Linguistic Consultancy

All's About Sharing

2011-07-03T16:34:00.005-03:00

One of the benefits of having a PLN (Personal Learning Network) via Twitter is the great opportunity of "sharing" it offers. I am extremely grateful to the members of my PLN for all

they have been sharing: My Timeline.

A short time ago, I came across Nadia Bentoua, who has shared her English language e-book. Nadia has travelled widely and she based her book on her travels. Her book is a resource for teachers and a self-study book for students.

In her Website Dynamic English Lessons, Nadia has included sample pages, which I have browsed and have found resourceful to introduce new vocabulary to students.

Is there anything you've created or a fellow educator has issued and you'd like to share? Please accept the challenge and write a post in your blog, making reference to this post.

Cambridge Exam Updates

2011-05-22T20:59:00.003-03:00

Last Saturday morning I attended a seminar on Cambridge exams and this is a report on the most significant points covered:

Cambridge offers “standard version” and “for school version” exams. The speaker made it clear that the introduction of “for school version” exams is the result of an informed decision and is not justified by the test-takers’ age.

The decision as to which exam best suits a test-taker’s profile should be taken after engaging in a critical analysis of Cambridge handbooks, which contain precise information.

The format, content and assessment criteria for both versions are identical.

The level has been preserved. What counts is the level accredited by the exam. The school version is not easier.

There’s a quality assurance system that is in charge of Cambridge exam validity.

KET exam deals with everyday English at a basic level.

Pet exam (preliminary): deals with everyday English at a pre-intermediate level.

Reliability is a key factor. A reliable test can be depended on to produce very similar results in repeated uses.

Reliability is guaranteed by a comprehensive description of the levels.

The exam validity can be classified into:

A. Construct validity: resides in the interaction of the underlying cognitive ability and the context of use. In the past it was based on the CLA model: communicative language ability, designed by Backman in the 90´s. It has been replaced by the socio-cognitive framework, designed by Professor Cyril Weir in 2005. The latter offers the distinction between an internal mental process (cognitive) of the test-takers and the external contextual factors (social). The standard and the school versions have the same level (cognitive) but the context is different.

B. Content validity: is connected to which extent the content of the test represents the target language domain; the area of interest. It is based on the schema theory: the mental structure that represents some aspects of the world. It depends on a collection of organized, interrelated ideas or concepts: the knowledge of the world. It's connected to the reference store from which a person can retrieve relevant existing knowledge (experiential background). One retrieves/remembers information that is relevant to one's own schema. One will try to resist information that is not relevant to one’s own schema. When automatic thought is triggered, one acts effectively without effort. Accessibility is defined as a cognitive shortcut. There is a direct impact on the way the individual processes the task set up in the context.

C. Scoring validity: implies what has to be measured. In the case of writing there is a General Mark Scheme:

Band 5: All content elements covered appropriately. Message clearly communicated to reader. (Excellent)

Band 4: All content elements adequately dealt with. Message communicated successfully, on the whole. (Very good)

Band 3: All content elements attempted. Message requires some effort by the reader. Or, one content element omitted but others clearly communicated. (Good)

Band 2: Two content elements omitted, or unsuccessfully dealt with. Message only partly communicated to reader. Or, script may be slightly short (20-25 words). (Fair)

Band 1: Little relevant content and/or message requires excessive effort by the reader, or short. (10/19 words). (Poor)

Band 0: Totally irrelevant or totally incomprehensible or too short (under 10 words). (Below standard)

In the case of speaking, it implies the interplay between the underlying cognitive ability and the context of use. Now they’ve introduced the terms “speaking examiners” as they assess a spoken test.

In the case of listening, there is overlapping between context and cognitive validity. It’s ephemeral and it’s marked by the absence of paralinguistic information in a testing context.

I think it is necessary for ESL teachers to be well-informed so as to be able to help those students interested in having international certifications.

FlexiMoti in Action

2011-04-20T12:32:00.003-03:00

In a post I wrote last year called My Teaching Approach: FlexiMoti I reflected on my teaching practice in response to one of Jason Renshaw´s posts. It was Jason himself who generously coined the name of my approach and I've adopted it.

My attempts to be flexible are designed to meet my students' needs with the aim to motivate them to learn the English language in a way that suits their likes and dislikes. Having those principles in mind, I've also introduced technology in the classroom and we use wikis and blogs so my students can develop long-life skills that would help them become independent learners.

When classes started last March, I felt absolutely satisfied when one of my students from a group I had taught the previous year asked me if we would use blogs and wikis this year. I had already created a wiki for this class and was about to introduce it to them. So I thought the motivation level was ideal. I was too hopeful to consider that my students are teenagers and so their motivation fluctuates. Nothing new so far.

After considering ways to encourage my students to visit the wiki, I decided to start a competition and to offer a reward to the winner. I created a Lino Canvas in which I include a riddle a week and the first one to provide the correct answer as a comment in the wiki receives a prize. The first one I've granted was a chocolate.

I've found out that some of my students seldom visit their e-mail accounts and so when I update the wiki, they don´t realise about it. I hope this competition will be helpful.

I've been reluctant to appear in Facebook as I consider it's a social tool rather than a professional one but I've had to give in. As a Twitterholic myself I haven't found the sense of being on Facebook. Anyway, my students spend most of their cyber time on Facebook and so I've finally opened an account, which I'll try to keep only as a way of updating my students as to the class wiki new material. I'll do my best to keep my Facebook account as a learning/teaching tool.

What are the changes you've been forced to introduce in your teaching practice? I'd like to hear...

Babylon's Initiative in Support of Bloggers

2011-03-30T22:34:00.004-03:00

I've been invited to join this initiative and decided to accept not only because of the valuable opportunity of being awarded a free one-year licence of the translation software but also because of the consideration of bloggers as "the true voice of the Internet". As a teacher of English, I've experienced the benefits of writing posts and of reading my colleagues' articles. The former has given me the chance of reflecting on my teaching practice whereas the latter has contributed a lot to my professional development and to the improvement of my classes.

Babylon points out the relevance of bloggers to foster freedom of speech and I'd like to add that blogging is a great way of communicating one's views to a wide number of readers all around the world.

I'd like to share the link to this initiative for other bloggers to join and enjoy the benefit of trying this helpful tool: Babylon's Initiative.

My Blog As A Word Cloud

2011-03-28T11:30:00.005-03:00

I wasn´t able to attend Dave Dodgson´s (@davedogson) presentation at the VRT11 conference but thanks to Cecilia Lemos (@ceciELT), I've been able to learn about it. Cecilia wrote an insightful post in her blog, Box of Chocolates, about Dave's presentation on the use of word clouds in the classroom and accepted Dave's challenge, which she shared in her post. Well, I've accepted joining it and this is the result:

It's been funny to see the result, which is mainly based on the song I shared "Hey, Soul Sister".

I guess, in a way my messages are directed to my soul sisters (or brothers) among my readers.

"Cecilia" and "Vicky" also appear, my Twitter soul sisters. The word "students" is also highlighted,

which is suitable as I often have my students in mind and I do my best to motivate them to learn.

"Learning" stands out and it shows my attitude in life as a life-long learner. "Teacher" is seen several

times and it reflects my inborn vocation. "Languages" and "Challenge" have similar importance in the cloud.

I love languages and learning languages is a challenge.

Are Educators Life-Long Learners?

2011-03-17T20:27:00.004-03:00

If we, educators, love teaching then, we love learning as the former

implies the latter. As Vicky Loras (@vickyloras) expressed in one of her latest posts "Number three-What do you believe about

learning?- The 30 Goals Challenge", A good teacher is also a good

learner. Vicky has been writing insightful reflections on The 30 Goals Challenge created by Shelly Terrell (@ShellTerrell), both of whom are colleagues and mentors of mine and I feel thankful to them for being so supportive, personally and professionally.

Many times we forget how a student feels when they start learning a new language and it's difficult to gain insight into the language learning process from scratch. Imagine I started learning English when I was 6 years old and even if I can remember my classes, my memory is not so weak, I don't have any idea as to the way I felt in those times. So as to be able to be in my students' shoes, I've decided to start studying French. When I told my students about it, they looked at me in surprise but I guess it's a good way of showing students that it's never too late to learn a language and that teachers can also be learners. The line between teaching and learning is fragile and movable.

Hey, Soul Sister by Train

2011-03-10T22:30:00.002-03:00

This is the link to the tasks described in my previous post:

Hey, Soul Sister by Train

I hope your students enjoy the song.

A Song To Welcome My Students

2011-03-06T19:40:00.004-03:00

My group classes are about to start and I've prepared a song to

welcome them and to motivate them.

I've chosen: Hey, Soul Sister by the band Train as it offers lots

of possibilities to prepare tasks to develop listening, writing, reading

and speaking skills.

My plan to deal with the song is the following:

1) Introduction of what we're going to do: Name of the song and band.

2) Questions to motivate my students:

Have you heard this song?

If so, do you like it?

If you haven´t, What do you imagine the song is about?

3) I've devised a Glog with information about the band "Train": The Band Train

4) Brainstorming of ideas connected to the phrase "soul sister". There's a link where

the students can read about it: Soul Sister

5) The students watch the video in silence and write ideas that describe what the song is about. After that, they share those ideas in pairs and write a summary of the story.

The video

6) The students watch the video while listening and write words and phrases from the lyrics.

7) Last exercise: listen to the song and insert the missing phrases:

the way you move who's one of my kind be myself now finally

blow your mind I don't want to miss

my heart is bound to beat a single thing you do

that Mr. Mister on the radio the only drug I need

I wouldn't forget you I'm dreaming of I'm so glad

gave my life direction smell of you in every

left side brains

Hey, hey, hey

Your lipstick stains on the front lobe of my …………………………………

I knew ………………………, and so I went and let you blow my mind
Your sweet moon beam, the ………………………single dream I dream
I knew when we collided, you're the one I have decided ……………………
Hey soul sister, ain't …………………………, stereo, the way you move ain't fair, you know!
Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss ………………………….....tonight
Hey, hey,hey

Just in time, …………………..you have a one-track mind like me
You ……………………………, a game show love connection we can't deny
I'm so obsessed, ……………………………….right out my untrimmed chest
I believe in you, like a virgin, you're Madonna, and I'm always gonna wanna …………………………………

Hey soul sister, ain't that Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo, ………………….. ain't fair, you know!
Hey soul sister, ………………………….a single thing you do...tonight

The way you can cut a rug, watching you's ………………………………
You're so gangsta, I'm so thug, you're the only one ……………………..
You see, I can …………………………………, in fact there's nothing I can't be
I want the world to see you be with me

Hey soul sister, ain't that Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo, the way you move ain't fair, you know!
Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you do tonight,
Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you do...tonight
Hey, hey,hey

Tonight

Hey, hey,hey

Tonight

Students can be encouraged to prepare their own glogs connected to the song as a final step.

My Lesson Plan History

2011-02-26T13:09:00.004-03:00

After reading the post "What's Your Plan? My First Challenge" by Cecilia Lemos (@CeciELT), one of the members of my PLN I always enjoy sharing and chatting with, I decided to accept the challenge and describe my lesson plan history.

At Teachers' Training College, I was taught to devise plans on sheets of paper that unfolded and I included the step of the lesson, the material needed, the aims, the procedure for each task, the teachers' words, examples, time needed and so on. I remember figuring if I would ever be able to teach without having that large plan on my desk. As time went by and my teaching experience grew, I didn't need to include so much in my plans, which became a list such as:

Monday, September 14th

6th adolescents

· Oral correction of sts.´ homework. Check they've understood the grammar point.

· Introduction of the topic "Travel Broadens the Mind" (pairwork ideas/group discussion)

· Recording of new vocabulary: adventure/cultural/package/get away from it all/a minute's walk away from/stylish shops/leisure facilities/gourmet cuisine, etc.

· Sts. read the article on the book (page 45) in silence and ask questions if necessary.

· Sts. do the comprehension exercises.

· Games to practise the new vocabulary

After I started using technology in my lessons, my plans have changed and some examples are:

Second Class ( August 21st ): 1) Pronunciation Practice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dSY60K486g&feature=youtu.be&a

2) Videos: http://video.about.com/esl/ESL--Question-Words-in-English.htm

3) Conversation: http://esl.about.com/library/media/audio/aconverse.mp3

4) Present Simple and Continuous: PresentSimpleandPresentContinuous.pdf PresentSimple2.pdf PresentContinuous2.pdf PresentContinuous1.pdf

Extra Practice: Video: Listen and repeat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMH3Ne_6Zns

Multiple Choice: http://www.montsemorales.com/gramatica/PresSimpleAffirm1.htm

Present Simple Negative:http://www.montsemorales.com/gramatica/PresSimpNeg1Spt.htm

Complete the sentences:http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/presentsimple/exercise4.swf

Present Continuous: http://www.eflnet.com/grammar/presprog2.php

Introducing a talking point with a song: Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode

I can conclude that the more experience a teacher has, the more confident he/she feels and and the dependence on the lesson plans is reduced. One of the qualities a teacher should develop is adaptability so that he/she can make changes according to factors such as students' interest, their mood, queries and doubts that come about, students' suggestions, etc.

I'd like to thank Cecilia for her inspirational post and the opportunity to reflect on the changes that have been going on in my plans and in my classes.

Do We Take Our Voice For Granted?

2011-02-13T17:58:00.005-03:00

Last Saturday morning I attended a seminar on the use of

our voice called "Performing What We Say". It was practical

as the listeners were encouraged to participate, which makes

it memorable.

These are the most relevant ideas discussed in the seminar:

In our communication process, 7% of our message is expressed with words, 38% with our voice and 55% with our bodies.
The voice is the sound factory. It's articulated air.
Before speaking/giving a class it's essential to be relaxed and to stand in the right way. There are many exercises to relax the neck, shoulders and the face muscles.
Coughing so as to clear our throat is bad for our vocal cords. The correct way of keeping our throat humid is drinking water.
Our vocal cords are affected by extreme coldness and by extreme heat.
When we speak, we should vary our tone of voice so as not to bore our audience.
The features of the voice are: the tone (acute or grave), the pitch, intensity, rythm, duration (length of the phonemes).
The personality of the voice is determined by the individual's anatomy.
The most common speech malfunctions are: synaloepha (linking the final vowel of a word to the initial vowel of another word), omitting the pronunciation of some letters, wrong word stress in a statement, use of a monotone, lack of air, dropping the end of statements, nasalization.
Our bodies confer meaning.

An interesting exercise we did during the meeting was called "the funnel". In groups of three members, we had to stand facing each other at a distance and forming an imaginary triangle. All the triangles crossed each other. We had to tell the other members of our group what we had done the previous weekend and made ourselves audible. The idea was to check the intensity of our voice.

At the end of the seminar, we were given tips on how to speak in public as to body posture, gestures and the most suitable clothes to wear. As a kind of conclusion, we watched a video and some of us made a presentation of the video and others participated in interviews connected to it. Then we commented on all the aspects we had discussed.

All in all, the seminar made me aware of the importance of taking care of my voice and of using it in the most effective way.

Peer-to-Peer Encouragement and Support

2010-11-20T13:31:00.005-03:00

My First Certificate Level Students are sitting their Cambridge FCE in the next two weeks and they are studying harder.

When the course started back in March I did my best to make them

aware of the fact that their success depended on them and on their

commitment. I created a wiki space where I've been uploading lots

of material for them to practise in class and at home. from freedigitalphotos.net

It proved really helpful as a kind of "virtual library" and also as a means of communication. My students have made comments, solved doubts and kept in touch with me throughout the whole year.

Yesterday I felt a sense of achievement when a student of mine sent me a list of queries and he told me that it would be a great idea if I uploaded those queries with the replies for his classmates to have the opportunity to read. I thought it was highly thoughtful of him and I felt that was peer-to-peer collaboration. This student was concerned his classmates would have the same doubts he had. I felt proud of him and totally rewarded as to one of my aims was to encourage collaboration and support in the classroom.

After I uploaded this material, that same student wrote a very considerate message for his classmates. It was in Spanish but it made me feel a higher sense of satisfaction. His message was:

"Chicos: tengan en cuenta que las dudas que le envié a Marisa y ella completó son sólo una parte de todo el vocabulario para el speaking, si se fijan al comienzo del libro hay una tabla donde en una columna llamada speaking justamente están todas las pags. y temas del libro para no andar buscando, yo hice una fotocopia de eso y subraye vocabulario en la fotocopia, seran unas 20 pags. de speaking."

The translation of the message is: "Boys and girls: please consider that the doubts I sent to Marisa and which she replied are only a part of all the vocabulary for the speaking paper. If you check at the beginning of the book, you'll find a table which includes a column called speaking and you'll find all the pages and topics of the book. So as not to look up those topics, I made a copy of those pages and underlined the key vocabulary. They must be around 20 pages of speaking."

I'm not sure my students will pass Cambridge First Certificate Exam but I have managed to foster a sense of collaboration and support within the classroom. And that is highly rewarding.

How do you encourage collaboration and support within the classroom? I'd like to know about it.

Meet My PLN (Personal Learning Network) Series: Part 3

2010-10-31T15:58:00.002-03:00

As part of this series I've interviewed Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto, a teacher of English currently living in Kitakyushu, Japan. She´s taught English as a second language for a little more than 20 years and she´s a valuable member of my PLN. The following are her replies:

Why have you decided to start the teaching career?

Barbara: I never actually wanted to be anything except a teacher. Even as a child, when we played school I was ALWAYS the teacher--I'm sure it was quite annoying for my sister and friends. To be perfectly honest, there was a two week period in junior high school when I wanted to be a flight attendant. We'd gone on a field trip to the airport and I thought it would be lovely to have a job where I was paid to travel. Unfortunately, I realized that I'd never reach the minimum height requirement, so I happily returned to wanting to be a teacher.

In your opinion, what are the advantages of using technology in the classroom?

Barbara: There are times when technology can improve on what you are already doing. For example, having my students write their own alphabet book helps them "own" their learning. Typically, they would make a page for each letter, and add words that begin with that sound. In the past, I would make a copy of the book for each student, and that was the end of the project. This past year, however, I added a technology twist to the project by using Voicethread for their book. Each page was uploaded as a separate slide, and the children recorded their words as comments on that "page". The advantage of using technology was that it allowed other people to collaborate on the project by adding their own words to the letter pages. The volunteers included native and non-native speakers of English from around the world, so that my students understood from a young age that English has many varieties, and that all speakers don't sound like me. A first grade class in the US adopted my students' alphabet book as their project too, and added words. My students were surprised to learn that children in the US were learning the same thing that they were, and impressed with how many words those children knew!

I could download copies of the book for my students, so they could watch and listen at home, and students were able to share the link with friends and grandparents. Since the book is online, other classes can use the alphabet book or continue to add words--it's an ongoing, global collaboration.

In this case, adding technology improved on what I'd be able to do in class without the technology. That made it worth the additional time it took for me to learn how to use the tool, and for my students to use it. Everything has a learning curve, and I have to weigh that cost against the benefits. I only have a finite amount of time with my students, and I want to make the best use of it that I can.

As you see it, what factors determine that a class has been successfully taught?

Barbara: If my students leave knowing something they didn't know when they arrived at class, if they leave feeling more confident in their skills as language users, if they are happy and excited to return to class the following week--these are my signs that things went well.

Is there a teaching method you favour? If so, which one?

Barbara: I don't really favor one method over another. I'm more of a "whatever works" kind of teacher. I believe in learning as much as I can about many different methods so that I can pick from among them depending on the needs and personality of each class.

What technique do you use to correct your students' mistakes?

Barbara: I use a variety of techniques, depending on the age, skill level, and personality of my students. I'll often shadow my students, repeating what they were trying to say (correctly) or I'll do a quick mini-lesson focusing on a mistake that several students have been making. I try to focus on errors that interfere with understanding rather than correcting every mistake. If I focus on a few important corrections each class students stand a better chance of remembering (and changing) than if I try to correct too many things. I also try to use humor in error correction, partly because it makes students laugh and reduces their feeling of being criticized and partly because it makes the correction easier to remember.

Should technology be present in the students' assessment? In what way?

Barbara: I think it depends on the class, of course. If technology is used throughout the course, then it makes sense to assess students the way they've been taught. However, I think there's a risk that you might end up testing their ability to use the technology more than their understanding of the language. I think it's important to be sure that you're actually testing what you intend to test.

What is an effective way of assessing students?

Barbara: The most effective way I've found is informal--I keep notes about student progress, problems, areas to strengthen, and preferences. I'm not currently teaching in a formal school setting, so my assessments are simply a way for me to improve my own instruction or to give suggestions to parents who want to include additional enrichment at home. Several of my students have recently decided that they'd like to take a standardized English test that's popular here in Japan (Step Eiken) so we've been including practice for test-taking skills in class. What's interesting is that the test is not really serving as an assessment as much as it is providing another topic for our lessons. I'm looking forward to hearing their feedback about the test after they've taken it.

a final question, What is your recommendation for new teachers?

Connect. Join a teacher's group in your country, go to conferences and attend workshops. Join Twitter and/or online groups for teachers. There are so many fabulous, experienced teachers around that there's no reason to try and figure everything out on your own. Ask questions and ask for help--I can guarantee that there is some teacher somewhere who has been in a situation similar to yours, and you'll discover more support and experienced advice than you could ever imagine! Even after you've finished your formal training, continue to learn as much as you can about methods, philosophies, techniques, and materials so that you can choose what will work best for your students. And finally, (my personal motto!) always try new things :-)

Thank you very much for your time, Barbara! And thanks for sharing your expertise with all us.

Meet My PLN (Personal Learning Network) Series: Part 2

2010-09-11T11:33:00.000-03:00

As part of this series I've interviewed another member of my PLN, Vicky Loras (@vickyloras), who's a Greek Canadian teacher of English. Vicky is really supportive and open-minded. Here are her replies:

Why have you decided to start the teaching career?

Vicky: The truth is that ever since I remember myself, I wanted to become an attorney. I was in love with Law School. In our final entrance exams for university, for half a grade I did not make Law School, but succeeded in getting into what was my second choice - English Language and Literature. When I began to study that, I realised how wrong I had been all those years for not giving the thought of teaching a chance. I love it and I am so happy I teach!

In your opinion, what are the advantages of using technology in the classroom?

Vicky: Nowadays, we have access to so many technological developments. The best thing we can do is put them into practice in the language classroom, as students can both learn how to use the respective technological tools and learn the language in the process. I believe technology increases the interest in learning and gives it a whole new dimension. For instance, I teach some students through Skype and it is amazing what we can do with this fantastic tool. Student and teacher are literally face-to-face, we can use the chat feature as a board when we want to make notes of something, share files and send files...the potentials there are so many!

As you see it, what factors determine that a class has been successfully taught?

Vicky: I believe that it shows throughout the lesson. If the teacher is interested and enthusiastic, then the students are as well. If the lesson comes to an end and the students are motivated and excited, that means that they have also learned and then go home to study with a different approach to lessons. In addition, if the students apply what they have learned in the subsequent lessons as well at their own initiative, then that means that the teacher has succeeded in pressing that magic button that has turned on learning.

Is there a teaching method you favour? If so, which one?

Vicky: I absolutely love role-playing. Here in Switzerland I use it a lot in my adult classes (I mainly teach adults) and it is so impressive to see the responses and how their English comes out so beautifully and spontaneously. I even take part in them and we always have a lot of fun, laughs and it is amazing how much they can learn. My adults love it so much, they keep asking for role-playing! They are so eager to do it, as it puts them in realistic situations.

What technique do you use to correct your students' mistakes?

Vicky: Reformulation is my favourite technique. I believe it is important that students can hear the correct answer or sentence right after their own, so they can realise the mistakes that have been made. It also does not demotivate them and is a softer way of correcting.

Should technology be present in the students' assessment? In what way?

Vicky: Well, perhaps it would be useful to see how students use the technology they have utilised in the language classroom to their own benefit, that is to the benefit of learning. It should not be the sole purpose of assessment though, I believe. It should be a combination of various aspects of their presence and performance in the classroom.

What is an effective way of assessing students?

Vicky: As I mentioned earlier, for me, assessment comes when I notice a student using a particular aspect of the language that we have learned in previous lessons. When they do this on their own, for example they use some new terminology we have learned or a grammar structure which is quite complex, then that tells me all I need to know about the students. How eager they are, whether studying at home and my assistance in the classroom has really helped them and how much the language is starting to settle down in them. When students apply what they have learned, all on their own and without teacher intervention, then that for me is an automatic assessment of their presence as students.

A final question, what is your recommendation for new teachers?

Vicky: I would recommend that they get all the professional development they can. Fortunately, we are in a very creative profession in which we are lucky to be constantly learning. Twitter is an amazing tool that can assist them in this, as they can come into contact with excellent educators around the world from whom they can learn a great deal. Conferences and workshops are also extremely useful and helpful. They should follow these, as we have the opportunity of having lots of them organised for our profession. There is also a great number of fantastic books which can help them improve their teaching or learn about new practices and methods. In other words, teachers should be the best students themselves!

Thank you very much for your time, Vicky! And thanks for sharing your expertise with all of us.

Vicky: I thank you very much as well, it has been a pleasure and I truly appreciate this opportunity you have given me. Many thanks, Marisa and I hope to meet you in person one day!

I have enjoyed this very much and it is the first time I have ever given an interview, thank you so very much!

My Teaching Approach: FlexiMoti

2010-09-02T09:44:00.000-03:00

I must admit I don't believe in coincidences. I'm into the principle that states that everything happens for a reason and I feel amazed when I come across a post that catches my attention and I find out that that information is what I needed in that very moment.

That is what happened to me when I read Jason Renshaw's post about his approach to teaching, which encouraged me to reflect on my own teaching practice. In my comment to Jason's post I explained that my approach boasted flexibility in my attempt to motivate my students and Jason suggested calling it "FlexMoti", which I find suitable and I'm thankful to Jason for.

The main feature of my approach is flexibility as I adapt my teaching practice to my students in one-to-one classes or in group classes with the aim of meeting their individual needs and of motivating them to learn the English language in a way that suits their likes and dislikes. To make use of a flexible way of teaching I rely on my experience as a teacher and look for inspiration in my PLN members' educational posts, which provide a valuable possibility of improving my teaching career and of renewing my approach. I feel as if I were attending teaching lectures all the time from the comfort of my home and when I can spare time to do so.

I invite you to make comments as to your source of inspiration for your teaching practice.

Meet My PLN (Personal Learning Network) Series

2010-08-18T23:56:00.000-03:00

As part of this series, I have decided to interview some of the

members of my PLN. I have started by interviewing one of the

most supportive and encouraging educator I have met: Shelly

Terrell (@shellterrell). Shelly is a freelance technology trainer

and social media consultant for language institutes, schools and

educational organizations worldwide. She's the creator, moderator

and coordinator of #Edchat, a weekly discussion on Twitter involving nearly 1000 educators all around the world.

These are the questions I asked Shelly:

Why have you decided to start the teaching career?
What are the advantages of using technology in the classroom?
What elements determine that a class has been successfully taught?
Is there a teaching method you favour? If so, why?
How do you correct your students' mistakes?
Should technology be present in the students' assessment? In what way?
What is an effective way of assessing students?
What is your recommendation for new teachers?

Shelly has recorded her replies: Shelly's Recording.

Thanks a lot, Shelly, for sharing your expertise!

A Touching Surprise

2010-07-29T08:34:00.000-03:00

As part the the series My Personal Learning Network/What you

can Learn from my PLN in her blog Teaching Village, Barbara Hoskins

Sakamoto (@barbsaka) had a brilliant idea to recommend posts from

blog archives and to encourage colleagues to read "hidden gems".

Barbara created quizzes based on those posts and offered prizes

as a reward.

I took quiz #3 and I was drawn among the winners! Solving the quiz was an enriching experience and I had fun doing it. Barbara asked me for my address and yesterday I received the prize: Japanese chocolates, a fan (as a touch of Japanese culture) and a lovely card handwritten by Barbara herself. I was moved when I opened the package and thought it was coming from far away. I felt I was receiving Barbara´s warmth in that package, which had travelled such a long distance. I shared the chocolates with my nieces, who were amazed by the exotic boxes and the delicious taste of bear cookies filled with chocolate.

I would like to thank Barbara for sending me the presents and for expressing kind and friendly feelings, which are an encouragement to go on interacting in this virtual world and meeting such lovely people.

A Song to Motivate Students to Speak

2010-07-18T17:11:00.000-03:00

Songs are helpful to introduce talking points in class. They are highly motivating and

great sources of vocabulary for students to widen their scope.

To introduce the topic "What's your favourite day of the week? Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Why?", I've chosen the song "Friday I'm in Love" by the band

The Cure.

As a warm-up I'm going to ask students the question: "What's your favourite day of the week? Why?". After some exchange of ideas, the students will receive a list of words and phrases from the song and while listening will write the day of the week connected to that word or phrase in the song. As a next step, they'll have to fill in the blanks in one part of the song.

As a follow up, students can either write a poem about their favourite day of the week, make a picture and describe it to the class or show a photo to the class that shows the activity they enjoy doing on their favourite day.

Here's the link to the tasks I've created: Friday I'm in Love by The Cure

Do you have other suggestions? I'd like to hear....

Students' Studying Strategies

2010-07-13T22:53:00.000-03:00

Have your students ever asked you how they should study?

I teach English to intermediate, upper intermediate and advanced students

and it is when they reach these levels that they realise they need to study as

what we do in class is not enough. Then, they ask me to recommend how

they should do so.

My recommendations are:

Reading as much as they can since it helps students widen their vocabulary scope and strengthens their use of the language;
Doing exercises as extra practice;
Keeping records of their corrections so as not to repeat mistakes;
Taking down notes and reading new words and phrases in context;
Making pictures since they are great memory aids;
Meeting peers to practise conversation skills;
Singing songs to practise pronunciation;
Listening to podcasts.

I am convinced we, in our capacity as teachers, should help our students develop life-long skills and become independent learners no matter how much they resist changing habits.

To collect other teachers' tips and hints I've created a wallwisher: Students' Studying Strategies

Some educators have included their suggestions via Twitter. Feel free to include yours.

Extensive Reading In The Classroom

2010-06-25T15:28:00.000-03:00

My teenage students often admit to not enjoying reading in their native language or in English. For that reason, I decided not to

assign reading a book or a chapter for homework long ago after

finding out it was useless as only four or five out of 15 students

read them and were ready for the class tasks I had planned to strengthen, reinforce, confirm and deepen their knowledge of the

English language. Image courtesy of Free Foto.Com

In my attempt to adapt the use of extensive reading, I've decided to make use of adapted readers that include a CD recording, which is highly motivating as it includes sound effects.

For my upper intermediate students I chose The Phantom of the Opera and to introduce the reader I made my students watch the movie trailer of the latest film based on the book. After that, we found out data about the author: Gaston Leroux.

On different classes throughout the learning year, we listened to chapter after chapter and used it as a talking point in class while highlighting on the board significant data like names of the characters, relevant events, settings and so on.

So as to systematise the tasks I've prepared some material to upload in the blogs/wikis I share with my students: The Phantom of the Opera

How do you implement extensive reading your classes? I'd like to hear about it.

The 2010 Soccer World Championship in my Classes

2010-06-19T09:17:00.000-03:00

My PLN members have shared lots of material about the soccer championship via Twitter and I've been selecting what I thought my students would find interesting. I've been uploading the material I've chosen in the classroom blogs and wikis for my students to go on practising the language at home. Unfortunately, I haven't written down the name of the Tweetterer who has shared or recommended the material but I have thanked the sharer and made comments as to the significance of the recommendation.

So far, I've uploaded:

1) The game calendar: Calendar Useful for my students to check dates and places where the games are played.

2) An insightful article: Follow your Football Team You can read information, look at pictures and see videos.

3) Articles for my students to read: News Item To encourage students to read about the latest news.

4) Vocabulary Tasks: Useful Vocabulary (by @esolcourses)

5) The World Cup Map: Map For students to be informed as to the countries that participate in the championship.

6) Quizzes: The World Cup Helpful to practise vocabulary and grammar.

7) A Game: Fling the Teacher Highly motivating for students to learn and have fun. (by @eflclassroom)

8) Pictures: Big Pictures For students to enjoy creativity and art.

9) Songs: Wavin' Flag (by K´NAAN)

Waka Waka by Shakira

Videos of songs are great resources for the introduction of talking points in the classroom, for learning vocabulary and for developing listening skills. Singing songs is a good way of practising pronunciation.

10) A video about the star of the champiosnhip "The Vuvuzela Horn": Should vuvuzela horns be banned from the World Cup? The idea is to introduce the talking point about the use of this type of horn and then students can watch the video and write any idea that comes to their heads while watching it (task suggested by Anne hodgdon, @annehodg, in her comment to one of my posts). After that, students can share ideas in pairs and whith the whole group. As a follow-up task students can suggest a different device for cheering teams.

11) A site for students to create a football character: SP Studio (shared by @annapires)

Have you used any other task in your classes connected to the World Cup?

Students' Foreign Language Assessment: A Challenge for Teachers

2010-06-17T14:44:00.000-03:00

This week I've been busy writing my teenage students' reports for their parents to read about their children's performance and progress in their learning of the English language. It's still a challenge for me to create mental parameters as to the areas I teach: oral language, reading comprehension and grammar. Without doubt the most complicated area is oral expression as I deal with teenagers who feel reluctanct to speak English in front of their peers for fear of looking ridiculous, who instinctively speak their native language and I need to react quickly and insist in their using English in the English class. I've found out that I can break a Guinness Record in the number of times I say "in English, please!" in the classes any time free conversation is developed.

I've shared my experience with a colleague and friend of mine who told me that after assessing her students the school where she works organised a parents' meeting to exchange ideas and solve queries parents may have as to their children's progress in learning English. During the meeting, that friend of mine, who had taken tests to her students to measure their performance, felt that some parents were using the test results to assess her performance as a teacher.

I'd like to know about other teachers´experience so I've created a WallWisher I'd like to share with you so as to exchange views on this issue:

Students' Assessment.

Reading Comprehension Strategies

2010-06-12T09:22:00.000-03:00

Reading comprehension involves complex processes and it is a fact

that teenagers do not like reading very much, specially if what they

should read is a long article. As teachers of foreign languages, we should

assist our students in the process of developing reading strategies such

as skimming and scanning.

Some time ago, I came across Joe Bower's blog and I read his insightful post about the way he makes his students practise reading comprehension. I decided to put his strategy into practice with a group of students who are learning the necessary strategies to sit for Cambridge First Certificate Exam. In this exam candidates are supposed to show understanding of specific information, text organization features, tone and text structure. In Part 3 of the Reading Paper, candidates are supposed to read a text or several short texts preceded by 15 multiple-matching questions. To do this, they need to understand detail, attitude and detail, attitude and opinion in the question and locate a section of text where that idea is expressed. Some of the options may be correct for more than one question and there may be one correct answer to some questions.

To develop reading strategies, students should read a wide range of texts in the classroom and at home. Certain times it is difficult to help students work their way through the text and interpret the meaning of more complex passages. It is useful to encourage students to be aware of alternative ways of dealing with texts so they can decide which ones suit them best.

After making comments on the picture that accompanied the text my students were supposed to read and reading its heading so as to speculate what the text was about, I explained to my students that they were going to read the text with pencil in hand. I told them that they were supposed to write what came to their mind while reading. It could be a question, an idea, a comment, a connection with something they knew, etc.

The strategy was successful to help them concentrate more and interact with the text. They managed to remember more information after finishing. Their notes included questions about the meaning of words, comments, views and memories.

In this way, my students found out that reading a one-page text is not such a tedious task

I would like to thank Joe Bower for sharing such a useful strategy.

Is there a reading strategy you have used which proved successful?

A Different Presentation

2010-06-05T08:46:00.000-03:00

I enjoy trying new tools that prove motivating for my

English classes.

One of the members of my Personal Learning Network (PLN),

Marisa Constantinides (@Marisa_C) has shared a helpful link for

language teachers via Twitter: 21st Century Teacher Tools. From these useful

tools I've selected issue as a creative way of uploading pdf files.

In my previous post I shared a song for the class and I've used this song to offer

a different way of presenting material to my students:

Song: Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode

Have you tried a new tool this week? I'd like to hear about it.

Classroom Web Conference

2010-06-02T00:02:00.000-03:00

After three unsuccessful attempts due to technical reasons, one of my classes had their first Skype experience with a group of Fifthgraders from a school in Jacksonville, Florida, USA.

We had arranged the video call with Shelly Zavon (@shellyzavon) in Around the World with 80 Schools, a project started by Silvia Tolisano (@Langwitches).

The video call was highly beneficial for my students because they were able to use the language they are learning, English, in a real situation. At the beginning they felt a little shy to speak but as time went on they felt more confident and interacted with the American students.

I believe these virtual meetings foster understanding between people from different nationalities and contribute to make young people more open-minded. At the same time, it prepares them for a new kind of communication that is becoming trendier and trendier.

Have you ever connected your class with a class from another country? What was your experience like?

A Song for the Class

2010-05-28T17:22:00.000-03:00

After reading a post in Jason Renshaw´s Weblog, in which

Jason embedded the video of the song Enjoy the Silence, I thought it would be interesting to make use of the song as a way of introducing a talking point in my upper intermediate class.

As to the selection of tasks, I was inspired by a post I read in Janet Abruzzo's edublog and by another one I read in Eva Büyüksimkesyan's blog, A Journey in TEFL.

Here's a link to the tasks I prepared: A Song for the Class

I hope you find it helpful. Which songs have you found suitable to be used in your classes?