail.com

HOW TO SPEAK ENGLISH

Online English tips blog is the only speaking course of its kind whose features can be described in superlative degree only. It has already benefited millions of readers across the world. Experts have unanimously declared it as the best free self-study Hindi to English online course. Most importantly, because the aged declaring will go, “knowledge raises by sharing” and believing exactly the same, My business is sharing my know-how with you, for this reason in addition, you reveal the data of this program together with as many men and women since you can by way of message boards, email together with Facebook making sure that a good many others can make the most of this system.

DAY11

Improve your English with SMART Goals

Last year I posted an article about how ESL students can achieve their goals more successfully.

Today, as a new year AND a new term begin for many of you, I want to re-post that article because I think many of you could really benefit from reading it. 

You CAN be successful.  BUT, you need to be very clear about to WHAT specific goal you want to achieve, how realistic it is and how you actually plan to do it.  This article can help you start start the process. 

Reaching Goals the SMART Way

If I asked you what your goals are for this term, many of you would say: " I want to improve my English."  Others would try to be a little more specific and say, " I want  to be more fluent."  or I want to improve my grammar." 

What do these  vague  goals actually mean?  How do you know how to achieve them, or when you have actually achieved them?  


So... what's the answer?

It's important for you to have a dream, a destination you want to reach.  However, if you truly want to reach that destination,  you can't just hope it will happen by saying you want to improve. You need real strategies  that will help you get what you want. 

Instead of having vague, undefined goals, you need to set realistic targets for yourself - targets you can actually hit or reach.  

Business experts and psychologists have proven that setting SMART goals will help you get to your destination much more efficiently and effectively. They will also allow you to measure and see the progress you have made.

The word SMART is an  acronym for the words: SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ATTAINABLE, REALISTIC AND TIMELY. 

'Watch the following video on SMART goals. The speaker has an accent, so, play the video several times and listen carefully.

;

VIDEO # 2: SMART GOALS for language learning  

So what does this all mean?

One way to think about  SMART GOALS is to think of them as a series of smaller,  easy to accomplish action steps towards achieving your bigger goal. 

If you use this method, you are more likely to move one step closer to your final goal instead of always being disappointed with yourself and your progress. You are also more likely to develop the self-discipline to do the required work, and the belief that you can eventually achieve your bigger goal.

S= Specific: 

• Make your goal(s) specific, not general. 
• What do you want to accomplish? Saying you want to improve your English grammar is general. It doesn't really mean anything because you don't really know what you really want, or how to measure it. 
• On the other hand, if you are an advanced level student, start with something like " I want to be able to write with only a few verb tense mistakes by the end of the term,  or I want to understand and use prepositions properly 80% of the time."   
• Don't say you want to improve your communication skills.Try something like this: I want to be able to comfortably carry on a ten minute conversation with a stranger. 

M=Measurable. 

• Make your goals measurable.  For example, if you want to make fewer verb tense errors in your writing, start working towards that goal by learning which tenses to use in your writing. 
• Start proofreading and editing  your writing. Finally, count the  number of verb tense errors your teacher has marked. Are you making fewer errors each time? Don't give up after one or two tries. Keep doing this over a period of time, and measure the improvement. 
• Are you getting closer to your goal? If you do reach your goal- extend the goal,or develop another one.

A= Attainable:

• Make sure you can achieve your goal within a realistic amount of time. 
• Don't set too many at the same time. For example, if you are not comfortable speaking English out of class, don't think you will be fluent and comfortable at the end of three months. Instead, decide that you want to be comfortable speaking in a few non-survival situations.  Then, make a plan and stick to it.
•  If you never speak English outside of class, decide to join a church, a club, a meet-up group, or a sports team. Do this regularly, and as often as possible. Participate, become engaged rather than sitting back and letting others do the talking. Become as comfortable as you can with that particular group. 
• After a few weeks, try to determine if your comfort level has increased. 
• Continue measuring it. Are you now using your English spontaneously with strangers, at work?

R= Realistic or Relevant 

• Make sure you goal is relevant to your needs. 
• Focus on areas you are weak in  rather than on stronger skills.  For example, if your  pronunciation is OK,  leave it alone. 
•  Decide what you DO need to work on now. How about your vocabulary? Do you still use simple words like bad, good nice, interesting, have, be, and do instead of better words that show you are not a beginner.  
• Determine the  kind of vocabulary you want to be able to actively use correctly in three months. 
• Make sure these words are useful ones for your life - NOT  the kind you will only use once on a TOEFL test. Then, make a plan as to how you intend to accomplish this. Make your plan specific, measurable and realistic.

T= Time Bound (Creating Deadlines)

• Set a time frame, or deadline within which you want to achieve your small goals.
•  Remember. There is no magic. Your English will not be perfect in three months. It takes time. 
• But, you CAN make fewer mistakes in your writing and speaking. You CAN improve your ability to listen to the news, or understand more complicated instructions at work. You CAN  start feeling more comfortable stepping outside your comfort zone and speaking to English speakers. 

YOUR TURN : 

Think about how some of these strategies could be  used to help you set "real" goals for different aspects of your English learning. 

Think of some specific goals YOU would like to achieve this term.  Follow the guidelines above to make them specific, measurable, attainable or achievable, realistic and time bound.l   

Then, think about some of the steps involved in setting and most importantly keeping SMART GOALS.

Some of the steps include choosing your goal(s). writing them down, assessing them and getting specific, creating a plan and executing it by developing  habits and making changes  in your life to  make time for your actions, staying motivated, tracking your progress and being accountable. But, virtstk  

  What do YOU think about this?    All comments and suggestions are welcome. 

 To leave a  comment, click on the  blue word comment or no comments.