EFL teachers from 15 countries of the world have been taking part in the
competetion called
"Blogathon 2013" since the 4th of February.
Blogathon has
been organized by the British Council and will last till the 4th of
March. An individual blog for each teacher participant has been opened
on the British Council site and the the teachers are sharing their
experience in teaching English, writing comments to each others' entries. The
winner of the Blogathon competetion will take part in the English
teachers' conference in Liverpool later this year.
Here are some of my blog entries:
Learning Technologies: exciting . . . efficient . . . useful . . . Great!!!
Submitted by
natali9 on 6 February, 2013 - 00:38
Everyone! I'm glad to meet all participants of the Blogathon 2013. My
name is Natalia from Russia. I compete in this wonderful event for the
first time. My students are at the age of 7-17. They are different, but
they focus their attention on learning English. Of course, it's really
fascinating, isn't it? Using modern technologies I provide my students
with effective learning opportunity to acquire extensive knowledge on
English. And I know I’m not alone in my research.
I think it is worth taking a look at the purposes in teaching English
in order to organise the lessons more efficient and amazing.
1. Syllabus integration: how are modern technologies used throughout the
syllabus?
2. Lesson integration: how are modern technologies used at the stages of
the lesson? Is it related to lesson planning?
I want to focus your attention on the resourses that you, colleagues,
could use to find interesting information on different topics.
I want to share my experience in teaching English.
Looking forward to your thoughts and ideas!
I wish you good luck!
Creating a wiki!
Submitted by
natali9 on 6 February, 2013 - 18:58
Creating a Wiki!
I’d like to tell you about creating a wiki. The most exciting feature of
a wiki is collaborative writing. When creating a wiki we will need to
have as many group pages as there are learners in our class (although we
can pair them or put them in groups of three if you wish). We’ll need a
writing task for participants to complete as well.
Here is the example of wiki:
https://nataliaclass.wikispaces.com/
Learners can:
edit any page,
create new pages,
participate in process of creation and collaboration (topics, projects,
fairy tales, story, diary etc.),
write from their own points of view,
create links to new pages and invite partners to share what they know
about a subject new to the wiki,
can part take in discussions on a wiki,
must follow behaviour rules.
The most important fact is that we can edit everything any time. Wikis
can have not only educational purpose but entertaining as well, so
that's not boring. And teachers can create collaborative writing that
increases the effectiveness of the work. Collaborative work
(groups/pairs/individuals) can motivate students to learn English more
efficiently.
I recommend you links to set up Wikis:
http://www.wikispaces.com
http://www.pbwiki.com
Learning strategies: game is a fascinating activity in teaching process, isn’t it?
Submitted by
natali9 on 9 February, 2013 - 16:06
My purpose of teaching is to make my lessons more interesting and
amazing for children. I want them to learn English with enthusiasm and
entertainment. In my opinion game is a fascinating activity because Ss
are fond of playing, acting out dialogues and creating magic stories or
poems.
One of the favourite games is a diamond game. The diamond game is a
shape poem that requires little knowledge of poetry. The diamond poem
comes with its own formula that examines two concepts that are opposites
of each other. There are only seven lines in this poem.
The rules are:
Line 1- one noun;
Line 2-two adjectives that describe the noun in Line 1;
Line 3- three –ing verbs that are associated with the noun in line 2;
Line 4-four nouns: two of the first are associated with the noun in line 1, the other two-with the noun in line 7;
Line 5- three –ing verbs that are associated with the noun in line 7;
Line 6-two adjectives that describe the noun in line 7;
Line 7- one noun that is the opposite of the noun in line 1.
Sample:
River
long clean
swimming sailing fishing
boat fish fox tree
walking hunting resting
green dark
Forest
The Ss like this activity that can be
arranged at the beginning, at the end of the lesson.
I think that having students write diamond poems is a great way to get
them to learn and practice their different parts of speech, because it
will be necessary for students to demonstrate that they know the
difference between nouns, adjectives, and verbs. Looking forward to your
thoughts!
Learning strategies: teaching Grammar - "Guided Discovery"
Submitted by
natali9 on 10 February, 2013 - 18:28
The meaning “guided discovery” (T. helps the learner to tell himself)
normally refers to tasks which draw language learners towards finding
out about the language through discovery. Rather than being told the
answer they have to find out for themselves. This discovery is not a
question of the teacher, but rather a matter of leading the Ss to the
answer by providing the necessary clues.
As a teacher (or a mentor)
I select appropriate tasks. Then I
offer good instructions, questions, necessary help, feedback. I manage
and structure the lesson so that all the students are involved and draw
the most possible from this activity.
Some typical questions about forms:
What word goes in this space?
How many words are there in the sentence?
How do you spell that?
Is that a verb?
Problems and puzzles:
Put these words in the right order.
Fill in the spaces.
Change this into the past simple tense.
Write this sentence again, with exactly the same meaning, but only using seven words.
Reflecting of use:
Write down some of the sentences you heard.
Why did you use that tense?
Which of those two sentences is correct?
Sentence analysis:
Mark all the prepositions.
Mark the main stress in the sentence.
How many auxiliary verbs are there?
Cross out any unnecessary words.
I design exercises that guide learners to certain conclusions as well.
Card 1
Complete these sentences in the past simple or present perfect with the verb in brackets.
1. Last week I _________ (go) to London.
2.Yesterday I _________ (play) tennis with my friend .
3.I _________ (see) Ann in the street last night.
4.I ___________ (be) to England twice before.
Card 2
Past simple and present perfect Complete these sentences in the past simple or present perfect. Use the verb in brackets.
1. Last week he _________ (go) to London.
2.Yesterday we _________ (play) tennis with my friend .
3.She _________ (see) Ann in the street last night.
4.They___________ (be) to England twice before.
Now SS write questions to ask your mates:
Did you____________________?
Have you _____________________ ?
I want the Ss to draw conclusions about the basics of designing a
simple exercise. Each pupil receives a copy of the two exercises and
compares them to find the differences between the two. Having found the
differences, the class then discusses the reasons for the changes.So I
let the learners discover the answers for themselves.
The Six Thinking Hats in English Teaching Lesson
Submitted by
natali9 on 12 February, 2013 - 17:25
Do you want to know more about your pupils? What colour do they like?
So, let's play a colour-game.
The six thinking hats is a method
for doing one sort of thinking at a time. It's a metaphor. You ask SS
about their favourite colours and give each of them a red (blue, yellow,
green, black or white) hat. Then you explain what type of thinking
each colour represents.
White Hat thinking focuses on data, facts, information known or needed.
Red Hat thinking focuses on feelings, hunches, gut instinct, and intuition.
Yellow Hat thinking focuses on values and benefits. Why something may work.
Black Hat thinking focuses on difficulties, potential problems. Why something may not work.
Green Hat thinking focuses on creativity: possibilities, alternatives, solutions, new ideas.
Blue Hat thinking focuses on manage the thinking process, focus, next steps, action plans.
You may learn more about this method here
http://www.marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-six-thinking-hats.html. Good luck:)))
Learning strategies: Pronunciation- 3 Essential points.
Submitted by
natali9 on 13 February, 2013 - 22:42
What we need to have a successful pronunciation lesson?
I'm sure there are 3 steps in every pronunciation lesson, and you see success:)
The first step in any successful pronunciation lesson is to give students
the opportunity to imitate.
Most often, you will be the model that your students will copy, but you
can also use other sources - a recording, audio, video or the internet
for variety.
The second step:
Explanation. you should explain to them
the biological process of making that sound.
This doesn’t have to be as intimidating as it may seem. Reviewing the
parts of the mouth can help your students clearly understand how to make
appropriate English sounds.
The third step:
Practice. Now it's the time to
practice the use of that sound or sound pattern. You can use minimal
pairs to highlight one sound or phoneme that you are teaching. If you
want to add a little fun to pronunciation class, try
tongue twisters. You can also teach the natural rhythm of English through
songs and
poetry. Try reading
a limerick with your class, or have them write their own.
I believe
your students'll succeed perfect pronunciation! Good luck:)
