Reflection 10: Time to pave and expand our paths!

Let the tree of Knowledge grow in your personal garden!

There is nothing as powerful as the power of ONE. That is very true, my friends, because when we work as one, there is no force that can defeat us. During the last ten weeks, our group has become a huge, solid team that has shared their best for the benefit of education. All along this path to knowledge, every single one of us has gathered the necessary tools to expand and pave our own roads for the benefit of our students, or what is the same: The world. We are not the same individuals who embarked on this journey at about seventy days ago. Now we are powerful individuals, armed with technological tools that can guide our way. U2 has said it before in their song called "One" when they state that "we are one, but are not the same.. we have to carry each other...One." And this, my dear colleagues, is what life is all about. To become one being one; that is to say, that we are single elements that make up a whole structure that looks forward to the well being of humanity.

Let the light of knowledge guide you!

Along this path to knowledge, many useful tools have proved to be of an amazing value. The ABCD Objectives Plan has shown how easy it is to carry out an effective lesson or activity. This method or way of planning is powerful yet simple. Another important element found as the journey developed is Project Based Learning (PBL). It is an excellent way of bringing light into each one of the participants while bringing out the best of each person. I must confess that PBL is now one of my favorite activities for any class for through it the instructor passes his or her controlling role to the participants; a fact that creates or develops a sense of confidence and possession at the moment of acquiring knowledge, especially if it is a language what is being taught. This practice (PBL) can also be enhanced if it is used together with an alternative evaluation  rubric. 

When we become one, nothing is impossible!

Alternative evaluation is also a very precise way of deconstructing or demystifying the traditional role of the instructor. Through it, each participant has a fair way of being graded. This, together with a clear identification of the participants´learning styles, can garantee a precise and accurate learning process. In addition, web pages such padlet.com, wiki.com, and Zunal WebQuest can be extremely useful to enhance any single class. I am actually using padlet.com right now with my British Literature Survey class (http://padlet.com/wall/tq2yuhy9un and http://padlet.com/wall/l9p8xnd39z ) to develop two oral presentations. The idea of using Padlet.com came up as an option when I realized that with Zunal WebQuest, in the free account,  I had the chance of developing only one project, and I had already used it for my final project. So, as you can see, many are the technological options out there, all you need is the will to use it in the correct way.

Education is sharing!

The time has come to share all we have learned during this ten weeks. It is the moment for every single of us to pave and expand our paths and let the light of knowledge shine in every single of our classrooms; creating a more equal and fair society where every single individual has the opportunity of acquiring knowledge according to his or her way. It is our time to bring out our best and make our planet a much better place than it already is. It is the time to be one with all. This is not the end of the journey, my friends. On the contrary, this is our opportunity to get on board on the journey of our life. Let´s enjoy and share our knowledge because that is the only thing that is really ours. 

Let´s share knowledge!