I love exploring tools which allow our students to share what they produce using English. This week, I noticed Tackk for the first time. This post has the objective to briefly explain how it works and also share some examples of tackk projects and assignments which I've come across.WHAT CAN YOU PRODUCE WITH TACKK?Tackk allows you to publish photos, videos, audios, maps and forms. It's great for digital portfolios, assignments, promoting events, storytelling, book and film reports and so much more, all it's needed is your creativity. The site is free and it's DEVICE NEUTRAL, a term I learned from Lisa Johnson today. And what does that mean? It works on laptops, Ipads, and cell phones (IOS and androids), therefore it's perfect for BYOD. Students can create a tackk page without signing up, however, it is deleted after one week. If you wish to have your content saved, consider creating your free account. https://tackk.com/To learn how it works, watch the tutorial below:For references on how teachers have been using it, I suggest the reading of two blog posts and the TACKK education page: From Freetech4teachersFrom EmergingedtechAs I believe we can learn a lot by checking examples, these are some I've collected:Try scrolling the image above to see the rest of this tackk page.MORE EXAMPLES:This assignment was to answer the question "How would you increase the peace?"  Students added the tag #PeaceDay2013, this way all the pages created by them can be found on the same board. https://tackk.com/board/peaceday2013Márcia Lima and Marjana Smolcec have been developing a collaborative project (Brazil + Croatia) and a final task developed by their students was a presentation about a city in their countries. Check out two of their amazing tackks: https://tackk.com/gq09ek and https://tackk.com/rio (Juliana's presentation).This teacher developer created a page to present some webtools and apps  https://tackk.com/qslelhMy second trial making a page with a simple recipe https://tackk.com/334dcyThe very creative Lisa Johnson used a tackk page as a virtual handout after a presentation, adding the resources shared. https://tackk.com/agdf1gHave you ever had your students use Tackk? If so, please use the comment area to share your project with us.

This post is dedicated to a dear friend, Márcia Lima, who introduced me to FUZE, the webtool I'll be talking about today.According to the website, Fuze is an online meeting platform for Mac, Windows, IOS and Androids, in other words, it's a device neutral platform which allows people to meet online (for free) and share content.So you might say, "That's the same thing we can do with Skype, Google hangouts, Adobe Connect and Wiziq". Well, not quite. As far as I know:- With the free version of Skype, nowadays, you can't have more than two webcams working, no screen sharing and your meeting is not recorded.- With Google hangouts, although you can share your screen and record your meeting, you have a limit of 10 webcams.- Adobe Connect is perfect for webinars and online meetings, however (this is a big BUT), it is paid.- Wiziq would be the best alternative here. The free version allows several webcams to work and you have the possibility to record some of your sessions.To start my exploration, I watched some of their videos, such as this one: Fuze Content Collaboration from Fuze on Vimeo.With the FREE plan you can have:As with all the webtools and apps I decide to use with my students, I wanted to try it out first. Márcia promptly accepted my invitation to give it a go on a Saturday Morning. Our trial video is in Portuguese, our mother tongue, but you can have an idea how our exploration happened. What we liked about it:It's free.It runs on different devices and systems (Mac, Windows, IOS and Androids)You have a whiteboard to write on.You can share different files such as word, ppt, pdf, images and videos.You can share your screen.There is a chat box.You can have 25 people using their webcams (I haven't tried the quality of the session with many participants).It seems simple to use.It's very easy to start an instant meeting by creating a room and sharing the link with another person provided you have already downloaded Fuze.What we didn't like about it:You can't record the meeting with the free version ( I used Quicktime on my Mac to record our meeting).The files I shared didn't work so well on the Ipad. The only file Márcia could see was the image I shared. However, when I started another meeting on my Ipad, the video worked just fine.You have to download the product before you join a meeting.

Is it time to revise for examinations?How can we make study guides more visually appealing?These are some examples of app smashed VISUAL STUDY GUIDES I've prepared for my students:1. Popplet + Quizlet + Educanon + Google Docs + Grammar video Class + Thinglink2. Vizualize + Educreations + Edmodo + Imagechef + Quizlet + Thinglink3. Word Collage + Quizlet + Audioboo + Thinglink4. Comics Head + Quizlet + Thinglink  5. Strip Generator + Quizlet + Slideshare + Lino.it + Classtools.net  6. PicCollage + quizlet + Google Drive

I've recently posted about Visual Study Guides which I've been making for my students. Instead of only telling them the pages of the course book they have to study, I organize materials which we have used during our classes, such as video grammar lessons, online exercises, ppts and word files, into a visual poster with links to the resources which should be revised.A few times, I created such Study Guides embedding the resources to a Glogster poster , more recently I've been using Thinglink for the same purpose.But, HOW CAN YOU CREATE YOUR OWN APP SMASHED STUDY GUIDE?  https://tackk.com/eanvuvTry scrolling down the image above to see the rest of the Instruction Poster.Hope you find these tips useful,

This afternoon, I got home feeling stressed with my heart beating fast and a restless mind. "I need to unwind", I thought. I remembered a website Ozge Karaoglu mentioned in one of her posts, "Do nothing for 2 minutes" and decided to try it out. After a few minutes relaxing, I didn't want to go back to real life.This post was my exploration and trial with relaxing sites which can help you unwind.Ready to feel REAL GOOD?Now, I invite you to try these 3 sites one by one.DO NOTHING FOR 2 MINUTESThe site invites you to do nothing for two minutes. Observe the still image on the screen and try not to use your mouse or keyboard for ONLY 2 MINUTES. Close your eyes and listen to the waves. It's not impossible, observe the countdown and feel how much you can relax in a mere two minutes. If you cheat and use your keyboard or mouse, you'll see the word FAIL come up and you get another chance to start. http://www.donothingfor2minutes.com/CALM.COMThis one hypnotized me. The background video is very soothing and changes when another background music plays. The icons on the left can only be seen if you hover the mouse next to the left side of the screen, therefore the relaxing image occupies the whole screen. You can do nothing and just listen and observe the scenery or select one of the options from the left icons. The first option is a guided  meditation for 2, 5, 10, 15 or 20 mins. You can listen to a voice which guides you into relaxing your body and mind. The second option is a timer which you select to meditate on your own. This site is MY SECOND FAVOURITE. Even if you still need to work, you can keep the window open and listen to the sounds while you surf the web. There is also an IOS app available. http://www.calm.com/THE QUIET PLACEThe simple message on the gray background might not impress you much, but don't be fooled. This is MY FAVOURITE ONE. Once you press the spacebar to start, the site maximizes itself covering all the other tabs you might have open on your screen. While listening to background music, read the sentences slowly and let them embark you on a quiet adventure.I've tried out 3 of their quiet adventures:http://thequietplaceproject.com/thequietplacehttp://thequietplaceproject.com/90secondshttp://thequietplaceproject.com/thethoughtsroom/ (this is perfect for those days when your head is full of disturbing thoughts).What do these sites have to do with Education?They can help us, educators, relax, calm our hearts and find our harmony to keep on doing what we love: educate.I imagine we could also use the second and third sites with our students in class too. With Calm.com, I believe the guided 2 min meditation could help teenagers calm down a little and also practice their listening skills. With "the quiet place", if you have an IWB, the first two adventures I suggested would be appropriate to start a class where you can discuss about the stressful lives we've been leading and what people can do to relax. 

In case you missed RSCON5, an incredible Online Conference for Educators worldwide, and the many interesting sessions presented, this is my tiny contribution to this great event.It's amazing how many people got together during 3 days in July to dedicate some of their time to professional development. Apart from congratulating the different presenters who shared their knowledge with us, I'd like to express my admiration to the organizing committee who put everything together.For my presentation, I decided to talk about Text Genres and its digital possibilities.Although many of the course books some of us use in class suggest writing activities such as formal and informal letters, descriptions, narratives and e-mails, other text genres should receive our attention too. I believe the internet has redefined the way we communicate with others and the kind of texts we write. When we travel we no longer send postcards home but we share our photos a comments instantly via Instagram. When we need to send urgent messages, we don't even think of telegrams anymore, we use text messages. Technology has introduced us to different types of text writing and with them other challenges too, such as the use of abbreviations and the limit of characters as in Twitter.This is a screenshot of the session  I presented at RSCON5. If you click on the image, you'll be taken to the recordings. You can watch the whole session at the Collaborate Platform, listen to the audio or watch the video recording. http://goo.gl/iUShpPAll the resources mentioned throughout the talk can be found at the livebinders below: RSCON5 Text genres links

I normally teach teenagers and this semester I wanted to have students record  the mini dialogues they normally create in class. These recordings apart from being an opportunity for students to practise speaking and listening could help me observe their progress.I've been focussing on CAN DO objectives, so close to the end of each class I ask pairs of students to create a mini dialogue using the topic of the lesson. In pairs, they write down a mini dialogue of about 6 turns. I have a quick look at the dialogues checking for mistakes related to the topic of the lesson and then students rehearse it. When they feel they are ready, they can make the recording using their own cell phones.As we're using EDMODO to post homework, to do quizzes and share extra material, I imagined they could use their own cell phones to record their dialogues and then send it to our Edmodo group. When I suggested the recording for the first time, students were a bit surprised because they had never recorded themselves using English. One student then asked if they could share the recording via WHATSAPP, considering the fact that all of them have the app on their cell phones and it's possible to record within the app. I accepted the idea and one of the students volunteered to create a group for sharing the recordings.After students upload the recordings, I usually ask them to listen to other dialogues created by their classmates. At home, I listen to all the recorded dialogues and take notes of mistakes related to the target language which  I share with the whole group in a following class without identifying anyone. I've been truly happy with the opportunity to see my students using their creativity to practise the language and to have "palpable" evidence of what my students seem to have learned or not.This screenshot shows a conversation between a student and myself. I was happy to see they are enjoying listening to themselves and their classmates.And this is a sample of a dialogue created by two of my students. Can you identify the target structure they were trying to use?listen to ‘Mini Dialogue created by students’ on Audioboo What about this one? listen to ‘Dialogue 2’ on Audioboo

The objective of this post is to share a writing project I've been developing with EFL teenage students this semester. At the end of each unit, the course book we've been using suggests a writing task for a portfolio.I've always been bothered by the way teenagers generally handle their written assignments at the school where I work. It usually goes as following:Students write a text on a piece of paper which is given to the teacher for correction.Teachers correct the mistakes by underlining, crossing out and sometimes providing a better word for a sentence. The pieces of paper are handed back to students with a mark.Upon receiving their text back, students check their marks and quickly check what the teacher has corrected.I frequently asked myself: What do students do with this piece of paper? Do students understand why they made the mistakes the teacher marked? How much do they learn from the feedback?Considering the scenario shared above, I decided to propose a change to my students. First, I elicited from them what usually happens when they have to write texts for homework. And then I presented the idea of a Writing Digital Portfolio to be developed by each student throughout the semester.The idea was to implement the following changes for the writings at the end of each unit. First, students would write a draft on a piece of paper and bring to class. During one of the class activities when students are busy writing, I would check all the drafts, underline mistakes and leave hints about what is wrong with what I underlined. I would focus on underlining mistakes which I believe my students would be able to identify themselves if pointed in the right direction. Second, students would edit the text marked by the teacher, try to identify and correct the mistakes and publish the final version on a public portfolio. As a tool, I suggested TUMBLR as students could easily publish texts and images either from their cell phones or their laptops. Finally, I would evaluate the final version.My aim was to try a simple version of process writing, invite students to reflect about their writings, to collect each student's writing on a single page and have something tangible of what is produced by students during the semester.We've been working together for 2 months and a half now and students are about to publish their third writing. The texts are fairly short (about 100 words), but they have been of great help to me as evidence of what my students have learned and what they haven't learned yet.Screenshot of a Protopage with the Portfolio being developed by students.In order to see the portfolios, you can click on the image above, and then click on the names of the students. Or you can click on the links of some portfolios I bring below:HELENA: http://helenacampoli.tumblr.com/RAISSA: http://ayeitsraissa.tumblr.com/ THIAGO: http://thiagofcm.tumblr.com/

When you are surfing the web and you come across a really cool website, but it's not the right time to explore it, WHAT DO YOU DO?To view this quiz you need to have Flash Player 9 or newer installed and JavaScript enabled. Use PollSnack online survey software to create quick & simple surveys. This post has the objective to share a super simple way of organizing these links you wish to explore SOME DAY ...POCKET is a Google Chrome extension and an app which can be downloaded to your smartphone. It allows you to save any link you want to view later and automatically syncs to your other devices.How does it work? You download the extension to your Google Chrome browser and you will be asked if you want it to be synched to your other devices. The icon will appear at the top of your browser, then, every time you want to bookmark something to read later, click on the icon and the following box will appear, asking you to add tags to the saved page.Later that week, when you find the time to go over your selections, go to the POCKET site http://getpocket.com/ to see what to explore. I've added POCKET to my bookmarks bar to make it easier for me to have access to these links.If you're surfing the web using your cell phone, once you've got the POCKET APP  installed, every time you find an interesting website to view later, click SHARE and select ADD TO POCKET. As simple as that! So, imagine yourself waiting for a doctor appointment with nothing to do, it would be a perfect time to check out those websites you never find the time to try out. Click the POCKET icon on your cell phone and the websites will appear for you.Why did I like this extension? Well, it's simple and I like the visual way the websites are organized. I also think having it on my Bookmarks Bar will help me remember I have interesting things saved in "my pocket" to explore.

Have you noticed how much our desktop and browsers can say about our internet surfing habits? Whenever someone shares their screen with me, I love paying attention to websites people save to their browser bar and the little extensions they use the most.Today, I'd like to share a few of the Google Chrome extensions which save a lot of my time. But before describing these extensions, I bring a definition found at http://howtogeek.comWHAT ARE EXTENSIONS?"Browser extensions extend your web browser with additional features, modify web pages, and integrate your browser with the other services you use."In simpler words, I'd say extensions are little icons you download to your browser which allow you to do different things without leaving the page where you are (like shortcuts).As you can see below, this is what my Google Chrome page looks like right now:And these are my favourite extensions:SHORTENING LINKS: http://goo.gl/GdopGi This URL Shortener is very practical. Instead of copying long URLs, when you are surfing a page you want to share, click on the icon and the extension shortens and copies it to the clipboard. All you have to do is paste it on a document. You can also create a QR code of the same URL using the extension. It's great for creating short links of presentations and websites you wish to share.   2. BOOKMARKING: http://goo.gl/W7oXEa Having this Pinterest button to my browser makes bookmarking extremely easy. Whenever I want to add an interesting website to one of my Pinterest boards, I click on the icon, choose the board and save it.  3. EDITING IMAGES: http://goo.gl/fa8wPg Imagine you're exploring a website (even Google images) and would like to edit an image you've found. There's no need to save the image and then go to a photo editor. Right from the website, click the PicMonkey extension and it pulls all the images into a box for you. Then, you select the image you'd like to edit and the PicMonkey editor opens it for you. 4. PRINTING WEBPAGES:  http://goo.gl/m2ZOD5 Have you ever tried to print a webpage and wasted a lot of paper because of strange formatting? Print Friendly turns any webpage into a "friendly" PDF format which can be printed or emailed. It also offers you the option to delete all images and print only the text.5. ORGANIZING TABS: http://goo.gl/PXk5Rs When you're working on the web, do you often find yourself with too many tabs open? OneTab has made my computer work much more organized. If I'm working on an article or a blog post and have very important links opened, as I don't want to risk losing them if my computer shuts down unexpectedly I click the OneTab icon to save my session. Another practical usage is to organize into one single URL several links you would like to share after a presentation, for example. A friend of mine has been using OneTab to organize her computer sessions. For instance: she has saved groups of links she usually needs when she's doing an online course or when working at her school. Then, when she opens her computer to study for her course, instead of opening each individual tab, she clicks on a OneTab she has saved, selects RESTORE ALL and has all the resources she needs. I have also used it to share a group of links of resources (by clicking SHARE AS WEB PAGE) which could help my students study for a test. Apart from aggregating several links into one URL, the extension generates a QR code which can be given to students in order to have access to the links.6. ANNOTATING SCREENSHOTS: http://goo.gl/5MmePP With several online possibilities of taking screenshots, this is by and far my favourite because of how simple and practical it is. If you need to make image tutorials, take a screenshot to add to a blog post or even blur students faces on a photo, click the icon and select the kind of annotations you want to make. Finally, save it and use the image.7. CREATING A READ LATER POCKET: http://goo.gl/tj2DYr Whether I'm using my laptop or my cell phone, everything I find online which I believe is worth a further exploration goes to my "read later pocket" with one single click. First, I save and tag the website and later, when I have time I go to their website to explore the links. I know there are several great apps and extensions similar to Pocket for bookmarking, however, I advise you to give the mobile app a try, it's SUPER!This is what I have in my pocket right now.8. FOCUSSING ON TASKS: http://goo.gl/RRRJHJ Keeping our focus while using the computer is a challenge lived by many of us. I often turn on my computer in order to do something and I end up wasting precious time going from one site to another without accomplishing my initial intention. Do you relate to that? Well, if so, install this extension today. It works like this: every time you open a new tab, Dayboard comes up asking you to write down the 5 most important things you need to do today. The focussing help is that if you go astray and open a new tab, your list will appear to you again and again. Then, as soon as you get that done, you can tick it. The sense of achievement is priceless and you finally get things done.9. MANAGING YOUR TIME: http://goo.gl/1in7iC This extension is an eye-opener to all of us who spend many hours online. It tracks where you spend most of your time. If your minutes are wasting away and you'd like to know where, this is a good extension to have.This is what my stats says about today:10. ZOOMING IMAGES: http://goo.gl/XDBdy9 You will probably laugh, but my 40ish eyes thank this extension everyday. With the simple hovering of my mouse over an image it becomes enlarged and I don't even need to click to enlarge it. It's great when you're searching for specific images.And you, do you have favourite extensions which are real time-savers?