Pod Cast

Following the trend of the last few posts about flipping the classroom, here is a Pod Cast type recording of a lecture on process writing.

The Idea

Have students listen about the steps in writing an essay.  Have them make a study guide after to aid them in the process.  The idea is to have students teach themselves on the subject, you checking up on them to make sure they follow through.

How

Record yourself speaking on any device.  Upload to podbean.com.  Share with your students.  Come up with a way to check comprehension.

Example

Here is a website I made that would allow students to walk through the whole process online.

Here is the actual podcast.

What About You?

Have you ever thought about making a podcast?  What kind of things do you think would be useful for ESL students to listen to?

Screen-Cast

Do you have Power Points or other presentations you are proud of? Why not record yourself talking while showing what is on the screen? This way, students can move at their own pace.

Following up the ideas from the last post about flipping the classroom, this week I've added a screen-cast.

The Idea

Record a lecture for students to watch at home.  Have them show what they learned be producing notes or an assignment from the listening.  Practice in class.

Why and what?

Why do it? It is fun! It's a different format for students.  They can do it at their own pace.  Here is a closer look on why, it's a page that my teacher, Dr. Wilson created.

What to do? Anything that may benefit your students. Last post, there was a flow chart to assist.

How to do it

There are lots of programs that can record your computer screen along with your voice.

Community clips (google it)
Screencast-O-Matic
Quick Time Pro
and many more

I really liked Community Clips and found it really easy, though I am sure Quick Time has better editing.

1. Download Community clips
2. Prepare your lecture
3. Click record
4. Save the file
5. Upload it to Youtube or whatever site you would like

Community Clips has a nice walkthrough as well.  I felt like it was pretty user friendly and the video files quite managable.

Example

Here is a screen-cast I made about either or.



In class the next day, I check their notes and do some example exercises.  I also have them do this Polleverywhere.com survey so that I can check their answers as they come in.

What about you?

Have a video you would like to share? Anything else that could be done with Screen-Casts? Let me know what you think!

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!

Video Journals

Can the benefits of journaling be used to improve speaking?

After reading an article about recording students speech, I am thinking it would be worth a try.

The Idea

The original article focused on recording journal entries on tape and having students exchange them, which sounds like a whole lot of work on the teacher's end.

What I propose is that a student video journals and asks a question to the audience. They upload it to something like Youtube. Other students watch it and answer the question.

How to Do It

Students start with a topic related to class. Based on their level, they must speak about the topic for a predetermined period of time.  They record their spontaneous speech using a web cam (you can do this directly on Youtube).   At the end of the talk, the student must ask one or two questions to their audience. They upload it to YouTube.  Have your students "tag" the video with the name of your class so it is easier for everyone to find it.

To follow up, have students trade Youtube usernames.  The goal is to then have students listen to each other and give feedback, answering the questions either by a responding video, or in the comment section.

Example

Here is an example topic that could be given to students.

Read the Quote

"If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter."
George Washington

Without planning beforehand, answer the following questions in about 3 to 5 minutes.


1. What do you think this quote means?
2. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

3. What current events do these quotes remind you of?
4. Ask a question to your audience at the end (What do you know about... How do you feel about...)

As the follow up assignment:

Listen to a partner's monologue and answer their question at the end.  On their video, comment on one thing that you enjoyed about their talk.

Benefits

I've found that ungraded journals has really improved my students writing. When they are forced to produced for a certain amount of time but only for a participation grade, they feel like they are doing a good job.

It helps confidence. They know they can produce a certain amount of English. It also helps them hear their peers and learn from them as well.

Let me know if you give it a chance! How did you do it and how did it work out? Do you feel like it improved their speaking?

Source

Mir, M. (2006). Idea: Using "Oral Journals" to Develop Speaking Fluency, Self-Confidence and Much More! Hispania, 89(3), 559-561.

Class Blog

The Idea

Do you wish your students would write more? What about think more consciously about what they say? What about building a community of writers out of your class?  Try a classroom blog.

What to do

Make a new blog for your students to follow. Students are getting more and more techno savvy and you'd be surprised at how easy it is for them to sign up on their own. After you give them a day or two to catch up, you can pick up the stragglers.

Example

Here is an example for a reading and writing class. I try to make sure they are not only writing regularly but also making comments on what other students are say. The assignments ask them to reflect their writing and what the class is reading.

This could be a really easy thing to do after you get it set up. Once you have the prompts, they are there forever.

Other Uses

What are some other ways you think you could use a blog? Write a comment.

Web Quest

The Idea

Ever have students have problems finding proper resources? Are you worried that they are just reading it in their first language and not in English?  These problems could be solved with a thing called a WebQuest.

What is a WebQuest

A WebQuest has a task, a procedure to complete it, and a final production goal at the end. You write goal for them, walk through the steps giving websites to scaffold and research. In the end, they have a paper, presentation, poster, or project of some kind. It can be individual or group.

Where?

There are a lot of things labeled "WebQuest" out there. A good place to start is Quest Garden. It has a variety of types and resources. While the ESL specific content is a little low, it is an interesting way to get students to work with area specific items and practice their English. They can kind of follow your or their interests.  You can always just Google Web quest and maybe get lucky. People post them all over.

Example

Try doing this WebQuest I found on the quest garden. It is an interesting one about the English language and it is geared towards linguists called "Whose English is it, Anyway?". Here is another about the history of English as well.

Try this one I made for a class. I hope to use it many times in different forms because it is a general "argumentative" speech topic, of which it seems like my syllabii call for frequently.

Expansion

On the WebQuest website, you can make your own. It costs a fee though after the first month. What is really nice about it though is that it comes with procedural checkpoints so you can insure that the quality is high. If you are going to make one for the first time, I'd start there and move it somewhere else after you make it.

You can make this on any free website program such as GoogleSites, Weebly, or others if you have the patience to make it. If you are using GoogleSites, there are some templates out there if you search for them while you are making it. It makes the design process really slick.

Have a Webquest you like? Post it and share!

Wiki Writing

Why Wiki?

I've found it difficult to have students work on their writing with technology because it:

A: Needs feedback

B: Is kind of lame

In class last week, we talked about collaboration tools and one of them was making a wiki. This lead to some research. The article I read focused on writing a wiki as a class. The assignment was to keep a wiki over the course of the semester and post 47 things. The study found that students who kept up with the wiki and made more edits did better on the final exam. The argument was that the students had more interest in writing and therefore were more engaged in learning about it. It was found that students were interested in what other students wrote and wrote better for their own assignments. There isn't a link between wikis and better writing, but it shows a link between interest and being a better writer.

Nakamaru, S. (2012). Investment and Return: Wiki Engagement in a "Remedial" ESL Writing Course. Journal Of Research On Technology In Education, 44(4), 273-291.

The general idea is this: Have students create an article, read and comment on other articles, revise, teacher comments, final draft.

Sites

I found Wikispaces good because it has no adds and has a bulk user creator. It also has a really good system for making comments. You can also change the permissions on the page as well. The draw backs are is that it looks kind of bland and there are no ways to change that unless you pay. It is also a little bit of work to set up users (but this gives you a good deal of control, including setting passwords.).

The other site is I tried was Wikia. The benefits are that the design has more customization and anyone who knows it exists can then contribute to the article (it sends an email when someone does.) The disadvantages are that there are lots of advertisements and no system for making comments outside of altering the actual text. Security is also an issue because anyone can write on it (makes it easy to set up though). Navigation is strange and hard to find things you wrote.

The Assignment

Create a narrative essay. The story is a personal or made up story.  Collect your stories by your country of origin. Write the essay on a wiki page, comment on other student articles, and revise work.

The wikispace page.

The wikia page. Feel free to contribute to this! Add your country by adding a page and write your narrative.

Reflection and Potential Uses

What is great about this is you can have the whole set of directions available. It is also nice because you can model what you want done in class (for instance, we commented on an essay by an old student) and have them explore on their own.

It is also really neat to see the articles and comments pop up. You'd be surprised what your students can create in a short time.

What is also neat is that students can have this for ever.

Finally, this could be an interesting way to not only do narratives, but many different types of essays, summaries, news reporting, classroom study guides, really anything. The idea is they work together to collect the parts of the whole and comment on each other's work.

Note Taking

As I was in class this week, I realized that I just ask my students to take notes without ever really explaining how to do that.

I think I've left that skill to other people or specific classes that have it in the objectives.  The problem is that students fall through the cracks, just started studying that month, or never learned it well.

So for this week I'm writing a guide to note taking.

Click here to see the guide.

Here is a document for hand outs or whatever.

Here is an example of how to take notes as well.

Prezi and QR

Prezi+QR

What it is...

This week I made a Prezi. I admit it wasn't the first time I've used it, but it is definitely the best I've made. It is also connected with a QR code information gap activity for some production.

Prezi is a presentation tool that zooms.

If you don't know what a QR code is, check this out.

If you want a list of QR code readers for smart phones, check this out. iOS, Droid, Black Berry.

In a nut shell, the idea is that students know about "didja" or "didya"

Level

High beginner to low intermediate

Materials

• Computer and projector for the Prezi.
• Each student (or half) needs to have a QR Code reader or even half. If not, the QR part can be removed.
• Handouts.

I+1

Students will need to at least have been introduced to past simple verbs and how to make a question with them. Knowing short and long answers are also helpful.

Goals

Students will recognize and use relaxed pronunciation in past simple questions.

Students will understand that

• There is informal and formal speech and when to use it
• There are rules to relaxed pronunciation

Students will be able to…

• Pronounce “did” with pronouns in questions
• Listen to informal register using “did”

Students will know…

• Relaxed Pronunciation
• Past simple questions and answers

Lesson Plan

Go over the Prezi. Let them hear the examples and ask questions.

Did ya? on Prezi

Follow up with the QR code activity. It tells a little story. I had the students go around the room and ask each other, looking for the answer to their question. The students can then copy down each other's questions.

What to Take Away

Prezi is a pretty fun way to do presentations. I still see the use of PowerPoint in that it can have individual moving text. The benefit of Prezi is that it A) looks cool, and B) gives students a bigger question and reviews often. Check out a list of benefits and disadvantages for Prezi here.

QR code is interesting. I'd been using it to just have students look at a website or something else. It could potentially be used as a link to have students follow along on for a Prezi, which is one of the functions of it.  It seems like a cool information gap activity. It might also work well for a scavenger hunt activity as well.