Cover Letter

This portfolio shows my development as a writing student during this semester. At the beginning of the semester, I thought that writing was easy – after all, I´ve always liked writing. I would just look at the blank sheet of paper in front of me and I would start telling my story.

However, I didn´t know that, in order to produce a well-written essay, there are some specific techniques that have to be observed. Learning how to distinguish an expository, a narrative, a comparative and an argumentative essay, and also that there is a thesis statement and a topic sentence for each one of them was invaluable to me.

Moreover, the essays represented a good writing experience, although I´ve chosen the narrative essay as my favorite. When I read the narrative essay after finishing it, I had the feeling that I was able to really connect to the reader and bring him/her into my reality.

To conclude, the writing abilities that I have acquired during this semester will help me write better as a TDC student. For instance, whenever I need to answer questions on a test, I´ll have the skills to write well. Most importantly, as a teacher, I´ll have the skills to identify my students´ mistakes and give them proper feedback, which will help them write better.

Blended learning is more effective than tradicional learning

Blended learning is more effective than traditional learning

There was a time when going to school meant only sitting at a desk and listening to the teachers talk while they used chalk and a blackboard to explain something to their students. Homework had to be done and written down in a notebook, the one made of paper. The students had to be in the classroom every single day. And this ritual would repeat itself throughout the year. As the decades passed by, a considerable part of this scenery has changed. In some schools, the blackboard is not black anymore; it´s either white or glass, and the teachers don’t have to use chalk anymore; they can use markers. Teachers now have to deal with technology such as stereos, projectors, computers, ipads and all the gadgets that come along with them. Some students, instead of paper notebooks, bring computers to class to take notes on important things. But a real sign that times have changed is that students don’t even have to be in the classroom to study anymore. They can come to class every other week and, when they´re not at school, access the internet in order to do the activities related to their courses. This whole new scenery leads us to an inevitable question. Is blended learning more effective than traditional learning? No, traditional learning is still the best alternative to good education.

The defenders of blended learning state that it has innumerable advantages, such as saving money and time, and that the use of technology functions as a student´s ally. You could save money, for example, not having to commute from your house to school every day, which would also generate savings for the school, because it wouldn’t have to spend money on electricity, water and paper. You could save time because you would have more control over when exactly you would access the course online and how much time you would spend in each activity. 

All these arguments have to be taken into account. However, they´re weak comparing to the advantages that traditional education offers. Traditional learning provides the student with teacher–student time, which is fundamental for a solid education. Life experience and knowledge exchange between teachers and students can´t be given by an online course. It is also known that an effective education is based on the individualization of the instruction. The teacher has to be familiar with his/her students and aware of each one´s needs; know their faces and names well. Also, the sense of accountability is a very important aspect that appears in traditional education. Things work better if you have a teacher asking you what to do each class than if you have only a vague deadline on the internet. Traditional education, therefore, has features that can´t be replaced by blended education.

Besides, being at school also makes the students focus on their activities. Although they might get distracted sometimes while at school, they are still in a study environment, where everything leads to learning. There are specified times to study and breaks, to relax for a while. Being at home, on the other hand, brings many distractions. In addition, being at school brings the student a sense of community, because it shows the individual how to live in society, which he/she won´t acquire studying alone, at home. Learning how to live in society is vital.

Furthermore, technology is essential nowadays, while it may also be a great source of distraction for the students, especially for the younger ones. Let´s take a student who needs to do research on the internet, for instance. He/she might get distracted by opening tons of pages that have absolutely nothing to do with the subject of interest, while looking for the necessary material; not to mention social webs, games and music.

In summary, traditional education still represents the best path to quality education. Teachers have to feel whether the subject that they´re teaching is reaching their students or not and how it is affecting their lives. There isn´t a better way to do that than actually being in the classroom, sharing experiences with the students. The teacher´s figure and presence are strong, invaluable assets for the students, and should never be replaced by computers.

Me as a teacher: from scared to comfortable in a classroom

Me as a teacher: from scared to comfortable in a classroom

 I never thought I would be a teacher. As a teenager, people would ask me, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” And I would answer, “Either a journalist, or a lawyer, or a diplomat…”. Medicine and engineering were completely out of the question! And so was teaching, maybe because it´s such an insufferable field in Brazil, even though people used to say that my English was great and that I should give teaching a try.

The years passed by and I became a lawyer. I worked for 6 years as such, but with the constant feeling that something was either wrong or missing. I only found out what was wrong when I changed fields. Dealing with people´s personal tragedies was so exhausting and annoying! I had to go to the Court every day, to participate in hearings with judges and prosecutors, to solve divorce cases, car crash cases, neighbors’ fights, not to mention defending criminals such as drug dealers and killers… So I decided to give up the stress and start doing something else. After all, people change professions every day; why couldn´t I?

My first experience as a teacher was in a school that didn´t require experience, so it was easy to get in. There was just a quick interview to check my oral skills, a written test with a few paragraphs to write and that was it. I was hired. I had two weeks of training – which served only as a sample of what I would have to do as teacher. We couldn’t take the books home to study and prepare the lessons, which might make you, as a reader, think, “What about the lesson plans?” And I answer you, lesson plans? Forget about them. There weren’t any. We also had a few group work and discussions. And then, there I was in the classroom, as a lamb thrown to the lions.

I remember it was the last kids´ book, so the students were about 9 or 10 years old. There were 4 of them. I was shaking, my throat was dry, my voice was trembling, but everything was going well until the moment that I forgot… the method! I couldn´t remember what to do next: which page should I be in? Which exercise should I tell them to do? Is it my turn to speak? Or is it theirs? Do I have to drill the vocabulary now? They started glancing at each other, as if they were saying, “Is she crazy? What is she doing? Or not doing?” And then, all of a sudden, I hear this sweet voice, “It´s page ‘x’, exercise ‘y’, teacher! That´s what we have to do now. And then we have to turn the page and do activity ‘z’. When we finish, you can correct it.” Oh, my God! What a shame! She was teaching me! And in such a sweet way… Of course I thanked her and we moved on.

After some time, I decided to upgrade my teaching career, so I sent my curriculum to Casa Thomas Jefferson. It had been no more than a week when the head supervisor called, inviting me to an interview. I was nervous, since I was applying for a teacher spot in such a traditional and acknowledged school. Despite my being nervous, the interview was nice. She liked me and asked me to come back a couple of days later to take the written test, which was one of the most difficult tests that I have ever taken in my life. I only had thirty minutes to write an essay and other two and a half hours to cover many, many, many pages with vocabulary and grammar exercises.

To my complete surprise, the supervisor sent me an email two days later, telling me that I had passed the test and asking me to prepare a sample class. Oh, my Goodness! When I got the material for the sample class, it all came back to me, that feeling of insecurity and being lost, without knowing what to do. Of course the sample class was a disaster! The method was completely different from that one I had gotten used to; besides, I saw myself having to teach six coordinators, including her. It was great, wasn´t it? Well, gladly, they saw my potential and offered me a spot as a trainee.

To summarize, here I am, teaching in one of the best schools of the country. The first day of class was also scary – if not even scarier than that one in the first school – but with time, I’ve been learning that the most important thing is to trust myself and what I know. As teachers, we get tested every day by our students and we have to feel secure to provide them with answers. Students can tell when the teacher is secure or insecure and being sure of what you’re doing make them trust you and respect you.

What are the advantages of being bilingual in today´s society?

 

What are the advantages of being bilingual in today´s society?

Nowadays, if you want to be part of what is happening in the world, you have to speak more than one language. Globalization gives us the impression that the world has become a small place, and communicating with people from other countries has become so much easier with the internet fever. That´s why there are many advantages to being bilingual in today´s society.

First of all, when you speak another language, a new world opens up to you. Whichever the language of your choice is, you will to be able to receive and share information about a different culture, which is fascinating and shows that you are an informed person. You will be able to watch or read the news and actually understand what you´re watching or reading; to write, to talk to people; to summarize, to communicate in another language. In today´s word, it´s extremely important to be able to express yourself in a different language.

Second, it has become cheaper to travel to other countries, which can be a real challenge, sometimes not such a pleasant one, if you don´t speak a second language. That bad feeling of being out of context and “illiterate” may accompany you throughout your whole trip if you can only communicate in your own language. We hear so many stories of people who traveled abroad and went through embarrassing situations when trying to communicate in another language but couldn’t do it. For example, I have an aunt who is crazy about her dog, a Yorkshire. She went to New York on vacation and, while walking on the street, she saw this beautiful, huge pet shop and decided to get in. She wanted to buy her dog a collar, but she couldn´t speak a word of English, so she started miming to the salesclerk what she needed. He had no idea of what she was trying to show, so she started imitating a dog, using gestures and barking! Everybody at the store stopped to look at her! She said it was funny, but rather embarrassing. Would you risk being one of those people? Would you want that for your dream vacation? I don’t think so.

Third, if you intend to study abroad as a way of improving your curriculum, be sure that speaking a second language is a pre-requisite for it. If you are bilingual, there is a big possibility that you´ll have access to the best universities in the world. Besides that, if you´re applying for a job spot, you´ll be one step ahead of other candidates. Government departments and companies need people who can communicate well not only in their own language, but in a foreign language, too. That´s why, when looking at your curriculum and seeing that you are bilingual, the recruiter is going to choose you over someone who isn´t.

In conclusion, being bilingual is crucial in today´s world. Those who are not able to speak more than one language are missing numerous opportunities of communicating with people from all over the world, studying in top notch universities, having better jobs, taking better trips and, most importantly, seeing the world from a wider point of view.