Hello, bloggers! Welcome to your fifth and last blogging assignment of the semester! This time, you will be able to choose between the following two topics to write your own blog posts:
Topic A: Tell us about a career-oriented website you enjoy visiting. Include this information:
- Describe the website and provide the link.
- How often do you visit it?
- Explain why you like the site.
- Who would you recommend it to?
- Upload pictures
Topic B: Tell us about an expert/person in your field that you admire. Include this information:
- Why do you admire this person?
- What has this person done/contributed?
- Provide a short biography of this person
- Upload pictures
Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts + a comment on mine too.
Word Count: 150 words
TOPIC B
Most people fail to learn a language before they even begin. Want to know why?
Because they haven't gone on a journey with Dr. Shane Dixon.
Dr. Dixon is a beloved language instructor and the primary designer of the Arizona State University’s online TESOL certificate program.
I admire him because thanks to his online program, 150000 teachers from all over the world have had the opportunity to become better English language teachers, myself included.
One of the important things he teaches at the program is how to engage learners with your body in terms of your hands, in terms with your eye contact, even with your voice. Something that many university teachers don’t know how to do. Which is weird! It’s like if they misunderstood the importance of teaching in general and what it can do for learners.
In fact, academics tend to think of bodies as only transports for their brains. Have you ever tried to understand that kind of a professor who just likes to give content rather than recognizing that maybe your body can be used in a way to engage a learner? Well, this is why I admire him, because he helps us reflect on the resources we have right here, which is kind of a revolutionary thought, specially for university teachers, since most of them haven’t really considered their body as an instrument or technique for instruction.
Dr. Dixon has done many things like getting a master’s in English language planning and policy from Brigham Young University, and later a PhD in educational technology from Arizona State University because he thought it was pretty horrible, to be quite honest. He thought that most online learning platforms were pretty poor in their strategy and in their technique. Once again, all he saw was that talking head, that professor, this I just giving out content. Which is well boring! And if something is not engaging, then it’s often not relevant to the learners themselves.
Have you heard this story before? You get a master’s degree, and you immediately enter the workforce, and you get your first job, and you’re like “well, that didn’t help at all!”. That sort of disconnect in terms of what we’re learning in academia and how it translates in real life is what encouraged him to follow those studies.
His contributions don’t stop there, Dr. Shane Dixon has also designed teacher training programs for groups from China, Korea, Japan, Iraq, Peru, and Mexico, and has created language programs for companies such as General Electric (Brazil), LG (Korea), and Toyota (Japan).
He is also the author of three books and several articles, including the Amazon bestselling 100 TESOL Activities: Practical ESL/EFL Activities for the Communicative Classroom.
Finally, I would have provided a small biography, but no information about his life is available on the net. I can provide a picture of him instead. ;)
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| Dr. Shane Dixon |
Este comentario ha sido eliminado por el autor.
ResponderEliminarIt's great that people like him exist. Personally, I feel that my english is too bad because I never understood how to speak it and unfortunately I only knew english to get good grades in the school, not to learn for the life. Greetings teacher.
ResponderEliminarHi miss!!
ResponderEliminarThe truth is that there is a big difference when a teacher expresses the subject with his whole body and manages to communicate well.
As a student, you can really understand everything better.
Hi miss!!!
ResponderEliminarThe truth is that I had never heard of this person, so it's great that you shared with us what he has done, especially to know how many people this gentleman has helped. He seems like a great guy!
Hello Miss!
ResponderEliminarHe is a very appreciated teacher and it is so good that he searches for new strategies and techniques, especially for the relation between the teachers and classmates, it is more friendly for them, something that students really appreciate. ο(=•ω＜=)ρ⌒☆
Hello teacher 💫 Dr. Shane Dixon seems to be such a complete professional, I am impressed! and it makes me happy to know that such a talented person like him is recognized.
ResponderEliminarHi, wow, for what you mention, his dedication to learning must be a lot, same as you. Personally, I haven't had very good experiences with my english teachers at school.
ResponderEliminarHello Miss, Dr. Shane Dixon's work is amazing, I have always interested in new teaching methods, because my time in school teaching was not the best, especially the one related to the study of foreign languages (English).
ResponderEliminarHe seems to be a very good instructor, it is always good that there are people with the initiative to teach, to teach in a different way than the already known.
ResponderEliminarHello miss, sorry I'm late, but better late than never. It is very important to find a teacher, and his techniques were impregnated in you. Miss, her classes are very good, and it's all thanks to him. It's the first time I feel motivated in English, I even think in English after the lessons! hahaha, that has never happened to me before.
ResponderEliminar