Things I learned last week.

1- USING YOUR MOUSE AS A HIGHLIGHTER PEN during a powerpoint presentation
This something I had no idea it was possible to do with a powerpoint presentation, and believe it or not as I talked to my colleagues neither did they. Well, when you´re presenting a ppt after pressing the F5 key, on the bottom-left-hand corner , as you pass your mouse you can see three symbols, an arrow to return to the previous slide, and pen and an arrow to move to the following slide. Well, as you can see (marked by the red arrow on the picture above) click on the pen icon select highlighter pen and your mouse functions as one, marking anything you want to call attention to.

2- AN ONLINE STOPWATCH
I like setting time limits for some activities during my classes and I had to keep an eye on the clock all the time. With the online stopwatch, you set how many minutes you want your students to work for, click on start and the clock will ring when time is over. My favourite is the countdown clock. FANTASTIC. http://online-stopwatch.com

Thanks Joe Dale for the hints. I watched his conference from his blog last week and have learned a lot. http://joedale.typepad.com/

Reading and listening about MYTHS

I found this site in Larry Ferlazzo´s blog. It tells the story of 25 myths from different parts of the world. Choose a region and learn about the Incas, the Celtics, the Navaros, the Chinese, The Hindis, the Aztecs and others. After you choose a region you watch an animation with sound and text with explains the origin of these people.

How can we use this with students? One would be to choose one region related to something you´re teaching and ask all your sts to watch the same story and answer comprehension questions afterwards. Another would be letting sts pick different regions, have them watch the animations and then each students would tell the class or write about the different people. Any other ideas?

It´s definitely worth MANY VISITS!!!!!!! Not only can you learn English but also Culture. FANTASTIC!

http://mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/2_eng_myths.htm

Working with PHONETICS

http://cambridgeenglishonline.com/Phonetics_Focus/
Many teachers avoid working with Phonetics because they´re unfamiliar with the phonetic symbols. This is a site I found in Nik Peachey´s site which offers various activities in which students and teachers alike can practise recognizing sounds. There is hangman, a maze, flashcards and much more. Worth visiting!

A SCROLL message to you

I found this scroll message creator at FancyGens



get MORE SKINS from fancygens.com

How can we use this with students?
Well, students can create messages for their blogs. It´s a pity you can´t e-mail that to people, but you can copy the HTML code and send it to people´s orkut! Any other ideas?

Simpsonmaker

Would you like to create a Simpsons character? Try this out?
How can you use this with students? Well, students could create themselves , print it and them describe each other, either orally or in written form. They can even have fun while doing that, and as the instructions are in English you have an extra bonus, real reading comprehension. Click on the yellow arrows on the top right-hand corner of the image and select the head, the nose, hair, clothes, etc.

OPTICAL ILLUSION

I grabbed this optical illusion test from widgetbox. It´s a place I often search for new and interesting widgets. Try it out , it´s really interesting!