Discussions

Your Name and Title: María del Carmen Colussa, Teacher

School or Organization Name: Freelance Teacher of English to adults in Argentina.

Co-Presenter Name(s):

Area of the World from Which You Will Present: Argentina

Language in Which You Will Present: English

Target Audience(s): Teachers

Short Session Description (one line):  A teacher´s journey to connect herself and her students to the world.

Full Session Description (as long as you would like):

The purpose of this session is to let teachers know that there are classes out there looking for collaboration.  What our students get from having a connected teacher is instanct validation of what they acquire within the classroom walls, learning a language becomes relevant as a vehicle for communicating with students from different cultures.  By doing so we add meaning to our practices and we regain the joy of learning together with our students.  

The teachers in this session should become students in the sense that we are not experts in the field, but rather curious individuals trying to learn something new.  

My search for collaboration with other classes of adults learning English took some detours which included volunteering to mystery skype with classes, joining and collaborating with the Hello Little World teachers skypers group, as well as with Edmodo communities, starting the Edmodo Skype Community (currently more than 230 members), joining Twitter and participating in tweetchats and online seminars.  

At present my students have partnered with a school in Greece where adult students are also learning English and they are exchanging emails and arranging skype sessions to practice conversation skills.