Almost done...

We are a few lessons away from finishing this initial phase and actually starting your own projects.
By October 23rd  PROJECT planning form and final task  should be completed.
On Monday negotation of deadlines will take place ..

Please remember to bring to Friday's class:
- the Wrap Up & Portfolio update
- the Year Plan

Organising work

Hello again;

If, by any chance, the purpose of the previous group work was unclear to some of you, I'm sure that after this new activity it will all become crystal clear. Wishful thinking :-)
Now it's time to plan the activities that will make research more interesting.Click here for the guidelines.
You will also need this PROJECT PLANNING form .

Brief assessment of GW - Making sense of the syllabus

Well, presentations are finally over:-) All of you did very well and you managed to raise some important questions. I can say we've successfully completed this stage - make the themes/topics more meaningful to us by reflecting about what we already know and devising new questions so we can find out more.

 I must say, though, that I resent the fact that the campaign for the Students' Union has interfered negatively with our work, even if I admit that having the president of the Union among us is something that should not be disregarded....
You know what I mean. In this particular group, some of you had brilliant ideas but they all came to nothing because you were not able to reorganise your work, adapting to new conditions (that is, two non-present members). So, how do you plan to make up for it?

So, summing up, contents were good as usual but I must say I am not too pleased with your group work (collaboration) skills. This is something we will have to address in a very serious way. I promise we will.
Here is some feedback on you work. Here is the worksheet/classwork used to guide (self-)assessment of GW. Here are the posters. Don't forget you need them for the portfolio.

 

 

Learning Journal entry # 3

This has been a very hectic week, at least for some of you. Not all classes have someone running for President or other important roles in the Students' Union :-)
Unfortunately, that has also meant some disruption in the Group Work Presentations because our schedule was turned upside down and some of you were simply not there to listen to and support your colleagues :-(
Anyway, tomorrow, the last presentation(s) will take place and you'll also take a Test/Progress Check so we can all understand if this work was really fruitful and according to our expectations.

In the meanwhile, here are some cues for your next Learning Journal entry. Please, post it on your blogs/sites, or hand it in by Wednesday, 21st.
My advice: write a text/tell a story that somehow answers (some of) these questions instead of answering each question individually.

What made your work difficult?
What made it easy? What unblocked it when in a deadend?
Did you feel the need to organise your group better?
Did you sometimes feel let down by other group member(s)?
Were tasks evenly divided?
Was it difficult to keep focused?
Are you afraid/do you feel guilty of laughing and having a good time when in class, in the group? Is that compatible with keeping focused?
Is it helpful to know you don't have to worry about organising/bringing materials/worrying about time/worrying about having everybody involved .... because you've divided roles and you know someone in the group is responsible for that?
DID YOU FEEL YOU COULD NEVER HAVE DONE THIS WORK ALONE? Why?

Building our own syllabus

Yes, building our own syllabus is exactly what we are doing. Your questions will shape our future work, which will be based on research ... and hard work. So the better and more enlightening your questions are, the more interesting work will become. For all of us.

The first presentation by João Meira, Inês, João Machado and Bernardo has really done it. Some excellent questions, controversial and thought provoking, without a doubt. And based on what I've seen of the other groups' posters, these high standards will not be lowered :-)

 See you.

Consurso Traduzir Awards Ceremony - follow up

Well, you can't say you're short of school outings... You may, however, complain that school outings bring more work.

This visit may not have been so interesting (after all Encompassing the Globe was a renowned international exhibition) but there is a lot of information to be explored and some 'food for thought'. Here are some questions to get you started:
- What may be the role and the importance of translation?
- Is translation 'the art of failure' (U. Eco)?
- What makes a good translator?
- What examples of 'translation problems' can you think of?
- Are you motivated to try them?

And now, as you may have guessed, it's time to write your second Learning Journal entry this year.