SketchCast

How do you see your role in the classroom? As a lecturer or a facilitator?  If you are a facilitator, you may like to flip your class.

Flipping the classroom is a bit of a trend right now,  and it is actually pretty easy to do.  I've tried it a couple times and have really enjoyed the results.  Here is the set up.

The Idea

Instead of doing exercises at home, do them in class.  Instead of lecturing in class, lecture at home.  That is the principle.  There  are many different reasons for doing it, and many resources for it.  This is a website that my teacher made which I found to be particularly useful explaining the studies done about it and how to do it.

What do to

Choose a topic to teach. I find that teaching grammar works really well for this.

Pick a way to present it.  Here is a nice picture that you may find helpful.

http://flippingclasspedagogyandtools.weebly.com/index.html

Then you pick a way to share it.  I just used a program on my iPad called Educreations.  I really liked it, found it really user friendly.

What do to do after

Now you class is freed up to actually use the grammar.  Have conversations and do exercises.  Have the students explore the topic as much as possible.

Here is the lesson I made and a follow up conversation to have the next day.



Here is one example of a follow up activity to do the next day.

What do you think?

What are your thoughts on Flipping the class? Any concerns? Do you have any favorite sites or lessons? Have you made one yourself?  Let me know!

LOL Cat Grammar

The Problem

Do you ever have problems getting your students to want to find mistakes? In a lot of cases, students don't know what to look for or what to do with it. And after you teach it, they make the same mistakes over and over.

So how to you improve grammatical awareness in a memorable way? LOL Cats!

The Idea

Have students look at LOL cats for specific grammar and vocabulary errors. This could be a topic you are studying or a general trend that you find your students making.

What to do

For instance, notice the following LOL cat:

You can start by asking your students "What is wrong with this?" They can then find what is wrong and correct it. Next we look at the following:

Again, what is wrong with this and how to fix it. And finally:

Again, what is wrong with this one and fix it.

The lesson can then be what...? Subject-verb agreement! An interesting way to introduce the rules of subject-verb agreement in a memorable way.

Expansion

Other areas you can add that work will with LOL cats:

• Spelling
• Pronunciation of high frequency words and spelling
• Word endings
• Attention grabber for class
• Conversation starters

What is also nice is that you can easily create your own with your pictures or other peoples on the site. Write your own lesson in a LOL cat way.

Any ideas? Please post some other ways you think you could use LOL cats in a class.