miercuri, 26 februarie 2020

Using technology in an ESL classroom

Greetings to everyone

	The digital era is certainly changing the way students learn, and the options available to us are constantly evolving which makes them increasingly useful. Incorporating technology into your ESL classroom will give your students an educational edge and will prepare them to be successful and independent learners outside the classroom. Still not convinced? Then read today’s newsletter and find out how technology can make your lessons more engaging.

Using technology in an ESL classroom

The use of technology has become an important part of the learning process in and out of the class. Most ESL classrooms use some forms of technology. It enables us, teachers, to adapt classroom activities, help and improve language learning. However, some teachers often choose not to use any technology due to numerous reasons. Some just don’t seem to have any time to spend on understanding how things work, others just do not think their students will benefit. Shall we give it a try? What if it turns out to be an amazing tool? Today, our teacher, Yulia Danilenko, shares some useful tips on how technology can be used in an ESL classroom.

INTERACTIVE QUIZZES

Nobody likes tests: students don’t like taking those and teachers aren’t particularly fond of grading them. There’s a way to make testing a bit more fun. Websites like Typeform and Kahoot let you create your own quizzes (or use the already existing ones). All you need is a projector, your students’ phones and a stable internet connection. Many students (especially younger ones) are motivated by challenges and competitions - yours might be as well.

VISUAL SUPPORT

Students often complain that texts for listening in class are hard to comprehend. There is no use blaming them: how often do we only hear things without actually seeing them? Sure, we have phones, radio and podcasts… But that’s about it. So, why not give them a bit extra support with showing videos instead of merely playing the sound? Most textbooks nowadays offer video clips for their listening exercises: your students actually see waiters taking orders or friends making plans. It’s also a great way to make young learners like listening. All of a sudden it becomes real to them - they can fully relate to a situation. Isn’t that exactly what we, teachers, want them to do?

BLOGGING

Some students perceive writing to be an extremely unnatural activity. Most of them never write reviews or essays in real life. However, we can’t avoid teaching the skill, can we? What we can do is make it more realistic and appealing for our learners. Let’s make them produce real pieces and make tasks meaningful. They can post a real review on Tripadvisor or share their thoughts on Livejournal. Of course, they will be following a previously presented structure and using the language you want them to use, but at least it will be something genuine.

OUTSIDE OF YOUR CLASSROOM

People today are constantly on their phones: listening to music, chatting, looking through social media. How can we add ‘learning English’ to that list?

Vocabulary apps
There are mobile applications that will help your students keep on learning new words or revising some previously learned ones. Memrise and Quizlet are really nice tools to recommend to your students. You can create vocabulary sets and then share them with your students. Moreover, they can create their own sets of words or use the ones that have already been made before.
Grammar games
Doing grammar exercises becomes boring at some point, so why not offer some online games for your students to try? It will make the process more fun and engaging for them. For example, Games to Learn English has a vast choice.
Podcasts
Learners often want to have more listening practice. Again, why not make it interesting and actually beneficial for them (not in terms of language only)? FluentU has a nice list of options to offer to your students.

Teaching English can be fun, and technology is a way to ensure excitement and motivation in your students. The key to the successful integration of technology in your classroom is to first understand how your students will benefit from it.

If you want to get more ideas on using technology in your classroom, follow the links:

How to use technology effectively to transform your ESL classroom

Technology for the ESL classroom that your students can’t resist

How to use technology to support ELL in your classroom

From Grade Education Centre

luni, 24 februarie 2020

2nd students' meeting on Skype

On the 24th of February 2020, my students from grade 4B, from Scoala Gimnaziala "Vasile Alecsandri" from Baia Mare, Romania, met their peers from Turkey ( coordinating teacher Sema Tokay) and Georgia (coordinating teacher Tamuna Zurabashvili) for the second time, in an online meeting on Skype.
The students had great time introducing themselves in English and singing some songs. Here are some images from the activity:

duminică, 23 februarie 2020

safer internet day

sâmbătă, 22 februarie 2020

February letters

Kaharlyk hub school 3, Ukraine
#eTwinning
The learners of 4-C grade , the participants of eTwinning program,
have already written February letters to their peers from "My International Penfriends" project. The topic of the letter is " My interests and hobbies".

Учні 4-В класу, учасники програми eTwinning, вже написали листи за лютий своїм одноліткам з проєкту " Мої міжнародні друзі по листуванню".
Тема листа за лютий - " Мої інтереси та хобі".
#eTwinning

SKYPE meeting

SKYPE meeting with the participants of "My International Penfriends" project
Kaharlyk hub school 3, Ukraine
On 17 February 2020 our learners of 3-A, 3-C and 4-C grades had a SKYPE meeting with their peers from Romania, Turkey, Tunisia and Georgia. The participants sang their National Anthems and one or two songs in their native language. They also tried to learn a word "Hello" in their native language. They are looking forward to meeting next time.
Thanks a lot to all partners of the project!

Dragobete - the Romanian version of Valentine's Day

On February 24, the day when the Orthodox Christian church celebrates The Finding of St. John the Baptist's Head, the Romanian folklore celebrates the day called Dragobete. Dragobete was the god of love in the Romanian pantheon, protector of love and good spirits.

Dragobete, the God of love and cheerfulness in Romania, called also the Hedad of spring or the Head of summer, is the son of Dochia. He is identified with Cupid, the god of love in Roman mithology, and with Eros, the god of love from the Greek mithology. Locally, he is called the Hothead, handsome young man, who makes girls and young women get infatuated with him. He was transformed by the Virgin Mary into the flower called Heart’s tongue (Phyllitis scolopendrium). Dragobete was celebrated by the young people from the villages until the mid-20^th century on February 24 and 28 or on March 1 and 25.

In Romania, Dragobete was the day when the girls and boys put on their best clothes and, if the weather was good, they used to go out in the forest singing and looking for the first spring flowers. The girls used to gather snowdrops, violets, and other spring flowers, which they used to put near the religious icons and saved them till the holiday called Sanziene (Bedstraw, on Midsummer Day), when they threw them in the rivers. If they happened to find wild strawberry flowers (Fragaria vesca), these flowers were gathered in small bouquets and they were put in the girls’ washing water while they chanted:” Wild flowers of strawberry / Picked on February/ Let all people love me/ Send bad things away from me”.

On the Dragobete morning, the girls and young women used to gather the fresh snow, melt it and use it to wash their face and hair, believing that people would like better their face and hair.

On this day, usually the boys and girls would meet at one house and invoke the Dragobete to bring them their loved ones, and those who had no lovers hoped to find their own lover, so that they would be loved till the next Dragobete holiday. This meeting usually became a big party, with food, drink and dances. Sometimes the boys went to other neighbouring villages to celebrate Dragobete, singing and shouting over the hills, having fun.

People also believed that on Dragobete the birds that did not migrate would gather in great flocks and chirped and chose their mates and started to biuld their nests. The birds that could not find their mates would have no chicks during summer. The old people celebrated Dragobete to protect them against colds and other illnesses.

Bibliography:

http://ethnotreasurehunt.blogspot.com/2011/02/dragobete-romanian-version-of-st.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragobete

http://www.e-transport.ro/DRAGOBETE_OBICEIURI_DE_DRAGOBETE_ZIUA_INDRAGOSTI-i41-news25867-p82.html

http://www.studiidecaz.ro/index.php?ifile=text_full&id_text=290&id_text2=10e2407cd8164a94a0b2d7565def0bc9&caption=DRAGOBETE-SARBATOAREA-DRAGOSTEI-LA-ROMANI

marți, 18 februarie 2020

1st online meeting for our students

On the 17th of February 2020, My students from grades 3A and 4B, from Scoala Gimnaziala "Vasile Alecsandri" from Baia Mare, Romania, had an online meeting with their peers from the eTwinning project "My International Penfriends". We met our partners from Georgia, Turkey, Tunisia and Ukraine. Each group sang their national anthem and a few songs in their mother language and/or English. It was our students' first meeting online and they enjoyed it. We hope we can meet them again this school year.

Romanian version:

In data de 17 februarie 2020, elevii mei din clasele 3A si 4B de la Scoala Gimnaziala "Vasile Alecsandri" Baia Mare, au avut o intalnire online cu partenerii lor din proiectul eTwinning "My International Penfriends". Ne-am intalnit cu parteneri din Georgia, Turcia, Tunisia si Ukraina. Fiecare grup a cantat imnul national si cateva cantece in limba materna si/sau engleza. A fost prima intalnire online a elevilor si lor le-a placut. Speram sa reusim sa ne mai intalnim  online in acest an scolar.

duminică, 16 februarie 2020

Preparing the Romanian Culture Box to go to Taiwan

In February, my students and I have prepared the Culture Box to be sent to our friends from Taiwan. Here are some photos:

January letters from Romania

Dear friends,

How are you? I hope you are fine.

I would like to know more about you. What hobbies you have?

I like music. My favourite singer is Nicole Cherry. You can listen some of her songs. I also like cartoons . Some of my favorite cartoons are: Winx , Tinkerbell, Miraculous Ladybug and Cat Noir.

Always happy to hear from you.

Love, Ella Codroiu

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