Working with EDPUZZLE

Firstly, I tried to focus the EDPUZZLE activity on current affairs…. 

So, given the significant coverage the women’s general strike was achieving I decided to work with a video about the Suffragettes.

The downside was the lenght of the video, so I had to cut it short –it takes around 4 minutes now.

The activity was planned for a high-intermediate- level group of 2º Bachillerato.

My learning objectives of this task were:

•         To give a greater degree of autonomy to students,
•       To Match very simple definitions to vocabulary words from familiar themes
•     To Recognize the main ideas and details from a listening.
•       To introduce students to the suffragette movement and their political motivation,
•       To become aware of gender inequality and the progress achieved during the last couple of centuries.

In order to achieve the aforementioned objectives, the students had to watch this video at home –as many times as necessary- and answer the 10 embedded questions. As you have already imagined, I was expecting to implement the flipped classroom method. The due date was 2 days after the presentation of the activity in the class. 

•   What methods do you think were most effective in the Suffragette campaign?

•     Do you think the Suffragettes have had more success if they had used less extreme measures?

•     What methods do you think the Suffragettes would have used if they had been active today?

Once this session finished, I shared the link to the video with my students. As I’ve said before, they had 2 days to hand in their homework.All in all, I am pretty pleased with the results. My students seemed very motivated, they both enjoyed the topic of the activity and the new tool.

 So I guess I’ll create a similar activity pretty soon. 

LINK TO THE VIDEO

Working with Time Toast

Hello! Some of you might remember the post where I told you that some of my students were currently studying the Ancient Egypt in their History subject. 

Well, after talking to the History teacher, we decided to test their knowledge through a common activity.  Besides, students love a transcurricular activity -even more if it involves the use of ICT. And, after all, aren't we a bilingual school?

The activity consisted on the creation of a time line of Ancient Egypt using the TimeToast web page.

My initial objectives were:

-  Learn to use Time Toast for the creation of a time line.

-  Explore new methods, materials and tools used in the History subject.

-  Improve knowledge related to the use of ICT.

The advantages of using TimeToast were related to the digital media. The students' motivation is immediately raised when facing an activity in a digital form.  I decided to implement the activity in class, since some of my students lack computers at home. As for the disadvantages, I can only recall those related to the poor state of computers or the wifi signal. Patience seemed our best friend in those cases :(

Class preparation was crucial to set up the activity. Before presenting the task, I showed my students several examples of time lines and explained the reason why they are so useful in some fields -such as History. 

Once started, my students were generally eagerly working, although some discussions arose regarding the pictures they wanted to use to illustrate their time line -pair work is tough. The final result was OK, although it took me two whole sessions to complete the task -even though I was working with a small group of 16 students. Ideally, the TimeToast activity would have been very useful if implemented by the students at home or having working facilities in the school. Also, many of my students didn't have an email address, so we had to solve that problem before even starting to design their time line online. 

To conclude I must say that the introduction of TimeToast activity definitely increased my students' motivation. However, as a teacher, I should add that the use of ICT in class usually turns into an impossible mission and I like to have a plan B just in case the wifi signal is dead or the computers do not work. 

You can click below to be directed to the 

ANCIENT EGYPT TIME LINE

School reading. A reflection on our students' concerns and towards the formation of a lifelong habit.

Every academic year, when I tell my students they have to read a specific number of readers per term, I always encounter the same bad reaction: eye rolling.

Another variety of that reaction is the one I get when I include READING in the class planning on the board. The younger the students, the harder it is to break through that initial refusal. When that wall seems unbreakable -more often than not- I like to ask them about that opposition and what causes it. They can be very argumentative, but I honestly get their point.

Take the first picture, for instance. The facility looks impressive and appealing from an adult’s point of view. However, most of my younger students would disagree and argue that they’d rather spend their free time outdoors or playing computer games. Touché. 

Then, after some discussion and negotiation we usually compromise. This involves me taking notes of issues that are a cause for concern or, on the contrary, seem alluring to them. Having done some research, I usually introduce them to some options and they always have the final say. From my experience, I find this very helpful to raise the students’ commitment to the activity and, what’s more, I rarely encounter any opposition having reached this point. 

I obviously can’t do this with every single text we read in class. I only implement this method at the beginning of the first term. If I’m lucky, all this process leads us to a situation pretty similar to the picture in which all the students are eagerly reading. In those groups with younger students this is usually achieved with texts that are appealing and attractive to the students. Sometimes their interest emerges from the topic itself, some others derives from the format (i.e. comic books).

As for my personal experience as a reader, I must confess that I’m a book worm: I read as a pastime and pleasure. Hence, I’ve never thought of reading as an arduous task. Although I must admit that my reading habit in L2 has changed over time. At the beginning, it consisted on short texts usually introduced by the teachers. It wasn’t neither easy nor cheap to put my hands on an adapted text or reader. Nowadays, the amount of texts written in L2 available on the internet is immeasurable and all you have to do is help yourself.

Regarding the different reading habits depending on the chosen language, I guess I don’t follow a specific pattern or have a favourite genre. I’m an eclectic reader who tends to read the books in the language they were published. As regards the format, I mostly read online or use the e-book, although I love the paper format when facing one of the classics -the smell of paper is irreplaceable.

So, in short, as former L2 learners –still in progress- it should be easy to put ourselves in our students’ place. Been there, done that; right? Now, as teachers we must figure out the main problems our students might encounter when facing their reading tasks and try to provide them with tools to overcome their fears and enjoy the pleasure of reading.

INNOVATIVE TEACHING PRACTICES

Let's say HELLO! to the new section of the blog. 

As some of you already know, I'm a busy bee (sort of) and I like being  in touch with the new teaching trends within the ESL field.  

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I'm currently taking a course focused on innovative teaching practices -hence the title of the new section- and I'll use this space to post any interesting new materials.

Sooooo, let me introduce you to the first batch of materials :)

FLO-JOE

It's a very useful web with tons of exercises for the Cambridge Exams.

ESL KIDS WORLD

A web with online games to review grammar, vocabulary, listening... The game are versions of some very popular TV show. 

LYRICS TRAINING

A very useful web to improve our level of English - there are some other languages available too- through the lyrics of our favourite songs.

LISTENING MATERIALS. B1. PET PART 1

Morning! I know, I know, long time no see!

Sorry!

I'll try to make up to you by posting some interesting listening materials/ exams. 

I am aware that some of you are struggling with the new exercises. Some of you looked like this during the exam (just change the 'homework' part and the pirate's hat)....

Let's change that! You can do it!

Click on the following links to be directed to the exercises:

PET LISTENING PART 1

PET LISTENING PART 1

PET LISTENING. PARTS 1-4

Some useful speaking tips

Some of you might be wondering...

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But, as it turns out, I luvvvv my job so it's no big deal. 

Today I found this wonderful ESL blog and thought that you could find these materials very useful for your next speaking test. You are welcome :)

Click on the link to be directed to the blog with plenty of pictures sorted out by topic. 

SPEAKING MATERIALS. B2 COMPARISON OF PICTURES

More Listening Practice

I keep trying...

 TRUE/ FALSE listening exercises...

T/F Listening FCE Test. Tourism

T/F Listening. FCE Test. Champs Elysees