Week 3: Reflection

After reading “Developing Listening Skills with Authentic Materials” by Lindsay Miller and reviewing a few listening web sites, I thought of putting the theoretical knowledge into practice. I chose a video titled “Child Obesity in Increasing Worldwide” at http://learningenglish.voanews.com/section/level-one/3774.html. I found the listening material on VOA suitable for intermediate to advanced students and I thought it would improve their listening skills and vocabulary. Again I realized that the lesson format “pre-, while-, and post-listening” is useful.

I created my Delicious page (https://delicious.com/#kumwu) and started adding links whenever I found websites helpful for class and myself. My favorite sites bookmarked on Internet Explorer at school and home have been moved to Delicious under different tags. I am introducing the Delicious website to those I know.

In Project Task 2, I read a final project report of Zlatka Dyankova from Bulgaria. Her class environment is similar to Korea’s. Most students are preparing for college entrance exams, and they are passively led by teachers. From the project, Zlatka had the students do some research on a topic so that her students could get motivated before the lesson. She used WebQuests as a technological tool and I felt curious what the tool was for. Zlatka expected to change the class atmosphere from teacher-centered to learner-centered. I thought highly of her efforts in the project.