Vicky Lora's blog challenge proposal

 

You can listen to the same story in here:

http://eltreikdal.podomatic.com/entry/2011-10-14T15_18_49-07_00 

Hey Vicky Loras! I really felt the urge to participate in the blog challenge proposed by you. Thank you so much! Well, what’s my story? I am Luiz Reikdal on Facebook and @ELTtech on Twitter. I have been teaching in Brazil over 17 years. Never been abroad yet… but I will soon!

Since November last year I started using and testing technology myself. That was breathtaking… by just visualizing the potentiaIity of Web 2.0 in the classroom. Now I am quite familiar with tech and I am so happy to be part of this world! I can definitely say it has caused a huge change in my professional career as an educator, especially as an English Teacher.

This Passionate Learning Network, as a friend of mine says, has changed my personal life as well… Got to know passion-driven educators and folks that DO care about making a change. That was a real sparkle! Breathing, living education, feeling the burning desire to change the world. I know it all starts within yourself… Small changes that will make THE difference…LOL.

I owe a lot to Teacher Training Videos, the 3^rd Reform Symposium e-Conference (#RSCON3), Condor Blanco and American TESOL Free Friday Webinars, just to name a few… But the real big challenge was when I decided to participate in a course called Leadership Condor Blanco here in Brazil… Wow, I was totally blown away with so much information and practice on how to develop my Personal Power, Professional Career and best of all through a Life Project. I could reflect as an integral human being considering all aspects of my life: Prosperity, Happiness, Culture and Freedom. That was a sort of shock, a benefitial one, of course. I stopped complaining about things in general, observing my behavoir and attitude towards everything, I decided to be responsible for my actions. I started having INITIATIVE.

I began inspiring people around me… Now I am having such a wonderful time at work: even though I face challenges in the workplace I feel proud of being a Teens Coordinator, I like solving problems and I like coaching my team. Nothing is perfect: some teachers do not like tech, others, are not that serious about teaching, some teach because of the money… But believe me, those things DO NOT have the power to demotivate or frustrate me any longer… I do not blame the school or system anymore. I am aware that it all depends mostly on myself - I can make this change!

My goal for the future? Being an inspiring educator and personal coach as well. I want to help people out with their Life Project  because I strongly believe that people can make a change and enthuse other people. A true leader has the ability to help people achieve their dreams. All they have to do is to start within themselves! Thanks for proposing this wonderful, powerful and motivating topic Vicky! I wish all the success in Switzwerland in your personal and professional life. I am really willing to exchange info with you on education… ;)

“The world is less certain and predictable now. When there's uncertainty, people raise spiritual issues.”

Ken Blanchard

Discussion » The best Web 2.0 tools explored up to now

Discussion » The best Web 2.0 tools explored up to now

Testing Voicethread

Great tool for feedback, writing, speaking, assessing...

Module 5 "A Time for us" - Class 1

Hey the focus of this lesson is Past Simple
Watch this video by Jeniffer.


Keeping Your English Up

What is a collocation?

Click here to see a list of collocations.

4Fun
Can you identify the verbs in the past in this song
Radio Ga Ga - Activity created by Bibi Baxter

I'd sit alone and watch your light;
My only friend through teenage nights
And everything I ...........(1-have) to know,
I ...........(2-hear) it on my radio.

You ...........(3-give) them all those old time stars,
Through wars of worlds -(which were) ...........(4-invade) by Mars;
You ...........(5-make) them laugh - you ...........(6-make) them cry
You ...........(7-make) us feel like we could fly.
Radio.

So ...........(8-not become) some background noise,
A backdrop for the girls and boys,
Who just ...........(9-not know) or just ...........(10-not care)
And just ...........(11-complain) when you ...........(12-be) not there.
You ...........(13-have) your time, you ...........(14-have) the power;
You ...........(15-have) yet to have your finest hour
Radio.

All we ...........(16-hear) ...........(17-be) Radio ga ga.
Radio goo goo.
Radio ga ga.
All we ...........(18-hear) ...........(19-be) Radio ga ga,
Radio blah blah.
Radio what ...........(20-be) new?
Radio, someone still ...........(21-love) you!

We ...........(22-watch) the shows; we ...........(23-watch) the stars
On videos for hour and hours.
We hardly ...........(24-need) to use our ears.
How music ...........(25-change) through the years.

Let's hope you never ...........(26-leave) old friend;
Like all good things on you we ...........(27-depend).
So stick around 'cos we might miss you,
When we ...........(28-grow) tired of all this visual.
You ...........(29-have) your time; you ...........(30-have) the power.
You ...........(31-have) yet to have your finest hour.
Radio.

All we ...........(32-hear) ...........(33-be) Radio ga ga,
Radio goo goo,
Radio ga ga.
All we ...........(34-hear) ...........(35-be) Radio ga ga,
Radio goo goo,
Radio ga ga.
All we ...........(36-hear) ...........(37-be) Radio ga ga,
Radio blah blah.
Radio what...........(38-be) new?
Radio, someone still ...........(39-love) you!

A "Thank you letter" to the Reform Symposium 2011 by Luiz Reikdal - Brazil

REFORM, according to the Oxford Dictionary: (…) change that is made to a social system, an organization, etc. in order to improve or correct it.

Yes! I felt “Elluminated” and the desire for a change! I noticed the sparkle of light in discussions, on chats, on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, and the like. I watched beautiful and motivational videos on YouTube. I noted how well-prepared were the slides, carefully selected: beautiful and poetic pictures in the classroom.

Unfortunately I also experienced bad connection, echos, cuts in the broadcasting. I made mistakes and got nervous over the mike (LOL).

I felt the urge to make my Personal Web Presence (PWP) even more effective.

The fire in me was ignited…

These 3 days at the Reform Symposium e-Conference #RSCON3 were awesome: I heard from my peers around the world. It is amazing to share and learn and best of all for FREE. I was touched (cried in front of the screen a couple of times), I clapped to the presenters… so many passionate educators, so many inspiring presentations, so many ideas and concepts! I made new friends… yes, I may call them friends, why not?
Even though I did not meet them physically: (This is the list of workshops and courses I’ve attended) Moderators, Shelly Terrell, CliveSir, David Dodgson, Bruno Andrade, Steve Hargadon, Brad Patterson, Faisal Ibrahim, Kelly Tenkely, Paula White, Chuck Sandy, Pam Burnard, Terie Engelbrecht, Tom Whitby...

I felt like meeting them in person and looking them in the eyes and say how much I was blessed with their words and thoughts. Thank you... all of you!!!!!

I am a better educator because I've been teased, provoked and I do CARE!

I propose to start a change within ourselves: WE CAN, WE DECIDE, WE WANT and WE CHOOSE…

RSCON3 rocks! (I heard that expression a lot. Love it!)

“First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.” Napoleon Hill

Teacher Training Videos by Russell Stannard

Hi folks

I promised you a second newsletter this month as I missed out April. So here it is and it has some great new stuff. Nearly all this month's tools tare for ALL TEACHERS of any subject and I think you will find them really useful. The only exception is LINGRO which is for ALL Language teachers

1) ScoopIt

http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/scoopIt/index.html

ScoopIt allows you to grab content from the web and from tweets and create a newsletter/newsaper from it. It is great for project work and very clever the way it works. You choose the topic and the key words and ScoopIT goes off and finds you the stuff and the links and puts it all in a list. You then decide if you want to add it to your newsletter or not. Lots of teachers are using it on the web. Really worth looking at. I think you will be quite surprised by how it works.

2) PresentMe

http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/presentMe/index.html

I love this tool. Upload your PowerPoint Presentation and then record yourself doing the presentation and even include your webcam. Then anyone can access it on the internet and watch and listen to you presenting. Great for your students to get them practicing their presentations. Great for language teachers as we can get your students to make presentations and practice their language. Amazingly the tool is free too.


3) Lingro

http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/lingro/index.html

This set of videos has already had about 5000 plays this month!! If you haven't seen this and you are teaching languages then you have to see it to believe it. Choose a website you want to read, place it into Lingro and then the whole site becomes clickable and you can find the meanings of any word on the site with just a click of a button. So if you are reading El Pais or Le Monde or The Times, then you can make any of the text clickable and it will immediately bring up a dictionary and tell you the meaning of the word. It is fabulous and I have been using it all this month. Not only that but it keeps a record of all the words you clicked on and even creates games to practice and work with the words!!! You can choose from a variety of dictionaries too.

4) MailVu

http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/mailVu/index.html

One of the most popular tools on my website. This new set of videos goes through the tool in more detail and then explains some of the work I have been doing with this tool. MailVu allows you to send Webcam messages and can be used for lots of different things. It works with just 2 button clicks and one more to send the videos. It is fabulous. In these videos I go into more detail about how I have used the tool and I think it will give you some great ideas. We have been testing them at the University of Warwick this week.



Announcement

I have put a donate button on my site. Don't worry I am not going to start charging. I originally set the site up to be free for 10 years and we still have another 6 years to go ( the site started in June 2007) but I want to sponsor some teachers to come to IATEFL next year. I was impressed by some of the teachers I met from Cuba, Palestina, Romania ( among other places) and so I want TTV.com to sponsor a teacher who wouldn't normally be able to afford to come to the UK to experience IATEFL. I think it goes well with the philosophy of the site. I have only had 2 donations so far, so please if you can spare $5 or a bit more then please donate to the site.

I am going to commit myself to helping at least one teacher to come over for IATEFL in Glasgow next year, this is regardless of how much money I raise from donations. I have set up the donate button with Pay Pal. So please help if you can. You can see the button on the right hand side of the site.

That's it folks. I hope you found some of the videos useful. Please tell people about the site. Don't forget you can follow me on twitter at russell1955.

Big thanks

Russell

What does it take to teach High Teens?

I've been teaching teenagers and believe me, it is quite a challenging thing to do on a regular basis. Sometimes they are willing to help you out, participating in class, researching things to share with their peers... sometimes they are not. A Twitter mate posted this impressive video which made me blog on the issue - We all want to be young - but related tothe ELT field. I am proposing it as a dialog trigger or sort of inspiration to educators all over the world.

We All Want to Be Young from box1824 on Vimeo.

Teacher Training Videos March 2011 by Russell Stannard

Hi folks
It is going to be a busy month. I have trips to Swtizerland, Italy, Turkey and of course IATEFL Brighton. So if you are going to attend any of my talks, please come up and say hello.
a) For All teachers
http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/march2011/index.html
This set of videos has 10 great websites and includes some real gems. It includes a tool for showing your screen to anyone else in the world who is sitting on a computer with an internet connection and a really easy tool for downloading videos from youTube. Some of these sites are only for ELT teachers but many of them can be used by ANY teachers.
b) For ALL language teachers
http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/magnets/index.html
The amazing Word Magnets is back. It is now downloadeable which means once you have it on your computer you won't need an internet connection. This tool is AMAZING and is great for any language teachers.

http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/newBubblr/index.html
The amazing Bubblr and Bookr. You can make books and cartoon strips using the millions of pictures from Flickr. These are both amazing tools and can be used in so many ways. Watch the videos and I think you will really like these tools. What I like is the quality of the results and the millions of pictures that students can work with.

c) For all ELT/ESL teachers
http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/elllo/index.html
ELLLO is the biggest listening site of content for ELT/ESL that I have found on the internet. You won't believe the amount of content there is here and it includes listening, videos, quizzes, tests, downloadable files etc. It is huge and the videos take you through all the important stuff.

Blog of the month
If you don't read Nik Peachey's blogs then please do. Nik finds loads of great material and suggests great ways of using it. He shares all his work and over the years he has been a great inspiration to me. I often dip into his blogs and many of the sites I show you were originally found by Nik.
http://quickshout.blogspot.com/

Remember if you want to study with me. I teach on the MA in ELT at the University of Warwick where you can specialize in technology/ICT in ELT.
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/al/postgrad/ma/elt_mm
That's it folks. Please recommend my site to anyone you can. I hope there was something here to help you. Big thanks for all your support.
Russell

"Someone Like You" by Adele

I've heard that you're settled down
That you found a girl and you're married now
I've heard that your dreams came true
Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you
Old friend, why are you so shy?
Ain't like you to hold back or hide from the light
I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it
I had hoped you'd see my face
And that you'd be reminded
That for me it isn't over
[Chorus]
Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
Don't forget me, I beg, I'll remember you say:
"Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead"
Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead, yeah
You'd know how the time flies
Only yesterday was the time of our lives
We were born and raised in a summer haze
Bound by the surprise of our glory days
I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight
I had hoped you'd see my face
And that you'd be reminded
That for me it isn't over
[Chorus]
Nothing compares, no worries or cares
Regrets and mistakes, they're memories made
Who would have known how bitter-sweet
This would taste?
Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you
Don't forget me, I bet I'll remember you say:
"Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead"
[Chorus]
Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead, yeah

Nick Vujicic Life Without Limbs Inspiring!

See things from a different perspective! Do you think you have problems? Watch this video and you'll realize you DON'T...

Teaching in the 21st century

Some big ideas around 21st century skills and teaching with technology.

Are teachers born or made?

It's not my cup of tea!

Every language has wonderful and rich idioms - those groups of words that have a special meaning that is different from the ordinary meaning of each word. For example, 'to kill two birds with one stone', do two things with one action.

Celtic Stories by CelticMythPodshow

Fantastic podcast on Celtic Mythology. The production is excellent and the program is quite interesting: great recording, nice narrators and beautiful soundtrack!

"Simply put, free audio stories of the Tales of our Ancestors that you can download. Read on ... The Celtic Myth Podshow will tell you ancient tales and legends of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany and the Isle of Man bringing you the bravery of heroes and heroines, the magnificent pantheon of gods and goddesses and the magic and wonder of druids, faeries and folklore."

How to make spaghetti - an unusual one...

Dear Prudence - song and movie activity

I prepared a questionnaire by Survey Monkey http://www.surveymonkey.com/ for learners to take. It is for pre-intermediate levels above. The text is a cultural note about the song "Dear Prudence". At the end of the survey, click on SEG and there will be an answer key to the exercise.
http://svy.mk/i7YtHj

Here is the video from the movie "Across the Universe"



The lyric with the original version by the Beatles

Do you think Social Media is just a fad?

Very inspiring video. Are you ready?

I am so glad I met, virtually speaking , Russell Stannard, Shelly Terrell, Nick Peachey, etc... There are so many folks to mention! I am really happy to see I am part of a group that is concerned with teaching English using technology in the classroom. I do have fun. Internet has provided me with such wonderful trainings, webinars, video tutorials, interesting people in the field, thoughts, clasroom ideas. It changed my view on teaching... on Twitter... Believe it or not, I thought it was rubbish! Why would I share with the "world" what I am doing... What's the point? I am glad I am part of this now. Yes, I do agree with Nick Peachey about the dark side of technology when considering privacy. But there's so much to learning and sharing. It makes personal and professional development delightful and meaningful. I do have fun! This is funny because now I am "on the other side" trying to persuade my colleagues to use web2.0, to use technology and so on... This is what the future holds: Are you ready?

The differences between web 1.0 and web 2.0 by Nik Peachey

Extremely helpeful to understand the concept of web 1.0 and web 2.0

Watch it and draw your own conclusions. I highly recommend it for people who are eager to use technology in the classroom.

How does the word technology sound to you?

This is my first podcast. I am just testing it. I would really appreciate it if you gave me some feedback.
Thanks a lot!

Teaching ESL through commercials. Here my first suggestion.

Even though it is an old song the commercial is simply awesome. What activities would you prepare for your students? I guess it's possible to do with all levels, isn't? It's up to you to show learners the original version of the video. Here is the song by Michael Bolton just as a matter of curiosity:



Lyric
http://www.romantic-lyrics.com/lh9.shtml

Suggested activity

Problem solving/setting: Group work (Make one copy of the lyric for each group)
Estimated time: 25min
Level: Pre-intermediate above
Part a)
1) Make copies of the song.
2) Cut the song into slips.
3) Tell students they'll listen to an old song. The lyric is mixed up.
They'll have to put it in order.
4) Play it without stopping. Play it more times if necessary.
5) Check with the groups the correct order of the song.
Part b)
Conversation
1) What is the message of the song?
2) Would you use this song for a commercial? Why/Why not?
Part c)
Show students the commercial by Knorr. Conversation II
1) Was the song well used?
2) Was the message successful? Why/Why not?
3) Why was the salt shaker sad?

As a closing activity ask them to write a description about the salt shaker's feelings and actions/events using the present simple and progressive tenses.

Do children really learn a language more effectively than adults?

Interesting podcast by Russell Stannard from Teacher Training Videos

For fun: A song. Lemon Tree Animation (with Subtitles)

A song I like a lot
Lemon Tree by Fool’s Garden



For teachers: Song activities

http://evasimkesyan.edublogs.org/2011/01/17/lemon-tree-an-activity-for-tomorows-class/comment-page-1/#comment-505

There are lots of reasons to learn English. What's yours?

There's a very nice article which mentions students' English goals. How can you motivate them in their learning process?
http://teacherbootcamp.edublogs.org/2009/11/18/goal-setting-with-english-language-learners/

Does pronunciation matter? I "sink"so...

What's the difference between "think" and "sink"?
If you want to go for pronunciation and definition of these words, take a look at www.dictionary.com

What are you "sinking" about?
Good commercial by BERLITZ

Natively Speaking For Teachers

Very colorful page and nice content. It's about to be released.
Worth taking a look!
Natively Speaking For Teachers

Video Tutorial - Evernote

I watched this excellent tutorial on EVERNOTE on YouTube. Educators can take great advantage of this tool - you can share info with peers and students, such as files, documents, voice recording, images, videos, and the like. Perfect for professional development and teaching!




10 Tips for teachers using Evernote Education Series
http://blog.evernote.com/2011/01/13/10-tips-for-teachers-using-evernote-education-series/

#17 quite literally ...

Go til the end!
Funny idiom with a nice explanation at the end.

Every language has wonderful and rich idioms - those groups of words that have a special meaning that is different from the ordinary meaning of each word. For example, 'to kill two birds with one stone', do two things with one action. Join the discussion at www.eltcommunity.com/elt/community/dicti­­onaries/idioms

Shaping the Way We Teach English, Successful Practices Around the World

Welcome to the teacher training series "Shaping the Way We Teach English, Successful Practices Around the World."

These introductory materials are designed for English as a Foreign Language educators who share the following two goals: 1. Building an academic or "pedagogical" foundation; and,
2. Improving classroom practices.

If you have these same goals, then these materials are for you!

An innovative offering from the Office of English Language Programs, Shaping the Way We Teach English, is a 14-module teacher training video
series developed and produced in cooperation with the University of Oregon.

Z-type - Game by IMPACT

I tried this game and I found myself having a bunch of fun...

All you have to do is to type the letters you see in the words coming down. Excellent to practice spelling as well as typing skill!

http://www.phoboslab.org/ztype/

Learning Styles

ESL Learning Styles

Learning modalities: Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic and a new one to me Rote Memorization.



Mr. B's Introduction to Learning Styles

Great explanation of Multiple Intelligences

The Lindsay Clandfield Interview

A 35-minute video for English Language Teachers. Lindsay gives us an insight into his new work, Global, and takes on journey through his views on blogging, dogme, technology, copying and conferences.

Click here to go to #ELTchat
The Lindsay Clandfield Interview

Learning Styles of the Net Generation by Christine Clark

This video is a presentation about the Net Generation learning styles. Well detailed explanation with pictures, charts and research source at the end of it.

Teaching English through songs: activities, resources and benefits of using songs for teaching.

Teaching English through songs: activities, resources and benefits of using songs for teaching.

Inspiring video - Digital World - by Nicole Welding

How-to videos Mash-up for teachers

Vocabulary Learning Made Easy by William Piracci

Quickly Learn the Vocabulary of Any Subject, Discipline or Language. Discover How You Can Master the Vocabulary of Any Subject, Discipline or Language in Less Time Than You Ever Imagined Possible. GUARANTEED.

How to build Personal Learning Network (PLN)

Building Your Own Personal Learning Network by Carl Anderson

Building Your Own Personal Learning Network from Carl Anderson on Vimeo.

This short film is an introduction to the rather abstract but powerful idea emerging regarding using social media tools (web 2.0) to build personal learning networks. In this film I focus on how I use my personal learning network for teacher professional development but the same strategy could be applied to any form of learning. Teachers could have their students create their own personal learning networks for research projects and professionals can create their own for learning about their field or networking.


Personal Learning Networks for Educators by Skip Via