Teaching philosophy vs. practice
Making this was kinda fun. And also challenging.
But it helped me clarify one area of real cognitive dissonance in my teaching practice; although I’m philosophically sympathetic to constructivist theory, particularly because it’s how I learned myself, putting into practice in the classroom is really hard for me! Putting this Prezi together helped me clarify some reasons why. It’s not pretty, but it helped me think about some questions I need to ask. And that’s better than getting answers, right?
I found Prezi very intuitive. I’ve been a fan for a while, but this was my first serious attempt to use it.
I get my Year 7s to make a powerpoint about their family. I might try this next time. Maybe I could teach them how to use it in Chinese. My year 8s could use it to do their cultural projects. The idea that they could share their work with the wider world (other than just their teacher) might make it more interesting for them.
If students make content about their interests, their motivation will be higher and they’ll learn language they need. Not everyone has guinea pigs. Not everyone is a competition horse rider. But it matters a lot to those kids that are to be able to express themselves.
mailaoshi 
I really liked your presentation. I agree. Constructivism seems like an ideal which is harder to put into practice. I have never embraced IT mainly because it was not accessible to my classroom when I taught at secondary but in ‘theory’ I am willing to give it a go (next year when I am teaching again). Your ideas about how to use it made me think of the one of the tutorials where the participant talked about students use of video presentations. If students know they will have an audience they will put in more effort and be more motivated into producing it.