::: English Studio :::

Cambridge Exams

2012-02-25T09:24:00.001-03:00

Charts that help

2012-02-24T21:37:00.001-03:00

Song activities that rock !

2012-02-24T21:28:00.000-03:00

Lovely stuff to practise

The real clip

Fill in the gaps

Try this link

Going UP the stairs : You've made it Lucila and Matías !

2012-01-27T09:14:00.001-03:00

Congrats !

You've passed your Cambridge Exams and your teacher is very proud of you . Thanks for your effort and responsibility. Your commitment to hard work has made my role much simpler : It's been a pleasure guiding you ;)

All the best

Alicia

Football related stuff for ESL learners

2011-08-21T15:52:00.001-03:00

Football jargon / info / fun

Test your knowledge of football vocabulary and learn about football-based idioms , but BEFORE you try the idioms phase, please do this activity

I just "texted" to say I love you - A classic song edited for social media times

2011-08-19T20:39:00.003-03:00

If you're a teacher or a parent I'm sure you will still remember the 80s classic by Stevie Wonder "I just called to say I love you"

Here's a modern version for the new e-generation

And here's the activity to "play" with the new lyrics

Play and learn about The Big Ben

2011-07-13T10:44:00.001-03:00

Click on the pic to play a game and read about this famous clock in London

Related ativity

Shops in town

2011-07-07T13:44:00.005-03:00

Click on the image and then the sequence is:

1-Farm to Fork
2- Jack's games
3-Buying Food

Now click here for an exercise

Extension: Correct all these sentences:

a) Maria buys leeks at the fishmonger's.
b) Melissa buys croissants at the butcher's.
c) I buy pepper at the bakery.
d) Joseph and John buy buns at the greengrocer's.
e) Timmy buys praws at the butcher's.
f) Lucy buys chicken breasts at the bakery.
g) My mum buys lettuce at the fishmonger's.
h) My grandparents buy trout at the greengrocer's.

Seasons and Farms

2011-07-05T09:12:00.002-03:00

Click on the pic

Now work on this activity

New approach to Reading / Listening Skills

2011-07-03T20:51:00.015-03:00

London for Teens on Prezi

Read about London by clicking on the "play" button on this presentation:
London for Teens

Download these sheets and print them to complete the written comprehension practice about London : The Thames / The Tower of London / London Transport

If you want to know more about London, may be you like this vid on Trafalgar Square

London Zoo

2011-06-30T09:24:00.004-03:00

1. Try to find matching pairs from the speech on the vid in this activity

2. Download this doc and then say what do this pic and this one have to do with the texts downloaded.

3. Now click on this map of London ZOO and then work on this activity

Gnocchi Day in Argentina

2011-06-29T09:07:00.002-03:00

Gnocchi : It is an Italian food, in fact, the word gnocchi in Italian means "lump". Gnocchi is most often made with potatoes, though it can also be made from flour, squash, cheese or even polenta. Gnocchi is served much in the same manner as pasta, with sauce or some butter and sage or parmesan cheese.

Let's make some ;)

--------

The story of Gnocchi Day in Argentina

--------

Penguins' new London Zoo pool

2011-06-28T09:50:00.002-03:00

London Zoo has opened up England's largest penguin pool allowing visitors to
see endangered species up close.

The area is called Penguin Beach. Listen to the penguinologist and tell where the Humbolt penguin comes from and why some species prefer some parts from the beach to others:

Here's some more info, click on "Penguin Adaptations" and then work on this activity

More Potter : J.K. Rowling Announces Pottermore

2011-06-27T09:23:00.003-03:00

Vocabulary activities

Understanding from context

Work on collocations

Sunday Break - A flash of GB -City of Bath

2011-06-26T00:10:00.005-03:00

Visit Britain : BATH

In the Kitchen - Vocabulary

2011-06-25T10:23:00.002-03:00

Now click on this kitchen tour before you download and solve this crossword

Voting: What are elections?

2011-06-24T14:33:00.003-03:00

A brief guide to democracy and elections in the UK

Related activity

-----------------

Bonus

Play : Be an MP for a week

Stories for our Children: The World in 2050

2011-06-23T09:16:00.002-03:00

Related activity : Future Perfect Practice

Learn vocab through interative web games

2011-06-22T10:35:00.004-03:00

and teaches new words !

Practise these new vocabulary items

Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere

2011-06-21T08:37:00.001-03:00

How To Celebrate the Summer Solstice on Howcast

Vocab practice: Match definitions to words on the list

QUIZ

Related articles

Thousands celebrate at Stonehenge
Solstice party at Stonehenge

ARGENTINA - FLAG DAY

2011-06-20T00:17:00.001-03:00

Argentina's flag is a light blue and white triband with a yellow "Sun of May" in the center. The flag is twice as wide as it is tall.

This flag was adopted on February 12, 1812, four years before Argentina declared independence from Spain (1816). The "Sun of May" design was added to the flag in 1818.

The blue and white colors were chosen by Manuel Belgrano, the leader of the Argentinian revolution against Spain, and represent the blue sky parting to reveal white clouds, as is said to have happened when the Liberation demonstration began in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on May 25, 1810. Argentina's Flag Day is celebrated on 20th June, the anniversary of Belgrano's death.

Father's Day - 3rd Sunday June

2011-06-17T00:38:00.004-03:00

History of FATHER'S DAY

Argentine curiosity on Father's Day

San Diego Zoo Safari Park

2011-06-16T23:38:00.003-03:00

Read ALL the information on this website and work on this activity

...............

Bonus: Games, Cams , extras

The next big thing : Cellphones In The Classroom

2011-06-13T13:57:00.005-03:00

Topic on the hot seat these days

This video tells a lot about what's going on about such a big issue.
I think cell phones are fantastic tools that can be exploited to assist language learning, but there's still a really long way to go before this happens. We are not ready to use them. Not yet.

However, teachers should take up researching on new methodologies to deal with them right now. Just to count on possible courses of action up their sleeves .

Utopias of this sort may be somewhat hard to believe, but we MUST BE READY : "The future may call while we are out"

Weekend Break- A flash of Great Britain : B & B

2011-06-11T14:32:00.001-03:00

If you've been to the UK you must have stayed at a B & B once, that's a fact.

B & B stands for Bed and Breakfast, a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast, but usually does not offer other meals.

Typically, bed and breakfasts are private homes with fewer than 10 bedrooms available for commercial use.
Generally, guests are accommodated in private bedrooms with private bathrooms, or in a suite of rooms including an en suite bathroom. Some homes have private bedrooms with a bathroom which is shared with other guests. Breakfast is served in the bedroom, a dining room, or the host's kitchen.
Further info

Famous people in England - KING HENRY VIII

2011-06-10T14:46:00.002-03:00

Learn about him

Now work on this activity
------------------------

Bonus : GAME

Faithful marriages in English History ?

2011-06-09T22:51:00.003-03:00

Henry's wives

View more presentations from englishstudio

Related exercise

Do you want to know more about Henry's wives?
Watch him on this vid. He'll tell you !

After the vid click here

.............................
Bonus

Henry VIII's wives through ABBA music (along Money Money music)

England in the Past - I'm a Knight

2011-06-08T08:49:00.002-03:00

Watch this vid about knights

Now try this activity: Find the pair

Have you got what it takes to wear armour and handle a weapon like the knights from old England?

I will survive these verbs in the Past Tense!

2011-06-07T09:50:00.001-03:00

Activity related

If you’re not in, you’re out

2011-06-06T20:55:00.001-03:00

Literally speaking, this is what I feel when dealing with social media on the web.

Some days ago I had the chance to read a great post on how using twitter overweighs not doing so within a teaching context. More than that. I would say that should be applied to all sorts of social communication web tools and applications existing today: Diigo, Delicious, FeedReaders, Flickr, Youtube, Facebook, Wikis, Blogs and many others that I haven’t been able to try since I started into the ICT and web 2.0 world

Let me quote the best part of the post I mentioned in the paragraph above:

Because you’re not on Twitter, what you don’t realize is that Twitter is the back fence you share with your neighbors. Except your neighbors are people all over the world who share your interests and passions and can help you accomplish your personal and professional goals. Every day you have a chance to learn from these online neighbors. Every day you have a chance to receive resources that you otherwise never would have found. Every day you have a chance to intersect with people who care about what you care about and are willing to help you be more productive and save time. And much of it is banal or just friendly chatter, but much of it also is useful.
What’s that? You don’t want to be part of a community that shares your interests? You don’t have time to learn? You’d rather not receive helpful resources? Oh, okay. Good for you, I guess.
Why, again, dear educator, aren’t you on Twitter?

Right. I assume Twitter hasn’t been the only / unique source of info I picked up to social network, hence continue my professional development. However joining any social media site is thoroughly recommended. If you do not do so you’re definitely OUT.

Social networking is like attending a teacher development workshop everyday. It is sharing your expertise with people like you. And because “birds of a feather flock together” you notice there are professionals having the same probs / doubts / interests / challenges as you.

Social networks have definitely pulled down all sorts of barriers /frontiers. The one who affirms they have brought their users close to isolation must be looking at the situation from a different perspective.

In my real world, at least Social Networks have offered me the key to continuous exploration and research that I might have found impossible to do if they hadn’t emerged.

If I hadn’t been in Social Networks I wouldn’t have

1.discovered new ways to enhance language learning or

2.got the chance to work with lots of colleagues while exploring new web materials when they first exploited.
or

3. developed a new personal project regarding computer based testing for my students at English Studio or

4. been able to provide my students with updated news and resources to help them trained for international exams or

5. encouraged teen students to show how creative they can be and how far they can go with their L2 at an Elementary Level

Or

6. decided to produce a “Teacher Share” section on one of my blogs when I learnt how to edit videos and insert subtitles on them!

There are so many things I’ve done since I started networking!

Yes. To round off I cannot help quoting Scott McLeod on Big Think above.

You don’t want to be part of a community that shares your interests? You don’t have time to learn? You’d rather not receive helpful resources? Oh, okay. Good for you, I guess.
Why, again, dear educator, aren’t you Networking?

Why have you chosen to be out?

Weekend Break- A flash of G B : Cream Tea

2011-06-03T19:32:00.006-03:00

A cream tea is usually eaten as a mid-afternoon snack or when on holiday, as a stop-gap during that long break between the midday and evening meals. The essential ingredients of a cream tea are:

A scone - (pronounced either to rhyme with 'bone' or 'gone') a small cake made from flour, fat and milk, baked quickly in an oven. A less common alternative to a scone is a 'split' made from a rich sweet yeast dough

Jam - a conserve of fruit and sugar, boiled to a thick consistency

Cream - the fatty content of milk that gathers at the top

Tea or coffee

The jam and cream are piled atop the scone, which is then eaten slowly (with the hands rather than a knife and fork). Occasional sips of tea or coffee are taken to refresh the mouth between bites

.

More about Tea

Reference: BBC

More "breaks" (related posts)

I can see GRAMMAR on these cartoons !

2011-06-02T15:40:00.007-03:00

Click on the picture :

Now work on these selected activities:

Meeting people in England

Talking about nationalities

I'm not good at Maths

I've got some paper

This is our family tree !

What's the weather like in Yorkshire?

On the news! The Weather Forecast

English Icons and Traditions

2011-06-02T10:50:00.006-03:00

One of the unique jobs in London ? No doubt: RAVENMASTER

You can't imagine THE TOWER OF LONDON without its traditions and one that is tied to it has to do with the RAVENS

Watch this vid to see what is it like to be a ravenmaster:

Now work on this activity

Now listen to this interview with another Ravenmaster and try this listening exercise.

London in the Past

2011-06-01T10:01:00.004-03:00

Imagine you are talking to your grandchild about your childhood in London . Open your diary and remember

Instructions to read content:

Now work on these activities: (on opening, please click on PLAY FLASH FULL SCREEN )

One / Two / Three / Four / Five

Shakira Biography

2011-05-31T13:49:00.006-03:00

Shakira grew up in a poor town in Colombia. She used to think of one day becoming a famous singer and travelling the world.

Listen to her in detail and complete this activity.

Sunday break - A flash of Great Britain: CAMBRIDGE

2011-05-29T20:04:00.007-03:00

Learning and understanding a foreign language is also learning about the culture of those native speakers.

Cambridge is well-known because of Students, Exams and Universities.

Cambridge and the surrounding area hold an unrivalled reputation for being a centre of excellence both in learning and ambience. Now its famous Colleges are home to over 17,000 students – Kings College Chapel is a familiar image all over the world. Cambridge’s heritage also includes an outstanding record of scientific and artistic achievements – Newton, Darwin, Wordsworth, Milton, Ian McKellan, John Cleese, Emma Thompson and Zadie Smith were all educated here.

But Cambridge is much more than that, as www.visitbritain.com points out:

You'll discover a perfect slice of England in Cambridge. Breathtaking buildings, the river running along the backs of the colleges, the bustling market at the centre of it all and the many thriving shops, bookshops, pubs, cafes and restaurants as well as the best Cambridge accommodation. And of course, what it is best known for - the world-famous university. Situated in the East of England, Cambridge sits on the River Cam and has plenty to offer all year round – making it ideal for a short break or holiday in Britain.

Twitter -the alternative to a school / class webpage

2011-05-28T19:37:00.017-03:00

Nowadays it is almost impossible to neglect the use of twitter as a communication resource. Today Twitter cannot be "avoided" in the ICT and ELT worlds.

USING TWITTER:

Pros

-Much simpler / quicker to set up and update than any other webpage or blog
-Messages are always short (140 word-limited per post) , hence readable...(as long as text conveys meaning), which directs us to another advantage:
-It forces the sender to be concise and accurate in the message he wants to deliver

Cons

-Writing to 140 characters could leads to bad grammar skills
-Privacy is at risk
-Public timelines read by this network user do not contribute to organised info, i.e. it hard to follow threads

The disadvantages mentioned above are not such, though.

Regarding the bad grammar, it must be considered that you -as a teacher/tutor will have to monitor every single tweet published in the network. In order to do this you can use private or direct messages or retweet tools "@"to get students to re-write properly / edit posts. You might even pre set a rule: RESPECT TO GRAMMAR , SPELLING and CORRECT VOCAB is to be observed (or else...you decide what comes after that...;)

As long as privacy is concerned, I think your students' tweets will have to be protected and their profiles very restricted.- In classroom situations it is better to have a private account. This might even help to prevent Twitter spam (students will have to be warned and encouraged to block those “followers” that have nothing to do with their classroom activities)

If we take the 3rd drawback into account, the solution is the use of hashtags (#)
They can transform your twitter page into a complete webpage (simpler from the graphics perspective)as hashtags can really work as different communication channels. For example #GroupKids1 or #ThePASTSIMPLEPractice #HW , etc.

Twitter can be at first glance a strange phenomenon and many don’t understand its purpose right away. However, Twitter is a powerful tool that is growing in popularity as word spreads of its potential capabilities. The idea of writing small blog posts of 140 characters or less to a group of your followers is actually a revolutionary new way to bring communities together, learn from each other, and keep updated with all that is happening.

Busy teachers may have found that Social Media practices are not only time consuming to learn but also to apply (as they are time consuming to "teach" as well). Blogs and resources alike might have been put off due to all that.
However microblogging platforms such as Twitter have come up to make ICT users' lives easier.

The Legend of the Last McRib to practise the PAST SIMPLE structures

2011-05-26T08:49:00.005-03:00

Order the words to make sentences that summarise the story

Fruits -Vocab through a music vid

2011-05-25T17:28:00.006-03:00

Watch this clip and focus on the fruits that appear on it

Then play this word game (play in FULL SCREEN on open)

Now listen to the song in detail and try to match the phrases on this activity (again , play in FULL SCREEN on open)

The power of ads

2011-05-21T23:35:00.003-03:00

Watch this video. Does the song sound familiar?
It's a classic by Oasis- But the "familiarity" has to do with a media hit today.

Try this activity

YES. The clip has been on for a couple of weeks already and caught the audience attention,which is a good opportunity to take advantage of the motivation it naturally arises.

And we have the chance to practise some vocab here

This is what a blogger posted on the ad

Comics, one way to deal with students' writing skills

2011-05-18T09:35:00.014-03:00

At Elementary levels students generally lack vocebulary to provide background and character descriptions for their stories. You may provide some hints but they will not be able to express exactly what they want. However the web offers some http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifinteresting tools that you can get students to exploit and enjoy.

This is the case of Pixton.

Pixton introduces the world to Click-n-Drag Comics™, a revolutionary new patent-pending technology that gives anyone the power to create amazing comics on the web.From fully posable characters to dynamic panels, props, and speech bubbles, every aspect of a comic can be controlled in an intuitive click-n-drag motion.

Steps taken:

1. Students read a story from their coursebooks about a man killing a sheriff and putting the blame on his own brother (sounds like a tragedy, doesn't it?-but the case is presented along humorous lines...so it doesn't hurt that much)
2. An extension activity is presented : That man is now sorry for what he did in the past and students have to tell that on a comic.
3.The Pixton page is introduced. What's interesting about it is that the site is in several languages, so if students have to work alone they may appeal to their L1 for further help. The site offers video tutorials and students were asked to explore them as homework (this stage is really time consuming in class).
4.When students knew how to manage within the application frames they started producing the extension activity. This stage was done in class.

Needless to say, the whole process was extremely motivating for them. And guess what: Nobody neglected their homework ! (and they turned out expert Pixton operators!)

Students' outcomes :

More productions

A conversation with a friend
Yes. You need THERAPY!
Your next destination: PRISON
Good you're sorry...

Today the issue is MOBILE LEARNING

2011-05-16T23:39:00.010-03:00

Some time ago the innovation topic was CALL (computer assisted language learning), then ICT (information and communication technologies) and jargon of that sort. Today MOBILE LEARNING is on the spot.

The article "From Blackboards to Blackberries" makes a good description of the situation.

By the way,after being nominated as Judge for the Net Ed Gen Project, I am now going through the idea of mobile learning from different perspectives. These are two of the vids I have to give feedback to:

Find more videos like this on Net Gen Ed Project

Find more videos like this on Net Gen Ed Project

Teachers' Sundays are for blogging and comments

2011-05-15T16:26:00.005-03:00

Sometimes these practices are far better than attending seminars or workshops.

This is why I like blogs and Sundays. Because I have more free time to investigate and interact with colleagues with whom teaching interests are shared.

I'm subscribed to one of Gabriela Sellart's blogs on my rss reader and was very glad to read this post on "feeds" which I did not hesitate to reply as I honestly had an experience to share and recommend.

Good for Sundays and ICT tools that let us, teachers at the chalk face (guess this expression will become obsolete sooner than expected) interact and share hands-on experience.

This is for everybody (English Studio students included), who sometimes neglect blogs and comments. This is the way to exploit the tools the web has to offer. And the way to learn through them.

Don't throw away those old tapes! Turn them into mp3 files.

2011-05-15T12:19:00.011-03:00

The audio tape has been one of the items set aside after the explosion of CDs and mp3 players in the world market .

If you have been teaching for more than 20 years you know what I mean: Those expensive and useful materials -so difficult to get- that helped our teaching when we wanted to enhance students' listening skills.

As time went by those tapes were left into old boxes as CD tracks played on more updated sound equipements took over. And the same was applied to mp3 files which are useful to be played on mobile devices-so common nowadays. However, no matter how modern the new material is, you still miss certain content wich was recorded on those tapes and cannot be used now simply because you tape recorder is no longer within your teaching equipment.

Well, this is what I did and my old tapes came back to "life" again:

I dug out my old walkman (but a tape deck would also be perfect for the task) and got hold of a cable to connect the walkman's headphone jack to the sound card's line-in jack on the PC -as shown on pics below :

I used Audacity to record from the walkman. Audacity is an open-source, cross-platform program that makes simple work of recording and editing audio. The edition features this application holds are limitless...and user friendly! So the tapes can actually turn into top quality audio sounds that can be played everywhere.

Do you want to learn more and recycle your old audiotapes? Further details here.

The Past Tense -Online Practice with short games

2011-05-14T15:17:00.008-03:00

1) This link helps you remember verbs from the past . Concentrate and take your time to study and practice with the domino game.

2) Type "CORRECT" or "INCORRECT" in the blanks provided here

3) Try to get out if this maze

4) Save Granny from the aliens ! All the words are verbs in the past ;)

5) Wordsearch

Friday the 13th Origin: The mystery revealed!

2011-05-13T14:31:00.004-03:00

As you may see, people put it all down to Friday 13!!!
However, there are more real explanations for the "unlucky" events shown above:

Sphinx Facts and Mythology

Famine in Ireland -Potatoes plans destroyed

The Bell crack and the iconic symbol of American Independence

Online Games for ESL learners

A perfect blend

2011-05-07T22:23:00.014-03:00

A couple of weeks ago I bought a brand new ELT publication in Argentina which I would like to recommend to colleagues. I believe the mag offers a way to see how to blend traditional material (in print) and web resources. It can be an eye opening opportunity for lots of collegues willing to exploit online stuff in their lessons.In addition, it also triggers unlimited ideas to all of those who have started trying out web resources in our classes.

Classroom posters, "how to" articles and photocopiable activities, as well as already designed exercises to use along with youtube vids (sth which will certainly help teachers save precious time).

Hope this is really useful for our ELT world.

Going 100% digital. One of my aims as a teacher.

2011-05-07T16:24:00.009-03:00

, OK..may be the complete use of mobile devices in my classroom is too much,but I can dream with sth more likely to happen.

When I saw this material from Pearson I thought : "This is what I will go for".

I admit there are lots of external factors that will have to be overcome to get the idea into practice. One of the issues that are bound to prevent my 100% digitalization is clearly the inexperience of young learners before a PC screen. However, I trust this won't be a great obstacle in the long run.

The more user-teachers exploit the world wide web the more likely we will be at ease with all the tools and resources offered online.

This blog will show how those expectations can be fulfilled. Simply keep on reading and don't hesitate to join in order to interchange / share ideas.

English Assisted by Computers. I mean it.

2011-05-03T14:05:00.003-03:00

Great debates on the use of Technology have been on lately and they food for thought.

The reading of those posts found me in front of my screen this morning, almost not remembering that I had to set up an activity for my pre intermediate teens who are dealing with the past simple forms these days.

Here's how I exploited the computer / internet aids that I has at hand:

I needed a song to deal with the PAST, so I asked "Google" for a famous song to practice the PAST TENSE (I didn't want to use the classic "Imagine" by J. Lennon) so there I was, asking for another classic...the feedback was immediate: "Summer nights" (from the musical Grease).
Yes ! Lovely -I thought.
So I looked for a clip on YouTube and the lyrics.
The idea of a very long clip didn't sound appealing, so I used Chop Tube , a magic online tool to cut long YouTube vids short. And ...voilá ...this is the extract I decided to exploit with my students.
I cut and pasted part of the lyrics from the web page indicated above and prepared a ppt file that I then uploaded to google docs (the lyrics were pasted on slides that were then placed in the wrong order). Students would later have to download this file from the web (in ppt format)and they would reorder the slides while listening to the song.
They might even check they have sort everything out correctly by visiting another brand- new - chopped YouTube video that I published on the web to serve the purpose.

Is there any other better assistant than the web and technology? The issue presented above might be really simple and basic before the endless debates arisen after the blog post mentioned in the first paragraph. But - I want to point this out- this is one of the reasons why I like working with technology. It certainly helps me by making my life easier.

William and Kate - Vocabulary + Listening Practice for Upper Intermediate Students

2011-05-01T16:34:00.007-03:00

The Royal Wedding has been at the top of the news and here's something related to that:

1)

The video below has got a singing version that you can listen to after you finish the activity suggested:

Try this online crossword
--------

2)

There's another interesting audio extract that you can play here and get the script by reconstructing it yourself
----------

3) Little Howard has also intervened and I set up some listening practice. Go ahead:..are you with Little Howard or with Prince William?

william_vs_little_howard

Video to practise the Present Simple with kids

2011-04-29T20:12:00.007-03:00

Some of the bad aspects of teaching Grammar is when you feel your students find the practice activities really boring. I always say that sometimes students have to put up with boring grammar exercises. But they also have the right to see something different (and not so unattrative) from time to time.

You can create a funny video to get them to do what you want them to practise:

One thing I learnt while exploring the web is that you have to be on the alert all the time-you can discover extremely varied sites /tools / resources that will trigger further ideas. This happened to me when I came across this site and I tried it.

Then you can always use sites like Classtools.net to create some activities.
(Process shots)

I once used the same video to get students to practise a harder exercise

You live and learn- Posting pics of your young learners

2011-04-29T19:12:00.014-03:00

That was one of the first mistakes I made when I started blogging. And I see it again now, but on some colleagues' websites .

In the era of Social Media -Twitter, Facebook and alike it's hard to resist the temptation of publishing stuff like students' pics. They really are an interesting way to show what you do in your institution. Marketing strategies of this sort are so simple to use nowadays. However, this practice ought to be more careful.

I remember I would publish hundreds of images showing my classes -fortunately I have never had any prob- but I admit now that it was a slip. Let's put it down to lack of experience in the online world. Reading this blog post from an expert in ELT from IH Barcelona was an eye opening moment that I really appreciate now.

Looking after students' privacy is crucial and I've been learning how to do it since then.

I guess I have some colleagues using websites to open their classes to the world reading these lines. I hope they find this hint useful for reflection. When I reflected myself on the issue, I think I became a better blogger / web 2.0 user /ELT professional because I understood that ICT and web 2.0 and networking are concepts related to giving, offering and sharing experience.

You can open your class to the world without your students' pics but with your own practice, sharing what you have to give to students, tutors, parents and other colleagues. This is the essence of networking and the role of Social Media. The rest is simply fashionable trend and it will soon be taken over by sth newer / more interesting.

Further to the blog post I mentioned above I tried to work with students' elements to represent them. Honestly, that didn't work so much. It was not so attrative for them. So I went on exploring and I found out that there's nothing better than their own images -but on avatars made by themselves ! There are some great sites for them to make their own images (the way they like).

Related links:

Face your manga (how to)
Avatar makers
Manga
Portrait Maker

Raising students' awareness of web interaction

2011-04-29T15:41:00.006-03:00

Voicethread is a web application that has caught my attention since I discovered it online.

I think it holds a great potential to be exploited in class both to be used as an online presentation, to offer students audio extracts of written discourse that has to be read aloud to practise pronunciation -when students are in class they can ask for the pron of words to the teacher but they can't keep the teacher's voice in their schoolbags unless they record it while the lesson is being delivered and limitless possibilities.

I used the video below last week to get students to listen to daily routines (sth they had been dealing with before)and show them what they can do to actively interact with a webpage , synchronously or not. There is much more that should have been done, but it was just a first step. First time they had to listen , watch, react and record their reactions after understanding how the web application works(everything at the same time).-

Related posts

Introducing young learners to web tools

Start using Voicethread

Your notebooks? No, don't open your notebooks. Open your messenger accounts

2011-04-19T10:04:00.012-03:00

Practice, practice and practice on paper is time consuming for students to copy from the board and, honestly, quite boring !

Boring activities, experience tells, are sometimes necessary in the English classroom. However just a simple idea may make the difference.

A Synchronous online activity can be developed and the "practice atmosphere" is likely to change for the better. Using the messenger to replace paper and pen is something new for students and typing the same sentences they might have to copy on their notebooks in a boring way turns into a challenge that implies fun for them.

You type "Sheila is in London", expecting that they type back "She's in London". You type "Tony and Joseph are at school", expecting students to type back "They're at school", etc.

You also have the chance to type OK / right/ wrong (provide instant feedback) so as to give students the chance to correct themselves if they type sth wrongly.

--------

More online practice that sometimes is not so appealing when done on paper:

Countries and Nationalities
(click on the phrase "Play flash full screen" on apening)

Para chicos : HELLOKIDS.com

2011-04-17T20:47:00.009-03:00

Sí. Es la red social que adopté finalmente para ellos. Todavía estamos en la etapa de análisis del sitio y lo adecuado o no que pueda resultarle al grupo.

Pero me gusta. Para empezar, me gusta. Lo fundamental es la seguridad que ofrece al chico. Todo está dentro de un marco de permisos que , habiéndolo configurado yo en mi rol de docente, permiten total control de todo lo que hacen en línea. Por ello sólo ya es un muy buen sitio para iniciar a los alumnos dentro del sistema de "Networking".

La registración es muy sencilla y el inicio de sesión, igualmente.

Antes de comenzar a usar el sitio debo habilitarlo yo, que configuré mi cuenta dentro de la misma red, como "parent", o sea que de golpe me encuentro con 10 "hijos" / alumnos a los que debo autorizar - o no - a hacer cosas dentro de la red sin que ellos perciban mucho mi monitoreo. De hecho NO lo perciben. Sencillamente les avisé que iba a estar siempre pendiente. La realidad es que diariamente recibo "reports" a mi cta de email personal de todo lo que realizan online.
Algo más seguro que eso? Bueno sí, también tengo conocimiento de sus nombres de usuarios y contraseñas dentro de esta red. Quizás es una exageración pero,tratándose de alumnos tan chicos, lo considero muy necesario desde el lugar de la seguridad.

Dentro de la red pueden interactuar entre sí. Sus perfiles son avatars creados dentro del sitio por ellos mismos, lo cual les resultó muy bueno, El proceso de creación de sus "imágenes" representativas fue altamente disfrutado, y aprovechado para hablarles del inconveniente que puede crear subir imágenes reales a la web.

Dentro de la red pueden crear sus propios blogs de una manera muy sencilla. Estamos por ahora dentro de esta etapa. Cuesta. Cuesta bastante. Pero de alguna forma deben comenzar.Es el típico caso de chicos nacidos en la era digital que son sobresalientes ya desde bebés con el mouse, pero sólo eso.

Hay mucho para trabajar con ellos. Ya iré publicando.

Por ahora , pulgar arriba para Hellokids.com

Posts relacionados:

Nada es tan fácil como parece

Internet y los chicos

The 60s 2.0 in the English Class: Beatles + webtools = Great Practice

2011-04-17T16:23:00.008-03:00

One of the classics was presented through this videoclip:

Students were then given some info about the background to the song.
and they answered some questions about what they could infer from the video images and random voice sounds/ sung text they were able to get.

Next students were provided with an interactive-gapped text containing the song lyrics -"interactive" because the gapped text was made using an office word application which showed blanks. On placing the mouse cursor on the gap and pressing the F1 key , hints for the gapped words were released to guide correct text completion.

The follow up activity was to get students to memorize the song. But not by simple "parrot like repetition". A new webtool was to help them: MEMORIZE NOW, a great resource I came across while exploring the web. It gives students the opportunity to learn and enjoy songs, which is -as Nik Peachey affirms- an excellent way to improve listening, vocabulary and pronunciation.

Introducing web tools to students:"Type with me"

2011-04-16T14:36:00.010-03:00

It's always a nice idea to get students to practise the "classic" language items through innovative ways as they often tend to get bored at doing exactly the same sort of things.

Do you know how many times they've gone through the Present Simple Tense? And the classic "read a text and answer questions in the present simple" kind of activity?

Well, this could have been another boring practice again : Three different texts taken from somewhere online (Scarlet , Amr and Asan and their habits around their school lives)- Sets of 10 questions per pair (they were working in pairs) that they made themselves-ie each pair was assigned a text anallows d they had to prepare the set of questions for that text. They would then interchange questionnaires and answer the questions the other teams had made. Typical activity that could have been well developed orally or even in writing (on paper). However, a new alternative has come up :Typewith.me , a web application that lets you produce document texts, synchronized as you type, so that everyone viewing these pages sees the same text. This allows you to collaborate seamlessly on documents in your Web browser.

Before opening the web application each pair had their questions ready and checked by me so as not to have slips or serious grammar mistakes in the use of the target practice item.

And this is what we got: An interesting practice lesson aiming at grammar precision. Well worth a try.

Click here to see a live recording of the lesson when I introduced "Typewith.me" to my Pre-intermediate teenage froup of students

If you don't get what you must do to turn on the screecast just press "PLAY"as shown below:

Como Twitter , pero mejores !

2011-04-16T09:35:00.003-03:00

No es novedad que hoy la red Twitter es parte de la vida de un alto porcetaje de cibernautas que lo han adoptado incluso como reemplazo de blogs, facebook e incluso aplicaciones de mensajería instantánea. Pero, como todo lo que es usado masivamente, al menos en mi opinión, deja de tener la utilidad que alguna vez fue objeto de su uso. Puntualmente hoy uso twitter sencillamente porque las personas a las que sigo lo usan. Y me interesan sus posts / twits. Pero hay muchísimas alternativas a Twitter que me ayudarían a filtrar los mensajes que me interesan.
De las personas que sigo en Twitter solamente una ha adoptado, por ejemplo, una de sus alternativas, Shout'em , pero nolo usa regularmente. Supongo le ha ocurrido lo mismo que a mí. La gran red de contactos está en Twitter y cambiar red es empezar todo de nuevo.

Una lástima, porque Shou'em permite la escritura de 300 caracteres y no sólo 140, lo cual a veces facilitaría lo que queremos compartir con colegas en mi profesión en particular. Además también tiene todas las demás características de Twitter como sus "mobile features".

Explorando la web , en menos de medio minuto es posible descubrir varias más que no he probado pero seguramente ofrezcan un filtro que hoy no tengo, personalmente, con Twitter.

Además convengamos que Twitter no es una red conveniente para chicos o adolescentes en una clase de inglés. Muchas veces pensé en utilizar Twitter como proyecto de English Studio con algunos de los grupos de alumnos que guío, pero justamente la masividad d ela red me dice que no es una buena idea más allá de que a ellos les encantaría la idea.

Hay, sin embargo , aplicaciones como Twitter pero pensadas para chicos. Una de mis ideas es experimentar con algunas de ellas.

Más novedades, en próximos posts, pero si algunos de mis lectores conoce algo más del tema agradeceré el intercambio de comentarios sobre la cuestión planteada.

Satisfaction 2.0

2011-04-15T18:24:00.006-03:00

No. No es la nueva versión del clásico de los Rolling Stones.

Es lo que sentí particularmente en la clase de Upper Intermediate ayer,cuando los vi a mis alumnos del grupo (a todos) trabajar tan segura y fluidamente con los elementos ofrecidos por la computadora: Bloc de notas, navegadores web abiertos en varias pestañas, auriculares a full en sus oídos y ojos completamente inundados de material mostrado en las pantallas de sus monitores. Interactuaban. Creaban. "Luchaban" con los contenidos de la clase y no con los recursos tecnológicos extraídos de la PC.

Mucho tiempo intenté que ocurriera ello. Y , de repente, me di cuenta de que lo estaban haciendo con total naturalidad. Ya no me necesitaban todo el tiempo. Ya no me volvían loca al encontrar dificultades no solamente con el lenguaje que estudian sino también con los recursos con los que deben trabajar.

Me sentí libre al verlos manejar su libertad. Ya ni siquiera me necesitaban para consultar vocabulario (los diccionarios online son ahora sus grandes amigos). Dejaron de ser "dependientes" (o - como en la jerga ELT decimos- "spoonfed students", representada por la imagen de bebés recibiendo la comida en cuchara de parte de su mamá o algún otro adulto).

Vamos bien. Ha sido un largo y difícil camino hasta aquí. Hace un par de años no movían una tecla de la compu para sus trabajos prácticos sin mi ayuda.

Sí. Es bueno ver que ya están listos para volar. Sólo me toca darles algún que otro "mapa" para que lleguen bien a destino.

Posts relacionados:

One of my wishes in my professional life

Generación English Studio-las metas empezaron a concretarse