A New Move to Carlaarena.com

Dear readers,

I have some roots, those things that are hard to let go. Even if some might think I'm brave enough, there are certain strings to what is known and comfortable that are hard to get rid of. It's been some months now that I've been organizing and tweaking a new space for the conversations and connections with educators.

I've always blogged in English, never in my mother tongue Portuguese, but I always felt the urge to amplify and share what I've learned not only with my English teachers' community, but also with the educators in general, and mainly Brazilians, some of whom might be missing interesting approaches to education because they don't know English or don't have the time to look for interesting resources and ideas for their classrooms. So, why not hone in on my English skills and passion for Ed tech to include my fellow Brazilian teachers in the equation?

So, amplification, personalization and new challenges were my drive to move on to an even better place, especially prepared to blend and intersect in areas that are part of my life, Ed Tech, English and Portuguese. I hope my roots are substituted by a more dandelion-carefree-style. It is not just changing places, it is really about creating a new vision, a new approach to sharing and connecting to others. So, please, join me there at http://carlaarena.com 

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Redesigning your New Year: 2014 in One Word

We always start a new year with the idea of something new, different, an optimistic perspective that we set to make our lives more meaningful, significant. It is a time to review and set new goals, or revisit the ones we insist to add to our to-do list for our own despair. When we put the last year into perspective and welcome the year ahead, though with this optimistic vibe, we still get the feeling of frustration for not having accomplished everything we've decided to embrace. Let's reconsider all that. Don't think 2014 as the new year, but the continuity of what is still there to be accomplished, the lines that are yet to be written. No to-do lists, just one word as proposed in the Leadership freak blog

One Word is a focal point that gives direction and purpose to what I do. It’s not a have-to. It’s a want-to. It’s already surprising me.

Let's choose just one word that will help us move forward, being the focus of our year. I invite you all to try it and start your own micro-revolution with the simple direction that one word can provide us.

 Here's the deal to reframe and redesign your 2014:

 Close your eyes and think of 2014.
What word comes to your mind?
Write it down, take a photo, make a drawing, make it visible to you in some way.
Now, create your motto of the year with this word.
Revisit your word and motto throughout the year and transform them into action, even if it is just one, a powerful one!
Share your word around. It can be here, or in any social media. It will make you accountable and you will involve your own network in your 2014 .

 My word of the year is one related to evolvement, development, growth, change, expansion in many dimensions of my life. Let's see where this word will lead me!
My motto, "Evolution as a personal revolution".



So, what's your word and motto for 2014?

Using ICT Tools to Communicate, Collaborate and Learn

This is a great list of apps/platforms that teachers can use to enhance learning and collaborative opportunities in the classroom:

https://edshelf.com/profile/ogu8i1b/communicate-with-ict-web2-0-and-lms-life#grid

The Image Conference - Kieran Donaghy's Short and Sweet Presentation on Videos in the ELT Classroom

I had the pleasure to watch him in action twice this year.

Kieran Donaghy, one of the Keynote Speakers in our BRAZTESOL Brasilia Image Conference, shared wonderful video ideas for the EFL classroom. Short and sweet were the videos he presented and inspired the Brazilian educators. Everybody left the room with a refreshed perspective on what to do and where to search for the next video lesson they teach.

My friend Graham Stanley was again in full action, taking notes to share what Kieran's presentation was all about. All the resources, ideas, links are organized in Graham's post.

The Image Conference Presentation - Transforming Sins into Virtues in Design for Learning

We had a great Friday event - The Image Conference, organized by the BRAZTESOL Brasilia team, with the support of the IATEFL Learning Technologies SIG and Kieran Donaghy, the one who started the Image Conference in Barcelona.

After such an intense day and weekend, I haven´t had time to put my thoughts together in a blog post with the ideas and resources I presented, but Graham Stanley, one of our keynote speakers and amazingly fast and efficient blogger did it all and saved me some precious hours!

You can read about the whole idea of the presentation at
http://blog-efl.blogspot.com.br/2013/10/carla-arena-transforming-sins-into.html

Graham is really amazing! And nobody can beat him when it gets to blogging! Thanks, my friend.

How Much we Reach and Inspire Educators

I could be here mentioning the educators who have been inspiring me for the past decade, but it wouldn't be fair, as I might forget a name or an episode that transformed me...What I want to say is that since my first trip to a TESOL International Conference in San Antonio, Texas, in 2005, my professional life turned upside down through the many connections I made and the learning I had, picking up the brains from so many inspiring people around the globe. The kickstart, a group of International educators who are constantly connected through a Yahoogroups, called the Webheads. Of course, it goes way beyond the Yahoogroups. We are connected emotionally, we meet each other in conferences, we do collaborative projects together, we share our accomplishments and epic failures. In fact, we rely on the network to grow, to learn, to make sense...

The same way I feel about the Webheads, others experience this feeling of having discovered a whole new world, and what I do for the network is totally worth it when I hear someone say how I helped him/her move to the next level. We never know what are reach are with the ones surrounding us, our kids, our friends, students, teachers. We just know that through connections we are transformed.

So, it was with surprise and enjoyment that I read those words from Márcia, a dear friend, whom I saw grow and flourish in the digital arena,

"Carla is, as I call her, my PLN first love. It was a Sunday, 14 November, 2010, when my life started to change. And it was all Carla's "fault"! I came across Carla’s blog post on elearning speedgeeking and that led me to her twitter account (or was it the other way around?) The truth is, it was then that I fell in love with Carla, who was the first member of my adorable PLN and to whom I owe having become a more engaged and techy teacher. Like me, hundreds or, most problably, thousands of teachers worldwide have been inspired by this passionate dedicated professional, who found the power of technology as a connective and transformative tool in the classroom from her first days as a teacher. Nowadays, more than tech in class, she’s excited about the new possibilities of its way beyond the four walls. That's why for the past years she has, among other things, been an enthusiast Webhead and dedicated herself to the eLearning program at a Binational Center in Brazil, where she is the Educational Technology Supervisor, and to the TESOL EVO Coordinating Team."

I was touched by Márcia's word. I'd never have known that if it weren't for her written words and the EdInspire nomination she made. He words made me realize that, yes, we can make a difference in so many ways. So, let's do what we are meant to do to others. Let's be generous with our communities. Let's do our share. Let's change, let's make a revolution.

And, most of all, let's show appreciation to the ones who inspire us. I'm sure it will mean a lot to them, as it meant a lot to me what Márcia said.

Thanks, Márcia, for your kindness and generosity with me and with our network.

On the Ed Tech Radar - Free Online Professional Development Opportunities in October

Stay at the comfort of your home or keep yourself comfortable in your office, but don´t miss two great professional development opportunities that you can access from wherever you are in the world for free.

October 12th - TESOL CALL-IS & IATEFL LEARING TECHNOLOGIES SIG Online Conference

It starts at 2pm GMT / 3pm London time / 7am Pacific/ 11 am Brasilia time with fabulous guest speakers like Prof Carol Chapelle, Shaun Wilden, Gavin Dudeney, Nicky Hockly, Deborah Healey, Phil Hubbard, Sophie Ioannou-Georgiou, Paige Ware, Elizabeth Hanson-Smith, Christel Broady and a closing joint session at 8pm GMT / 9pm London / Pacific 1pm/ 5pm Brasilia Time.

From October 11 to October 13th - The Reform Symposium Online Conference

The 4th annual Reform Symposium Conference (RSCON), a free online three day event bringing together educators, students and innovators from around the world, will be held October 11th to 13th in conjunction with Connected Educator Month. 

The Reform Symposium Conference is a global community initiative to transform teaching and learning. The Reform Symposium Conference will be a highly inclusive and engaging event that will encourage students and educators around the world to share and learn about transformative approaches to learning and teaching. To attend this year's conference and to be kept informed of the latest conference news and updates, check http://www.futureofeducation.com/page/2013-reform-symposium. There will be

• 10+ international keynotes
• 3 panel discussions featuring distinguished experts
• 100+ presentations by educators around the world

There are no excuses for you to invest in your professional growth, learn from educators around the globe and connect with a great audience!

Technology Giving Wide Wings to Creativity

As long as I keep seeing transformative and exciting examples of how technology can help the next generation of professionals acquire new skills in different areas, I'll advocate its use.

That's exactly what happened with me some days ago. I was at the Apple Store with my kids, looking for the present my husband had asked for his 40th birthday, his first Mac. In fact, his first computer! Up to that point he'd just use all the gadgets I would put aside or my kids' computers or mine. Anyway, I was there talking to the salesman while my kids had fun with an iPad Mini. They were giggling, whispering, having real fun. So much fun indeed that I thought that they were certainly playing a cool game.

To my surprise, when I closed the deal and invited them to eat something. They asked me to come closer, for they had something to show me. I had a blast! In just some minutes, all by themselves, they figured out how to use the app iMovie and were, in fact, enjoying themselves as movie producers. The result? Check for yourself how far kids' creativity can travel if they have the means and freedom to go beyond the regular, the ordinary:




I guess that this video is what I've been always trying to show teachers. Technology empowers, decentralizes learning in ways that we should really reconsider our roles as educators not because everyone else is telling us so, but because our kids, our students need guidance, expertise and wisdom to move forward and succeed now and beyond when they become professionals.

One thing they were having trouble doing? Transferring the video to youtube. I also showed them how important it was to delete the video from the public iPad Mini and from the app due to digital safety issues.

Learners' creativity harnessed by technology and guided by an educator's wisdom is certainly an explosive combination. That's why I'll make sure that I help more and more educators get there in their digital literacies. I'll make sure that I give them support to let their learners express themselves and fly even higher.

What have you been doing to encourage your students' creative juices to emerge?

Curation Talk at Universidade Católica de Brasília

I had a great time with the languages students at Universidade Católica de Brasilia.
Once again I had the pleasure to explore a topic that every educator, every learner should learn about in order to take the best of their networks and give it back, as well, curation.

Digital Curation for Educators from Carla Arena

For some other references that I blogged about, check http://collablogatorium.blogspot.com.br/search/label/curation

Joyce Valenza, a teacher librarian, has wonderful content curation resources available at http://joyce-valenza.wikispaces.com/Content+Curation

And here´s a comparison page of curatorial platforms with tons of sites to explore http://socialcompare.com/en/comparison/curation-platforms-amplify-knowledge-plaza-storify

On the mLearning Radar - Creating on iPads

I´ve just come across this box of mlearning treasures that an art teacher/teacher trainer has put together. Though the focus is on digital art, many ideas can be adapted for the language classroom.

http://drydenart.weebly.com/creating-on-ipads.html

Mrs. Fuglestad has also created a Smore page with ideas for ipad creation. What I think could be the main focus for language teachers is to consider the mobile devices students have to work on language production and creation, just like in an art class.

https://www.smore.com/r98j-summer-ipad-lesson-ideas

Can you think of any idea to remix an idea Mrs. Fuglestad presented to fit a lesson plan you will be teaching in the near future?