Week 7: Project going on!

Last week, my students were introduced to Blog and created theirs. They were really excited about it. Through a discussion activity, I also prepared them for the questionnaires the answers of which they were going to record. This week then, I took them to the computer lab again and introduced them Vocaroo, the tool they would use to record their answers to the questionnaires, and had them try it. They liked it very much! I had them listen to more recordings about American weddings and had them answer comprehension questions on them. We also dealt with readings on the topic and had vocabulary building activities. I gave an overall explanation of the project: what they would do; and presented them the rubric as a guide in the accomplishment of all the tasks waiting for them in the project. After a clear understanding of the rubric, I gave them the questionnaires. I allotted them some time to think and brainstorm ideas for the answers. The questions were not really new but questions they already met in the class discussion last week. After some time of reflection, I asked them to record their answers on Vocaroo. They had to speak freely during the recordings.

Each student was paired up with another student and asked to post the link of the recording on his/her peer’s blog.

I noticed the students were a bit shy when recording themselves on Vocaroo. I think because it’s the first time they were asked to do that, and also they knew their recordings would be listened to by one of their classmates. They were not used to that kind of activity. I hadn’t really expected this kind of hesitation and reaction despite their open-mindedness towards each other.