Monthly Archives: June 2013

I’m going on Holiday

General

I love teaching , just like that ,  and it is not something that on certain “difficult”  days I have not pondered again and again  but still at the end of the course, year after year , this same feeling remains. I enjoy teaching!

But what no one tells you when you decide to become a  teacher is that ending the school year is way more work than starting it, than preparing classes and than marking exams. I hate writing reports !

Anyway if you have been following me you know that , at the end of the course I’m normally so burned out that I need a holiday. So, my blog is  also going on holiday. I really hope you’ll still be there when both me and my blog return in September.

I ‘ll say my “see you later” this year with one of my favourite songs from The Beatles,  some refreshing images of  Hawaii’s beaches  and wishing you the best of summers.

The Flipped Classroom: Two Interesting Tools

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I couldn’t just wrap up the school year and kick off the summer holidays without mentioning these two interesting tools I’ll be trying this summer to add to the list of useful tools I have been trying on and off in the flipped classroom setting. The Flipped Classroom Concept is the new trend in education. Classes are flipping all over the world. Well, maybe in Spain, it is not so popular yet but I think it has a great potential in classes where the students are motivated to learn.
The Flipped Classroom is a reversed teaching concept. Basically the teacher, through about 5 minute -created videos, teaches the students at home and then “homework” is moved to the classroom. One of the advantages of this method is that students learn at their pace and while some students might need to watch the video just once to understand the content, weaker students will not feel left behind as they will be able to replay the video as often as they like without feeling they are interfering with the normal pace of the classroom. The student, then, comes to the classroom to work on what was explained in the video and time in the classroom is spent on practising, something the students cannot do at home on their own. There is,obviously, more time for student-teacher interaction. In this flipped classroom setting there are two tools I’m willing to give a try this summer and which I thought I would share with you, in case you want to give the Flipped Classroom a go next year.

The first tool is similar to MyBrainshark and VoiceThread, which I have been using for two years. It’s called Narrable and it allows you to upload photographs and record yourself or upload an audio file narrating your photo. When you sign up you only get 5 free narrables but you can get more free narrables if you don’t mind sharing them in facebook.

The other one is a bit more complicated and demanding on the teacher’s side and if you are camera shy, like me, maybe not so appealing but, anyway I’m willing to try it.
It’s called Movenote and it helps you record a video of yourself teaching accompanied by slides. First of all, you have to upload your images or presentations ( it supports pdfs, excel,.. and many more) and then you record yourself using your webcam while you explain your images. There is also the possibility of uploading a previously recorded video and synchronising it with the slides. It’s free , you only need to sign up to an account . The only thing I don’t like is that you share via an url but it doesn’t seem to offer the possibility of embedding it in a blog or website.

Listening Comprehension: What Makes Beyoncé Tick

Listening

I have very much enjoyed listening to Beyoncé in this long interview and I thought maybe my students would be interested in knowing a bit more about this superstar. Here’s the whole video but I have only used a three-minute section . (from 1,32 to 3.37)

Now read the questions and see how many you can answer. Don’t worry if you cannot understand everything the first time.  Listen ,at least three times, before giving up and clicking here to see the answers.

♥She’s made the decision not to do certain things. Which are mentioned?

♥How does she feel about her success?

♥What was Beyoncé’s father’s job?

♥What was Beyoncé’s mother’s job?

♥How long has Beyoncé been performing?

♥How old was she when she became professional?

♥Who were her pop idols when she was a young girl?

♥How does she feel when she is on stage?

♥How old was she when the quartet Destiny Child was formed?

♥Destiny Child spent a lot of time on the bus while on tour, what did they read?

Writing and Speaking : A Biography

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It’s with great pride that I  show you the work of two of my students; they are  twelve and thirteen-year-old students  who, with a lot of effort on their part,  have managed to overcome the difficulties of speaking and pronouncing a different language. My Congratulations and Thanks  to Patricia Alonso and Juan Fernández for their effort and contribution to this blog. Keep up the good work!

Patricia has written and recorded  Marco Polo’s Biography  and Juan has done the same with  Fernando Alonso.Ladies first!

 

Present Perfect : Grammar and Exercises

Grammar and Exercises, , ,

I know the school year is almost over -hooray!!!, but it is never too late to let students have a look at some of the things they will be learning the coming year. Present Perfect is not an easy tense to use, especially for people from Asturias (we never use this tense if you are wondering why) but after doing these exercises you’ll soon get the knack of it. I swear!