With over 30 years of experience as a teacher and teacher trainer, Veríssimo Toste looks at how the role of a teacher is changing, ahead of his webinar on adapting online materials. Mixed ability and differentiation are the norm in today’s EFL classroom. Technology offers teachers the opportunity to respond to their students’ individual learning needs. One way teachers can do this is to use online practice materials. Based on work done in the classroom, online practice materials can give the teacher the opportunity to individualise further work beyond the classroom. Most teachers would agree that to learn a foreign language well requires practice, practice, and more practice. But it is not only quantity that is important, the quality of that practice is equally important. Each student working on what they need, rather than all students working on the same exercise, is an important part of learning better. This relates to the concept of "deliberate practice", studied by K. Anders Ericsson, a psychologist and researcher at Florida State University. Through the use of online materials, teachers can adapt their students’ further practice of language and skills covered in class. First, students can work from home. This means they can continue to work on a particular grammar point in a place that is comfortable to them. They can take the time they need to complete the activity, without the pressure that is sometimes inherent in the classroom. Further, they can use the activity to reflect on how well they have learned the grammar point from the class to the time they work on it again at home. After all, forgetting is a normal part of learning. As students are working online, they can get immediate feedback to their work. They don’t need to wait for the next class for their work to be checked by the teacher. If there are problems, the student has time to consider them, to check the correct answer, and to think about what difficulties they were having with the exercise. Equally important is that the feedback is individual. It is based on the work, and the difficulties, of each individual student. Over time, students will feel comfortable bringing questions to class concerning their difficulties. This will lead to them being more active participants in their learning. As online practice becomes an integral part of a teacher’s classroom, both teacher and students will organise their teaching and learning to get the most out of it. Through the use of planners and other features, teachers will be able to improve their students’ study and organisational skills. Learning will become more flexible, with the teacher being able to set up groups that need specific support, customise content to student needs and interests, and easily monitor progress on each of their students. With the teachers’ informed and effective use of online practice materials, technology can become a useful tool to improve learning. My webinar will focus on using these tools easily, effectively, and efficiently.  Filed under: Adults / Young Adults, Multimedia & Digital, Professional Development Tagged: adapting materials, differentiation, EdTech, Mixed-ability, Online materials

Graham Hall is editor of ELT Journal and works at Northumbria University in the UK, where he teaches on Northumbria’s MA in Applied Linguistics for TESOL and MA TESOL programmes. It is fair to say that teacher training is one of the central pillars of ELT. Anyone who attends an ELT conference is likely to hear about teacher training in one way or another - maybe in a talk or presentation, or maybe through marketing information and advertising. If we browse through an ELT book catalogue, we will find texts which discuss teacher training. The International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) has a Special Interest Group focused on Teacher Training and Education. ELT Journal publishes articles about it. And, of course, the majority of teachers have experienced some teacher training at some point, maybe on a pre-service course before taking up a job, or maybe on an in-service programme in the course of their working lives. Alongside, for example, materials writing, testing and assessment, and, of course, teaching itself, teacher training is one of *the* core activities of the ELT profession. At this point, we should distinguish between the kind of teacher training being talked about here, the more formal kind which tends to involve participating in a course and contrasts with teacher development, which can be characterised as informal, collegiate, probably independent of any formal qualification or programme of study (although it may be coordinated by workplaces or teacher associations) and so on. And obviously, training courses for teachers vary enormously. Pre-service programmes might range from degree-level programmes lasting a number of years to short taster courses lasting a few hours or days; in-service courses can vary from a day’s training on a specific aspect of pedagogic or professional practice to a month or even year-long course involving observations, reflective discussions, further study and written assignments. Yet what teacher training seeks to do is to equip teachers with the skills and abilities they need to help them, or help them develop, in their work. If we are talking about beginner teachers, these skills and abilities could perhaps be labelled ‘professional competencies’, perhaps the ability to analyse and explain language, or key techniques and approaches for managing classrooms (we should note, however, that the label ‘professional competency’ arguably has a discourse of its own, conveying an impression of teaching as a body of knowledge and activities that can be learned - see below!). More experienced teachers might develop reflective skills as well as ‘higher level’ insights into classroom practice. And yet… although many people assume that a training course is an important - even essential - preparation for and part of professional English language teaching, does training really help or is it just a waste of time and money? Don’t we learn much more through experience, and by reflecting on what we do in the classroom? How can a training course, which inevitably will be one-step-removed from our teaching, capture the diversity and complexity of classrooms which we might eventually or currently teach in? Is teaching ‘just’ a body of knowledge and competencies that can be passed on in a course? Aren’t teacher training course, by their very nature, going to be somewhat prescriptive, pointing us towards certain ways of teaching and of thinking about teaching, rather than truly encouraging us to think through for ourselves the full range of possibilities for our classrooms? These are some of the key concerns which surround teacher training, and many readers and bloggers will have valid responses and retorts to these questions. But the issues will be discussed and debated again and in more detail in the ELT Journal debate, held at the IATEFL Conference in Birmingham (UK) on Thursday 14th April, 2016. There, Peter Grundy will propose the motion ‘This house believes that teacher training is a waste of time’; Penny Ur will oppose the motion. For more information about the conference, go to http://www.iatefl.org/.Filed under: Professional Development Tagged: effective training, ELT Journal, IATEFL, IATEFL 2016, Professional Development, Teacher Training

Lindsay Warwick discusses the challenges that students face when writing essays, and how the process writing approach can help to prepare for extended writing assignments. Lindsay Warwick is a teacher, trainer and materials writer. She is co-author of the forthcoming Milestones in English A2 and B1+ Student’s Books, publishing in January 2016. As those of you working with students learning to study in English know, it requires many more skills than those covered by academic English exams. Of course students need to have effective English language skills and learning strategies to enable them to understand and produce academic material.  But my time teaching business studies on a university foundation course has taught me that young adults may not have developed academic skills in their own language and often need the time and space to learn these in addition to their English skills. Part of my role was to set and mark business assignments written by a group of international students. My focus was on the content assessment rather than the language assessment (for a nice change) which was done by a colleague. Students had had a lot of input on how to source appropriate information and include a bibliography but these still proved an issue for some students. Online cheat essays were used as sources and students were surprised that these were not academically acceptable. After all, they’d referenced the site, they said. Writing is not a standalone skill and in an academic context, often follows listening or reading in English. Another big challenge for my students was thoroughly understanding written material in order to be able to paraphrase it and synthesize it into their own work; a challenging skill even for native speakers. Despite having been made fully aware of issues of plagiarism and having had practice in researching and synthesizing information in more controlled tasks, not all students seemed readily able to apply these techniques to extended writing in subject topics. In light of this, I believe that adopting a process writing approach to preparing students for writing extended assignments can be very beneficial; specifically, building up from short to longer texts that require researching and writing about other author’s points of view. There are three key stages to the writing process: Pre-writing, drafting and redrafting, and editing (Hedge, 2005). Advocates say that it encourages learners to engage with the writing process more fully as well as learn to write as they write. For me the most important advantage of this approach is that it allows students to receive feedback from their tutor and classmates at each stage of their writing rather than only at the end. Feedback has one of the most significant, positive effects on learning (Hattie 2013) and helps students to improve their approach and techniques as they write. In addition, students learn to peer and self-assess which are also key components of learning (Black & William, 2001) and useful skills for university students. A process writing approach to an extended piece of writing might involve the following. Generating ideas: students share and question each other’s ideas in order to generate further ideas and develop higher order thinking skills. Techniques such as ‘cubing’ can be very useful here i.e. looking at a topic from six different perspectives. You can start with a simple What? Where? Why? When? Who? How? Research: students check that each other’s sources are academically acceptable to avoid referencing issues from the start. Encouraging students to use a free online citation tool from the beginning (e.g. zotero) means they can bookmark reference material and have it create a bibliography for them at the end. Students no longer have to scrabble around in their browser history to find an article they vaguely remember seeing three weeks ago. Planning: teacher/students assess plans to pre-empt issues of organisation and synthesis. Teachers may also wish to add their own comments, either to each student’s plan or by taking one or two (anonymous) plans and discussing them with the whole class. Draft 1: teacher/students offer feedback on content, organisation, synthesis and referencing so far to help move the student forward in their next draft. Final draft: students peer assess for accuracy to aid final editing. If students are paired with the same student throughout this process, they can really support each other and see how each other’s work has developed. It will encourage a lot of reflection, both self- and peer, that will help develop metacognition. However, in my experience, for self- and peer assessment to be successful, assessment criteria should be made clear to students so they have something to assess against when giving feedback e.g. Other author’s work will be referenced appropriately. Language prompts will also help students provide constructive feedback (e.g. You referenced XXX well. I think you need to reference…next time). Whether a teacher will be able to spend time offering feedback to all students at all stages depends very much on the number of students and time they have. But by using self- and peer assessment, students can learn from each other, develop meta-cognition and develop important extended writing skills as they write and not have to wait until their next assignment to put feedback into practice when it may have been forgotten.     References and Further Reading Black P & William D, Inside the Black Box, GL Assessment Ltd, 1990 Hattie J, Visible Learning for Teachers, Routledge, 2011 Hedge T, Writing, OUP, 2005Filed under: English for Academic Purposes, Skills, Teenagers, Uncategorized Tagged: EFL, English for Academic Purposes, essay writing, Language learning, Milestones, Skills, Teenagers

Kathleen Kampa and Charles Vilina have taught young learners in Asia for over 25 years. They are co-authors of Magic Time, Everybody Up, and Oxford Discover, primary ELT courses published by Oxford University Press. Their inquiry-based teaching approach supports a differentiated classroom environment that builds the 21st Century skills of critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication. If you teach English to young learners, take a moment to consider the role you play in shaping their futures. To begin with, you are providing the building blocks of a skill that they can use meaningfully and productively throughout their lives. You are offering the opportunity for global communication, for relationships and careers that will shape who they are and what they do. Most importantly, you can help them change the world for the better. In essence, the English language classroom exists to prepare students to communicate across cultures, across borders, across perspectives. As the world evolves and becomes even more interconnected, it is our students to whom we entrust the responsibility of building a better global society. So how will your young learners of English change the world as adults in the future?  Here are five ways: By communicating effectively in English. Your students will have the ability to read, write, listen and speak with a strong degree of fluency. They will have the social and academic language skills necessary to consider differing points of view, and to persuade and inform others. Here are some tips on how to help your students develop good communication skills in English. By thinking critically about knowledge and information. Your students will think deeply about issues, and will connect what they learn with what they already know. They will be able to organize and prioritize the information they receive, in order to make sense of it and achieve new goals with it. How do you bring critical thinking skills into your classroom? Here is a video with some easy-to-use ideas. By thinking creatively. Your students will have the ability to take knowledge and create something completely new with it. They will connect information from various fields to arrive at solutions to old and new problems. They will personalize new knowledge, adapting it to create something that is uniquely their own. You can develop and nurture creativity in your classroom with some of these simple strategies. By working together, also known as collaborating. Your students will have the social language skills necessary to work with people from other cultures and perspectives. They will learn to share ideas and compromise to achieve the needed results. Finally, by caring about the world. Your students will be curious and connected adults who will be able to identify problems and seek out solutions with others. They will strive to make a difference in the world. Try some of these approaches to create a classroom environment in which students are encouraged to collaborate and show caring attitudes towards each other. Some of these qualities have been listed under the label of "21st Century Skills". We’re happy to look at them as prerequisites for success.  Students who communicate well, who think critically and creatively, and who work well with others, have the tools they need to find success in any field. And it all begins in our classrooms. How do we build these skills? The links above will take you to a small sample of video tips on using and developing 21st Century Skills in your English classroom. To view all 56 videos available on this topic, visit this 21st Century Skills playlist on YouTube. If you’re in Japan, join us on Sunday November 22 at the 2015 JALT conference in Shizuoka, where we will present our workshop entitled A Practical Guide to Building 21st Century Skills. Using examples from our new primary course Oxford Discover*, we will demonstrate how the building of 21st century skills can be incorporated into every language lesson. We’ll show how these skills can help your young learners develop English fluency and increase their motivation at the same time. *2015 ELTon award winner for Excellence in Course Innovation. Kathleen and Charles will present at JALT on Sunday, November 22nd. Click here for more details.Filed under: Young Learners Tagged: 21st Century skills, Charles Vilina, collaborating, Communication skills, Creativity, Critical thinking skills, EFL, ELT, English words, ESL, Grammar, Inquiry-based learning, JALT, Japan, Kathleen Kampa, Oxford Discover, Phonics, Speaking skills, Young Learners

Nigel Caplan, assistant professor at the University of Delaware English Language Institute, holds degrees from Cambridge University and the University of Pennsylvania, and is finishing his PhD in Education. His research focuses on genre theory and collaborative writing. He has presented at TESOL as an invited speaker, the European Association of Teachers of Academic Writing, and the Symposium on Second Language Writing. He is the co-author of Q: Skills for Success and Inside Writing (OUP). As a teacher and writer, I believe that two of the main questions we face in the classroom can be summarized as: How do our students learn, and how do our lesson plans and materials promote learning? I’m especially interested in how this applies to our use of texts. And I say texts not readings to emphasize my belief that the articles, reviews, websites, essays, and textbooks that we assign can be used for more than teaching reading. Here are four of the ways I use texts in my teaching: To challenge students to reconsider the world. For example, in the second edition of Q: Skills for Success Reading/Writing 5, we have a fascinating new reading about how graphs can lie: what appear to be hard numbers may turn out to be visual distortions! To encourage critical thinking by presenting multiple viewpoints. When we were writing Q: Skills, we were always looking for two different ways to answer the unit question, often from very different academic fields. So, for instance, how do we define a private space after reading articles about shared spaces such as roads and public buildings? To model written genres. We all learn to write by reading other texts in the target genre. That’s how we know what a wedding invitation, or a conference proposal, or a blog post should look like. In Inside Writing, we present one or more models for every genre we ask students to write and invite them to discover how and why it is written. To focus on language. Reading widely is certainly important for language acquisition, but research has shown that it’s not enough. Learners also need to focus on the structure of the new language. After reading a text for meaning, I like to dig into the language and help students discover useful vocabulary and grammar structures that they can use in their own speaking and writing. For example, why does a summary of a research article begin with "The author claims that poor exercise routines can be dangerous" rather than "The author presents the dangers of poor exercise routines"? At the JALT 2015 conference in Shizuoka, Japan (November 20-23), I’ll be talking about these ideas in more detail, including a language-based approach to teaching critical thinking, and a genre-based approach to teaching writing through the Teaching/Learning Cycle. The Teaching/Learning Cycle The Teaching/Learning Cycle (Rothery, 1996)* is a well-developed method for helping students to write in target genres. The Teaching/Learning cycle starts with an activity called "Deconstruction," which is basically a teacher-led analysis of several writing models to help students deduce the staging (the typical structure of information) and language used (especially for ESL or other linguistic minority populations). For example, we teach the online product review as a genre that requires students to describe an item in detail and evaluate it, giving specific reasons. So, first we have students read several reviews, adapted for the level, and then together we figure out that reviews typically follow a predictable pattern: establishing the writer’s expertise, describing the product, giving opinions with specific support, and then closing with a recommendation. You can find this assignment in Inside Writing 2. The trick with deconstruction is to avoid structural labels and focus on functions. For example, if I ask my students what the structure of any genre is, they will invariably reply "introduction, body, conclusion" because that’s what they’ve been taught. But pretty much every piece of writing has a beginning, middle, and end, so it’s just not very helpful to students learning how to write. In the case of argument writing, for instance, "claims" and "evidence" are much more useful than "introduction" and "body." At this point, we also need to focus on language. How are adjectives used to strengthen a description? What shifts in tense do you see? What verbs do the authors use to introduce evidence? What tenses do they use? Do you see certain types of grammar in the claims and opinions but not the evidence and support (e.g. modals)? How do the writers use relative (adjective) clauses? Once you start asking these questions, you’ll be amazed what you and your students notice about your genres! Join me at JALT to practice the other stages of the Teaching/Learning cycle, Joint Construction and Independent Construction. I’m also going to discuss teaching critical thinking by using thought-provoking texts as prompts for discussion and writing. Nigel will present at JALT on Saturday, November 21st and Sunday, November 22nd. Click here for more details.   * Joan Rothery’s chapter, "Making Changes: Developing an Educational Linguistics" is in the book Literacy in Society (Hasan & Williams, 1996). The pedagogy is also summarized in my essay, "From Generic Writing to Genre-Based Writing," available from the OUP website.Filed under: Adults / Young Adults, English for Academic Purposes, Skills Tagged: Academic Success, Adult Learners, Critical thinking, Inside Writing, Integrated skills, JALT, Japan, Nigel Caplan, Q Skills for Success, Teenagers, Young Adults

Thanksgiving, a national holiday celebrated for the most part in North America and Canada, falls on Thursday November 26th this year. This holiday is seen as a day to give thanks, traditionally for the harvest of the previous year. Traditionally this holiday is spent with family and it is traditional to have a special meal to celebrate the occasion. To help mark Thanksgiving for our English language teachers, we’ve created some free resources for download and use in your classroom, designed for language learners of mixed abilities. These worksheets were produced by our own Oxford teacher-trainer, Stacey Hughes. To see more of Stacey’s work on the blog, click here. Free worksheets: Cultural Perspectives - A high-level worksheet designed for intermediate level language learners and above, this explores the history of Thanksgiving and how the narrative of the story can change when viewing the event from different perspectives. Giving Thanks - This is a multi-level activity sheet which covers suggestions for both young learners as well as adults - suggestions for both low level learners of English as well as intermediate upwards. Thanksgiving Menu - A ‘fill in the blanks’ interactive work sheet designed for young learners and pre-intermediate language learners. Thanksgiving Webquest - A Thanksgiving-themed information gathering exercise suitable for intermediate level learners and upwards. What’s for Dinner? - Two activity sheets designed for elementary upwards, the first matching exercise could also be suitable for some young learners.   Happy Thanksgiving to all of our teaching community that celebrate the holiday!Filed under: Grammar & Vocabulary, Skills, Young Learners Tagged: activity sheet, classroom activity, free resources, lesson worksheet, Skills, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving activities, Thanksgiving classroom

This year we are giving English Language teachers across the globe the chance to win a two-week all-expenses paid scholarship to attend the Oxford English Language Teachers’ Academy Summer School, held at Worcester College, Oxford. Simply create a short presentation or video to show how your English language teaching has changed lives for the better, and you could be joining us in Oxford in July 2016! Find out more here. What would it be like to win the scholarship? Two teachers who attended the Summer School last year share their experiences with you here. Giovanna at her end of course awards ceremony Giovanna Gullì - Secondary teacher in Reggio, Italy I stayed two weeks at Worcester College where The Department for Continuing Education holds its teacher training courses. There’s so many things to tell you about the beauty of this College where in its wonderful gardens you get rid of  worries and stroll , with squirrels , birds, swans and ducks as friendly companions and blow off steam. I attended "Raising the Bar: challenging & inspiring" course the first week  and  "Engaging teenage learners beyond the classroom"  for  the second  week. We were introduced to topics such as creative writing, the flipped classroom, and achieving success with teenager learners, through a variety of activities that put into practice the best techniques for teaching English as a second language. We always worked in groups, used visuals and photos on walls, we did all the activities to use in class with our students, all in a very natural and pleasant way. The atmosphere   was magic, very informative, collaborative, stress-free but at the same time involving and thought-provoking; the workshops were very well presented plus enjoyable, I have learned so much from the training. I have already started to use some of the strategies and tools the tutors suggested with my  students and they are working remarkably well. I so much appreciated the passion and care the tutors and all people involved at the Oxford Teacher’s Academy demonstrated to us. Felipe de Jesús Canul Schwietrs  - teacher in Mexico City, Mexico During the welcome speech we were told: "These are going to be the two most wonderful weeks of your entire life" - and guess what, it was true. Every detail was extraordinarily taken care of. I was really impressed with the professionalism and warmth of every member of the staff. And what to say about the courses: excellent teachers, amazing curricula and most of all a very practical approach which of course helps teachers refresh knowledge and acquire useful new ideas. Time flew, before we knew it two weeks had gone by. But the friendship of all the companions from so many different countries sharing common problems enriched the courses and the activities planned outside the courses were great. I’m forgetting the meals, superb! And the country specially Oxford stunning and divine; stunning for all the history behind each of their buildings and places to visit, stunning for the kindness of its people. If I could, without a doubt, I’d do it again. This could be you next year! Enter the #TeachingChangesLives competition for your chance to win an all-expenses paid scholarship to attend the Oxford English Language Teacher’s Academy Summer School in July 2016. Filed under: Professional Development Tagged: #TeachingChangesLives, Professional Development, Teacher Development, Teacher Training

Check out these eight essential tips if you're useing Google Classroom this school year! This was created in partnership with +Alice Keeler and myself. I'm very grateful to Alice for allowing me to help create this awesome poster!Check out Alice Keeler's many great tips on her blog at www.alicekeeler.com/teachertech.Downloadable PDF

For week four of the Tinkering Fundamentals online course we explored sewn and paper circuits. I found out this week that I hate sewing. More specifically, I hate threading a needle. But I enjoyed creating a paper circuit!SparkFun on FlickrWe first learned about sewn circuits and the LilyPad Arduino. Did you know you can actually wash a LilyPad without damaging it!? A LilyPad is an Arduino based circuit board that uses conductive thread to create electrical connections. You have to sew the LilyPad, the conductive thread, and it's parts into fabric.We also heard from MIT grad student, Jei Qi, who specializes in creating works of art with sewn and paper circuits. One of her projects that I'm really fascinated with is her Input/Output Self-Folding Paper that uses shape memory metal. This specialized metal, called Nitinol, remembers its original shape. You can bend it into something different, but when you introduce it to electricity, it instantly unravels back to its original state. So, when Jie Qi uses it with paper, she creates something magical!Classroom Tip Alert!Jei Qi on FlickrJie Qi also shared one of her brilliant ideas to create a Circuit Sketchbook. This would be a notepad that could have a built in power supply and power leads so you can explore different types of circuitry throughout the pages of your sketchbook. This would be a great way for students to explore the concept of circuits in the class. Have them make their own Circuit Sketchbook, and then, as they learn how circuits work, they can develop their own types of circuits while introducing LEDs, sensors, and more!"You're not just making a functioning circuit, but making a functioning circuit that says something meaningful. You're not just making a circuit to make it work, but you're making a circuit because it's important." ~ Jie QiActivity Sharing: Sewn CircuitsWhy is a needle so darn difficult to thread?! This was the most frustrating part of this activity, and to be honest, I gave up halfway through. The thread fell out of my needle and, after spending 10 minutes trying to thread it again, I finally gave up. Unfortunately, I don’t have a Needle Threader on hand to help me. But I was able to sew one side of the battery down, trace a line around the fabric and then connect it to one side of an LED.I did learn a new trick for curling the prongs on the LEDs. I used a pair of needle nose pliers to grab the end and then wrapped the needle around the nose to create a curly Q. This made it easier to sew it on to the fabric.Activity Sharing: Paper CircuitsI had a lot more success with the paper circuit activity than I did with the sewn circuits! My goal for this project was to create a back-lit greeting card to celebrate my son turning 8 months old! I wanted to put several of the tiny LEDs to use since I’ve never used those before. They are extremely small and very tricky to work with. Apparently they have a positive and negative side. I learned that while trying to line up three of them so they would light up when the battery was connected. In the first picture, two of them would light up and the third would not. So I flipped the direction of the battery under my finger. When I did that, the third would light up by itself. This told me that it had something to do with negative and positive and I realized that my third LED was backwards.So I flipped it around and secured it to the paper. So now, when I connect the battery to both leads, all three LEDs light up. And they are used as a back light for the message on the front of my card!Reflection: Are there any particular ideas that resonate with your experiences so far?pg. 14 - 15 from The Art of Tinkering by Karen Wilkinson & Mike PetrichOf all the tinkering tenants, the one that resonates the most with me deals with Getting Stuck. I always refer to failing as one of the most important steps in the process of learning and I often express that to my students. Making mistakes, breaking things, and getting frustrated is healthy and OK. As long as it projects you forward and you choose to persevere. Failure should not keep us from our ultimate goal of learning and creating. My new motto is now:"Frustration is making sense of the failure in the moment, and taking action leads to a new way of knowing."Journal Entry: How was this activity personally meaningful to me?When I started working on my paper circuit, I was immediately drawn to an interactive and enhanced greeting card. I love checking out all the fancy music making, light up, and interactive greeting cards at the stores. So when I had some materials that would allow me to make my own, a greeting card was the first idea that came to me. Especially since my son just turned 8 months, I thought I would make him a fun light up card that would put a smile on his face.Share with me: Which of the Tinkering Tenants resonates with you the most?

I've been looking forward to week five of the Tinkering Fundamentals online course! This week was Toy Take Apart! Want to know what toy I demolished in the name of fun and adventure? Read on!I've been looking forward to this activity since I first registered for this course in the early Summer! I've been wanting to experience Toy Take Apart because of its fun nature and the opportunity to explore and take something apart!There are three significant opportunities that are gained in this activity:You get to recognize patterns in the way things are built.You develop and understanding of mechanical motion.You develop an appreciation for design."Toys are not really as innocent as they look. Toys and games are preludes to serious ideas." ~ Charles EamesActivity: Toy Take ApartI wanted to to take myself through this activity and follow the Thinking Routine created by Agency by Design. This Thinking Routine is called "Parts, Purposes, Complexities" (click the link to download their PDF resource).First, I started by examining the outside of the toy. I created a list of all the things I could see on the outside and all made some observations about what I think the toy does and how it works.Then, I took the toy apart. This was extremely difficult because McDonalds (for good reason) did not want this toy to come apart. It had special screws that required a specialized tool and the plastic shell also snapped together in several places. So I took my handy power drill and drilled three big holes into the areas around the screws to loosen it up. That worked! The inside was very interesting to tinker with and you can see what I discovered below.I had a lot of fun with this activity. The next step might be to hack the toy and turn it into something new or add another complexity to it.Tinkering Journal ReflectionI plan on using this activity with my Make It 101 class this semester. In fact, I have it planned for just a few weeks away. And just the other day I stopped by the Goodwill store and picked up the perfect toy to use with my class! A "Let's Rock Elmo" for $1! I'll be sure to document this as well on my blog a little later!

Teachers are superhuman human just like everyone else (much to our students' surprise)! But we make mistakes. We rush, we forget, we miss a step. And when we're creating Assignments in Google Classroom we sometimes forget to choose the "Make a copy for each student" option. Here's a quick and easy way to fix it!If you find yourself making this mistake often, don't fret! There's actually a quick and easy way to fix it! Thanks to the newly released "Reuse Post" feature!The ProblemSo let's say you're breezing through the Assignment set up process. You've got all the instructions typed in, the due date is set, and you've got the right files attached. Then you prematurely click that POST button, and immediately follow with a face in palm. You forgot to choose "Make a copy for each student"!Notice that I forgot to switch the Google Doc to "Make a copy for each student".We all do it sometimes!And here's that awesome assignment I just spent so much time setting up!Accept I forgot the most important thing...The FixNo, you don't have to start all over again! Use the Reuse Post option instead!Step 1: DO NOT DELETE the mistake Assignment until the very end! Click the "+" and choose Reuse Post.Reuse post is your best friend!Step 2: Choose the correct Classroom from the list and choose the mistake Assignment from the next list. Keep the bottom option "Create new copies of all attachments" checked!Find the mistake Assignment from the list.Step 3: Be sure not to make the same mistake twice! The name, description, due date, and attachments are all copied over. You just have to remember to choose "Make a copy for each student" this time! When you're finished (and you've double check), click the POST button.You have one job now!Notice the difference with the attached Google Doc? This time it says "Each student will get a copy"!Step 4: Now you can DELETE the mistake Assignment!It's now safe to delete.

Google Calendar integration has finally arrived for Google Classroom! Back in August, +Google for Education posted about a bunch of new feature updates for Google Classroom, and calendar integration was one of them! Well, it's finally here! Read on to find out how to get started with your students & parents!You'll receive this notification in Google Classroomwhen you receive the new calendar feature.Setting Up Google Calendar IntegrationThere are two ways to get a Google Calendar connected to your Google Classroom.1. From now on, when you create a new Classroom, a Google Calendar will automatically be generated for you, as the teacher, and it will automatically be shared with all of the students in your Classroom roster.2. If you already have existing Classrooms, all you need to do now is create a new post in the stream (Announcement or Assignments will work). The calendar will automatically be generated for you, as the teacher, and it will automatically be shared with all of the students in your Classroom roster.Once the calendar has been generated, you and your students will have easy access to it from the About tab.Easy access to the calendar from the About tab.View in Classroom will open up the built in calendar in Google Classroom. This is another really nice feature of calendar integration. Teachers and students can access a built in calendar from the side menu. This calendar will include assignments from all classes (and you can filter classes as well).Check out the new built in calendar in Google Classroom!Open in Google Calendar will open up the teacher and students' Google Calendar where they can access their class assignments (and other calendars).The Google Calendar will show all Assignments with due dates.Give Parents AccessMany teachers are still waiting for parent access to Google Classroom. I'm not sure if it will ever truly have parent access, but this new calendar integration offers an easy way for teachers to share information with families at home.Find the "Share this Calendar" setting in the menu.Once your calendar has been generated, go visit calendar.google.com. Look for your Classroom calendar in the list of "My Calendars" on the left of the screen. Next to the name of the calendar is a drop down arrow. Click it to access the "Share this Calendar" option.In order for parents to access the calendar, you need to "Make this calendar public". Check the two boxes at the top (as seen in the above screenshot). The click the SAVE button at the bottom of the page.Now you need to give parents a way to access the calendar online. You have two options:1. You can embed the Google Calendar on your classroom Google Site and then instruct the parents to access your class website. Google Sites has a very easy way to insert a Google Calendar onto a page.Edit site page > Insert > Calendar2. You can also give parents the direct URL to the calendar. To do this, click the drop down arrow next to your calendar again. This time choose "Calendar settings".Find the "Calendar settings" in the menu.In the settings menu, look for "Calendar Address:" and click the blue "HTML" button. This will give you the direct URL which you can then copy/paste into an email or share with parents.With either method, you can also instruct the parents to click the "+ Google Calendar" button in the bottom right corner of the calendar. This will allow them to add the calendar to their own list of Google Calendars so they always have easy access to it.Expand the Use of the Google CalendarThe Google Calendar generated by Google Classroom will only include Assignments that have due dates. However, as the teacher, you can add other events to the Google Calendar, such as upcoming field trips, reminders, project deadlines, etc. Just remember to choose the Classroom calendar when you create the event.Add other class events to the same Google Calendar!

So you've got your Google Classroom calendars all set up, right? But, if you're like me, you already had a Google Calendar going for class. So you might be asking, "How do I transfer events from my old calendar to my new one?" Continue reading to find out how! It's actually really easy!Since the school year is well underway, I already had a Google Calendar full of events for my class. But now that Google Classroom has created a new calendar for me, I don't want to juggle between two calendars. I would like to transfer my events from the old calendar to my new one.Here is a view of my old calendar with all of my class events. I would like to transfer these over to my new Google Classroom calendar.STEP 1First, click on the down arrow next to your old calendar in the "My Calendars" list. Choose "Calendar settings".STEP 2In the Calendar settings scroll down and look for the "Export Calendar:" option.Click the "Export this calendar" link.Tip from +Jeremy Williamson: If you click on the green ICAL button next to "Private Address:" you can download an unzipped .ics file which means you can skip step 3.STEP 3A .zip file will be downloaded to your computer. You'll need to double click it to unzip, and then a .ics file will be available.STEP 4Then, go to the "gear" button in the top right corner. Choose "Settings" from the list.STEP 5At the top of the Calendar Settings page, click on the "Calendars" tab.STEP 6Scroll to the middle of the page and click on the "Import calendar" link.STEP 7Click on the Choose File button and browse for that .ics file that you unzipped during step 3.Choose the correct Google Classroom calendar from the drop down menu.Click Import.STEP 8You will receive a similar message confirming if all of your events successfully imported.Click Close and click "< Back to calendar".STEP 9YOU'RE DONE! Now you'll see your new events attached to your Google Classroom calendar side-by-side with the events from your old calendar!Now you can either hide or delete the old calendar.Now you can share your new Google Classroom calendar with your students and parents and continue adding new events to the same calendar.

Every now and then I like to scroll through my #GoogleClassroom Twitter feed, and sometimes I happen across a student that has something witty and sarcastic to say about their teacher using Google Classroom. I've pulled some of the best and funniest tweets so far!I've blurred the students' identity because it's not necessary to enjoy the humor in their tweets. I have no intention of calling them out or getting them in trouble. Let's just enjoy the humor in their tweets and have a good laugh!I think every student learns this lesson in the beginning!Do you use more than one?? Just pick one already!Get used to it! It's all about convenience and efficiency!For reals!Somebody does love you! Your teacher!And I bet the teacher thought they missed the class so much.Honesty or sarcasm?If teachers can't get a day off, then students shouldn't either. Right?Teacher probably wishes they could stop...Because Geography loves you!No comment...Graham got 'em hooked!And my #1 favorite tweet! Yes it would make for a great horror flick!

I've seen and received many complaints regarding Google Classroom email notifications and how they can quickly clog the inbox. Because of this, many simply choose to turn this feature off. But I'm here to plead the case for leaving email notifications turned on! They don't have to clutter the inbox. You can control and organize them! Find out how in my latest blog post and video tutorial.Email notifications in Google Classroom used to be the only option. But now, with the mobile app, we can opt for mobile notifications instead of or as well as the emails. But, if you manage multiple classrooms and your students are members of several classrooms, those email notifications can really clutter up the inbox!Mobile notifications can be very useful when you're on the go. It's an easy way to be kept up to date with the activity in your Classroom and they allow you quick access into the app.But, wait! Don't just turn off the email notification feature! Those emails can be very useful to you and your students, but you have to gain better control over them. Here's why those email are important:Hopefully I've convinced you to hang on to those email notifications. But you might be asking, "How can I control and organize them better?" Use Gmail's labels and filters of course! Here is a video tutorial (part of my Google Classroom Video Series) to show you how to quickly and easily set that up. Share this video with your students as well!Check out my entire videos series and learn about the lesser known features of Google Classroom:

In this podcast, I discuss "Do It Yourself" Podcasting and the benefits for teaching and learningThe history of podcastingHow to create, publish, and distribute your own podcastsThe benefits of podcasting for teaching & learningWhere to look for more information DIY Podcasting: Benefits for Teaching and Learning from University of the SciencesFeatured Podcasting VideosSteve Jobs discusses Podcasting and Adam Curry at the D3 ConferenceUSA Today - Talking Tech "Remember Podcasting? It's Back and BoomingPodcasting Resources7 Things you should know about Podcasting (PDF) by Educause http://www.blogworld.com/ (conference)http://podcamp.pbworks.com/ (unconference)http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/ (discovering)http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/specs.html (making a podcast)http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/ (subscribe & play)http://www.podbean.com/ (hosting)https://www.podomatic.com/ (hosting)http://www.libsyn.com/ (hosting)http://www.blogger.com/ (Blogger show notes)http://codex.wordpress.org/Podcasting (Wordpress show notes)http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ (audio editor)http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/ (podcast editor)Podsafe Music Selection from the Mevio Podsafe Music Network"On a Podcast" by Cruisebox

Interview with Michelle R. Weise, the Executive Director of Sandbox ColLABorative, the R&D arm of strategy and innovation at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), formerly Senior Research Fellow for Higher Education at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.Michelle R. Weise, PhDWe discuss:Disruptive innovation with regard to education Moving from institution/faculty-centered to student-centered educationOnline competency-based education aligned with workforce needsPerformance-based assessmentsBusiness model moving way from Carnegie (seat time) UnitGrade inflation and credit transfer problemSNHU's success with online and other schools that are spinning off online unitsLMS vs CRM solutionsWhat traditional universities and incumbent LMS vendors should do in the face of disruptive innovationRod's Podcasts on Disruptive Technology in EducationRPP #19 Disruptive Technology in EducationRPP #20 Disruptive Technology in Education IIDisruptive Technologies in Education (Youtube)Reading ListHire Education: Mastery, Modularization, and the Workforce Revolution by Michelle R. WeiseThe Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail by Clayton M. ChristensenThe Undoing of Disruption by Evan GoldsteinThe University As Ed Tech Startup: UMUC, Global Campus, Texas, and SNHU Roll Their Own by Phil HillPodsafe music selection from Music AlleyToo Long by Yael Naim, acclaimed singer/songwriter from Israel. She gained fame when her song New Soul played during Apple's Macbook Air ad campaignDuration: 39:33

Interview with Paul Freedman, CEO of ApprenNet, Inc. We discuss the ApprenNet learning platformTurning passive videos into active learningCombining low-cost, distributed eLearning with the power of simulationPractice > Feedback > MentoringBuilding skills using videoMerger with HandsFree LearningCompetency-based educationUse with MOOCsLinksCase Study: Learning Hands-on Skills Using the ApprenNet Video PlatformRemembering former CEO, Rachel JacobsRPP #106: ApprenNet: Interview with Karl Okamoto & Emily Foote on LawMeet MOOCPodsafe music selection from MagnatuneVivaldi: Concerto No. 3 in F Major "Autumn" (Allegro movement) by the American Baroque Orchestra. Duration: 27:19

Interview with Don Kassner, CEO & President, ProctorU Inc.Don Kassner, CEOWe answer these questions:Why do Universities need identity management and authentication and remote proctoring?How does ProctorU and UCard work?What kinds of biometrics do you use?How reliable are biometrics?Can clients use ProctorU for large scale simultaneous use in testing centers?LinksProctorU Inc.Utilizing webcam-based proctoring to deter misconduct in online examsFederal aid recipients illegally received millions in Federal Student Aid (PDF)Podsafe Music SelectionAutumn Day by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licenseDuration: 24:30

Attention teachers: If you enjoy administering or reviewing for standardized tests, please digitally raise your hand. Anyone? I didn’t think so. No one likes to review for standardized tests, including students. Since we cannot provide our students with a traditional study guide for their standardized tests, we simply say that the entire course has been […] The post Using Humor to Review for Standardized Tests appeared first on Teaching with Technology.

It’s that time of year, folks. Testing season is upon us. This means the school year is drawing to a close, and summer is in the not-so-distant future! Keep thinking happy thoughts! Standardized testing, and the review that accompanies it, is my least favorite time of the year. I’m sure I’m not alone in this […] The post Using Padlet to Review for State Testing in the Flipped Classroom appeared first on Teaching with Technology.

If you’re like me, you probably have students access multiple websites for your class. I haven’t quite found one single website that has every feature I use in my classroom…and that’s ok! Sometimes, students have difficulty organizing and navigating a variety of websites during a class period. Students often become frustrated with me because I […] The post Using Bookmarks in the Classroom appeared first on Teaching with Technology.

Towards the end of last school year, my students and I were all suffering from end-of-the-year-itis. We had 10 snow days (nothing like 20 from the year before!) and we knew we would be making up those days AFTER Memorial Day. We fell into the "4th Quarter Funk." Motivation on both "sides of the desk" […] The post Gamification in American Government appeared first on Teaching with Technology.

Google Classroom has made more exciting updates! Yay! Google has added these new features to Classroom this month: 1. Ask a question 2. Reusing posts 3. Pinning posts I’ve seen reports on Twitter that other exciting features, like Calendar integration, are coming soon. Can’t wait for those! I recently tried the question option with one of […] The post Google Classroom Updates appeared first on Teaching with Technology.