Category Archives: Students’ Corner

Want to decorate a wall? Use Glogster

Create your own stuff, Resources, Students' Corner, ,

I’ve been meaning to use  Glogster for quite a while but I was waiting to for the right activity to make the most of it. As you already know, if you’re a regular reader, I normally teach adults so I didn’t quite know what sort of activity was best for this tool to show off.

But, what is Glogster? It is a tool that allows users to create free interactive posters (also called “glogs”). How can you build your poster?


♥Uploading video or photographs
♥Decorating your poster in different styles (retro, pop…)
♥Adding  text, choosing from different backgrounds
♥Putting a link to another page, video…etc
♥Choosing your own background image for the wall of the Glog
♥You can make your wok public or private
♥You can embed it in your blog or website

It goes without saying that you’ll need to register, but it’s free. I’ve created a poster with my youngest students who still ahh and ohh about bright colours, moving graphics and funny stuff. You can see the poster below, nothing to write home about but I’m sure you can do better than me.

Once I got started, I saw the potential it had, even for my adult students.
♥Photograh description
♥Book /film reviews
♥Post stories or poems
Time to be creative and have fun!

Giving a speech with a nice presentation and using a Wiki

Create your own stuff, Resources, Students' Corner, Writing, Writing skill, , , ,

I thought I would kill two birds with one stone by asking my intermediate students to give a speech  about the advantages and disadvantages of a certain issue (I’ve already published a guide on how to do it here) as before working on pronunciation and intonation  they had to write it  , which ,in this course ,is essential if they want to pass their English exam with flying colours.

I have used a Wiki , from Wikispaces, so that they could choose  from  25 issues the one they fancied most   and the date that suited them best . By doing it with a wiki I  gave them plenty of time to think , rethink and then change their minds about  what they had previously decided.You can see one of the wikis I created here with the instructions on how to use it. I also gave them the option of illustrating their speeches and this is just an example of some of the nice presentations we have enjoyed.

This one has been done by Andrea Martínez Pérez. Thanks Andrea! It looks great!

Christmas Carols and Cristmas Cards

Music, Students' Corner, , , , , ,

It’s been quite a long time since I haven’t sung any Christmas Carols with my students . I might be wrong but I’ve always felt that although they might have been willing to learn about some cultural issues , singing Carols was out of the question. But this year …. is my year for all these secret pleasures that I used to enjoy doing when I was in primary or secondary school.

That’s why with my elementary class  there is going to be a Christmas Cards competition  and we are also going to learn the Christmas Carol  ,Jingle Bells . We are going to practise really hard and delight teachers and students with our graceful singing. No kidding , some students sing really well!

Click to see some ideas for the cards.

Craft activities (Oxford)

Making a Pop-Up card (Oxford), Another Pop-Up Card (Artcare), Christmas Tree Pop-Up Card (Staiden)

And this is the carol we’re going to be singing.  Want to join us?