THE FCE BLOG by Claudia Ceraso

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Thank You 2007 Students

End of 2007 Academic Year

Dear Students,

In an hour we'll meet again one last time. I wanted to write this post to thank you for sharing this learning experience with me. I also remember the people who had to drop the course. You certainly have taught me much more than you are aware of.

I would love to share some good news. Our last post on del.icio.us got a fantagtastic response. I want to thank this user for sending us excellent resources that I will use in future posts. So far the account is empty and it seems to have been opened just to share those links!

Our open classroom spirit is felt by teachers also. I want to thank Carla Arena and Alison for their collaboration spirit and ideas. I think you'll see our Collaborative Projects section of the wiki grow in 2008.

What will happen to our wiki?
I hope it grows and grows.Our wiki is a heritage project. By which I mean, that future students will
a) Benefit from your extensive production (so far over 160 pages). Your samples will be their study material. As such, they are as valid as the coursebooks you have used.

b) Edit your work. Our Collaborative Edition section is a work in progress that future students can improve, mix, remix, add...

However, this is not just for the benefit of others. Although your portfolio samples will be protected from further edit, discussion forums remain open. Forever.

By subscribing to your own pages, you will learn what students-to-come think of your work. You might as well learn over their shoulders by reading the conversations your work inspires. You see, same time and same place are no longer requirements to learn together. When we are online, we are in a third place.

I am happy you now know how to tag, RSS and open wikis. I hope you continue playing with Netbives and Flickr. Remember to think before you post.

I know, I know. This is the time for another kind of advise. For the killer exam tips and nervousness management! I hope that by now, you feel that, although a challenge, this exam is doable and you are well equipped to succeed. Now we know that what we need is not a collection of tricks, but some knowledge, a set of tools and sensible use of them. I hope that more expert voices, such as my last year students, drop their comments here and we all learn from them as well.

Oops! Time is up and I must cease.

Much love and success to all my students -past and present.

Claudia

6 Comments:

  • Hi! It's a long and hard exam, but a great experience also. Good luck to everyone!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 12:39 pm  

  • Many thanks CLaudia, for everything.-
    Bye, bye blue.-

    Guillermo 2007

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 12:58 pm  

  • Hi Claudia, I am about to go to sleep before the big day. I'm posting only for good luck, because I won't have the time to check for last minute advice from you (unfortunately). I'm quite insecure with what I "learnt" just today, kind of hope I hadn't learnt it at all!
    Anyway, hope we do ok. Thanks for everything. Best wishes,
    Eugenia

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 11:27 pm  

  • Thank you so much Mariano and Guillermo for your comments. I'm so glad you still visit the fceblog.

    Eugenia,
    We learn things every day. That is what I have been trying to teach you. It is a continuous process. Just do not think there is a definite list of things you should know. Rest well tonight. You'll do great tomorrow.

    Alison -an Irish teacher of English- and I exchanged emails and I asked her permission to reproduce this paragraph. It is good advice indeed:
    "It is such a pity we meet up on your last day of lessons. I wish all your students the best of luck in the exam and tell them from me that they are not to worry too much about speaking perfect English in the oral, it is more important that they communicate successfully than worrying about making no mistakes - I am sure you have told them this, too. They should remember that even native speakers make grammar mistakes when they talk."

    So here's the deal. I am not exactly your teacher anymore. From now on, we are learning together.

    Much love to you all. Do come back to let us know how you did!

    By Blogger Claudia Ceraso, At 12:38 am  

  • Hey! Just popped in! Couldn't sleep and remembered your blog... Hope everything's OK. Lots of love,
    Veronica from CAECE

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 2:37 am  

  • Hey Verónica! Never thought this blog could make a good reading for a sleepless night, but there you go.
    Thank you for letting me know about your visit.
    Take care.
    X

    By Blogger Claudia Ceraso, At 7:25 pm  

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