Κυριακή 18 Δεκεμβρίου 2011

E-TWINNING 2011 "FAIRY TALES"

 One of the most famous Greek myths as presented by the students of the 4th grade of the Primary School of Thermi, Lesvos, Greece



GREEK  MYTHOLOGY

More PowerPoint presentations from Angela 


Τρίτη 6 Δεκεμβρίου 2011

MERRY CHRISTMAS

WINDOW CRAFTS

Primary School of  Thermi , Lesvos, Greece

 





NATIVITY  SCENE  IN  OUR  CLASS

Δευτέρα 5 Δεκεμβρίου 2011

MAKE A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS CRAFT

SNOWGLOBES                                         

      Items you will need...
      • Glass Jar (Smaller size jar is good)
      • Hot Glue Gun
      • Egg Shells and/or Glitter
      • Plastic Ornament
      • Small Piece of Cloth, Rubber Band & Ribbon to tie around the lid (Optional)
                  SnowGlobe Water Recipe
                  Distilled Water (about 2 cups)
                  2 oz bottle of liquid glycerin which you can find at drugstores and it is quite cheap
                  glitter



GINGERBREAD MAN

 TRADITIONAL  CHILDREN'S  STORIES

An old woman was baking one day, and she made some gingerbread. She had some dough left over,


so she made the shape of a little man. She made eyes for him, a nose and a smiling mouth all of currants, and placed more currants down his front to look like buttons. Then she laid him on a baking tray and put him into the oven to bake.
After a little while, she heard something rattling at the oven door. She opened it and to her surprise out jumped the little gingerbread man she had made. She tried to catch him as he ran across the kitchen, but he slipped past her, calling as he ran:
"Run, run, as fast as you can,
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!"
She chased after him into the garden where her husband was digging. He put down
his spade and tried to catch him too, but as the gingerbread man sped past him he called over his shoulder:  
"Run, run, as fast as you can,
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!"
As he ran down the road he passed a cow. The cow called out, "Stop, gingerbread man! You look good to eat!" But the gingerbread man laughed and shouted over his shoulder:
"I've run from an old woman
And an old man.
Run, run, as fast as you can,
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!"
The cow ran after the old woman and the old man, and soon they all passed a horse. "Stop!" called out the horse, "I'd like to eat you." But the gingerbread man called out:
"I've run from an old woman
And an old man,
And a cow!
Run, run, as fast as you can,
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!"
He ran on, with the old woman and the old man and the cow and the horse following, and he went past a party of people haymaking. They all looked up as they saw the gingerbread man, and as he passed them he called out:
"I've run from an old woman,
And from an old man,
And a cow and a horse.
Run, run, as fast as you can,
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!"
The haymakers joined in the chase behind the old woman and the old man, the cow and the horse, and they all followed,him as he ran through the fields. There he met a fox, so he called out to the fox:
"Run, run, as fast as you can,
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!"
But the sly fox said, "Why should I bother to catch you?" although he thought to himself, "That gingerbread man would be good to eat."
Just after he had run past the fox the gingerbread man had to stop because he came to a wide, deep, swift-flowing river.
The fox saw the old woman and the old man, the cow, the horse and the haymakers all chasing the gingerbread man so he said,
"Jump on my back, and I'll take you across the river!" The gingerbread man jumped on the fox's back and the fox began to swim.
As they reached the middle of the river, where the water was deep, the fox said,
"Can you stand on my head, Gingerbread Man, or you will get wet." So the gingerbread man pulled himself up and stood on the fox's head.
As the current flowed more swiftly, the fox said,    "Can you move on to my nose, Gingerbread Man, so that I can carry you more safely? I would not like you to drown." The gingerbread man slid on to the fox's nose. But when they reached the bank of the river, the fox suddenly went snap! The gingerbread man disappeared into the fox's mouth, and was never seen again.

 http://www.topmarks.co.uk/stories/gingerbread.htm

You can create your own interactive Gingerbread Man at http://sprintsweets.com/

INFORMATION ABOUT THE STORY      Source Wikipedia

History

Gingerbread dates back to the 15th century, and figural biscuit-making was practiced in the 16th century. The first documented instance of figure-shaped gingerbread biscuits appearing was in the court of Elizabeth I of England. She had the gingerbread figures made and presented in the likeness of some of her important guests.









Κυριακή 30 Οκτωβρίου 2011

15 Halloween Resource Sites for Teachers

15 Halloween Resource Sites for Teachers
(click on the above title)

and an online  Halloween story at http://storytimeforme.com/story/bens-halloween






You can let students create their own Halloween Story making a class book. They can use model sentences. You can get inspired by the following clip and let the students write the sentences and make the book illustrations.

Σάββατο 29 Οκτωβρίου 2011

MAKING SCHOOL BOOKS


Every year I like to make books with my students in which they can express their own feelings, likes, dislikes, things they do, personal facts, etc. They can write about all these things and read about their fellow students. They get very excited when making them and even more excited when it is their turn to take the books home to read them. You can make these books using simple materials such as cardboard, A4 size writing paper, or even a simple drawing pad. You can write about almost anything in these books. For example, you can make a monthly calendar with your students, laminate it and write the students' birthdays on it using a whiteboard marker. You can get inspired by books you may have read in class such as "Brown bear, brown bear what do you see?", songs like "This is the way" or special themes you want to teach.

Shape Monster, Shape Monster,
munch, munch, munch...
How about a red circle for your lunch?
page 2 blue square 
page 3 yellow triangle
page 4 green rectangle
page 5 orange oval
page 6 purple diamond
page 7 goes Shape Monster Shape Monster (top of page)
Munch, Munch, Munch (bottom of page)
For each of the shape pages the children trace that shape on the middle
of their page, color it whatever color it says and then tear pieces of
paper (again in the asked for color) and fill in the shape using torn
paper pieces and glue.
On the last page , they make their own shape monster using pre-cut
shapes. They can use crayons to add details to it.
Another idea may be : Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews
1. One dot can make an elephant's eye (just an example)
Two dots can make ___________________etc. 
http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/927.html
More ideas at http://www.pre-kpages.com/classbooks

You can also use printable books you can find online to create a small graded library in class. We used paper boxes of cornflakes which we turned into book boxes to store and categorize the books we made. The kids had to put together the pages, paint the illustrations, read the book and even present the story using the laminated puppets (story characters). You can find printable story books at : 
By encouraging students to get actively involved in the process of making a book they get highly motivated when time comes to read the book. They take pride in what they have achieved. Improved reading skills undoubtedly improves their learning.  All we have to do is to help our students become "good readers"!

Παρασκευή 7 Οκτωβρίου 2011

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Myebook - The very hungry caterpillar - click here to open my ebookThe ideal story to teach or revise food vocabulary or the days of the week. You can make your own caterpillar and food, cut a hole in the food pictures and make the appropriate munching sounds as the caterpillar "eats" her way through the food.  I also showed my students a real cocoon, as I was narrating the story and they were all amazed! You can create your own story with the students using http://www.storyjumper.com/

or craft your own caterpillar using the following technique: http://mmmcrafts.blogspot.com/2010/06/being-eric-carle.html

More ideas from a Greek Kindergarten at :
http://edonipiagogeio.blogspot.com

Other similar stories you can work with in class are :




You can find more ideas at : http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/the_very_busy_spider.html
      
You can create a reading workshop in class to encourage your students to start reading
http://bcove.me/zmmwihwu
http://www.crafts-for-preschool-kids.com/more-crafts.html

Σάββατο 10 Σεπτεμβρίου 2011

HAPPY NEW ....... SCHOOL YEAR !

 New school year! New school for many students and teachers! New friends! New teachers! New books! Make a new start! Set off with new ideas!
 On the first day you can make nametags! There are plenty of free printable patterns you can find if you browse the web,or you can use the children's own designs and ideas. You can play with them to introduce each other and break the ice! Don't forget to include your own, the "teacher's name tag" !
  • Make scrabble combinations or crosswords
  • Put them in alphabetical order
  • Count or match letters
  • Play a name bingo
  • Find an adjective to go with the names and point out the student's positive traits eg. Justin the brave
  • Shuffle and give each student one, face down. When time starts the students need to take the tag back to the student it belongs to. 
  • For more advanced students: 
           Put the name in the center of the card.
           In the upper left corner, write four things that you like to do.
           In the upper right corner, write your four favorite singers or  
           groups.
           In the lower left corner, write your four favorite movies.
           In the lower right corner, write four adjectives that describe
            you.
When everyone finishes, have them mingle with the group for a few minutes. Without talking, they are to read the upper left corner of the other group members' cards. When time is up, they are to find one or two people who are most like them and visit for a few minutes. When time is up, they are to mingle again reading the upper right corner of the other group members' cards. They then find the one or two people most like them and visit. Repeat with the lower left corner and lower right corner information.
To make sure everyone visits with several people, you could implement a rule that no two people can be in the same group more than once.



You can also make a poster to introduce the classroom rules! Make it fun and creative so as not to scare the students away! You might include the following:

Hands up! Yes! Yes! Yes!
Shout! No! No! No!
Help! Yes! Yes! Yes!
Sleep! No! No! No!
Eat! No! No! No!
Speak in English! Yes! Yes! Yes!

Poster made by the students of  E' Class of the Primary School of Thermi 2011

Κυριακή 14 Αυγούστου 2011

Cooperative Learning Strategies

Think, Pair, Share

ACTIVE LEARNING STRATEGY


What Is It?

The think, pair, share strategy is a cooperative learning technique that encourages individual participation and is applicable across all grade levels and class sizes. Students think through questions using three distinct steps:
  1. Think: Students think independently about the question that has been posed, forming ideas of their own.
  2. Pair: Students are grouped in pairs to discuss their thoughts. This step allows students to articulate their ideas and to consider those of others.
  3. Share: Student pairs share their ideas with a larger group, such as the whole class. Often, students are more comfortable presenting ideas to a group with the support of a partner. In addition, students' ideas have become more refined through this three-step process.

Why Is It Important?

Students need many opportunities to talk in a linguistically rich environment. Researchers have found that students' learning is enhanced when they have many opportunities to elaborate on ideas through talk (Pressley 1992).
The think, pair, share strategy increases the kinds of personal communications that are necessary for students to internally process, organize, and retain ideas (Pimm 1987).
In sharing their ideas, students take ownership of their learning and negotiate meanings rather than rely solely on the teacher's authority (Cobb et al. 1991).
Additional benefits of using the think, pair, share strategy include the positive changes in students' self-esteem that occur when they listen to one another and respect others' ideas. Students have the opportunity to learn higher-level thinking skills from their peers, gain the extra time or prompting they may need, and gain confidence when reporting ideas to the whole class. In addition, the "pair" step of the strategy ensures that no student is left out of the discussion. Even a student who is uncomfortable discussing his or her ideas with the whole class still has an audience in this step. Finally, while the strategy may appear to be time-consuming, it makes classroom discussions more productive, as students have already had an opportunity to think about their ideas before plunging into whole-class conversations.

How Can You Make It Happen?

The think, pair, share strategy is ideal for teachers and students who are new to collaborative learning. It can be used in a variety of contexts. However, to be effective, students must consider a question or issue. It could be a complex question, such as, "What do you think were the key issues that led to World War I?" It could be a more straightforward request, such as, "Create a pattern that could be described as 'a, b, a, b.'"
As students consider the question or issue, they should derive some benefit from thinking about it further with partners, such as when there are multiple correct answers to a question. For instance, in the previous example, students could provide many examples of "a, b, a, b" patterns and seeing multiple answers will reinforce this concept. On the other hand, providing students with questions that have only one correct response, such as, "What is 5 + 2?" soon becomes tedious to students, as there is not much to share with partners or the whole class.
The "think" step may require students merely to be quiet for a few moments and ponder their thoughts about the question. They may write some thoughts in response to the question.
Some teachers find it helpful to set a time limit for the "think" and "pair" steps of the strategy. If you choose to do this, be sure to give students an idea of how much time they will have. Remember to allow sufficient time during the "pair" step to allow both students to talk about their thoughts.
In the "share" step of the strategy, students can share their ideas in several ways. One way is to have all students stand, and after each student responds, he or she sits down, as does any student with a similar response. This continues until everyone is seated. Another way is to move quickly through the class, having students respond quickly, one after the other, or to have a class vote. Responses can be recorded on an overhead projector or on a graphic organizer for future discussions. Another variation is to stop after the "pair" step, and have students write their ideas. Collect students' responses and assess any problems in understanding.

How Can You Stretch Students' Thinking?

This strategy often stretches students' thinking merely by its implementation. Some students consider it a challenge to articulate their thoughts to another person. However, once students become comfortable with this aspect, there are ways to expand the strategy's reach.
One way to is to be sure that students have opportunities to pair with a variety of partners. Pairing students who sit closest to each other is convenient but doesn't provide the same intellectual or social challenge as accommodating the learning and discussion styles of a variety of classmates.
Another method for varying the strategy is to allow two "pair" steps before proceeding to "share." Students can either participate in two consecutive pairings or can pair with one student and then the first pair can be grouped with another pair to discuss their thoughts before joining a whole-class discussion. This double-pair method is particularly helpful if you have a very large class or are dealing with an especially complex question.



Think, Pair, Share: Cooperative Learning Strategy for Teachers (Grades K-12) - TeacherVision.com








Think-Pair-Share Sample Template
My question: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Think
During the next 5 minutes, think about your answer to the question above. Write your response on the lines below:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Pair
Now, pair up with your partner to exchange ideas? What ideas did you have in common? Write those ideas below:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Share
Using your "Pair" ideas, decide upon one major idea to share with the whole class. Write that major idea below:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
They are also available on the following wiki:
Procedure:
1. Generate a higher-level question related to the topic you are about to study.
2. Group students into pairs.
3. Pass out a Think-Pair-Share worksheet to each student.
4. Give students 5 minutes to write down their individual thoughts in the "Think" section of the worksheet.
5. Then, in pairs, have groups share their individual thoughts. Pairs should summarize their common thoughts in the "Pair" section of their worksheet.
6. Finally, pairs choose one major idea to share with the entire class. This should be written in the "Share" section of their worksheet.




Numbered Heads Together



What Is It?

Numbered Heads Together is a cooperative learning strategy that holds each student accountable for learning the material. Students are placed in groups and each person is given a number (from one to the maximum number in each group). The teacher poses a question and students "put their heads together" to figure out the answer. The teacher calls a specific number to respond as spokesperson for the group. By having students work together in a group, this strategy ensures that each member knows the answer to problems or questions asked by the teacher. Because no one knows which number will be called, all team members must be prepared.


Why Is It Important?

This cooperative learning strategy promotes discussion and both individual and group accountability. This strategy is beneficial for reviewing and integrating subject matter. Students with special needs often benefit when this strategy is used. After direct instruction of the material, the group supports each member and provides opportunities for practice, rehearsal, and discussion of content material.
Group learning methods encourage students to take greater responsibility for their own learning and to learn from one another, as well as from the instructor (Terenzini & Pascarella, 1994).
Cooperative learning has been shown to increase student achievement, race relations, acceptance of special needs students, and self-esteem (Slavin, 1995).

How Can You Make It Happen?

  1. Divide the students into groups of four and give each one a number from one to four.
  2. Pose a question or a problem to the class.
  3. Have students gather to think about the question and to make sure everyone in their group understands and can give an answer.
  4. Ask the question and call out a number randomly.
  5. The students with that number raise their hands, and when called on, the student answers for his or her team.

How Can You Stretch Students' Thinking?

This is a flexible strategy that can be used at a variety of levels. The teacher may start with factual information questions, and as students become more familiar with the strategy, ask questions that require analysis or synthesis of information. Student groups can be given statements such as, "School uniforms help to keep students focused on academics." Students' task is to come to consensus on whether they agree or disagree, giving an explanation of their reasoning.
After the students respond, have the other groups agree or disagree with the answer by showing a thumbs up or thumbs down, and then explain their reasoning. Or, if the answer needs clarifying, ask another student to expand on the answer.



Most of these structures are developed by Dr. Spencer Kagan and his associates at Kagan Publishing and Professional Development. For resources and professional development information on Kagan Structures, please visit: www.KaganOnline.com


Τετάρτη 6 Ιουλίου 2011

SOCIAL NETWORKS AND TEACHERS

Teachers to be advised on Facebook use


The teachers' union has been approached by teachers who were subjected to harassment on social networking sites during the past years.
How should teachers behave on Facebook - the social networking site that has already fundamentally changed how people interact?

Should teachers accept friend requests from students on Facebook? And how can teachers prevent personal and potentially embarrassing photos being tagged online and seen by their students?

These issues are serious enough to warrant an upcoming official circular advising Maltese teachers on how to cope with these issues.

A spokesperson for the Ministry for Education confirmed that the Directorate for Educational Services is drafting a circular through teachers in state schools will be advised on the appropriate use of social networking sites. The circular is expected to be issued at the beginning of the upcoming scholastic years.

When contacted, Malta Union of Teachers newly-elected president Kevin Bonello confirmed that the union has been approached by a very small number of professionals who were subjected to harassment on social networking sites during the past years.

“This number is likely to increase in the future if people are not careful about their privacy settings. The Union always takes these issues very seriously and always refers such cases to the police force if it is deemed necessary.”

But Bonello is cautious about heavy-handed regulation on the matter, insisting that teachers are professional educators who are able to make their own judgements with regards to the levels of interaction on social networks.

“Telling teachers who to add or who to not add on a social networking website would be counterproductive to the trust teachers enjoy from institutions as professionals.”

But despite his reservations about outright prohibition of digital friendships, Bonello thinks that “it is highly advisable” that students are not added as friends on social network sites to maintain “a dignified level of privacy” – even it is up to the teacher to make such decisions based on his/her own judgements according to the various cases.

According to the MUT, official professional teachers who want to maintain a divide between their private lives and their professional role are less likely to be able to do so if they add their students or parents of their students to their list of social networking friends.

One clear no-go area for Bonello is posting potentially embarrassing photos on social network sites. “If teachers upload items on their pages which may potentially cause embarrassment, if these items are accessible to students then it is very obvious that they may end up in difficult situations.”

But he acknowledges that social networking sites can also be used as an educational tool.

“Some professional educators may feel the need of using such platforms to help out in situations which are not readily accessible in conventional means.”

Bonello is calling on the Council for the Teaching Profession, charged with updating the code of ethics for professional teachers, to meet with the Union to find a way forward to update the current code of ethics “to reflect the various modern developments that are slowly becoming part of everyday life.”

Facebook regulation in other countries

The Ontario College of Teachers, the regulatory board for all public teachers in Ontario, Canada, advises its 230,000 members not to accept Facebook friend requests from students.

According to the advisory, teachers must decline student-initiated friend requests, and never initiate a friend request with a student. The college asserts that when a teacher and a student become friends in an online environment, the dynamic between them is forever changed. An invisible line between professional and personal is crossed, which can lead to strictly forbidden informal conversations.

In the UK, teachers have been warned by the National Union of Teachers not to befriend pupils on Facebook amid concerns over the blurring of boundaries between school staff’s professional and private lives.

Karl Hopwood, an internet safety consultant and former head teacher, told the NUT fringe meeting: “The line between private life and professional life is blurred now because of social media.”

He also gave the example of a deputy head of a school who found that photographs of him in a Superman outfit were put up on the school’s bulletin board. The pictures, taken by a colleague who was a fellow guest at a birthday party, had then spread thanks to his Facebook friendships with pupils.

Teachers at schools in Kent were advised by the council to close down social networking profiles after a headteacher at a college in Dartford was criticised for posting a photograph with a caption boasting about the size of her breasts.

Δευτέρα 4 Ιουλίου 2011

Happy Summer Holidays

I Want To Be A Kid Again


I want to be a kid again. I want to go back to the time when:
Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-mo."
Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, "do over!"
"Race issues" meant arguing about who ran the fastest.
Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in Monopoly.
Catching the fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening.
It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends.
Being old referred to anyone over 20.
The net on a tennis court was the perfect height to play volleyball and rules didn't matter.
It was magic when dad would "remove" his thumb.
It was unbelievable that dodgeball wasn't an Olympic event.
Nobody was prettier than Mom.
Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better.
It was a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the "big people" rides at the amusement park.
Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true.
Abilities were discovered because of a "double-dog-dare."
Saturday morning cartoons weren't 30-minute ads for action figures.
No shopping trip was complete unless a new toy was brought home.
"Oly-oly-oxen-free" made perfect sense.
Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles.
The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.
War was a card game.
Water balloons were the ultimate weapon.
Baseball cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle.
Ice cream was considered a basic food group. 

SOURCE : http://www.kaganonline.com/online_magazine/learning_to_laugh.php

Παρασκευή 22 Απριλίου 2011

Happy Easter

       
Happy Easter on PhotoPeach
Buona Pasqua A Tutti!!                       Italian
Happy Easter To Everyone!!               English
Feliz Pascua A Todos!!                       Spanish
Frohe Ostern An Alle!!                        German
Joyeuses Pāques ą Tous!!                    French
Счастливой Пасхи для всех!!
Kalo Pasxa se olous!                            Greek
Hyvää Pääsiäistä!                                 Finnish

Παρασκευή 15 Απριλίου 2011

THE SUPER BOOK OF WEB TOOLS FOR EDUCATORS

The Super Book of Web Tools for Educators

"WHERE THE HELL IS MATT?" LESSON PLAN



"Where the Hell is Matt?" Lesson Plan

Subject : English
Number of students : 20
Level of students : Elementary
Students' age : 10 - 11
Lesson time : 50 mins
Presentation time : 50 mins (the students present their posters)
Material needed : video clip, worksheets, photos and magazine cut-outs, Google Earth software
Skills practised : listening, speaking, reading, writing
Vocabulary practised : countries, nationalities, monuments, animals, plants, geographical terms (continent, desert, mountain, etc.)
Cross-Curriculum references : Geography, History, Language
Grammar practised : Superlative degree of Adjectives

Warm - Up / Pre- Viewing Activity

- Brainstorming
The students use their previous knowledge to brainstorm places of interest from the rest of the world they would like to visit or that have already visited. The expected results would be famous and well-known places such as Paris, London, etc. The teacher explains that they are going to watch a video of more places they might never have heard of.

While - Viewing Activity

- Worksheet
The teacher hands out a worksheet containing a list of about 50 places including the 36 places presented in the clip and the students have to tick those that they watch on the video. The worksheet can be filled even after the clip ends depending on students' memories and note-taking abilities.

The teacher plays the clip

Post-Viewing Activities

- Checking the worksheet and answering students' questions such as
"How could he travel to all these places?", "Who is Matt?" etc.
- The students find these places using Google Earth (or a world map and pinpoint the spots but this takes quite a long time)  or  http://www.panoramio.com/map/ that offers in addition pictures of the places you find on the Earth's map

- The teacher plays the clip for a second time pausing it at each place and asking the students to discuss the background and what they can see there (landforms, animals, etc.) and what they think is that special about each place. The teacher writes down sentences such as :
eg. Machu Picchu is the most famous landmark of the Inca civilisation.
The biggest jellyfish I have ever seen are in Palau.
The Great Wall of China is the longest wall in the world.
Area 51 is the most secretive American place.

Homework
- The students are asked to work individually or in groups and produce a poster or a collage using magazine cut-outs of Matt and their country. The title could be :
"If Matt was dancing in Greece what would the background be?" asking the students to think of the best way to present their country.The students can create presentations using user-friendly tools like http://www.slide.com/ , http://www.slideshare.net/ ,or http://www.slideboom.com/ .

Presentation of the Students' Projects

Extra Activity- Game
http://www.teach-ict.com/xml/cristnycol/cristnycol_21796/hangman.htm.

Δευτέρα 11 Απριλίου 2011

HOW TO USE AMAZON.COM TO TEACH ENGLISH



Jamie Keddie, a teacher coming from Scotland who possesses what seems to be an infinite batch of inspirational teaching ideas! An ELTon 2009 winner (from The British Council), author of "Images" in the Oxford series "Resource Books for Teachers", writer of teflclips.com and LessonStream.com, teacher trainer, live and online presenter, blogger, Twitterer and more, Jamie Keddie is waiting for us in a cosy Elluminate Room on the 13th of April starting 6 pm CET to talk about web-based video and its educational merit.
You can find out more about Jamie if you google him - here you have his blog, info about his book, a 2009 interview, his YouTube channel.

http://lessonstream.org/browse-lessons/

Jamie's useful links
Access to video content from yesteryear

1. Roundhay Garden Scene
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1i40rnpOsA
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundhay_garden_scene
2. Hammer and feather on the moon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C5_dOEyAfk

New creativity and means of communication

1. The sandpit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk9EBOOAYiU
The ARS Electronica centre, Linz: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ars_Electronica
2. Poem about modern art
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3lSSp-3068
3. World Water facts
http://lessonstream.org/2007/09/04/world-water-facts/

4. Short film: Small pleasures
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flkFW5E0XcM
Film English blog: http://film-english.com/
5. TED.com: http://www.ted.com/
The Marshmallow challenge:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/tom_wujec_build_a_tower.html
The surprising science of motivation:
http://lessonstream.org/2011/03/31/the-candle-problem/

User-generated content

1. Alex the maths teacher
http://lessonstream.org/2010/02/24/what-happens-next-ii/

2. Steve jobs' talk in 3 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZS8HqOGTbA

The traditional big players

1. Music video
Working in a fast food store: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQJACVmankY

2. BBC nature clip
Snails: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22J7e-Eqfw4

3. Advertisers
Skittles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDlaJlb1ezg
4. Baby wearing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mztymu72l7c

5. Bath in Burger King
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/13/8
Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRFwcN_EOSU

6. The annoying orange
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN5PoW7_kdA

Δευτέρα 4 Απριλίου 2011

TEACHING IDIOMS AND PHRASAL VERBS USING WEB VIDEO

Video hosting and sharing sites are services that allow individuals to easily upload, link and share images and videos. As a teacher, I can say that this can make our lives practically easier for many reasons. We can have easy access to loads of educational material and information shared online which, if integrated in the learning procedure, can create a very interesting and motivating atmosphere for the students. Sounds, images and especially authentic material can bring a boring lesson to life. Students, especially teenagers, respond to these more effectively and as a result, the lesson becomes more comprehensive and pleasant. Moreover, teachers can use these sites to exchange and share their own, or their students' material in order to co-operate and work together on projects, in a faster and more efficient way. We can also use these sites as huge "banks" of information and ideas, which are difficult to find in remote areas in a different way, and this most definitely applies to foreign language teachers.
The criteria which I use in order to choose a web video are the following :

CONTENT
  • appropriate content with educational value.
  • “strong” video content that will create an impact on students’ memories so that they can recall the target-language forms at the same time as the images.
  • videos with comprehensive content following the lesson curriculum to facilitate the students’ understanding thus keeping their attention at all times.
  • video containing the target language forms in a clear and direct way so as to maximise the expected effectiveness and results.
  • containing as much authentic material as possible to bring the students close to real-life situations.
  • video that will encourage the students to interact and get actively involved allowing for positive and effective feedback

TECHNICAL LAYOUT

  • video must be of good quality so as to be explicit
  • the audio and visual effects must be interesting to catch the children’s attention
  • quite short to fit in the curriculum and time available for the task
  • able to be embedded or shared online


SOCIAL CONSIDERATIONS

  • content appropriate for the students’ ages.
  • not containing comments that refer to racism, violence, gender,sex, drugs, etc. being offensive in any way.
  • think of the psychological impact that it may have on the students’ subconscious.
  • taking individual rights into consideration as well as students’ beliefs