GRAMMAR GAMBLE

Grammar is not usually fun so why not try making it fun with GRAMMAR GAMBLE?
Learn and practise grammar as a game with the whole class.  What I like about this game
is that you can practise specific grammar topics that you may be learning at the moment.
If not, you can go straight into playing the game and competing against others from all
over the world with mixed grammar-related questions.  The more confident you are with
your answers, the more you will 'gamble'.
Very practical and engaging!

USING POLLS WITH STUDENTS

Let’s talk about POLLS. 

A poll is a survey used to give a public opinion about a specific topic or question. Using a poll with in your class allows you to ask one multiple choice question and receive results which will reflect how other students feel about a particular subject.  Nowadays, most polls are being asked online.  An online poll tool gives you the opportunity to receive instant information or feedback from other students in your class.  You can use create polls to use on your computer or on any device such as a smartphone, ipod or ipad.

Some easy sites to make polls are:

1.      http://www.polldaddy.com/
2.    http://www.polleverywhere.com/
3.       http://www.surveymonkey.com/
4.       http://pollcode.com/
5.       http://www.polljunkie.com/
6.       http://newpoll.net/

Look at this example.





Let students control some of their own learning by giving them the opportunity to be active and  feel that they are the 'creator' of learning activities such as this one!

WORDSIFT

Here is a tool I came across that I think could be useful for teachers working  on reading skills.  I think it could best be used by the teacher with the whole class, projecting the text in question using the OHP and working on the text as a group activity.  As well as working on reading skills, teachers are introducing key vocabulary in a visual way which facilitates comprehension, esp. in a foreign language.

Wordsift visualizes texts and picks out the most frequent words used.  Wordsift also does a google image search and retrieves images to match the two most frequent words found. Examples from the source text containing the most frequent word in the text is displayed under the Visual Thesaurus word web.  One intended use of this feature is to organize the text to preview key vocabulary. 

CULIPS

ESL PODCASTS

A Canadian based website with playful podcasts to help you learn English. Culips podcasts have a lot of cultural contents and we talk a lot about life in Canada and in Montreal in particular.

THE TIMES IN PLAIN ENGLISH

Reading a newspaper can be a frustrating experience, even in one’s own language!

 Add to the equation a language which isn’t your native tongue and the task becomes even more cumbersome.   Try using ‘The Times in Plain English’.

 The Times in Plain English brings you important news from America’s best sources of information. The writing is in clear, readable English.  It’s a great for learners of the English language because it avoids:

• Complex sentences
• Compound sentences
• Distractions from the main thought
• Comparisons
• Metaphors, similes and analogies
• Argot, slang and idiomatic words
• Contractions
• Adjectives

This is a great reading resource for English teachers!

6 GREAT VIDEO TOOLS FOR TEACHERS

Here is a link to some great applications for making or editing videos. 

15 REASONS WHY ONLINE TEACHER DEVELOPMENT WORKS BEST

Nik Peachey has recently published 15 reasons why online teaching development works best.  I normally try to use my own ideas when blogging but it turns out that I completely agree with Nik and couldn't have expressed myself better than he has!
As an online learner myself, I can completely back up any of the points mentioned.  Having done an online masters practically full time for two years, I could work at my own computer, learn at my own pace and try out any new ideas on the classes that I had at the time. It was a steep learning curve but that's the beauty of working at one's own pace.  On top of developing and fine-tuning my own digital literacy skills, it also gave me great insight into what students go through when participating in online courses and forums.  Last but not least, studying online put me in contact with a great network of professionals with whom I have continued working with and learning from.  For me, the benefits far outnumber any inconvenience.  Have a read!