Quick Key is a fantastic app for the iphone which eliminates hand grading of tests and quizzes. It turns the iphone into a hand scanner to grade quizzes and tests up to 30 questions long.It was designed by teachers for teachers and is simple to use and best of all it's free. If you have a simple marking grid, it can recognise it and update the marks.Here is a great little video explaining moreNow I wonder when they will create the android version.....This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

You need to get in quick for this offer. I only found out about it today and it expires tomorrow (20th September). You can get a free copy of 'Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering and Engineering in the classroom. This book has been described as the bible of the makers movement in schools.I haven't read it yet but I intend to. don't be fooled by the title. It is not just for teachers of STEM subjects. The development of new technologies has turned us all into makers.Download it free through this link. The paperback copy is normally $28! This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

Charles Vilina, co-author of the new Young Learners series, Oxford Discover, offers some practical tips on making the most of CLIL in the young learner classroom. As a teacher of young learners, it’s easy for me to see when my students are engaged in the lesson. I see it in their faces, in their posture, and in the way they inquire and respond. The class is almost vibrating with positive energy. What are the qualities of learning in such a classroom? Here are just a few suggestions: active, useful, meaningful, productive, experiential, challenging, rewarding, shared Students who see value and purpose in their learning, who are challenged to think actively and to ask their own questions, are going to be engaged in the lesson. Take those qualities away, and students become bored and disenchanted. Discovering the World This brings us to the subject of content-based language education, which many teachers know as CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning). In a CLIL lesson, we open the windows of our classrooms and invite our amazing world inside. Students discover the world for themselves, using the tools of language in a meaningful way as they move through the lesson. As a result, language fluency is increased. For our young learners, a successful CLIL lesson is meaningful, challenging, rewarding, and requires them to think deeply and learn actively. Eight Points for Success There are eight points to remember when incorporating CLIL into your young learners’ classroom. 1. Introduce the world through many core subjects Since our purpose as language teachers is to build fluency, students should be introduced to a wide variety of core subjects (in the areas of social studies, the sciences, the arts, and math) to build strong language skills. Each core subject has its own particular vocabulary, grammar, and approach to learning. Social language (BICS) and academic language (CALP) are used in these CLIL lessons, integrating and strengthening both. 2. Let students lead the way by asking their own questions When we introduce a subject, students should first have the opportunity to discuss what they know and what they want to know about it. This inquiry-based approach to learning engages students from the start. Students are invited to discuss their prior knowledge and experience of a subject, making them feel that they are active participants in the learning process. When students then go on to wonder, to ask their own questions about the subject, they create a personal interest in finding the answers. This supports strong student engagement. Questions might include, based on the subject matter: Why do butterflies have four wings? Why are there 365 days in a year? Why are cities often built near rivers or lakes? The teacher can contribute to this process by wondering, too. As the teacher also has questions, this changes student perception. They begin to look at their teacher as a partner in learning. 3. Present content through both fiction and non-fiction Everything in our world is enriched when presented through fiction as well as facts. Our young learners need exposure to stories as well as to expository texts, giving them fresh examples of how knowledge can be presented. This builds literacy skills as well as knowledge. Here is an example of providing both fictional and non-fictional content for students, taken from Oxford Discover. The core subject is natural science, and it poses the big question, Where are we in the universe? Extract from Oxford Discover Student’s Book 4 Extract from Oxford Discover Student’s Book 4 In the first reading above, the subject is presented through a fictional poem about a little girl and her imaginary spacecraft. In the second reading, a science article presents information about our solar system. Through both readings, students approach learning in a unique way. 4. Match the content to the students’ language ability Be sure that the content you present is at a level of vocabulary and grammar that is comprehensible to your students. This means that the majority of the vocabulary and grammar in the readings has already been explicitly taught and learned in previous lessons. However, every CLIL lesson will introduce additional vocabulary and grammar that are needed to understand the particular subject or topic. This additional vocabulary and grammar are taught explicitly, either before or after students are introduced to them in the readings. As students experience the new words and grammar through the context of the readings, their understanding increases. 5. Present content in an interesting and challenging way The world is a fascinating place, but material is often presented in a dull way. Find content that triggers a child’s natural spirit of curiosity. There should be a sense of wonder, exploration, and discovery within the words of the readings. 6. Allow students to organize the content in a meaningful way Once students have discovered information about a subject, they should have an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge. This can begin with comprehension activities, but it should soon move to higher order thinking tasks. A successful CLIL lesson often uses graphic organizers such as time lines, Venn diagrams, mind maps, or charts (illustrating cause and effect, chain of events, etc.). Graphic organizers require students to analyze the information and make sense of it. Here is an example of a graphic organizer used for the reading shown above about our solar system. It is a Venn diagram, asking students to compare and contrast Earth and the planet Venus. Extract from Oxford Discover Student’s Book 4 By challenging students to think more deeply, you create a much more active and motivating learning experience for them. 7. Give students an opportunity to talk about what they have learned Throughout the CLIL process, students are building literacy skills through intensive reading. However, they need an opportunity to build their listening and speaking skills as well. Many opportunities exist in a CLIL lesson for this. For example, students should be encouraged to create their own questions about the readings. This lets students take control of their own learning, as well as to demonstrate what they know. As students share questions and answers, fluency is improved. In addition, the graphic organizers described above can be a jumping board for dialogue. Students can work in pairs and complete the graphic organizers together while discussing their choices. Later, student pairs can work with other pairs to discuss what they have learned. 8. Provide a summative project to complete the CLIL lessons A summative project allows students to take what they have learned and create something original with it. A strong summative project is collaborative (getting students to achieve something together) as well as creative (contributing their own original ideas) and communicative (listening, speaking, reading, and writing through the process). In addition, there should be an opportunity for students to present their projects to the class, building their public speaking skills. Here is an example of a summative project around the subject of our solar system, taken from Oxford Discover. Students work together in small groups to create a model of our solar system, and then present it to the class. Extract from Oxford Discover Student’s Book 4 To conclude, a successful CLIL lesson is a student-centered approach to learning. The teacher facilitates the learning process by moving around the class, ensuring that students are actively involved and using the language tools they need to succeed. It is inquiry-based, encouraging students to ask their own questions and seek their own answers together. Most importantly, CLIL allows students to use their language skills in a meaningful and productive way, building fluency and confidence as they seek and discover knowledge. Would you like more practical tips on using CLIL and teaching 21st Century skills to your young learners? Visit our site on Teaching 21st Century skills with confidence for free video tips, activity ideas and teaching tools.Filed under: CLIL, Skills, Young Learners Tagged: 21st Century skills, Charles Vilina, Children, CLIL, Content and Language Integrated Learning, Critical thinking, How to teach critical thinking, KWL chart, Oxford Discover, Reading texts, Young Learners

Here's a little known trick for video sharing using Google Drive. If you have a video you want to share but don't particularly want to share it on Youtube, you can upload to Google Drive and then embed wherever you like.Here are the steps:Go to Google Drive and hit the upload button (the one with the arrow pointing up next to create)Find the video you want to upload and upload it. Choose the option to convert to Google format (I haven't checked if it works if you don't do that).Open the video with Google Drive viewerClick on 'file' and then 'Embed this video'. If you have set the share settings to public then you can embed it anywhere and people can see it.For those of you who are wondering, what the video is, it is me sparring when I used to do boxing. I'm not so fit these days.....This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

Last week we finally had enough students sign up for our Codecademy club meaning it can now run as an after school club. Only one problem (or opportunity). I don't know how to code. Well, what's a guy to do. Better start learning I guess!I got a little bit of a head start and completed the first few lessons before the first session with the kids and so far I have found the Codecademy materials amazing. You get regular feedback on how you have completed small tasks and there are lots of opportunities to review and apply what you have been learning. I have found it pretty straight forward so far, but some of the kids are geniuses. They move at double my speed and I can't keep up. By next week, I will be asking them for help and trust me, I will be glad of it.I have the feeling that Codecademy is going to be the best bit of professional development that I've had in a long time. Not just because I am learning new skills but it puts me in the place that teachers should really put themselves into more often; the position of the learner. What did I learn from my first experience (apart from a few html basics)? I learned how effective it is to learn things in small chunks with activities which are designed to progress in difficulty and build on prior knowledge.If your school doesn't teach any coding, try and start a Codecademy club. It is really simple. Once your students set up their account they will be moving at different speeds and many will overtake you. Don't worry if you don't know how to code. The best thing you can do is cultivate an environment where students learn to collaborate and help each other (and you!).Codecademy does provide tools for teachers although we went for the jump straight in and get the students working through it themselves route but there are materials to help you teach it if you want. I wouldn't recommend trying to teach them. You will most likely hold them back. Just let them learn and teach you a few things as they go. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

Co-author of English File third edition, Christina Latham-Koenig will be answering your questions in a live webinar on 27 May. You can register and send in your question now. We are often asked where the idea for English File first came from. The truth is we felt that none of the coursebooks that we had used up to that point really provided what we needed as teachers. It seemed that these books were designed to work in a teaching environment that was very different from ours, and while there was a lot of imaginative, well-planned, and well-organised material to choose from, there was little to help us address the main challenges that we faced day-to-day. How do you keep students motivated when they are fitting their class into the middle, or at the end, of a busy day at work? How do you maintain students’ attention when they have so many other things going on in their lives? And, what was always most important for us, how can you get students to talk to each other in English if they all speak the same first language, live in the same town, and have often shared many of the same experiences? And so we needed to spend a huge amount of our preparation time adapting and supplementing the books we were using to make them more appropriate for our classes. We felt that we needed a greater variety of material to help change the focus and the pace of the lessons, we needed activities that helped to get the students’ heads out of their books, and we needed topics where students really would have something to say. The ideas that shaped the original English File series came directly from our own teaching experience and from talking to our friends and colleagues in the staff room about what worked and what didn’t work in the classroom. Over the last twenty years in the course of researching and presenting English File, we have had the opportunity to go beyond the confines of our own staffroom and have met thousands of teachers from around the world (and had contact with thousands more via emails and questionnaires) and it has been truly enlightening to have been able to share experiences and to hear about the wide variety of challenges they face teaching English to their students as well as hearing their inspiring stories of success. They have always been very honest in their feedback, telling us about English File lessons that they and their students have enjoyed, but also suggesting changes and improvements, anything from a text that never seemed to work with their group of students to an activity type that they find difficult to set up because of the arrangement of their desks or the acoustics of their classroom. They have shared their views on perennially divisive topics such as celebrities, sport, and fashion, pointed out why particular areas of grammar or pronunciation are especially difficult for their students, and given us a wide range of cultural insights from their countries. This exchange of information has helped us to grow as writers and has been the inspiration for the second and third editions of English File. We are extremely grateful for the time teachers have taken to speak to us. On Tuesday 27 May 2014, I will be hosting an English File Question and Answer webinar. If you would like to participate in this event, please visit the Registration Page. I will try to answer as many questions as I can in the time available - and I really look forward to hearing from you. Best wishes, Christina Latham-KoenigFiled under: Adults / Young Adults, Skills Tagged: American English File, Christina Latham-Koenig, English File, Webinar

I stumbled across this today and thought it was worth reposting.http://www.techlearning.com/news-and-trends/0061/apps-for-creativity-and-imagination/54141This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

We’re helping to solve your EFL teaching problems by answering your questions every two weeks. This week, Stacey Hughes addresses a common fear: using technology in English language classes. At the recent IATEFL conference in Harrogate, I spoke with many teachers who are still on the fence about using technology in their classes, and it is this EFL problem I would like to address in this blog. For some experienced teachers, technology was seen as a gimmick. They couldn’t see any benefit technology could offer because the tried and tested activities they use had already proven successful. Other teachers I spoke with were nervous about the technology itself. Faced with the onslaught of apps, digital products and a host of crusading digital zealots, they retreated to the comfortable safety of books, pen and paper. For them, it was all too much too fast and they were overwhelmed. I’d like to address the first of the two issues raised above before looking at ways teachers can ease into using technology. Is technology a gimmick? It certainly can be, especially when it is used without thinking about how its use can enhance the pedagogical aim. There are many arguments for using technology: it is part of everyday life for many students, so it is natural to include it in lessons; it can make administrative tasks less time-consuming, freeing up class time or a teacher’s out-of-class work time; it renders some activities more motivating; it can put students in charge of their own learning; it provides access to information that wouldn’t be available otherwise; it allows students to practice and get feedback on language use… the list goes on. In essence, whether or not technology is a gimmick rests in the way it is used and for what purpose. Here are some tips and things to think about when beginning your foray into using technology: 1. Start slow You don’t have to use everything at once. Choose one device, tool or app to try this term or this year. It could be something as simple as asking students to email you their written paragraph or essay first drafts, writing comments on the papers in a different colour, using the highlighter to point out mistakes you want them to correct, then emailing the papers back to the students to correct for their final draft. For me, this method of feedback is preferable to handwriting comments because: I can write more; type-written comments are easier for my students to read (especially those whose L1 script is not Roman-based); I have a record of the feedback; students can’t lose their work (or if they do, I can simply email it to them again). If you are feeling braver, try giving oral feedback on written work using Jing. My students responded positively to oral feedback because it gave them more listening practice. Have you always wanted to set up a class wiki, but baffled by the endless possibilities wikis provide? Start small: post up a text with questions you want students to read and answer for homework. Build the wiki over time. 2. Use the technology supplied with course books, workbooks and teacher’s books If you are using CDs or DVDs, you are already using technology! Experiment with any online workbooks, student or teacher websites, learning games or mobile content. The benefit here is that everything is linked up, so teachers don’t have to think about how to relate the activity to the lesson aims. Don’t be afraid to let students take the lead with some of this - students are generally happy to help the teacher with the technology side of things. Course books also come with a degree of technological support from the publisher. 3. Use technology that is already in the room Look at what you have available and then how you might use it. Be sure to include student cell phones and smartphones in your assessment. If you have a projector and internet access, for example, you can access interactive pronunciation charts for in-class pronunciation activities, or you can have an online dictionary at the ready for any vocabulary or collocations that come up in class. Keep these two open and running in the background (shrink them down) for easy access. Do quick image searches for vocabulary that comes up that can’t be explained easily - I once had the word badger in a text. I did a quick Google Images search, followed by a Wikipedia explanation projected on the wall - much more memorable than a simple explanation and I didn’t have to find a photo beforehand to bring to class. 4. Start with the learning aim This is undoubtedly the most important thing to keep in mind. Put learning first and look for the best tool to use to aid that learning. Let’s imagine that you are teaching a Pre-Intermediate class and you want students to practice asking and answering questions. If students do this in pairs, it is hard to monitor everyone. Technology is beneficial here: students can video or audio record themselves (e.g. on their phones or tablets) and email you the recordings. You then have a record, can assess which students are able to ask and answer correctly, and can give directed feedback. The added benefit of using technology in this way is that students are more likely to feel the task is purposeful and try to do it well. Creating a realistic context will add to the learning experience by showing students how the language they are learning in class relates to the real world: interviews ‘on the red carpet’, for example, provide a context and students can then do a blog write-up of the answers. 5. Ask yourself these questions: What do I want my students to do or learn? Can technology help? If so, which technology? Is there something I can use that I already have or do I need to find something that I can use? Will using this technology benefit the students? If so, how? (If not, don’t use it!) How much time will it take me to learn this and is it time well invested? (i.e. Will students benefit proportionally? Once I have learned it, will I use it again and again?) Invitation to share your ideas What’s your technology story? Have you tried something out that you would like to share? Do you have any advice for those just beginning to take that first step into using technology? Please tell us about it by commenting on this blog.Filed under: Adults / Young Adults, Multimedia & Digital, Professional Development Tagged: #EFLproblems, EdTech, Educational technology, EFL, IATEFL, Language classes, Language learning, Professional Development, Stacey Hughes, Teaching problems, Using technology in class

Have you heard about Kodu. I haven't tried it myself but I've been hearing a lot about it recently. Kodu is a free program you can download which lets students create games using a simple visual programming language.Here is what Kodu say about itKodu Teaches more than ProgrammingKodu is a rich tool for narrative creation and storytellingKodu demonstrates that programming is a creative mediumKodu helps children with critical thinking, breaking a complex goal into manageable steps, and iterate on the design process - an approach applicable to all academic subjects, business and personal relationshipsKodu introduces the logic and problem solving of programmingKodu introduces conditions and sequences, which teaches cause and effectStudents learn about cooperation, logic and creativity in addition to programmingKodu is currently being tried in Australian public schools.Kodu has an emphasis on the creative side and is not just for teachers who are technically able. If you are interested, there is a classroom kit to get you started. If you try it out, or if you are already using it, let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

Ahead of his webinar on 28th and 30th May, Edmund Dudley looks at why it is important for our teenage students to learn about culture in their English lessons. Millions of young people around the world are currently learning English, making it a truly international language. In addition, many teenagers regularly use English to communicate and interact with others online. This raises a number of questions about the cultural content of any English course for teenagers. What do we mean by culture in the context of a language lesson? Let’s begin by thinking about English-speaking countries. Take Britain as an example. When you think about British culture, what springs to mind? What examples could you give? Take a moment to think of three things. So what did you say? Your answers reveal something about what you think culture is. Perhaps you chose traditional rituals or ceremonies, such as the Changing of the Guard or carol singing in December; you might have gone for annual events, such as the FA Cup Final, the Notting Hill Festival or Hogmanay. On the other hand, your examples of British culture might have been more linked to the day-to-day habits and behaviour of ordinary people: leaving the house with wet hair in the morning, queuing at bus stops, or buying ‘rounds’ in pubs. All of these various aspects of culture are of potential interest to students. Day-to-day activities can be just as revealing as special occasions. If we want to get the full picture of life in English-speaking countries and communities, then thinking about how people eat soup can be just as interesting and revealing as learning about how people celebrate New Year’s Eve. Whose culture are we talking about? Given that English is used around the world, should we only be concentrating on the culture of English-speaking countries? Not exclusively. Any meaningful discussion of culture involves comparison and reflection. So, although in the lesson we might be looking at an aspect of life in Ireland, New Zealand, Canada or another English-speaking country, ultimately, however, students are being encouraged to think about themselves and their own culture. And besides, being able to describe aspects of life in your home country to others is a crucial part of sharing cultures and making friends when you are away from home or welcoming guests from abroad. How can culture get students thinking - and talking? Culture can be subjective. Think about words such as cold, sweet, crowded, angry, quiet, and dangerous: they are culturally loaded and so it is easy to disagree about what they mean. Take cold, for example. Two people from different countries might have very different views about whether a child playing on a playground swing on a spring afternoon should be wearing a coat or not. Examples like this can be used as the basis for classroom discussions, role-plays, drama activities - even creative writing tasks. Does the child need a coat or not? Who is right? What does it depend on? And how can the situation best be resolved? By looking at the situation as a cultural puzzle, we can challenge our students to try and interpret the situation from different cultural perspectives. Promoting empathy with others is not only a great way to promote tolerance and understanding, it also shines a new light on our own beliefs and assumptions. This is what makes dealing with cultural topics so interesting: we sometimes begin to see how the attitudes and values below the surface influence the way we see the world. Is there now a global teen culture? Young people are more connected today than ever before - even if they live on different continents. The internet is enabling today’s teenagers to create a shared global cultural identity. What do a teenager in South America and a teenager in Eastern Europe have in common? Well, for starters they are both probably comfortable using technology and also learning English at school. Then you have movies, computer games, apps, pop music and sport - all of which are probably shared tastes. The result is a new kind of international cultural identity: young, online and learning English. Putting it into practice In my upcoming webinar, I will be trying to find the connection between the topic of culture and rewarding learning experiences. In addition to addressing the questions raised in this article, I will be showing some practical classroom ideas for approaching the topic of culture with teenage students. Culture is there to be exploited, and our students are the ones who can benefit. Hopefully, they will not only learn something about various parts of the world, but will also gain fresh insights into their own culture and new perspectives on who they are, what they value, and what they aspire to. To find out more about teaching culture in English classes, register for Ed’s webinar on 28th or 30th May.  Filed under: Cultural Studies, Multimedia & Digital, Teenagers Tagged: 21st Century skills, Cultural identity, Culture, Edmund Dudley, insight, International English, Language learning, Secondary, Teen culture, Teenagers, Webinar

I was very excited to road test a new tool today live in my lesson using a combination of paid and free technology. My school uses the Frog VLE which although a little bit glitchy, is good enough for me to plan all my lessons through and share resources with my students. I still find however that I get to do more creative things with free technologies and as long as the fact we paid for a VLE isn't a barrier to using other useful technologies (which it often is in other schools!), I am happy.Although I am a Physics teacher by trade, I currently teach IB Environmental Systems and Societies. Today my students were looking at case studies of extinct and endangered animals and I wanted them to present it in a creative way. Lately I have been hugely impressed with sites like Padlet and Tackk that let you create high quality content without even logging in, with a simple link to share. Today I used Smore. It is similar to Padlet but focuses on creating fliers or posters rather than 'web sites'.The impressive thing with this tool was how quickly they were able to produce high quality content which they then presented to the rest of the class. Once they completed it, they then shared the link to their poster as a comment on the class blog meaning I was able to access them quickly and they could present their work before the end of the lesson.To give an idea of how easy it is to use I am going to create a flier ( advertising guest posting on Free Tech for Schools hint hint) and embed it here. at the bottom, I will write how long it took.  Total time, including writing and uploading photo: 4 minutes and 6 secondsThis post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

Image courtesy of AJ Cann on Flickr Is the value of peer assessment compromised if it is used as a class control for large classes? Charl Norloff, co-author of Q: Skills for Success Reading/Writing 4, discusses how to maximize the value of peer assessment. The value of any technique, including peer assessment, lies in having a clear idea of the purpose for using it and having realistic expectations about the outcomes you seek. Here are some factors to consider. Structure the peer work carefully so that: Students are using the target language Is the class monolingual? If so, then the peer work, especially if it is being used as a control, needs to be very carefully structured so students can easily do it. Otherwise, it can have the opposite effect, leading to students speaking together in their native language, often off topic, and can actually contribute to a lack of control. So, provide clear directions for what language you expect the students to use, including structures and vocabulary required to successfully complete the task. The task is easy enough for the students to do with minimal supervision The level of the students is another consideration in how the peer work is structured. The peer activity has to be such that it encourages use of the target language - in this case, English. If the task is too difficult or too open-ended for the level of the students then, again, it can lead to a situation where there is poor control. So, make sure the task is at the appropriate level for your students, and give and practice models - including vocabulary and structures - in advance of the activity so students have the language they need. Peer tasks are often best following instruction and whole group practice or assignments. There is a time limit Especially where control is one of the purposes of peer work, a clear time limit is also a must. Otherwise, students waste time and can easily end up off task. So, decide on the appropriate amount of time to complete the task, subtract five minutes and announce and post the end time. You can always add a few more minutes back in if students are clearly on task and still need more time to finish. There is an end task with clear measurable outcomes, which can be assessed When students work in pairs or groups, to ensure that the intended work is done, an end activity which holds the students accountable is always practical. That may be where the assessment piece comes in. If the desired result of the peer work is to be assessment, then there need to be clear and measurable outcomes attached to the peer work in order for it serve the dual purpose of control and assessment. Again, provide clear instructions about either a written or an oral assignment that will be due (and assessed, if that’s appropriate) at the end of the peer work. Try to keep the end task one of creating or producing something - a dialogue or brief speech presented to the whole class if you’re working on speaking or a piece of writing or analysis of writing that will be collected if writing is your focus. Avoid asking students to evaluate the quality of their partner’s work. Avoid asking yes/no questions which don’t require the use of the language. Focus rather on producing language or identifying aspects of the language rather than judging the language. Here’s an example: I’ve assigned, and my students have written, a paragraph giving reasons why studying a foreign language is an important part of their education. Prior to the peer work, we have worked on writing a good paragraph and have read a model and identified the topic sentence, supporting ideas, and conclusion. My task will be for students to exchange paragraphs with a partner, read the partner’s paragraph, discuss anything that isn’t understood, then complete a worksheet on the paragraph identifying the various types of sentences. The desired learning outcome in this example is for the students to be able to identify the structure of a good paragraph. I will give the students five to ten minutes to read their partner’s paragraph and discuss it. Then, they will have another five to ten minutes to do the worksheet. The worksheet might ask the students to 1) find the topic sentence, write it on the worksheet and underline the topic once and the controlling idea twice, 2) list the supporting reasons, 3) circle transitions words, and 4) state whether the paragraph had a concluding sentence, and if so, whether it restated the ideas in the topic sentence or not. The final step (and end task) would be to share the answers on the worksheet with the partner. Worksheets could be collected and be part of the overall assessment of the writing. A follow up assignment would be for students to reread their own paragraphs, using the same worksheet to analyze the paragraph, and then to revise it as needed based on the worksheet. In any activity in a language class, including peer assessment, having control of the class is a must. If peer work is done in a way that keeps a class under control, and clear realistic outcomes are expected and measurable, then the value of the work is never compromised. This is our last question for the Q authors. Thank you to everyone who contacted us! Check out our Questions for Q authors playlist for previous answers, or see all of our Questions for Q authors articles.Filed under: Adults / Young Adults, Skills Tagged: Adult Learners, Charl Norloff, Class control, Peer assessment, Peer review, Peer work, Q Skills for Success, Questions for Q authors, Teaching adults

This is a guest post from Chris Rawlins at Scholar Match.The consistently rising cost of higher education has left many bright and high-achieving high school students in the Bay Area without the financial resources to attain their goals, dreams, and ambitions of a college degree.  As a result, I have partnered with other Silicon Valley professionals in starting a new financial scholarship fund through the combined organizations of Indiegogo.com and ScholarMatch. Our goal is simple.  To provide college scholarships for 12 very special and deserving students in the Bay area.  This program will also be offering more than just financial assistance.  We will follow these young adults through their college years, providing support and mentoring as they face the many challenges of a post-secondary education. We need your help.  The 12 scholarships will require a combined total of only $16,150 dollars.  We can easily meet this goal with only 646 donations of only $25.  It is our hope that the wide reaching arms of the social media will help our Indiegogo Campaign to quickly "GO VIRAL".  All funds exceeding the original $16,150 will be used to help even more students from the California, Bay Area area.  Won’t you help us with this noble cause? We encourage you to spread the word!  Share this blog link with your friends and family on Facebook and Twitter.  Checkout the campaign here. Promote awareness of this scholarship program in your place of employment or office. Help us to help under-financed students who already have a proven track record of academic success to achieve their hopes and dreams of a college education!This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

Julie Moore, a lexicographer for the new Oxford Learner’s Dictionary of Academic English, looks at the benefit of using dictionary skills in academic writing. In ELT, we tend to approach grammar and vocabulary as two quite separate strands, mostly for the convenience of teaching. Of course, we all know that, in reality, they’re closely interwoven. And perhaps nowhere more so than in EAP (English for Academic Purposes), where complex constructions and the importance of appropriate vocabulary choices often make an understanding of lexicogrammar (the grammar of words) absolutely key to writing clearly and persuasively. Consider the underlined phrases in the following three examples of student writing - are they issues of vocabulary or grammar? This essay aims to exploring how children’s lifestyles can both cause and address the issue of increasing child obesity. Some of these areas are located in seismic belts and encounter with the risk of strong earthquake. In order to better understand the construction of a photoelectric sensor, a brief explanation to the working principle is given here. In each case, it’s the grammatical features or typical grammatical patterns of these specific vocabulary items that have caused problems; the following verb pattern, the need for a direct object, and the dependent preposition respectively. This is tough for the learner because it means that it’s not enough to learn general grammatical principles and bolt on a list of appropriate academic vocabulary; they also need to get to grips with the grammatical characteristics of each individual word. Of course, a lot of this comes from exposure to academic writing; students noticing recurrent patterns as they read and getting a feel for how particular words are typically used in context. But to me as a teacher, that always seems like rather a superficial piece of advice, a bit vague and with no obvious concrete steps that students can take to improve their next piece of writing. The process of learning how vocabulary is used doesn’t have to be a passive one though - students can be encouraged to be proactive when it comes to lexicogrammar. Each of the students above could be pointed in the direction of a dictionary to see where they’ve gone wrong. Below are extracts from the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary of Academic English, which provides a wealth of information targeted specifically at how vocabulary items are used in an academic context, both in terms of meaning and grammar. aim (verb) … 2 [I,T] to try or plan to achieve sth: … ~to do sth The project aimed to investigate Earth history by drilling the deep ocean floor. encounter (verb) 1 ~sth to experience sth, especially sth unpleasant or difficult, while you are trying to do sth else: One problem commonly encountered by customers ordering products over the Internet is difficulty with delivery … to encounter difficulties/obstacles/opposition explanation (noun) … 2 [C] ~(of sth) a statement or piece of writing that tells you how sth works or makes sth easier to understand: … The author provides a brief explanation of his oral history process. By pointing out in class how this type of information is shown in the dictionary (in each case here by expressions in bold showing the pattern and then reinforced in example sentences), students can start to see how they can learn about how words work for themselves. Dictionary skills can be incorporated into activities where students edit their own writing (as in the above examples) or it can simply provide a regular interlude when an issue over a particular word or expression crops up in class. And as an added bonus, the processes involved in looking up the word and analysing the information they find, will help this new knowledge stick.Filed under: Dictionaries & Reference, Grammar & Vocabulary Tagged: Academic English, Academic writing, Dictionaries, Dictionary skills, EAP, English for Academic Purposes, Grammar, Julie Moore, Lexical set, Lexicogrammar, OLDAE, Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English, Vocabulary

Actively learn is an online ereader which is designed to help teachers interact with and engage students when reading text.It has some great features such as the ability to use it with any online text or upload your own, annotation tools, embeddable questions and features that allow sharing with colleagues.The free version works on any device, lets you use public domain books,  lets you create your own layers of questions, and for American teachers has common core standards based grading. The paid-for version adds the ability to export grades and actively assisted book uploads although what they offer in the free version is really amazing.This is an excellent tool for teachers who have a lot of students where English is an additional language although I see uses for this in every subject to aid comprehension of text. I could certainly use this teaching Physics and Environmental Systems where I could use it to draw students' attention to key points in the text.This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

We are delighted to announce the winners of the Headway Scholarship competition 2014, on behalf of Liz Soars and the Headway Foundation. Around 230 teachers from 54 countries took part in the competition, which was based on the theme of "Headway makes a difference". Using short stories, blog posts, photo montages, presentations, videos or podcasts, and even some lesson plans and research papers, the teachers illustrated how Headway has made a difference to students, teachers, and the community. They drew on a wealth of experience, as between them they had taught more than 115,000 students over 1600 teaching years! As well as showing what Headway means to them and their learners, the teachers had to show what difference winning the scholarship would make to their own professional development. The various tasks were judged and moderated by a team of specialists, including author Liz Soars herself, and we can now announce that the winners are: Hanna Dudich Magdalena Dygala Olga Gurchak Marianne Chavarría Hernández Irina Krestianinova Gloria Rossa Each of these teachers has won a place on a 2-week English Language Teachers’ Summer Seminar at Exeter College in Oxford, including flights, accommodation and meals - a wonderful opportunity to share and develop best practice. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Headway Scholarship and, thanks to the generosity of Liz Soars and the Headway Foundation, there are six first prize winners this year instead of four. To further celebrate this landmark, additional prizes have been awarded to 12 runners up, and so congratulations also go to: Oksana Bondus Letizia Cinganotto Claudia Gambier Catalina Iacobuta Kiomars Karami Maria Fernanda Montu Elena Maximova Miglena Petrova Uliana Proshina Magdalena Pedro Anna Savina Valeriya Tabarina As a personal ‘Thank you’ to all the teachers who entered the competition, Liz Soars has recorded the below video, and everyone who applied will be receiving a Certificate of Acknowledgement. Go to the Headway fourth edition page for more information, or the Winners Gallery to see all the winners.Filed under: Adults / Young Adults, OUP ELT News Tagged: Adult, American Headway, Competition, Headway, Headway Academic Skills, Headway Plus, Headway Scholarship, Liz Soars, Professional Development, Teacher Training, Teachers

Lots of teachers have a strong opinion on students using mobile phones in school, ranging from vehemently against to strongly in favour. I have been quite amused on occasion to see the 'vehemently against' brigade suddenly cave in when they forgot the stopwatches for their Science experiment.There is a risk that mobile phones can be a massive distraction but if you think about it as a hugely powerful computer that happens to also make phone calls, is it worth banning it just because it happens to make calls. It's a bit like saying Steven Segal can't come on the boat because you don't want food. He also cooks.... Yes that was an Under Siege reference.A colleague sent me this list of 26 ways to use a mobile phone in the classroom today. It was originally posted here on the TES community site.26 ways to use mobiles in the classroom1. Recording experimentsStudents use cameras on phones (annotating pictures with applications like EverNote and Skitch) to record equipment layouts, electrical circuits, visible results etc and save for later. These can then be uploaded to their own blog, a school wiki or simply added to a series of virtual revision cards. I’ve only tried it with sixth form due to school policy.2. Problem solving using QR codesCreate a puzzle-solving lesson out of QR codes. Put QR codes around the school building - each QR code leads to a new science based clue. The clue leads the students to the next QR code - it's a 21st century treasure hunt! (See first useful link for more info on QR codes and more suggestions on how to use them in the classroom).3. Using mobiles instead of clickersClickers can be expensive for schools to buy (or in the case of college, for students to buy). There are programs such as Top Hat Monocle (http://www.tophatmonocle.com) and Poll Everywhere (http://www.polleverywhere.com/) that will allow teachers to do instant quizzes and check for understanding using their cell phones, computers and tablets. It’s a great way to find out if your students are understanding the material.4. Visualising infrared remotes with the cameraThe signal emitted by an infra-red remote is invisible to the naked eye, but clearly visible on a mobile phone using the camera. This form of radiation can be detected using this method easily and enables students to visualise something they may otherwise find hard to truly accept or appreciate otherwise. The concept of it as a means of communication could even be used by pupils who can send messages to each other with morse code with long and short flashes of light. Goes down very well with pupils, who are usually a little surprised and very intrigued.  5. Using appsThe use of a number of free APPs in order to plot distance etc. Such as endermondo (free). This could also link with heart rate & GPS. The data collection can be done outside of the classroom (homework?) and then brought in. Could also create their own free APP. I have found that pupils respond to "real" examples and also engage more in the topic if the technology is embedded and they can understand the use and purpose.6. Using the timerMost phones have timers that can be used to record the progress of experiments. This can be handy if there are a limited number of timers available or an opportunity to record something arises when timers are not available or have not been planned into the lesson such as an outdoor activity. Pupils appreciate the ability to investigate phenomenon as and when the opportunity arises rather than sticking rigidly to pre-planned learning.7. Using the calculatorMost phones have calculators and therefore leave pupils little excuse not to carry out relatively simple calculations and can be used in impromptu situations in a similar way to phone timers. More modern phones may also have scientific calculator apps for more advanced calculations. Pupils may not appreciate the incorporation of maths and requirement to do calculations into an investigation but they do appreciate the ease with which it can be achieved and reminds them of the many capabilities of their phones.8. Using the voice recorder as a dictaphoneMany phones have a voice recording function that can be used by pupils to carry out interviews, record events in class; including teacher explanations, or as verbal revision notes when revising for exams. Then either share the files to a shared folder or upload to Soundcloud.9. Using smartphones to record ecology or field study investigationsSmart phones can now take photos, assign locations using GPS and post them to social media enabling pupils to record and share findings in ecological studies or record their progress on Duke of Edinburgh expeditions. This was a well-received way for my pupils to meet some of the requirements of their Duke of Edinburgh expedition and record the route they had taken.10. Converting Top Trumps to QR code interactive postersTop trumps are sometimes used to engage pupils with science and they can be converted into interactive posters for display around school. This has been trialled with the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council working with the University of East Anglia on a science communication project.https://twitter.com/#!/DrTristanBunn/media/slideshow?url=pic.twitter.com%2FBpmIZD0u11. Virtual field tripsWith a range of environments and places being studied in the Geography classroom maps apps, specifically Google Earth, offers outstanding topographical views and also ‘Panoramio photos’ that allow students to continue to build their mental images of unfamiliar places. Obviously, if you had tablets or iPads to hand the experience is further enhanced. I recall a particularly successful lesson examining contrasting urban environments.  12. Using Twitter to improve creative writing skills (writing twiction)Students share reveal a story online via their SmartPhones through characters they have invented (with accounts they have created for them on Twitter) who interact with each other through a series of tweets, mentions, direct messages. This will enable students to be more precise in their choice of language, develop the ability to read into (and add) extra layers of meaning, consider what they show the reader and strategies to hook the reader, develop characterisation skills (including viewpoint and voice) and consider and develop structural narrative skills. You can find resources to support students to write ‘twiction’ and give students the chance to win the annual prize for Twiction a www.teentwiction.co.uk13. Using FourSquare to develop orientation around school sites for new students/staffFourSquare enables users to be able to check in via their Smartphone to different locations so schools could set up a ‘treasure hunt’ using FourSquare locations around their ‘campus’.14.  Use Twitter as an on-demand learning toolSet up a Twitter Feed that can provide alerts to the students on-demand.  Students can tweet to this feed when at a conference or taking notes on a field trip or the teacher can send out alerts such as reminders. Students can subscribe to the feed via text messaging so that all messages are received immediately. On-demand learning and communication!15.  Practice speaking in MFLFor MFL use mobile phones as flip cameras and record speaking/drama activities.16.  Memory aid for dyslexic learnersThe photo camera function can be used to take pictures of complicated diagrams, timetables or the menu in the canteen. To write this type of information down would take a dyslexic learner too much time.17.  As an eBookUsing the Kindle App,or iBooks App on iPhone, learners can turn their mobile phone into an eBook and use it to read books, newspapers, magazines and PDFs.18. Tweet your reviewsTeach journalism skills by having students write Tweet length reviews of things such as TV shows, films or new music releases. With only 140 characters students learn that every word counts.19.  Set Homework using QR codesConvert text to a QR code and display through a projector for pupils to scan. One click and they have all the info they need with them. www.qrstuff.com is easy to use.20.  View marked HomeworkHomework can be collected from a dropbox folder via the phone. Teachers can mark the Digital homework by using apps such as Neu.annotate to mark the work.21.  Voxpop FeedbackGet your students to leave visual feedback of the activity, then export the video file into dropbox, this is great evidence for Ofsted, and provides real engaging feedback to entice  backing for your projects from investors and parents.22.  Class plannerBy ensuring Students all have access to a Google Calendar account you can do away with paper planners. Students can share calendars with other students and staff, and receive real-time notifications.23. Use an App such as Do it Tomorrow to make a note of anything that needs to be doneThis App is free in Android market. It is a simple ticklist of tasks and unlike a calendar only has two pages-today and tomorrow. As today’s tasks (say homework or to remember PE kit today) are completed you simply cross them out. Anything not completed is carried forward until tomorrow.24.  Create your own e-Books quickly and simplyCreate an account at Wattpad.com, the website allows you to create your simple e-Books from existing word document just by cut and paste. Educate your pupils / students on the use of the Wattpad app, (available for all Smart Mobile phone platforms) they can then always carry around the current reading list, course guide, assignment help document on their mobile phone.25.  Use twitter to share revision documentsUse twitter as a revision machine! Send tweets out reminding students to revise over the weekend especially when it is good weather.26. Use twitter as a plenary toolUse twitter to check learning during and at the end of the lesson. Create a hash tag specific to that lesson (ie #10FBiology) and have students create an answer to a specific question in tweet form. Using twitter tools these can then be displayed on the board within the PowerPoint or within an internet screen using twitterfall.com or visabletweets.com  Useful LinksUsing QR Codes in educationUsing Mobile Phones in the Classroom - YouTube video - class discusses how they use mobiles in the classroomTop Hat MonoclePoll Everywherewww.teentwiction.co.uk - using smartphones to write storieswww.dropbox.com Share any kind of file between multiple deviceswww.wattpad.com - Very easy eBook creation sitewww.visibletweets.comContributors@teachingofsci@planetscience@lkoster@DrTristanBunn@elicit_thinking@barton_jay@teentwiction@tammyfry@janbaker97@philgregoryTech@Adamrsc@sbhsmrwilson@sbhshistoryThis post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

Image courtesy of Wikipedia Vanessa Reilly, teacher, teacher trainer and OUP author, introduces her upcoming webinar on 27th and 28th May entitled: "Having fun with festivals - cultivating interest in the target culture in your young learner classroom." Just how important is the target culture to you when teaching English as a foreign language to young learners? Looking at a language from the point of view of speakers of that language and how they live makes the target language more real, not just a collection of words and sentences to be learnt. All learners need to be introduced to the target culture, no matter how young or early on in their language learning experience, in order to provide them with the optimum conditions for success. My webinar will provide an overview of the following: Target culture in the very young learner and young learner classroom Very early on in my teaching career, I remember reading Claire Kramsch’s book Context and Culture in Language Teaching, and this statement stuck in my mind: If… language is seen as social practice, culture becomes the very core of language teaching. Cultural awareness must then be viewed as enabling language proficiency… Culture in language teaching is not an expendable fifth skill, tacked on, so to speak, to the teaching of speaking, listening, reading and writing." So I started to explore: → What are the implications for primary age children? If, as Kramsch proposes, cultural awareness needs to be an integral part of language learning, then I believe that as teachers of English we need to explore the many aspects of English-speaking culture appropriate for all learners, however young the children we teach. → What can we do as primary teachers? We need to look at culture through a child’s eyes and consider what will motivate a Primary child to want to know more about the target culture. Having worked with children for nearly 25 years, I have found even young children are really interested when I talk about what children in English-speaking countries do that is the same or different to their world. I find activities based on festivals very motivational and the children quickly become engaged in the colourful, fun activities; so festivals are usually where I begin to introduce culture into the Pre-school and Primary classroom. In my upcoming webinar we will look at bringing cultural awareness to young learners through festivals that are important to the everyday lives of children in English-speaking countries. In this very practical session we will investigate stories, songs, games and other mysterious things to enjoy with our Primary children.Filed under: Cultural Studies, Pre-school Children, Professional Development, Young Learners Tagged: Children, Cultural awareness, Games, Pre-Primary, Primary, Songs, Stories, Teaching with songs, Vanessa Reilly, Very Young Learners, Webinar, Writing with Children, Young Learners

I stumbled across this image the other day of the launch of Antares/ Cygnus from Virginia. Apart from the fact it is absolutely breathtaking, it really made me think about what we are capable of when we collaborate using technology.When you think of the teams of people who need to communicate to make this possible, is this why technology integration fails in schools? How many schools integrate a new technology by asking what we want to be able to do and working towards it? It is more likely that someone in the leadership team saw a sales presentation and thought that looks great, we should get it. In the presentation, they were told that the product could do x, y and z. What they didn't realise was that to get it to do x, y and z, you need a team of people to troubleshoot, experiment and develop the solution to meet the needs of the school. Even if you get the technical side down, the teachers often don't see how it will help them to help students learn more effectively.Even the most expensive rocket will get nowhere without fuel. When I hear of schools investing in expensive learning platforms (the rocket), I really think they need to think about whether they have the fuel to get it to lift off. The fuel for most schools has to be a willing body of staff that see the purpose in the mission and work together to make it a success. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

Verissimo Toste, an Oxford teacher trainer, looks at some different ways the language learning experience can be enriched. More and more, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) is being taught in mainstream schools around the world. As part of a larger curriculum of general education, EFL teachers have an opportunity to focus on aspects of learning beyond grammar, vocabulary, and the traditional four skills. With the aim of enriching the language learning experience, I would like to focus on some of these aspects. For the experienced EFL teacher, these will not be new, but I hope that by focussing on them here, it will encourage teachers to give them more importance in their classrooms. Encourage questions This may seem obvious, but it is not always easy, especially when a lot of education leads many students to become passive recipients of information. Before beginning a lesson or a unit of work on a topic, ask students what they already know about it. Make sure they do this individually first in order to get input from everyone. Have them share their knowledge. Then, tell them the next unit is on this topic. What do they want to know? Ask each student to write 1 or 2 questions. If you can, display the questions in the classroom. In this way you can refer to them as you work through the unit. Encouraging questions from the very beginning tells your students that you expect them to be actively involved in the work of the class. Further, it tells them that what they are learning should be meaningful and useful to them. It is the best way to learn. Bring their world into the classroom Think about the lives of your students, at school, at home, their neighbourhood, city, country. Now think about what you will be teaching them during the term or the school year. How can you bring their world into the classroom? Let me give you a simple example. When teaching "can" for abilities, consider involving the physical education teacher. Students can do some of the activities in the physical education class, like jumping, running, throwing, etc. Once they have done the tasks, you can use the information in the English class as students express what they can do. This can be in the form of graphs or tables, individual or class posters. The important point is that students will be learning and using the language to communicate real information. The language they learn is not simply an end in itself, but a means to communicate. Students can make a timeline of historical events to practice the past tenses based on work in their History lessons, explain the process of an experiment from the Science class, use skills from their Art classes to create displays of their work, as well as critical thinking skills from Maths classes to organise their language learning. The key is to involve other school subjects, and the teachers of those subjects, in the students’ language learning experience. Once you have considered the school, move on to life outside school. How can you involve family and friends? One of my favourite activities with my students was when I was teaching "used to" to teenagers. I asked each student to talk to their grandparents and bring to class 2 - 3 things that were very different now from the time their grandparents were teenagers. I then would use the information to introduce the language point, "used to". The students were so interested in the information that the language quickly became secondary, and easy to use. Stories I am a big fan of stories. Someone once told me that stories may have been the first form of education, as people communicated important information around the camp fire. I have little trouble believing this. There is something about the structure of stories that makes learning easier. For this reason, stories are a great medium for language use. Stories are everywhere: what happened on a holiday is a story, how a student begins his day is a story, what happened on the way home is a story. We tell each other stories every day. The key is the structure - beginning, middle, and end. The story develops, leading us to the end. It is by nature interesting, otherwise we wouldn’t be telling it. When considering the topics and language you will be teaching, think about how these can be included in a story. The story may provide the basis for the language you want students to learn, or it may be the vehicle for the topic of the unit. When stories become a part of your teaching, you will naturally begin to collect them. Don’t forget local stories, stories from your students, and traditional stories of the country you live in. Sense of achievement Too many times education focusses on what students don’t know. Rarely do we have the opportunity to show students how much they have learned. Just as students learn the present simple, we move on to the present continuous. Just as they grasp past simple with regular verbs, we introduce them to irregular verb forms. Education focusses on what students don’t know. So, giving students a sense of achievement based on how much they have learned is important to raise students’ self-esteem and confidence in their ability to learn more. Brief, unit-based projects can offer students the opportunity to show what they have learned, as well as give many students a second chance to learn what they have forgotten. Encourage your students to see the project as a learning opportunity: What language are they using? What mistakes are they still making? What are their weaknesses? Their strengths? How could they improve? The aim is not simply to learn more, but also to get students used to reflecting on their learning. In this way short projects can help students become better learners. These four points may seem obvious, but it is not always easy to make them an integral part of our classes. However, as they do become a part of your lessons, you will find your students becoming more active in their learning. You will also find that learning itself will have more meaning and become more rewarding. Image is taken from Flickr under the Creative Commons licenseFiled under: CLIL, Teenagers, Young Learners Tagged: Class questions, EFL, Language learning, Questions, Stories, Verri Toste

Wideo is a web-based platform for creating animated videos and is completely free. You can either create an account or log in using your Facebook account and be creating animated videos in seconds.The interface is very user friendly meaning that someone with zero artistic talent like me can create something with ease. I can see this being used effectively by students as a way to do short presentations or for teachers looking to add a bit of fun to presenting concepts.This video (or should I say Wideo) shows what it can do.This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

Ian Brookes is a freelance writer and editor based in Scotland. He has edited a number of dictionaries and has written books about spelling, writing, and punctuation. In this post he takes a look at where some of our words have come from. English has been described as a ‘magpie language’. If you look up the word magpie in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary you will find a reference to ‘a popular belief that magpies like to steal small bright objects’. In the same way, the English language has been quite happy to steal useful words from other languages and add these to its vocabulary. When English borrows words, it sometimes keeps the original spelling form, but sometimes it alters the spelling. As a general rule, when words are borrowed from unfamiliar, non-European languages, they are more likely to be transformed so that the spelling and pronunciation conform to familiar English patterns. Words taken from Asian, American, and African languages can appear in English with their spellings radically changed, as in the cases of chutney (from the Hindi word catni) and hickory (derived from the Algonquian pawcohiccora). When English borrows words from European languages, however, it often preserves the original spelling and aspects of the original pronunciation. This is probably because native English speakers have some familiarity with the rules of French, German, Italian, Spanish, Latin, and Greek. So we preserve the French word brochure in its original spelling, and pronounce the -ch- as /ʃ/ in the French manner; similarly, we preserve the Italian spelling of pizza, and pronounce -zz- as /ts/. Here are some other patterns of spelling and sound that do not conform to the standard English rules but are found in borrowed words: -eau- is pronounced as /əʊ/ in words borrowed from French, as in bureau. -que is pronounced as /k/ at the end of words borrowed from French, as in mystique. -cci- is pronounced as /tʃiː/ in words borrowed from Italian, as in cappuccino. Moreover, there are certain general rules that apply to English spelling that have to be suspended in the case of borrowed words. One of the most familiar spelling rules is that ‘I comes before E except after C’. However, caffeine and protein break this rule because they follow the pattern used in their original French and German spellings. Less well known is the principle that native English words do not end with -a, -i, or -u. Perhaps the reason this principle is not well known is that there are so many exceptions created by borrowed words such as orchestra (Greek), spaghetti (Italian), and haiku (Japanese). It is highly unusual to find a double consonant at the start of an English word. When it does happen, in the case of llama, again the explanation is to be found in the fact that the word is borrowed (in this case from Spanish). Finally, we should note that the tendency of words borrowed from French, Italian, Latin, and Greek to form plurals following the pattern of their original languages (although in some more common words these inflections are not used or are regarded as alternatives to the simple addition of -s): French words ending in -eau form plurals that end in -eaux, as in tableaux and gateaux. Italian words ending in -o form plurals ending in -i, as in Mafiosi and paparazzi. Latin words ending in -us form plurals ending in -i, as in stimuli and fungi. Greek words ending in -on form plurals ending in -a, as in phenomena and criteria. So if you were wondering why learners of English have to cope with so many exceptions, now you know the answer. It’s not the fault of English; it’s the fault of all the other languages!Filed under: Dictionaries & Reference, Grammar & Vocabulary Tagged: Etymology, Language, OALD, Vocabulary

This is a guest post by David Kapuler, K-12 educator, tech integration specialist, blogger, consultant, etc. This was originally posted hereBuncee is a innovative new (beta) site for creating interactive presentations/lessons. This is a fantastically simple site to use to create not only beautiful looking slideshows but e-cards, posters, and more. I like to think of it as a combination of Glogster, Smore, and Biteslide. Best of all a user can embed a Buncee (presentation) into their site/blog. Finally, there are a ton of educational resources to browse through such as: lessons, projects, flyers, etc.Here are some ways Buncee can be used in the classroom (from their site)...*A great learning tool for Blended or Project Based Learning, as well as Flipping a Classroom.create interactive lessons or projects that flip your classroom in a fun and easy wayintroduce technology w/ Buncee projects and assignments that spark creativity and help support common core standardshave students of any age easily create multimedia projectsshare engaging school event invites, or class news w/ students, parents, and the community.I highly recommend checking out Buncee by clicking here!!!Below is a brief demo....This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Schools www.freetechforschools.com

Stacey Hughes, former teacher and current teacher trainer in the Professional Development team at Oxford University Press, shares some practical tips on getting your students to assess themselves, and each other. We all need a fresh set of eyes sometimes. Successful writers or speakers often ask a peer for feedback. So, what is group, peer and self-assessment in the language classroom? For starters, it is not necessarily part of grading - we are not asking students to give each other a mark that will then count towards their grade. What it should involve is peer-to-peer communication about what is good about a piece of work and how it can be improved. It involves some learner training and it is important that assessment is not aimed at the individual, but at the work. In this article, I’ll give examples of how group assessment might work for a presentation, how peer assessment might work for writing and how self-assessment might work in several contexts. Preparing students to peer assess Peer assessment may be new to students, so it is important to show them why it is a good idea, how it can benefit them and, most importantly, agree to some behavioural guidelines. Talk to your students about the benefits of peer assessment and get the class to draw up a list of guidelines. Some key points are below: Peers can help us review our work so we can get a better grade. Learning to help each other is a skill that will be used in a job. Assessing a peer’s work can help us develop our own work by making us more aware of how a piece of writing or speaking affects the audience. Example guidelines: Comment on what is good. Don’t make personal comments - just comment on the work. Don’t judge. Be helpful. Don’t just say something is bad or good. Say what is bad or good and why it’s bad or good. Try to explain how it could be better. Group assessment - group assesses group As part of preparing for group presentations, set a date when all groups present to another group. You may need to send some groups out or if your classroom is suitable, just group them around the room. Give each member of the groups a sheet to fill in (see the example below) to help guide their comments. For a presentation, there are a number of different aspects that you might want groups to comment on. Create a feedback sheet that reflects what you have taught and what you will be grading on. The example below is fairly comprehensive and includes example student comments. Please write a comment Structure Is it clear? Is there an introduction? Is there a conclusion? You need an introduction. I wasn’t sure what you were going to talk about. You could say what your conclusion is. The main body was clear. Content Clear? Engaging? Did each person’s contribution connect with the others’? Did each person contribute equally? I really liked your topic. It was interesting. Maybe you could refer to each other’s section to make the presentation feel more connected. I think everyone spoke for the same amount of time. Visuals Clear? Did they add to the content? The visuals were clear and made the presentation more interesting. Body language & voice Confident? Volume? Eye contact? Raul - very confident; good eye contact Maria - I couldn’t hear you well; please speak more loudly Nida - maybe more eye contact; maybe use note cards instead of reading from a paper Language & pronunciation Clear? Key words pronounced clearly? Mostly clear. Raul, I didn’t understand what you said about the water on the roads. Nida - you were reading, so it didn’t sound natural. Maybe practice in front of a mirror. Answering questions How well did the group answer questions? You answered questions well. You have good knowledge of the topic. Peer assesses peer As part of the writing process, ask peers to assess each other’s written work. Sometimes students think that they can’t judge another’s work because they think their English isn’t good enough. To help students realise that their contribution can be valuable, make sure have clear guidelines for what to look for in each piece of writing. Tell them that their goal is not to find every grammar mistake, but to just comment from the reader’s perspective. The example below (with example student comment) is based on a paragraph about a holiday. Please write a comment Structure Clear? Topic sentence? The structure is OK. You need a topic sentence. Your sentences are very short. You need to combine sentences 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. Maybe you can use and and but. Content Does it answer the question? Does it make sense? Why is it interesting? You wrote about your holiday, but not about your feelings. You need to include your feelings. It makes sense. It is interesting because I have never been to Thailand. Language Vocabulary Grammar Punctuation Spelling You used good words like hotel reception and flew. Grammar is good, but past of take is took. You need to capitalise the city. Spelling is good. Presentation Indented paragraph handwriting You should indent the first sentence. Your handwriting is very clear and neat. Self-assessment Self-assessment is not only useful as part of the writing process, but can also help students see the progress they are making. The following simple checklist is an example of how to raise a student’s awareness of what they should be including in writing. It also gives them guidance on how to go about editing their work. It is based on writing a summary and review of a story. Have you got two paragraphs? Is the first paragraph a summary of the plot of the story? Is the second paragraph about your views on the story? Did you give reasons for your opinions? Do you have topic sentences? Look at your grammar: did you use present tense? Look at your vocabulary: did you use some of the words you learned to describe plot? Did you use words like, because and for example? Students can also assess their speaking performance in pair and group work. This could help motivate students to speak in English when it is often more natural to use the L1. Make a simple checklist which highlights the goals for speaking in pairs or groups: I spoke in English I asked another person a question If I didn’t understand, I asked for clarification If someone wasn’t speaking, I asked them for their opinion When I didn’t know what to say, I said it another way Can-do statements are a great way for students to assess whether or not they have achieved language aims. They should be very specific; for example, they can be directly linked to a unit. Collectively, these will help students see the progress they have made over time. I have finished unit X and I can: Use the past tense to talk about what I did yesterday Use words like, last week, yesterday, a month ago in a sentence Ask someone questions about what they did last week/ last month/ last year Understand someone telling a story about their problems last week on the train This article first appeared in the March 2014 edition of the Teaching Adults Newsletter - a round-up of news, interviews and resources specifically for teachers of adults. If you teach adults, subscribe to the Teaching Adults Newsletter now.Filed under: Adults / Young Adults, Exams & Testing Tagged: Adult Learners, Adults, Can-do statements, EFL, Group assessment, Peer assessment, Self-assessment, Stacey Hughes, Teaching adults