Category Archives: freeware

VEO: A video Converter

VeoVideo Converter is a site in Spanish which converts any type of video online. It’s versatile and very handy. Paste some video URLs or upload videos from your PC and convert them online to MP4, FLV, OGV, AVI, MP3, OGG y WebM  to name a few.

What I like most about this site is  that not only does it convert your videos so that you can see them in your PC  but also in your  Android, iPhone o Windows Phone and tablets.

The only thing you need to do is register for free and paste the URL  or upload the video you want to convert and you’ll receive a link in your email with the link to download the video.

Another important feature of VEO is that it offers the posibility of downloading  just the audio from Youtube .

A dream come true: Casa MariFalcón

I am dying to tell you about my new project , but first things first! and first is telling you about this very interesting site I’ve used for my little project. Everybody knows how difficult it is to build a professional looking website but with wix , it’s one of the easiest things in life. It creates a Flash website without any knowledge of Flash.

And now , about my little project

Some time ago we bought the ruins of an ancient house, Investing a lot of time, a lot of effort and, why not say it, a lot of money  we have finally finished . It is in the North of Spain and we have decided to rent it during the summer holidays. So , if you want to come to Spain and enjoy the beautiful landscape and the clean sandy beaches of the North , this might be your house.

Please, Have a look at the website http://www.wix.com/cristinaca/marifalcon created with wix.com.

SlideShark: convert your PPT to your Ipad format

I’ve been using my Ipad for a year and I couldn’t be happier with it. There are lots of apps that I use for fun and there are some more that I use to help me in my daily teaching. One of them is SlideShark, created by the same people who created MyBrainShark(post here). SlideShark is a free app for converting and viewing PPT files on your iPad. SlideShark converts your PowerPoint files without losing any of your original formatting, transitions, or animations.

To use SlideShark  you need to register but don’t worry it’s free . Then , just upload your PPT files  and  SlideShark will convert the files for you. Instal  the free SlideShark app and  you can access your converted files on your iPad at anytime and display your presentation in the classroom.

Students in the limelight

About two weeks ago I wrote a post about an amazing site called Brainshark ( see post here) and today I want to show you the first thing I’ve done with my elementary students.

In the first video , Karen and Alice– from 1st year -perform a role-play called “At the Sports Centre” and in the second one Laura and Alba– from the 2nd year – do likewise with a role-play that I called ” At the grocery”.Thank you ,girls! It was funny, wasn’t it?

All right, I have an OHP and now what? Part 2

Dear reader,
About two weeks ago I wrote the first part of this series which I should have called “Adventures and Misadventures of a teacher with nothing but a projector “.
The next obstacle in my path was the lack of a computer in this classroom. But, of course!.. 😉  we have one laptop for the English department but… it’s not always available. So, we have to take whatever laptop is available from other departments. The problem is that not all laptops have programmes installed that can read Flash or whatever format your video is in so the innocent teacher, unaware of this fact, walks into his classroom with a video downloaded from the Internet ready to be played, some questions about the video ready to be answered and some hours and a lot of effort put into this task and realises that the laptop cannot read his video format. Swearing and bumping your head against the wall is not a good option,  trust me on this one, I have already tried it, so what’s left?
Downloading VLC media player, which is player that reads most multimedia files as well as DVD, Audio Cds, VCD …etc .

You can easily download it into your computer from this site (Click here) though I strongly recommend you download a portable version of this programme and carry it around with you, in case you have to borrow a computer from some other department. (portable version, click here).

Will I ever need to write Part 3? What are you guesses?