Life Feast

Fun moments with Shelly Terrell

2012-01-30T18:27:00.002-02:00

Meeting Shelly Terrell last week was one of those moments I cherish which can come true thanks to the internet.

I've been following Shelly's tweets and blog posts for some years now. We had exchanged messages, retweeted each other, left comments after blog posts , discovered common interests but had never had the chance to meet f2f. Well, Shelly is everywhere really, twitter, facebook, webinars, blog posts; if you are into edtech, you probably know who I'm talking about. This is why I told her "You don't need to be introduced, Shelly". lol

The chance to meet her was possible thanks to another dear member of my PLN, Márcia Lima, one of the owners of B. A. English School in Goiânia, who invited Shelly to come for lectures in Brazil. Shelly spent the last week offering different workshops to Márcia's staff and two outside teachers had the pleasure to join them: Raquel Oliveira and I. :)

I only managed to get to Goiânia on Thursday afternoon; Shelly was talking about "Using Youtube videos in class". I have to admit my first impression was of surprise: She's as short as I am! hahahahahaha .
Short women, great minds. :)

In the three days we spent together, I can't thank enough for the so many things I learned. She learned a couple of things too, some words in Portuguese, acerola, baianada, and how not to have açaí with your boyfriend (your teeth become purple LOL).

Meeting Shelly on PhotoPeach

The North of Argentina and its colors

2012-01-25T14:08:00.000-02:00

There are several things I like about backpacking,but most of all I love being in contact with other backpackers and listening to their stories.

Our adventure this year was to the north of Argentina. My husband had been talking about visiting this part of the country for 4 years and this year it worked out. Once more, we traveled with our kids ( now not kids anymore ), each with a backpack (thanks Marcinha for lending us your backpack).

We started our adventure by car. We woke up very early in the morning and went by Piracicaba to pick my daughter up. Our plane left Brazil from the International Airport of Guarulhos. The first delay from a series, the flight from SP to Buenos Aires with Aerolineas was ok, apart from the snack they serve. It's not that it's bad but the thing is they never vary the snack, it's always the same thing, a ham and cheese sandwich , alfajor and a candy. We got a connection from B.A. to Cordoba and guess what, the same sandwich again.

We got to Cordoba at night and what a night! Nearly 40 degrees Celsius, BOILING. As you can imagine, not a perfect night for some rest and sleep. We met some interesting people there, two from Brazil and a group from Israel. The center of Cordoba is very beautiful with interesting historical buildings to visit. I've been told there are lots of beautiful places to visit nearby if you have more time. Well, not our case, the following day after walking around the city for the day, we got a "coche cama" bus to travel north to San Miguel de Tucuman.

Once we got to Tucuman, there was endless RAIN. Rain, rain, rain. We walked around the city centre which is quite nice but decided to got to Cafayate on the same day, to try to escape from the rain. The trip towards Cafayate is breathtaking. The bus goes up a green mountain in an endless zig zag. Cafayate was a wonderful surprise. We had planned to stay for 2 nights but ended up staying 3. The hostel (Rusty-k) was the best one I've stayed so far, extremely clean and with a wonderful backyard covered with vines. We enjoyed the atmosphere with very pleasant dinners my husband cooked. What to visit? We chose to visit a vineyard about 8 kms from the town where they produce the great wine YACOCHUYA. Although they have no wine tasting, it's worth the visit. The view is stupendous. We went by taxi but decided to come back on foot to enjoy the scene. Well, the first 5 kms was just fine, but the last 3 ... We got back to town, exhausted and my tennis shoes came apart. I had to buy new tennis shoes .The next day was dedicated to trekking at the "Quebrada de las Conchas" , a wonderful area full of mountains and red rocks. Good points about Cafayate, beautiful and pleasant city centre, we found a great restaurant which serves typical food (Los Hornitos) such as fantastic empanadas, great places to visit, delicious wine and perfect weather.

I was definitely sorry to leave Cafayate but it was time to move again. We traveled further north to Salta, which would be a stopover towards places such as Humahuaca, Tilcara and Purmamarca. The trip from Cafayate to Salta should definitely be done during the day due to the BEAUTIFUL, unrivalled scenery. Salta
was another place I enjoyed. The city centre comes to life in the evening when the historical buildings are illuminated by different coloured lights. The main square is THE PLACE where everyone wants to spend hours just strolling and observing people go by.

We then travelled to Humahuaca. The village is interesting , however, I was expecting more from the pictures we had seen. The highlight there was a very pleasant lunch we had at the oldest restaurant in the village, "Pinocho", where we had a delicious meal and the pleasure to listen to a group of musicians playing music and reciting poetry.

At Humahuaca we bought a bus ticket to Purmamarca to spend the day. We got to the bus station on time, however, we were told the buses were being kept outside the village blocked by a strike and we had to find a way to get to the bus on our own. There we went, running to grab a taxi. Once there, to our surprise the bus hadn't waited for us but fortunately there was another bus which would pass close to the entrance of Purmamarca. The bus left us about 4 kms from the village and once again, luckily a taxi stopped next to us and asked if we wanted to go to Purmamarca. Lucky me!

Purmamarca is in the region of the colourful mountains. The village is surrounded by mountains on all four sides and everywhere you look different shades of brown, red, yellow, green and grey come to life. The more we stayed in Purmamarca the more we regretted not staying longer, the main square is a great place to feel the atmosphere, there is a wide variety of hotels and hostels, the "mercado de artesanias" is varied and the weather is great. We wanted to go to Salinas Grandes but didn't have enough time so we just enjoyed the village and explored its surroundings.

The last stop was Salta, where we would catch our plane back to Brazil. The hostel where we stayed is very well located close to the bus station and just a few blocks from the main square which was my favourite spot. We bought some more wine to bring home, a few souvenirs and got ready to leave. Not to break the habit, the flight from Salta to Buenos Aires (Aerolineas Argentinas) was 2 hours and a half late which made us nervous as our connection back to São Paulo was the last flight to Brazil that day. When we got to Buenos Aires, they had already boarded the passengers and were calling our names. We ran, ran and ran but managed to catch our flight. However, once we got to São Paulo we saw that our backpacks hadn't been as fast as our feet, they had been left behind in Argentina and only got home a day later.

Reading more about the FLIPPED CLASSROOM

2012-01-24T12:22:00.000-02:00

A selection of articles and blog post for EFL / ESL teachers.
http://www.scoop.it/t/picks-of-jan-2012

Picks of JANUARY 2012

2012-01-05T16:35:00.003-02:00

A selection of sites and posts for EFL, ESL teachers.
http://www.scoop.it/t/picks-of-jan-2012

Digital Tools with Purpose - EVO 2012

2012-01-02T13:32:00.001-02:00

For the last 5 years in January, I've had the pleasure to learn and share at the Electronic Village Online Conference which is offered freely to teachers worldwide. It is the perfect example of how learning takes place nowadays. Teachers from different parts of the planet, get together to help each other learn. And best of all, FOR FREE.

This year, you can choose from 14 possible sessions.
The courses take place online during 5 weeks from 09 Jan. to 12 Feb.

My suggestion? Well, there are wonderful courses being offered but one is very dear to me.

DIGITAL TOOLS WITH PURPOSE IN THE CLASSROOM.

Electronic Village Online / Digital_Tools2012 via kwout

Registration starts TODAY Jan. 2nd.

The online courses start on Jan. 9th.

TO JOIN our group: go to http://evosessions.pbworks.com/w/page/48526238/Digital_Tools2012 and follow the instructions.

The Flipped Classroom - Would it work in Brazil?

2011-12-13T15:22:00.002-02:00

In my previous post, I talked about a concept which I first heard about in Khan's lecture at TED "flipping the classroom". The idea of recording videos of lectures and devoting classroom time for practice activities seems to be VERY INTERESTING.

Created by Knewton and Column Five Media

Then, I thought, how could we flip our English classes? In my context, in language institutes, we normally start our classes presenting a new topic (vocabulary or grammar) and then move on to exercises (written and oral) to help students consolidate knowlegde by using it.

I guess a way of flipping our classrooms would be to record mini lessons presenting the topic beforehand and then practice, practice, practice in class.

My question is: would students watch the video at home?

I've just talked to 3 Brazilian teenagers at home (my son and 2 cousins) and I made them the same question:

If you had to watch a video for homework, would you watch it?
Boys- Maybe not.

But if your teacher told you to watch a video in order to be able to do some exercises the following class, would you watch the video?
Boys - We would, we would be afraid of not being able to do the exercises the following class but many of our classmates wouldn't. They would ask the teacher to explain again.

And if you had access to lots of video lectures before tests, do you think it would help you study?
Boys- Sure, if we had problems we would be able to watch the video lecture again and again.

Well, I think the idea is fantastic, however, I don't know how well Brazilian learners would adapt to it. The problem is that our students have been accustomed to the traditional format for too long and end up having a passive attitude to learning.

Is it worth a try? I truly think so. If I'm brave enough, maybe next semester, I'll post about a flipped experience in an English Class.

This is a video from Students who have tried the Flipped Classroom

GRAMMAR VIDEO LESSONS

2011-11-30T13:38:00.000-02:00

Inspired by Salman Khan's presentation at TED, I thought of how to help my students get ready for their final English tests and I humbly created some GRAMMAR VIDEO LESSONS.

Salman Khan: Let's use video to reinvent education | Video on TED.com via kwout

Although our main focus is not grammar, something my EFL students always complain about is UNDERSTANDING how to use grammar. Many of them only have a chance to listen to an explanation once in class and others who have missed that specific class feel totally lost. This is the reason behind these videos. I tried to make the explanations simple / short and give them examples.

PASSIVE VOICE

REPORTED SPEECH

RELATIVE CLAUSES

The idea Khan presented of maybe flipping the things around in the classroom made me think.
What if we offered grammar explanations via video and used the time in class to learn how to use it in practice? Well, let's see if they find it helpful.

Oh, to create the slides, two programs were used: Powerpoint or ActivInspire. Then, I used http://screencast-o-matic.com/ to record my voice while explaining the topic.

TUBEIT - developing a discussion with Teachers

2011-11-19T16:37:00.003-02:00

I've posted about TOKBOX many times before, and it used to be my favourite site for video messaging. However, with the changes that happened to the site and their choice to focus on the chat feature, I ended up giving it up, at least for teaching purposes.

This afternoon, I invited some teachers from CULTURA EDTECH (online course I facilitate) and a couple of friends from facebook to join me in a new trial.

The site we tried was TUBEIT . It allows you to create an instant chat room where participants have access to their webcam and microphones and also watch a selected YOUTUBE video chosen by the person who sets up the room.

Today, I chose a video interview with Marc Prensky, where he discusses about the ROLE OF TEACHERS TODAY.

I guess there's a limit of participants for the session (I"m not sure) as I could see the possibility of 7 webcams in the room. It's extremely easy to use. You just go to http://tubeit.opentok.com/ write your name, paste the video URL (from Youtube), grab the link to the room in TUBEIT, share with invitees via twitter, facebook or e-mail and start your discussion.

This is how I planned it:
1. I greeted participants.
2. Participants had the chance to introduce themselves (webcam)
3. Pre-question to start the discussion. ("What's the role of teachers?")
4. Participants gave their opinion.
5. We watched the video interview.
6. Used quotes from the interview to promote discussion.

Problems: well, the sound wasn't 100% (some speech breakdowns) but we managed to develop a discussion.

These are the screenshots I took of the session with Roberta Righetto (Mato Grosso), Gildeta (Campinas), Ana Lucas (Uberlandia), Nina (Ukraine), Angeles Berman (Mexico?).

A New Journey starting

2011-11-05T18:17:00.000-02:00

I've started an M. A. in Applied Linguistics this year and have been struggling to reemerge among all these books and articles I have to read. This is the reason for the few posts in 2011. :)

For my future theses, I've been trying to figure out how technology has influenced my life as a teacher.

What movements has it brought about?
And the concept of presence, how do I make myself present digitally and how does the digital presence or "lack of physical presence" of others influence my learning path?
As to teacher resistance to technology, how have my own resistance barriers been broken and beliefs transformed?

As suggested by my tutor Dilma Mello,

I've started reading about the concept of Presence
http://distanciaproximidade.wikispaces.com/home
http://www.360doc.com/content/07/0525/12/18017_519886.shtml
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue2/lombard.html

Teacher Resistance
http://eprints.usq.edu.au/2101/1/Albion_Ertmer.pdf

New Literacies (Diana Brydon)
http://dianabrydon.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/teacher-education-in-the-theories-of-new-literacies-and-multiliteracies/

I'll be investigating my own path as a teacher and teacher educator using Narrative Inquiry which will allow me to relive my experience and this way build new meanings as I retell and listen to my lived stories.

Narrative Inquiry
http://www.jstor.org/pss/1176100

Create cool posters and flyers with SMORE

2011-10-16T17:57:00.000-02:00

Although the site is still in its beta version and an invite is needed to join it, we can already imagine its potential in education. The site allows you to create online flyers and posters by adding text, images, videos, gallery of photos, map, testimonials, events and so on.
http://www.smorepages.com/

A Cupcake Story from Smore on Vimeo.

How can we use it with students?

create online flyers for school events. Or even better, ask students to create different flyers for the same school event.
students can create posters about topics they are researching about.
students can create posters about different celebrations throughout the school year.

Via Free Technology for Teachers.

Flying in my Dreams

2011-10-08T16:01:00.000-03:00

I've always dreamed of watching a performance of Cirque du Soleil. What I like about it? I love the way they have turned the circus into a stage of pure ART, full of enchantment, wonderful music and jaw-dropping performances.

Next week, it is my birthday and last week I got the BEST PRESENT EVER. Guess what?
Yes, a ticket to see the show Varekai from Cirque du Soleil in São Paulo. Although, I could not take pictures during the show (it's forbidden), let me share a bit of one of the most poetic moments.

THANK YOU, MOM!

SpeakerDeck - turn PDF into a slideshow

2011-10-08T15:39:00.000-03:00

I've just discovered via @dkapuler a post from the fantastic blog Free Technology for Teachers a site which allows you to transform a pdf file into a slideshow which can be embedded online.

SPEAKERDECK - http://speakerdeck.com

We use the Promethean E-board at the school where I teach and a way to share the files we use during our lessons would be to export it as a pdf. The possibility to turn it into a slideshow is more visually appealing, I guess.

* I still haven't found a way to diminish the size of the player.

WEBINAR recording (teachers in Chicago)

2011-09-27T12:01:00.001-03:00

These are the recordings of the Webinar I presented to teachers in Chicago. I used screencast-o-matic to split the recording into 3 parts.

PART 1 - Developing the 4 Skills

PART 2 - The 10 Tasks Challenge

To see the examples I mentioned throghout the talk, click on the LIVEBINDER below:
http://livebinders.com/play/play/181930

This is "The 10 tasks Challenge" WIKI where you can find explanations, examples, links and tutorials.

What involves organizing a WEBINAR?

2011-09-23T19:44:00.000-03:00

I always face everything in life as a learning experience. I've just finished a webinar hosted by Camila Sousa with some teachers from Chicago and loved the chance to put together many different ideas we 've had .

Camila Sousa , who is responsible for helping teachers (Lincoln School in Chicago) integrate technology to their classes, invited me to present a webinar about webtools and the projects I've been developing.

Teachers had to enroll for the session online at their school site and then were hosted by Camila Sousa in a certain classroom at the school in the U.S. First, we thought of presenting using skype and sharing the presentation file, but then we ended up choosing WIZIQ instead. Using wiziq, the presentation would be recorded automatically and other teachers from the online course I facilitate would have the chance to attend as well.

Organizing a webinar is not an easy task, specially because you're dealing with technology. You have to foresee several technical problems that can happen. We tested our equipment (microphone, webcam, internet connection), a few days before the presentation and little by little we came up with solutions for the little problems we imagined. First, we tested different microphones, which one was clearer? Then, as I intended participants to see and hear examples of the project I was talking about, instead of screensharing which sometimes produces lots of delays and bad images, I created a LIVEBINDER which would be used to show the examples using THEIR computer.

This would be the scenario: we would meet in skype a few minutes before the session, test our webcams and microphones one more time and I would set up a classroom at wiziq. Then, I would send the link to Camila Sousa to join the classroom. We would have two kinds of participants: some teachers in one specific classroom in Chicago, watching the presentation on a big screen and participating with a microphone attached to Camila's laptop and teachers from different parts of Brazil participating online via the chat in the wiziq classroom. Participants would be invited to contribute with ideas at different moments. Camila would mediate the participation in Chicago and I would mediate the discussion with participants online.

AND HOW DID IT GO?
Well, everything went just fine.

The equipments ran smoothly.
The platform worked beautifully. I only ended up forgetting to pause the recording while we were organizing the room (first 7 mins).
People participated giving suggestions.
The livebinder idea proved to be a very good one as they could hear the recorded examples perfectly.

Although I was a bit tense with the whole thing and worried about observing what was going on, checking the chat area , my slides and my presentation, it was ok.

Presenting online, has its advantages, you present from your own space (your bedroom, your office), you don't have to face a huge crowd even if you have 300 people participating from different places, and can always rely on your notes. A big disadvantage I still find is missing the reaction of the audience. You can't make eye contact with anyone and have to rely on the webcam to get a hint of what's going on at "the other end of the line".

I'd like to thank my dear friend, Camila Sousa, for the invitation and the opportunity to learn a bit more about presenting online.

I'll be sharing the recording of the presentation as soon as it becomes available.

A collection of TOOLS for EFL teachers (Part 2)

2011-09-20T12:12:00.000-03:00

For this post, I'll be sharing sites with which you can create podcasts and different wordclouds.
It's always nice to know different alternatives for a tool you use a lot. Say, the tool you're planning to use is not working properly on the day you need it. Then it's time to look for similar tools.

PODCASTING

WORDCLOUDS

A collection of TOOLS for EFL teachers (Part 1)

2011-09-16T13:14:00.004-03:00

There are several tools available for the same purpose, however, each of them offer different features that can meet your specific needs at different moments. The ideal thing is to ask yourself what you would like the tool to do for you and then see which one meets your need.

For the next posts, I'll be arranging different tools according to categories: such as: interactive boards, poster, wordcloud, podcast, image editing, video editing, slideshow, presentation, screencast and taking screenshots.

NOTICEBOARDS

VIRTUAL POSTERS

Using EDMODO with Students: 20 IDEAS

2011-09-11T16:00:00.004-03:00

I've been using EDMODO for some years now and every year I discover different things you can develop with students using the platform. I work at Cultura Inglesa Uberlândia and the coordination team has managed to involve the whole staff in using EDMODO as our virtual staff room, a space where we share material we've prepared, ask each other questions, help each other and so on. It's become a bank of resources to the whole school.

Last week, at our TDC (Teacher Development Course) I decided to talk about other interesting ways to use Edmodo with students. Now that most teachers are fairly familiar with the platform, it is a logical step to take advantage of all of its potential for language learning.

This is the presentation I shared with the teachers:

Webheads meet in Buenos Aires

2011-09-10T17:05:00.001-03:00

Some weeks ago, I was in Buenos Aires for a conference when I had the incredible pleasure to meet some Argentine Webheads who are very dear to me. Before the trip, we arranged to have dinner together and meet f2f for the first time.

We decided to meet at the hotel where I was staying in the center of city. First, came Vicky Saumell, all smiles, and full of stories to tell. I was anxious to talk to her about how she started using PBL with technology at a school in B.A. Then, Andressa and her husband arrived. A few minutes later, Jennifer Verschoor came into the lobby saying Claudia Ceraso was on her way and would meet us at the restaurant. We chose a restaurant nearby to enjoy some time together. Andressa and I shared a delicious bottle of red wine and we all had a great time. Once again, I was SO HAPPY to meet these teachers with whom I have so much in common but still had lots to learn about. I learned that Vicky has been teaching online for a University in Colombia . Jennifer is very busy with her M.A. in Technology and we both talked about our dream to attend the M. A. offered by Warwick University with Russell Stannard. Claudia told us she loves dancing tango. Girls, thank you so much for taking the time to come and meet us.

Their Twitter Accounts:

Vicky Saumell (vickysaumell) no Twitter via kwout

Jennifer Verschoor (jenverschoor) no Twitter via kwout

Claudia Ceraso (fceblog) no Twitter via kwout

KNOVIO tutorial - add video + voice to your ppt presentation

2011-09-08T21:05:00.002-03:00

Some weeks ago, I posted about KNOVIO, a tool which allows you to add a video narration to your ppt presentation. It's the simplest tool I've tried to make a slidecast. All you have to do is upload your ppt and start recording your video/narration.

It's a fantastic way to practice for presentations to come.
You can record yourself presenting and then watch it so that you can improve it.

It's also a great tool to record grammar and vocabulary explanations to students.
Another idea is to use the site for storytelling purposes. Students can narrate their stories.

This is how it looks:

This is how you can make your own:

The only thing missing is an embeddable player. (NOT ANYMORE, they provide an embed code)
However, I've been told they're working on one which will be launched soon.
Anxious to use it more often. FANTASTIC TOOL.

CULTURA EDTECH - new group starts in September

2011-09-03T16:41:00.002-03:00

Dear Life Feast readers,

In 2009, as some colleagues of mine were asking me to share what I'd been learning online with them, I also noticed separate workshops would not be enough to help non-techy teachers get acquainted with webtools and their potential in education.
For this reason, I created CULTURA EDTECH, an online course which has already helped the development of more than 60 teachers, not only from Brazil, but from the USA, France and Spain.

I have the pleasure to announce the start of GROUP #8 which will be taking the course from September to November. During these three months, teachers will have the chance to experience learning using internet tools, be contact with other EDtech members, participate in virtual classes, take part in discussions, read interesting articles, learn about interesting webtools and reflect about the integration of technology and education.

How is CULTURA EDTECH different from other online courses?

The pace of activities is gentle enough to meet the needs of busy teachers
There are several tutorials giving step-by-step instructions.
The facilitator (me, Ana Maria Menezes) gives full support to participants via skype and screencasts if needed.
Participants become a member of a community of teachers which constantly share ideas.
Participants will have the chance to try out webtools with all the guidance needed.

Listen to what some of the CULTURA EDTECH members have to say:
Check out their COURSE PORTFOLIOS
More information about the course, can be found at ABOUT THE COURSE page.

Presentation in Buenos Aires

2011-08-29T15:29:00.000-03:00

This is my second time in Buenos Aires and the more I discover about the city, the more I like it.

I´ve come to Argentina accepting Andressa Cardoso´s invitation for a joint presentation at ABS International Conference. Andressa lives in Goiânia, in the state of Goiás, I, on the other hand, live in Uberlândia, about 350 kms from where she lives.

Then, ¨How did you two prepare your presentation?¨ Cláudio Azevedo asked. ¨With Technology, my friend.¨ For the last 3 months, Andressa and I have been having frequent meetings in skype deciding what to present and sharing what each of us had prepared so far. We also built a wiki as support material to offer to attendees. We only met face to face, a few hours before our jont presentation in Buenos Aires.

Our chosen topic was ¨Homework assignments using Web 2.0¨. Andressa started the presentation talking about some theoretical background related to homework assignment and then I presented ¨The 10 Tasks Challenge¨, a project developed with my students last semester.

Homework Assignments Using Web 2

View more presentations or Upload your own.

Presentation in La Plata - Argentina

2011-08-28T20:41:00.002-03:00

I´ve been in Argentina since the 24th August and have been enjoying myself so much I had no time to blog about it. On 25th, I took a bus close to the obelisk and traveled to La Plata to meet dear friend Nelba.

I´ve known Nelba Quintana since 2006 through the internet but had never had the chance to meet her f2f. Her invitation to present at the Language Institute of the University of La Plata came as a GREAT surprise. I was welcomed with beautiful flowers, warm smiles and friendly hugs. So glad, Argentinians like hugging like Brazilians do. Susana Canelo, another webhead, traveled quite a long distance to meet us there as well.

The three of us, Nelba, Susana and I were thrilled. La Plata is a beautiful city about 60 kms from Buenos Aires. Loved the many wonderful buildings they have, all in an European style. As soon as I took out my camera to take shots of first buildings we visited, I discovered I had forgotten to charge my camera battery, can you believe that? Well, dear Susana, became the official photographer.

After a very pleasant lunch, we arrived at ESCUELA DE LINGUAS and I got ready for my presentation ¨Developing the 4 Skills with Webtools¨.

The presentation, based on my second book , is about different webtools teachers can use to develop the 4 skills in language learning: reading, writing, listening and speaking.

This is the powerpoint material I promised to share.

Using webtools to develop the 4 skills

View more presentations or Upload your own.

Nelba and Susana, thank you so much for the great time in La Plata.

My new ALL-IN-ONE Webpage

2011-08-18T08:08:00.001-03:00

Ispired by #RSCON3, and after having seen some examples, I decided to make my own webpage using WIX.COM. I didn´t find it very easy to use but with patience and persistance you can do quite a good job.

CHECK IT OUT

Free website - Powered By Wix.com

These are other pages using different sites:
- Vicky Saumell
- Brad Patterson
- Carla Arena

If you want to make your page with WIX, this tutorial might help you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6zMuiHNCUo

VOKI Interviews Educators- Ana Maria Menezes

2011-08-17T11:01:00.001-03:00

Last week, I was surprised to receive an e-mail from VOKI, a site I've often used with students and blogged about, asking for an interview about how I've been using VOKI with my students.

This is a Kwout screenshot of the VOKI BLOG with the interview:

The Official Voki Blog via kwout

This is the video I produced answering their questions.

I apologize for the buzzing sound in the background.

Guest post: Finding "APPiness"

2011-08-07T09:03:00.003-03:00

This is how everything started:
Camila Sousa and I sending messages to each other. Camila lives in Chicago and I, in Brazil.

- Ana, you've got to see the fabulous apps I've been exploring for the ipad.
- I have an idea, Camila, why don't you write a guest post for my blog telling us all about it?

I'm very pleased to host Camila's post just below. Check out her fantastic blog " 2 Teach is 2 touch lives 4 ever"

Thank you to Ana Maria at LifeFeast who invited me to write a guest post for her blog. I am very happy to be sharing with you all. Those who know me understand that my philosophy and motto is - Sharing is caring! :-)

I have been researching apps because the school district I work at is implementing a program that provides iPads for all 6th grade students and, believe it or not, they get to take their devices home!! I know, right?? These kids are so lucky!! I wish I was studying there. LOL I am the Technology Facilitator so I get to help them learn to use their iPads. It has been great hopping from site to site and finding some amazing educators' blogs, wikis and social media pages that review apps or just list them.

These are the free educational apps I have been collecting and sharing with the district staff I work with. I am very "APPy" to be sharing them with you all. My suggestions are based on schools I am currently working with.

Free Educational Apps

You can also find a list of educators' blogs with their app recommendation on my online bookmarking website.

Next Presentation: EdmodoCon11 - The 10 tasks Challenge

2011-08-05T14:49:00.001-03:00

Dear Lifefeast readers,

I'm very glad to invite all of you to attend the first EDMODO virtual conference (EdmodoCon11) where Educators from different corners of the world will share how they have been using Edmodo with students.

My presentation will be about using webtools to assign homework. I'll be presenting a project I developed last semester with my students where apart from assigning the traditional homework, that is, workbook exercises and writings, students had to carry out 10 tasks using different webtools.

EdmodoCon 11
10 August (Wednesday)
Sessions start at 10:30 AM Eastern Time (11:30 in Brazil)and go on until 8:30 PM ET (9:30 in Brazil)

MY SESSION WILL BE AT 5:00 PM ET ( 6:00 PM in Brazil)

EdmodoCon 2011 Presentation Schedule via kwout

Hope to see many of you there.

You can regitster for EdmodoCon11 HERE.
Click HERE to attend the sessions.

Twitter Fountain: share tweets with the same tags

2011-08-03T19:41:00.001-03:00

This is a great way to share tweets with the same keyword or hashtag.

1. Click on SETTINGS at the bottom of the animation image

2. Type the Keyword or hashtag, select the animation type, speed. Click SAVE SETTINGS.

3. Click SHARE to grab the embed code for publishing

First, I tried one with the Keyword "anamariacult", my webname.

Then, one with the hashtag #EdmodoCon , a Virtual Conference taking place next week, 10 August.

KNOVIO: enrich your ppt with a webcam video

2011-07-29T19:16:00.001-03:00

This is another great tool we can use to share presentations. You upload your powerpoint to KNOVIO , record your video presenting the slides and VOILÁ , your presentation is ready.

You can send it to people via e-mail, grab the link and also share it via facebook and twitter. I wish the site provided an embed code for publishing. :(

The audio quality was not good though.
This is a short presentation (18 mins) about 20 different ideas for using EDMODO with students.
http://go.knovio.com/account/829/link/233

Adding subtitles with UNIVERSAL SUBTITLES

2011-07-28T22:56:00.000-03:00

Tonight, my husband asked me to subtitle a youtube video he would like to show during a talk so it was time to try a site I've heard about recently: UNIVERSAL SUBTITLES.

It's incredibly easy. You sign up, click CREATE, ADD SUBTITLES, watch pieces of 8 seconds and start typing the translation, you then sych it , review it, and can share it via facebook, twitter, send it to people via e-mail or even grab the embed code for publishing.

Webinar: Reform Symposium #rscon3

2011-07-25T17:44:00.000-03:00

This weekend, teachers all over the world have a great chance to listen to outstanding teachers during 3 days FOR FREE! I have already chosen the sessions I'd like to attend, have you?.
July 29, 30 and 31

This is the SCHEDULE . Choose your time zone and check the sessions you can attend.

Check the PRESENTERS. (Carla Arena, Bruno Andrade, Cecília Lemos, Shelly Terrell, Janet Bianchini , David Deubelbeiss and many other teachers)

You can REGISTER here.

Don't miss this great opportunity of professional development!

With my feet up - Férias

2011-07-22T13:27:00.002-03:00

I haven't posted for quite some time, huh?

But it's been for a good reason. July is a school holiday in Brazil and my husband and I decided to go on a trip with the kids.

Our travel destination? We started off in Diamantina, Minas Gerais, historical town, home of wonderful houses, steep streets and great food. Then, we got away from the cold weather to discover the wonders of the paradisical Santo André beach, in Bahia. Our last stop was Trancoso.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YByW23xjq54

Task Challenge #9 - Using VOKI to make comparisons

2011-07-02T10:26:00.000-03:00

Close to the end of the semester, the aim of a lesson was MAKING COMPARISONS.

Ex: way bigger / a great deal bigger / not any bigger / considerably bigger / no bigger , etc.

I decided to ask my students to use the new language learned to compare two items of their choice: two people, two places, two sports ...

These are some of their avatars and their recordings:

More recordings can be found at the SCHOOL WIKI

Moving Beyond Workbooks. Next presentation.

2011-07-01T08:15:00.004-03:00

I'd like to thank Andressa Cardoso for the invitation to present a session with her this coming August in a conference in Argentina. We've decided to talk about how WEB 2.0 can transform the "homework experience".

I'm also using the opportunity to meet Argentine Webheads, teachers I've been in contact with since 2006 but never had the chance to meet f2f. Argentina, here we go.

Task Challenge #8 - Expressing opinions with LIVETYPING

2011-06-26T11:12:00.000-03:00

To present challenge #8, I elicited language students could use to write a comment expressing their opinion.

At home, students were asked to use LIVETYPING to write their opinions about the statement "Some people spend fortunes on their pets".

These are some of their writings:

LiveTyping.com

LiveTyping.com

LiveTyping.com

How to turn your ppt into a webinar

2011-06-21T19:00:00.000-03:00

Suppose you have created a ppt to use during a presentation. After presenting it, you would like to share it in your blog. Then, what you can do is record yourself presenting using a tool such as AUDACITY , upload your ppt at SLIDESHARE and then synchronize the sound with the slides.

It's a great exercise for anyone who would like to rehearse before a presentation.

This is a SLIDECAST I created after presenting at the Braz-tesol conference in 2008. After sharing it at twitter this last week Luiz Reikdal asked me how to do it.

Ppt Blog Talks 2008

View another webinar from Ana Menezes

This is a TUTORIAL showing how to do it. First, upload your ppt to slideshare, then go to MY UPLOADS, click EDIT below the presentation you would like to add an audio to, click CREATE SLIDECAST , add an mp3 audio previously recorded and synch it with your presentation.

New E-BOOK: Developing the 4 Skills with Webtools

2011-06-12T16:56:00.000-03:00

I have the pleasure to share with Life Feast readers my most recent book
"Developing the 4 Skills with Webtools"

As the title says, I've selected 45 webtools according to the skills they could be used to foster: SPEAKING, LISTENING, READING and WRITING activities for language teachers.

The book also includes LINKS to several examples of the proposed activities.

My special thanks to Shelly Terrell, David Deubelbeiss and Kiran Budhrani who kindly allowed me to link and mention their work.

Task Challenge #7 - Dialogue with Phrasal verbs

2011-06-02T08:32:00.004-03:00

We're close to the end of our semester and about to finish our Tasks Challenge. During this semester, I've proposed different challenges to students asking them to create animations, comic strips, audio recordings using content recently covered in class.

CHECK OUT CHALLENGE #7

`

This is the example I showed them

GoAnimate.com: Challenge 7 by anamariacult

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Here are some of their animations, CAN YOU IDENTIFY WHAT PHRASAL VERBS THEY USED?:

GoAnimate.com: excuses by Júlia

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!
GoAnimate.com: Challenge #7 by juliana-pst

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

More animations can be found at the SCHOOL WIKI.

70 Tools in 70 minutes (by Silvia Tolisano)

2011-05-25T10:18:00.000-03:00

I'd like share this fantastic presentation by Silvia Tolisano about webtools we can use to help reach our teaching goals. Check out her wonderful blog "THE LANGWITCHES BLOG"

She says: "IT'S NOT ABOUT THE TOOL."
"It's about looking at tools to see which one will help you accomplish teaching and learning of 21st Century skills & litteracies"

70 Tools 70 Minutes

View more presentations from Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano

#BReltChat - discussion group for Brazilian teachers

2011-05-22T11:57:00.000-03:00

Last Thursday night, I had the pleasure to participate with other Brazilian EFL teachers in a discussion about "MOTIVATION". #BReltChat is a initiative by Bruno Andrade, inspired by the #ELTchat discussions which happen in twitter with teachers worldwide.

#BReltChat via kwout

Apart from moderating discussions which take place every Thursday 9:30 PM (Brasília time), a group of teachers have been publishing a summary of what has been discussed in the #BReltChat BLOG and have interviewed several well known teachers about the topics discussed.

The Blog

Some interviews

Interview about Dogme with Scott Thornbury from Henrick Oprea on Vimeo.

Learning with/from Janet Bianchini

2011-05-15T11:10:00.000-03:00

I love following Janet's Bianchini's blog "Civitaquana - Janet's Abruzzo's blog" http://civitaquana.blogspot.com/

What I like about it? I love her creative ideas, love the way she uses comics and photo editing tools to make her images even more interesting, love the happy tone of her posts and am enchanted with how willing she is to exchange ideas, help and share.

Well, you can imagine how happy I was when she accepted my invitation to present her session to us: "Digital Storytelling in the Digital Era" . We had very few attendees (maybe because it was Sat. morning), nevertheless, we had a great time learning from her.

This is the ppt she used during her talk:

Storytelling in the Digital Era

View more presentations from Janet Bianchini

I loved her idea of using different webtools to narrate the same story.
You can listen to her session HERE. Click VIEW RECORDING.
As we waited for more attendees to join us, my suggestion is to let the recording upload a bit and then watch it as of 18 mins after the beginning of the recording.

15 Cool things to do with YOUTUBE VIDEOS

2011-05-07T17:28:00.001-03:00

This is the collection of links I shared in Twitter today.

They are all Youtube related sites.

Click on the image to see the JOGTHE WEB page

http://www.jogtheweb.com/run/xR4Bt3pPSkfz/Cool-things-to-do-with-YOUTUBE-videos#1

Task Challenge #6 - Dialogue (Agreeing and Disagreeing)

2011-05-04T11:21:00.004-03:00

The aim of the lesson was to help students create dialogues where they would discuss a topic and agree/ disagree with each other. (Book used: Face2Face Upper Intermediate)

The proposed task

I was amazed at the number of cell phones which could record audio in class. I'll definitely use them for recording more often. My students created the dialogues in class (in pairs / trios), I had a look at it for more serious mistakes and then they practised reading the dialogue, trying not to speak too fast and to sound as natural as possible. Students then used their cell phones to record their dialogue. Many of them had to record themselves 7 or 8 times before they were happy with the result.
Isn't it wonderful? Which other way would students read the same dialogue 8 TIMES.

These are some of their recordings:

Topic: Friends give the best advice
Listen!

Topic: 20 is a good age to get married
Listen!

All their recordings have been shared in the SCHOOL WIKI

Task Challenge #5 - Picture Description with FOTOBABBLE

2011-04-26T10:37:00.001-03:00

Picture Description is a skill our students need to develop for the Oral tests at our school and for the Cambridge exams.

Challenge #5 asked students to choose an image and record a description for it. This way students have plenty of examples of what is required of them.

These are some of the descriptions created by them at home.

All their FOTOBABBLES have been published in the SCHOOL WIKI and shared with parents.

Easter message with ZOOBURST

2011-04-23T10:13:00.000-03:00

Time to test ZOOBURST and wish everyone a great Easter.

It's always time to be born again, to change attitudes, reflect about your choices, consider your priorities in life and above all share love with friends, family and those in need.

Happy Easter

Orkut Scraps and Graphics - GoodLightscraps.com

Brain Games for English Practice

2011-04-16T09:51:00.001-03:00

Interesting Matching Game we can use in class (with IWB) or students can play it individually with PCs.
BUBBABRAIN

I tried the games under the ELEMENTARY LEVEL and these are the sections I liked the most:

English
Pictures
Telling the time

As the game times you, you can have different group of students repeat the activity and do it faster.
http://www.bubbabrain.com

A game for suffixes and their meanings.

Match the pictures to the words

Match analogical clocks to digital times

Warmer activity with LIVETYPING

2011-04-12T18:08:00.000-03:00

The warmer activity I selected for my students today, was aimed at reinforcing structures which my students had problems with in their last written test: verbs accompanied by gerund or infinitive.

I typed a stem sentence on LIVETYPING and elicited a possible ending for the sentence. Then, I invited different students to erase the rest of the sentence after the stem and write another variation.
With one group, the beginning was MY FATHER MANAGED ... and with the other group I REGRET ...

After different students typed their contributions, I clicked ENLIVEN and students could see all their sentences again. Then, I grabbed the embed code and shared it in our edmodo group. The video below shows how the two activities looked in edmodo.

Create COOL flash animations

2011-04-09T14:23:00.004-03:00

Learn how to create your animation with DOINK

Now it's my turn, let's see what I can create. I've created an animation for a quote by Buddha.
http://www.doink.com/clips/anamariacult/1481047/the-present-moment

the Present Moment by anamariacult, made at DoInk.com

Well, not very easy, I guess I need to play at this MUCH MORE. However, I believe students will find it much easier than I did.

HOW CAN WE USE THE SITE WITH STUDENTS?

students can tell a story .
students can animate quotes like I did.
students can animate mini sagas.
students can create an animation talking about their passions.

Task Challenge #4 - Write Comments

2011-04-01T10:40:00.002-03:00

One of the skills our students need to develop is expressing their opinions about different topics. Task #4 involves leaving a comment on a virtual board for the whole class. In fact, the same board is being used by 3 different groups of the same level of English.

Students discussed the topic in class, and then were asked to leave a written comment. I've been sending to students the correction of their texts and next week they will be asked to edit their comments on the board according to the suggested corrections they have received via edmodo.

This is a screenshot of the challenge message shared with students via edmodo

The tool used was STIXY. Click on the image below to see the Virtual Board.

http://www.stixy.com/guest/111291

You can find information about the 10 TASKS CHALLENGE here.

My Picks from YOUTUBE this week

2011-03-28T10:23:00.001-03:00

Have a look at these great videos.

All you need is love - a beautiful video of kids from India and Africa singing the Beatles song.
Glogster in the classroom - high school students talk about their projects with Glogster.
For the birds - cute animation that could be used as a discussion starter about "Bullying".
Education is broken - great talk by Chris Lehmann
Reel Wisdom - a collection of quotes from famous films
Porcelain Revised Score - beautiful short movie about 2nd world war
What teachers make - great video about education
What's the role of teachers today? - Interview with Marc Prensky
Acceptance speech by Alfred Hitchcock - fantastic, a must-see
Language as a Window into Human Nature - RSA animation

flash video player

Oh, I used TUBESNACK to make the video playlist above. There are other video templates to choose from.

Cool Noticeboard - SCRUMBLR

2011-03-24T10:28:00.003-03:00

Scrumblr is another "noticeboard " tool , like Wallwisher, Linoit and Stixy.

How is it different from the other similar sites?

It's incredibly simple, just click on the +, double click to edit and drag your note to the board.
Two people can edit the same note.
You can't write much on each note.
You write a note only. No photos, videos or links.
No embedding option.

HOW CAN WE USE THE SITE WITH STUDENTS?

Great site for leaving simple messages, e.g. birthday messages.
Useful for brainstorming topics.
You can post the beginning of the sentence and ask students to finish that using their imagination. Ex: If I were a millionaire ....
You can ask all students to use the same structure to make a sentence. Ex: I'm looking forward to .....
Build a story together asking students to add their notes linearly. (MY EXAMPLE BELOW)

This is my first trial, after learning about it via NIK PEACHEY

Would you like to contribute to the story?

Just click on the + button, double click on the note to edit and drag it to the board.

Telefable - The eyebrow story

2011-03-23T09:31:00.001-03:00

I've found this story via David Deubelbeiss' tweet this morning.
As he suggested, it's a great story you can use in class. CLICK on the image to read this cute story.

HOW TO USE IT IN CLASS?

Use the first page to ask students to describe Sean in pairs. Then, ask some students to tell the group. I believe many students won't know the word EYEBROW.
Ask them "How would you describe his eyebrows?" then go to page 2
You can have students read it silently while you pass the pages, ask different students to read it aloud or read it yourself.
"One day it was very windy". Stop and ask "what do you think happened? "
"I have an idea " Ask students to talk together and think of what idea Sean had.
Ask students what new words they've learned.

These are some structures from the story, you can work with. Ask if students can remember the original sentence, then get students to say different variations.

It was so (windy) that ...........

He (ran) as ...... as he could

Do you have any other ideas? David, any ideas?

MORE STORIES

Using MINI SAGAS - 10 ideas

2011-03-21T13:29:00.002-03:00

I've always liked the concept of MINI SAGAS. Expressing your ideas in a few words (50 words). This is a presentation I've created with some ideas I brainstormed with CULTURA EDTECH participants yesterday. I used EMPRESSR to create the slideshow.
http://www.empressr.com/View.aspx?token=Cb8TUDr1vks%3d

This is the slideshow which inspired me. A great presentation I found at slideshare.net where you can find several mini sagas + images.

Mini Sagas

View more presentations from georgiana.meleandra

SUPER EASY presentation tool - Zipcast

2011-03-21T10:45:00.000-03:00

ZIPCAST is the easiest presentation tool I've seen so far. You don't need to learn about complicated controls, no download required, participants can join you with the click of a button. It takes no more than 60 seconds to set up a session!

Zipcast Activity Stream via kwout

This is a tutorial to show you how to create your first ZIPCAST

Zipcast Activity Stream via kwout

A Revision Quiz with ProProfs

2011-03-20T19:57:00.001-03:00

After watching this fantastic TUTORIAL by Russell Stannard I decided to create my second quiz at PROPROFS. It's great you can add images and videos to your quiz and even embed it in a class blog for students.

I've used two kinds of questions: multiple choice and fill in the blank.

UIA Revision Written Test 1 » online testing software

This was my first trial: A quiz to test WORD FORMATION

Word Formation - UIA 2C » ProProfs Quizzes

Task Challenge # 3 - Students record themselves

2011-03-14T11:06:00.000-03:00

This is the 3rd challenge proposed to my students this semester:

MY EXAMPLE:

Example "A happy day" recorded by anamariacult

The recordings made by students are being published HERE.

Check the post THE 10 TASKS CHALLENGE

Playing with fonts

2011-03-11T14:10:00.002-03:00

A selection of sites you can play with fonts:

FONT DE MUSIC - add music to your font

FONTSELF various fonts with embed codes

MYLIVESIGNATURE create your handwritten signature for e-mails and blog posts.

YOURFONTS

TEXTANIM animate your text

ICON SCRABBLE - use icons to make a text

SPELL WITH FLICKR Use Flickr images to create a text. (Contribution by Drew McAllister)

Create LISTENING DICTATIONS for your students

2011-03-03T16:57:00.004-03:00

I've already used LISTEN AND WRITE in class, however I only noticed I could make my own dictations very recently. These are my first trials. I recorded the audio with AUDACITY (mp3 file) , then uploaded the audio to the site, added the transcript, synched it with the audio (a bit tricky) and THAT'S IT!

These are two LISTENING DICTATIONS I've created, the first one I dedictated a text from the course book (Face2Face Upper) and the second are isolated sentences using verbs which require GERUND or INFITIVE.

So what is good for me? via kwout

Sentences GERUND or INFINITIVE via kwout

Wanna learn how to create your own?

Watch the TUTORIAL below or this one for HD

Traditional Games - adapted to EFL teaching

2011-03-03T07:31:00.000-03:00

Sharing a hand-out I produced for a workshop I gave at UNITRI some time ago. The hand-out (in Portuguese) describes traditional games we might have played in our childhood that can be adapted for learning English.

Digitalizar0082

PAGE 2

PAGE 3

Iphone apps for EFL learners

2011-03-01T18:48:00.000-03:00

I was showing some apps I have in my iphone to a friend of mine today when she asked me what apps she could download to her iphone to help her revise English.

After checking out various posts, these are the ones I'd like to recommend so far:

VOCABAHEAD - A word a day

$0.99

LEVEL: Advanced Learners

VOCABAHEAD - SAT Vocabulary
There's a FREE version

Fun and intuitive way to learn hundreds of new words using humorous illustrations with audio. You have a list of words to learn from, with examples and drawings.

WORDGLIDE

FREE

Watch words glide through your screen, some words may pause and show their definition, you can hear the word and add it to your favourites by tapping on +

Watch an overview

GENGO Language Audio Flashcards (also in English)

$5.99

1. You learn the words/ sound with flashcards with images.
2. You test your knowledge by playing a game where you have to click on the image according to the word you hear.

I have this application in French and use it every day.
Really recommend it.

LEVEL: Beginner - Pre-Intermediate

LEARNING ENGLISH with the New York Times

$2.99

Improve your reading, listening and vocabulary.

If you have already used Quizlet to make your own flashcards with words and definitions, you can use the following site to have access to your flashcard sets.

FREE
http://www.fcfree.com/

Max My Dream - writing tool

2011-02-27T11:23:00.003-03:00

This a BEAUTIFUL site suggested in a tweet by @evab2001.
http://www.maxmydream.com

You can write your dream in a 140 characters and then see it animated.
What I liked about it? The idea of making you think of your dream, the beautiful background music, the imaginative way of representing our dreams, EVERYTHING.

After typing in your dream, you can share it via Twitter, facebook or even embed it, like I did just below:

My dream was: I wish one day all nations would be united in peace, helping each other overcome their difficulties and learn to respect their differences.

HOW CAN WE USE THIS SITE WITH STUDENTS?

have students talk in pairs about their dreams for the world or fot themselves, then ask them to write about their dream in a maximum of 140 characters. They use the site and share the link or embed their dream in a class blog below the original dream they wrote.
You can also have students write their dreams show the video to sts in class, and have sts guess from the images what the original words were.

*** If the music disturbs you while reading the blog, click on the SOUND ICON to turn it off.

Your Hybrid Classroom - Will you change your Paradigm?

2011-02-27T10:40:00.001-03:00

While browsing through my diigo bookmarks looking for an article this morning, I had the chance to watch this amazing presentation by Michelle Pacansky-Brock.

Your Hybrid Classroom: Will You Change Your Paradigm? social media, 21st century skills, web2.0

View more presentations from Michelle Pacansky-Brock

Letterpop - create cool newsletters

2011-02-26T11:58:00.000-03:00

Click on the image to see the newsletter FULL SIZE

Task Challenge #2 - Creating a comic strip

2011-02-21T10:18:00.001-03:00

Last Thursday, I proposed challenge #2 which involved students creating a dialogue with vocabulary from the previous units (EDUCATION)

Students were asked to use http://writecomics.com and use a minimum of 5 new words.

This is a sample created by one of the students.

All the comic strips are being shared at our school wiki (for projects) and will be shared with parents.

How will I give them feedback?

Well, I've decided to write down some common mistakes and then talk to the class as a whole not mentioning names.

Common mistakes noticed: some students don't know the right collocations for scholarship, lots of students forgot to use DID in questions in the past, and some of them invented some expressions using literal translation from Portuguese to English. All in all, I guess they did a good job.

Picks of the week

2011-02-20T15:38:00.000-03:00

Sharing interesting sites I've come across this week.

Click on a letter of the ALPHABET and watch the letters turn into an animal. Cute, great for teaching animal vocab.

Watch video summaries of various famous books. EFL teachers can use the videos as a preview to reading or for listening comprehension.

Learn idioms in English. Definitions and examples.

Type a verb and see it conjugated in various verb tenses.

Personalized meeting rooms
Use any presentation: yours or someone else's
Streaming live video
Group chat
No downloads
Unlimited meetings & participants
Private or Public

How to find ALTERNATIVE tools

2011-02-17T10:19:00.000-02:00

It's amazing how many tools cease to exist the moment you're planning to use them. :)

How can you find alternative tools? Use SIMILARSITESEARCH

Yesterday I was looking for an alternative to http://www.pageflakes.com/
and found another interesting tool for organizing feeds http://www.protopage.com/

Task Challenge #1 - Listening practice

2011-02-16T11:52:00.002-02:00

According to a previous post , this is the result of the first task I proposed to my students.

It's pretty simple, students had to listen to a dictation I created on Voki about the topic we were discussing in class that week, had to transcribe it and then send the text to me via e-mail.

This is the VOKI message they listened to:

The texts I received via e-mail showed me students did a great job understanding the words. I noticed some minor spelling mistakes (Ex: reserch, then instead of them) but most students failed to use the right punctuation marks (full stops, commas, and inverted commas). As a post-activity, I'll be elicitng the right punctuation from my students in class.

When asked if they thought the task was easy, medium or difficult, most of them told me they found it easy, however they had to listen to it several times to get the words right. Isn't that what all teachers wish? Lots of listening practice and spelling awareness. Mission accomplished!

The 10 tasks CHALLENGE

2011-02-11T08:31:00.003-02:00

With the beginning of our semester, we've already started developing little projects with our students. I've got 4 groups of Upper Intermediate students ("I'm the queen of Upper As!) and this semester I plan to propose 10 challenging tasks for them to develop at home apart from doing their traditional workbook exercises.

The tasks aim to help students practise LISTENING, WRITING and SPEAKING. Students will also get the chance to learn how to use different webtools to create content, a skill I believe all our students need nowadays.

As a plus, students will get to watch tutorials , in English, to learn how to use the tools.

This is what I have in mind:

All tasks involve uisng language learned during that week.
The platform used for sharing is EDMODO and a school blog.

These are the webtools we're going to use:

CO11 Free Online Conference - Time to share and learn

2011-02-05T10:20:00.002-02:00

Free Online Conference on WiZiQ: CO11 - Feb 4-6, 2011 via kwout

Fantastic free online sessions taking place this weekend.

Presenters will discuss the following topics:

Free Online Conference on WiZiQ: CO11 - Feb 4-6, 2011 via kwout

To participate, click on the link below, check the session that interests you, and a few minutes before the session starts, click on the link of the session, click JOIN THIS CLASS, and then LAUNCH THIS CLASS.

I'm planning to watch two sessions today:

1. Blended Instruction w/ Blogs and Wikis for Young Learners (Shelly Terrell and Greta Sandler)
2. Language in Motion: Teaching with the Flow (Janet Bianchini)

2 Online Courses for EFL / ESL teachers

2011-01-28T11:15:00.000-02:00

Learn how to integrate new technologies in your lessons with all the support you need.
CULTURA EDTECH - a course for tech beginners.
MOVING BEYOND - a course for more experienced techies.

New Groups start on FEBRUARY 07.
See poster in FULL SIZE

PROMETHEAN Activity: Images hidden behind TIC TAC TOE

2011-01-27T16:51:00.001-02:00

This week, I trained new teachers how to make lessons for the Promethean IWBs we have at school.
There are several features you can use and one of them is hiding/showing. A friend of mine , Rita, sent me a message yesterday asking for help because she wants to prepare an activity where she hides images behind numbers.

This is a tutorial I've made to show her how to do it.
http://screencast.com/t/7z7IwU0vPoO

The same software can be used in other IWBs, all you have to do is download the free version of ACTIVINSPIRE from http://www.prometheanplanet.com/en-gb/support/

PROJECT: songs by the Beatles (Across the Universe)

2011-01-23T18:05:00.002-02:00

I had an idea for a project to develop this semester with my Intermediate students.

I intend to use 5 songs by "The Beatles" from the film Across the Universe as a warmer activity every other week. The activities have been devised at http://lyricstraining.com and I'll use the IWB to ask different students to come to the keyboard to try to complete the gaps from the lyrics with everyone's help. This way students will have listening and spelling practise. After we're done, I'll play the whole song again for us to sing (pronunciation practice).

I'll save the song videos from YOutube as favourites so that I can easily use the songs at the beginning of classes, as background for writing activities, to inspire brainstorming, and so on. Playing the same songs at different times, I believe they will memorize them.

During the semester, I expect some student will mention the songs come from the film "Across the Universe" and I believe they will naturally ask to watch the whole film in class. If my predictions don't come true, I'll tell them about the film and suggest we watch it. The film is not appropriate for younger students, therefore it's important to watch it to see if you find it acceptable for your group.

The Song Activities I plan to use:

These are the controls which you need to use in LYRICSTRAINING to repeat the lines, skip words, rewind and so on.

This is a TUTORIAL to show you how to make your own song activity.

Creating your own SONG ACTIVITY

2011-01-22T18:25:00.001-02:00

LYRICS TRAINING is a wonderful site to practise listening and spelling. It has a wide variety of songs you can choose to complete the gaps from the lyrics. There are 3 levels; the higher the level the more gaps you have to complete.

The good news is that you can create your own song activity with a video clip you select from youtube, paste the lyrics and synchronize it with the video. It's quite simple really. This is an activity I've created for the song BECAUSE by "the Beatles" from the film "Across the Universe".

If you want to learn how to make your own SONG ACTIVITY to use with your students, watch the TUTORIAL below.

YOUCUBE: a cool way to share youtube videos

2011-01-14T13:26:00.000-02:00

Let's imagine you want to share a list of videos with your students in an interesting way.

Well, I guess, YOUCUBE could be your choice. You can easily enter 6 Youtube URLs, and then click share your cube to grab the link to it.

This is a YOUCUBE I've created with 6 videos I like very much. Hope you like my selection.

Cool debate tool - Amap

2011-01-14T11:04:00.002-02:00

Great tool to be used to help students debate a topic. You can create an argument, state your reasons and then invite people to share their views. The site provides you with the embed code for publishing.

Check out an argument I've started:

To participale, just click REPLY.

HOW TO USE THE SITE WITH STUDENTS?

Post an argument in a class blog and have students participate either from home or at the school computer lab.
Start an argument, invite people around the world to share their views and then in class (with the IWB) show the discussion and invite students to share their opinions about the statement.

Found the tool thanks to Ozge and her wonderful blog .

TED: A tool that finds 3x more breast tumors, and why it's not available to you

2011-01-09T10:23:00.001-02:00

I had a breast tumor detected in 2009 and as a cancer survivor I was delighted to hear about a tool that can help all women detect breast tumors more efficiently and less painfully than normal mamographies.

Completely bald opening a gift

At the same time, it's shocking to see how little do politicians and other powerful men regard the health of women. You see, the approval of a more efficient screener and less expensive machine can disturb the "pockets" of many powerful manufacterers.

This presentation by Dr. Deborah Rhodesis is both informative and important to ALL WOMEN. Let's hope it doesn't take ong (5 or more years) for us to have the possiblity of having this powerful tool to help us take care of our health.

GEMS of the week

2011-01-06T11:21:00.001-02:00

Everyday while surfing the net (twitter, facebook, edmodo, blogs) I bookmark sites I find interesting (with diigo) and then when I have time to explore them I share them in LIFE FEAST.

These are the sites I've selected for this week's post:

KIDS' FABLES- A site with fables written by children. The site is perfect for developing a project where students are invited to create their own fables. There's a page with guidelines which can help students create their own story. The site suggests a fable contest where the best fables are submitted to Kidsfables.com to be considered for publication. As an extension, you can record your students reading the fables (using AUDIOBOO) and publish them in a class blog.

TIME 10 QUESTIONS - another great inspiration for projects. This is a collection of videos where celebrities are asked 10 questions. You can ask students to predict the questions which will be asked and then watch the video for checking. You can also ask students to pretend they are going to interview someone famous, create the 10 questions and then roleplay the interview with a classmate pretending to be the celebrity. The interviews can be recorded with a digital camera and then published in youtube and/or a class blog. Students can even vote for the best interview.

DIGITAL DIALECTS - The Digital Dialects website features free to use interactive game for learning languages (English, French, Italian, Russian, Japanese and many others.)

SMORIES -these are stories read by kids. The site can be used for listening and reading comprehension (as many of the stories are subtitled) or you can use this as an inspiration for a writing project where students create a story, record themselves reading it and submit the video to Smories.com.

EBOOK EXCHANGE- if you have a kindle or nook, this is a place where you can lend and borrow e-books. The fee you pay for borrowing or lending is sent to charity.

MESSAGEHOP- great tool for storytelling.

MY EXAMPLE

FOLDING STORY - Start a story, fold the paper and pass. Sounds familiar? Well, you can do the same online. A group storytelling game.

10 sites I plan to use in 2011

2011-01-05T11:11:00.001-02:00

I intend to use this site in class to practise or revise vocabulary learned in class . Great to be used in IWBs.
http://www.spellingcity.com/

I'm going to synchronise my audioboo account with a posterous blog and use it to record my students in class, reading dialogues and stories they have created. I can use my iphone or a laptop for the recording and it's published in posterous automatically.
http://audioboo.fm/

I'll be using screencasts to record feedback for my students (correcting their work) and to record grammar explanations for revision purposes. EXAMPLE
http://screenr.com

I'd like to have my students create their own comic strips with the content learned that day.
http://writecomics.com/

With English Attack I intend to have my students learn new vocabulary and expressions from movie snippets.
I'll use the IWB or take students to the lab.
http://www.english-attack.com/beta-preview

At the beginning or end of class, I'll have students listen and try to fill the gaps of songs on the IWB.
http://www.lyricstraining.com/

I'll have the students add written texts and images for projects on this interactive wall.
http://www.stixy.com/

I'll create glogster posters to create study guides to help my students study before tests. EXAMPLE
http://glogster.com

I'll be using Memorize Now to help my students memorize dialogues or expressions.
http://memorizenow.com/

At the lab, students will be asked to create joint stories or dialogues using target structure or vocabulary and then send me the link.
http://typewith.me/

Free learning opportunity for Teachers - EVO 2011

2011-01-02T10:23:00.000-02:00

Have some extra time at the beginning of the year and wish to learn from professionals worldwide?

The ELETRONIC VILLAGE ONLINE , every year in Jan - Feb, offers free sessions for teachers where they can participate in discussions and virtual workshops.

These are the sessions for EVO2011

Sessions start on January 10th, however you can register as of January 3rd.
To register (for free) all you have to do is click on one of the links above and follow the instructions.

I'll be co-moderating the Digital Storytelling session along with other great teachers.
HOPE to "see" many of you at EVO.

VOCABULARY practice in a flash

2010-12-28T12:56:00.002-02:00

I love sites which can make my teaching life easier.

SPELLINGCITY helps your students learn / memorize words by focussing on spelling, pronunciation and contextualisation.
http://www.spellingcity.com/

First, you add the words you wish to memorize. Then, the site generates sentences with those words so that you can learn it. You can then, click the TEST button to hear the words and test your spelling or choose one of the GAMES available.

An example:

1. I created a list of words related to MONEY

2.Once you click spelling test, you can hear the isolated word and then the word in a sentence for to type the correct spelling. LISTENING AND WRITING practice.

3. Games you can use to practise VOCABULARY, WRITING and SPELLING

HOW TO USE THE SITE IN CLASS

With an IWB

In the last 15-20 minutes of class, elicit the new words learned that day from students while you insert the word in Spellincity. Sts can dictate the spelling as teacher types in the words. Then, all we have to do is click spelling test and start using the practice exercises the site generates.

You can also, assign a specific student to keep a record of the new words throughout the class and then use the list close to the end of the class to generate exercises.

Another alternative is to use the practice exercises at the beginning of the following class for revision.

MAGIC STUDIO - creative tools

2010-12-17T11:54:00.000-02:00

This is a fantastic site I haven't explored to its full potential yet but found it so interesting that had to share it.

With Magic Studio, you can create quizzes, drag n' drop activities and other interactive presentations.
http://www.magicstudio.com/

SOME EXAMPLES:

- Once you've dragged the right word over the image, you can hear the sound of the animal.

- click on the objects to hear the pronunciation.

- an interactive timeline where you can include images, audio files, links to videos and other files.

TUBEOKE - watch and sing

2010-12-17T10:44:00.000-02:00

I have a very bad memory for lyrics but love singing. If you are like me, tubeoke is just great. You can watch the music clip and read the lyrics all in the same screen.

HOW TO USE THIS SITE WITH STUDENTS?

For warmer - have students choose a song they like and have them sing together while reading the lyrics.
Use a song lyrics to highlight a grammar structure or to call attention to specific vocabulary.
Or just have fun and sing, sing , sing.

If you want to find a song for a specific structure, try LYREACH, a site you can use to find songs by typing a sequence of words you expect to find in a song.

Another great site for practising with lyrics is http://www.lyricstraining.com/

Animate a text

2010-12-17T09:38:00.000-02:00

Want to animate a short text for a blog, wiki or to send your students a cool message?
Use WONDERSAY to help you create the animation and then embed it or share it via twitter or facebook .
Found the site while exploring David Kapuler's great blog.

made on Wondersay - Animate text with style

Gems of the week

2010-12-12T11:20:00.004-02:00

These are some of the sites I came across this week via my PLN in twitter and facebook:

Anithings is a brand new children's creativity tool. It enables animated stories to be created simply and quickly, allowing children's creativity to run wild.
http://www.anithings.com/

Write a personal journal via e-mail.
http://ohlife.com/

Turn what people post on social media into compelling stories.
You collect the best photos, video, tweets and more to publish them as simple, beautiful stories that can be embedded anywhere.
http://storify.com/

Take a note right away wherever you are, create reminders, arrange your pictures and movies as you like, share ideas with group members, use stickies to share files.
http://en.linoit.com/

Should I say ..... or .......?
Great for discovering the right collocation.
http://phras.in/

Cloze test creator - paste a text and then select what you want omitted.
http://l.georges.online.fr/tools/cloze.html

Type in a text and have it phonetically transcribed.
http://www.photransedit.com/Online/Text2Phonetics.aspx

Super easy PODCASTING - Audioboo + Posterous + iphone

2010-12-05T10:22:00.002-02:00

PODCASTING can't get easier than this. After reading a great post by NIK PEACHEY I decided to give it a try.

First, I downloaded the audioboo app to my iphone.
Then, I went to my audioboo account and changed the settings to synch my audioboos with my posterous blog. (You can also synch your audioboo with your facebook and twitter)
To make the recording, I used my iphone (audioboo app), published my recording, attached an image to it, wrote a description and VOILÁ , it was automatically published in my posterous blog.

HOW TO USE THIS WITH STUDENTS

record students reading dialogues and then with a simple click publish it in a class blog.
record yourself reading a text and then add comprehension questions to your posterous post.
record yourself reading a text for your students as a dictation to be done at home.
record your students interviewing each other.
record interviews when you go to workshops / conferences and automatically share them in twitter.

If you don't have an iphone, the same can be done using an ipad or recording directly in the audioboo website.

AUDIOBOO + POSTEROUS

Strategies for using COMICS in the classroom

2010-12-03T09:40:00.000-02:00

I've recently fallen in love with comic creators and its various possibilities of use in the classroom.

This WONDERFUL presentation shared below, not only brings several links to comic creator sites but also provides suggestions for teachers.

Tap into the World of Comics Primary School version

View more presentations from S. Hendy.

These are some of the COMIC CREATOR sites suggested by S.Hendy

Web 1.0 , 2.0, and now 3.0!

2010-12-03T09:01:00.001-02:00

I've always been excited about what is to come in terms of technology and its implications in our lives.

If you want to learn more about the terms WEB 1.0 / 2.0 / 3.0 , I suggest the wonderful post by NIcky Hockly.

Teachers & Web 3.0 – A Beginner´s Guide to Webs 1,2,3, x – e-moderation station via kwout

Below is a presentation, shared by Nicky and devised by Steve Wheeler from the University of Plymouth.

Web 3.0: The way forward?

View more presentations from Steve Wheeler.

Picture Description with GEOCAM. tv

2010-12-03T08:38:00.001-02:00

Sharing an idea for using the webcam images from GeoCam.tv

Describing pictures in one of skills required for the Cambridge exams, therefore, if you're helping your students to do that, you could show students the various webcams around the world and ask them to choose a place. Click on the camera icon and have students describe what they can see to each other (pairwork). You can then debrief by asking for descriptions from some volunteers.

These are live webcams from Natal, Brazil and Liverpool, UK.

You can also have students predict what they might see before clicking on the image icons. In France, students might say they will see the Eiffel Tower, in Egypt the pyrammids, and so on.

Discovered GEOCAM.tv via @NikPeachey 's tweet.

SCREENCASTS + Grammar explanations

2010-12-02T11:30:00.003-02:00

I've recently discovered I could create screencasts to offer grammar explanation recordings to my students. After sharing the idea in a workshop, a colleague of mine (Angela Gonçalves), has made some really good recordings I wish to share with other teachers. The first three were created by Angela and the last one is mine.

Making Deductions (must , can't , might)

Obligations (have to , must, don't have to)

First and Second Conditional

Narrative Tenses (S. Past , Past Cont., Past Perfect)

Take and share your notes at Noterr

2010-12-01T09:02:00.000-02:00

Simple application which you can use to write notes to yourself or to others. Each sticky note can be shared with others via link or sent via e-mail. http://noterr.com

Comic Strips with WRITECOMICS.com

2010-11-24T12:00:00.001-02:00

This is the easieast tool I've seen to create comic strips. I've been planning to create a comic strip with my students in class and then ask them to create mini dialogues with language learned that day for their own comic strips. http://writecomics.com/

You don't even need an account. First you click on the characters, then the backgroun, choose a speech bubble, type in the text (click SUBMIT WORD) and when you've finished click FINISHED and you've provided with a link. It's that easy.

:( It's a pity they don't offer us an embed but you can always grab a screenshot and publish it.

These are some comic strips created by a colleague of mine, Angela Gonçalves, to present modals of deduction.
http://writecomics.com/gen/3583.html

To learn how to use it, watch this TUTORIAL:

About Tech Talk Live! Conference 2011

2010-11-24T10:48:00.000-02:00

There is a conference coming for K-12 IT professionals this April!

If you're an IT professional who works for a school, school district, or educational organization, you may be interested in a conference this April in Pennsylvania.

IU 13 in Lancaster, PA, is hosting Tech Talk Live on April 26-27, 2011. While there are other conferences for professionals interested in using technology in the classroom, this is the only conference that serves IT professionals who work in educational environments. The content is directed toward directors of technology services, systems and network administrators, application developers, and IT support staff.

Walt Mossberg, who writes a weekly column on personal technology for The Wall Street Journal, is scheduled to speak. Breakout sessions delve into the nitty-gritty of deploying and maintaining information technology systems in K-12 institutions.

Greg Schwem, a standup comedian who pokes fun at corporate and institutional cultures, is giving the keynote, to bring levity to the intense two-day event.

Early Registration is $250 through the end of February, and includes entry to win a free Apple iPad.

For more information on this conference or to register, visit the Tech Talk Live website, http://techtalklive.iu13.org.

POST-CONFERENCE REVIEWS 2010

Learn Vocabulary w/ movie snippets

2010-11-21T10:28:00.002-02:00

Found out about ENGLISH ATTACK via facebook yesterday.

Another fantastic site to suggest to our students. ENGLISH ATTACK, has a selection of movie snippets which students can learn from. First, they pre-teach some vocabulary (words + definitions) necessary for the understanding of the scene, then you watch the scene and move on to the interactive exercises (very cool!).

If you have an Interactive White Board in class, you can use it as a whole class activity. You can also take students to the school lab to work with a selected scene or a scene of their choice.

PURPLEMASH - a creative space for your students

2010-11-13T11:29:00.001-02:00

This last week, I learned about http://www.alexsclass.com , a perfect example of meaningful technology integration. Very beautiful work being developed, I wish I could be a student in this class. :)

This same teacher, Alex, used PURPLEMASH to have students create drawings and a newpaper based on the content they were studying. http://www.alexsclass.com/tag/purplemash/

purplemash via kwout

Watch this video to learn more about PURPLEMASH

I haven't explored it yet and will be posting about my trials this coming week.

Helping a student understand how to express the Past

2010-11-09T09:43:00.001-02:00

I feel thrilled when my students use our Edmodo group to ask me questions about content. It's proof they've accepted it as a powerful communication tool. Yesterday, a student of mine sent me his doubts about S.Past, Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous. He sent me his questions in Portuguese, nevertheless, I liked the fact he called for help.

So, how can I help him? If I don't want to wait until next class and talk to him face to face (and I believe he doesn't either) I need to answer him as quickly as I can. Traditionally, I would type in a written explanation which would be quite long, I imagine. So which tool could I use? I thought of sending him a video message where he could see me and hear me but then I wouldn't have the written sentences to show him the different tenses. I then remembered SKETCHCAST , a great tool I've posted previously.

This is the answer I sent him today. The tool is incredibly easy to use, no downloads, all you need is your microphone and internet connection. Then you can send your explanation via e-mail or grab the embed for publishing.

Learn more about SKETCHCAST with Russell Stannard's tutorial.

Practise LISTENING with Music

2010-11-07T10:15:00.002-02:00

The first time I heard about LYRICS TRAINING was a few weeks ago via Roberta Righetto. I bookmarked it but didn't try it out until some days ago after watching Russell Stannard's fantastic tutorial.

First, you choose the language you want to practise (Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, German) then you select the song, the level (easy, medium and expert)and finally start completing the gaps as you listen to the song. The idea is pretty simple, however it's great fun listening, watching the video clip and trying to understand the missing word. An additional feature is the way you can control the song, if you type the wrong word it doesn't accept and the song stops, to listen to that part of the song again all you have to do is clik ENTER. You listen again and again until you get the word right and the song continues.

Let me tell you a secret: I had SO MUCH FUN, I ended up trying 3 or 4 songs just for the fun of it.

Wonderful LISTENING and SPELLING practice. Students can try it out at home,or you can use it in class as warmer on an IWB by showing it to the whole class and asking different students to use the keyboard to complete the gaps.

This is a little tutorial I've created to show to students.

Monster Project

2010-10-30T08:44:00.000-02:00

Sharing a project developed by a friend and a Cultura EDtech member, Roberta Righetto. She invited her beginner students to create their own monsters , write a description , recorded each student and shared the project in a glog.

Grammar topic: it's got ..... / Vocabulary topic: parts of the body.

Group Communication Platform

2010-10-29T11:03:00.000-02:00

Want to send e-mails, text messages and voice messages to a group of friends?
Want to set up chat rooms and conference calls for your group?
Want to share files so that other group members can collaborate with you?

You can do all of this and more using WIGGIO. I've just learned about it via a tweet from @ShellTerrell and would love to start testing it. The possibilities are great for groups you can create for friends, family, co-workers, your students , all in one place.

Watch the TUTORIAL and learn more about it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k63qSH5cwsk&feature=related

Tell stories using SHOWBEYOND

2010-10-21T20:50:00.000-02:00

This is a simple tutorial to show my trainees how to use Showbeyond to develop projects with their students. With Showbeyond, you add the images you want, record the narration for each image and then share it with the world.

A colleague of mine, told me she wanted to develop a project with daily routine and I guess a great tool they could use is SHOWBEYOND. This is my sample story.

List of links with one URL

2010-10-16T09:26:00.000-03:00

Simple and useful tool for teachers and students.

Let's imagine you want your students to carry out a research by finding bits of information from different websites. We all know how distracting surfing the net is, and here comes in FUR.LY. With FUR.LY , you add the URLs you wish your students to use and grab one URL generated by the site which guides students through the suggested sites.

To test, I grabbed some interesting sites to develop writing I had bookmarked previously and generated a FUR.LY Url to share via twitter.

http://fur.ly/2hr7

This is how it looks, you can see the page navigator at the top.

RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms

2010-10-15T09:10:00.000-03:00

A dense talk (by Sir Ken Robinson) made visually simple by the medium of animation.
Can't we do the same in our classes, change the way we present, involve our students senses and minds?
A MUST-WATCH.