I'd like share this fantastic presentation by Silvia Tolisano about webtools we can use to help reach our teaching goals. Check out her wonderful blog "THE LANGWITCHES BLOG"She says: "IT'S NOT ABOUT THE TOOL."               "It's about looking at tools to see which one will help you accomplish teaching and learning of 21st Century skills & litteracies"70 Tools 70 Minutes View more presentations from Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano

We're close to the end of our semester and about to finish our Tasks Challenge. During this semester, I've proposed different challenges to students asking them to create animations, comic strips, audio recordings using content recently covered in class.CHECK OUT CHALLENGE #7`This is the example I showed themGoAnimate.com: Challenge 7 by anamariacultLike it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun! Here are some of their animations, CAN YOU IDENTIFY WHAT PHRASAL VERBS THEY USED?:GoAnimate.com: excuses by JúliaLike it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun! GoAnimate.com: Challenge #7 by juliana-pstLike it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!More animations can be found at the SCHOOL WIKI.

I have the pleasure to share with Life Feast readers my most recent book"Developing the 4 Skills with Webtools"As the title says, I've selected 45 webtools according to the skills they could be used to foster: SPEAKING, LISTENING, READING and WRITING activities for language teachers.The book also includes LINKS to several examples of the proposed activities.My special thanks to Shelly Terrell, David Deubelbeiss and Kiran Budhrani who kindly allowed me to link  and mention their work.

Suppose you have created a ppt to use during a presentation. After presenting it, you would like to share it in your blog. Then, what you can do is record yourself presenting using a tool such as AUDACITY , upload your ppt at SLIDESHARE and then synchronize the sound with the slides.It's a great exercise for anyone who would like to rehearse before a presentation.This is a SLIDECAST I created after presenting at the Braz-tesol conference in 2008. After sharing it at twitter this last week Luiz Reikdal asked me how to do it.Ppt Blog Talks 2008 View another webinar from Ana Menezes This is a TUTORIAL showing how to do it. First, upload your ppt to slideshare, then go to MY UPLOADS, click EDIT below the presentation you would like to add an audio to, click CREATE SLIDECAST , add an mp3 audio previously recorded and synch it with your presentation.

To present challenge #8, I elicited language students could use to write a comment expressing their opinion. At home, students were asked to use LIVETYPING to write their opinions about the statement "Some people spend fortunes on their pets". These are some of their writings:LiveTyping.comLiveTyping.comLiveTyping.com

I'd like to thank Andressa Cardoso for the invitation to present a session with her this coming August in a conference in Argentina. We've decided to talk about how WEB 2.0 can transform the "homework experience".I'm also using the opportunity to meet Argentine Webheads, teachers I've been in contact with since 2006 but never had the chance to meet f2f. Argentina, here we go.

Close to the end of the semester, the aim of a lesson was MAKING COMPARISONS.Ex: way bigger / a great deal bigger / not any bigger / considerably bigger / no bigger , etc.I decided to ask my students to use the new language learned to compare two items of their choice: two people, two places, two sports ...These are some of their avatars and their recordings:More recordings can be found at the SCHOOL WIKI

I haven't posted for quite some time, huh?But it's been for a good reason. July is a school holiday in Brazil and my husband and I decided to go on a trip with the kids. Our travel destination?  We started off in Diamantina, Minas Gerais, historical town, home of wonderful houses, steep streets and great food. Then, we got away from the cold weather to discover the wonders of the paradisical Santo André beach, in Bahia. Our last stop was Trancoso.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YByW23xjq54

This weekend, teachers all over the world have a great chance to listen to outstanding teachers during 3 days FOR FREE! I have already chosen the sessions I'd like to attend, have you?.July 29, 30 and 31This is the SCHEDULE . Choose your time zone and check the sessions you can attend.Check the PRESENTERS. (Carla Arena, Bruno Andrade, Cecília Lemos, Shelly Terrell, Janet Bianchini , David Deubelbeiss and many other teachers)You can REGISTER here.Don't miss this great opportunity of professional development!

Tonight, my husband asked me to subtitle a youtube video he would like to show during a talk so it was time to try a site I've heard about recently: UNIVERSAL SUBTITLES.It's incredibly easy. You sign up, click CREATE, ADD SUBTITLES, watch pieces of 8 seconds and start typing the translation, you then sych it , review it, and can share it via facebook, twitter, send it to people via e-mail or even grab the embed code for publishing.

This is another great tool we can use to share presentations. You upload your powerpoint to KNOVIO , record your video presenting the slides and VOILÁ , your presentation is ready.You can send it to people via e-mail, grab the link and also share it via facebook and twitter. I wish the site provided an embed code for publishing. :(The audio quality was not good though.This is a short presentation (18 mins) about 20 different ideas for using EDMODO with students.http://go.knovio.com/account/829/link/233

This is a great way to share tweets with the same keyword or hashtag.1. Click on SETTINGS at the bottom of the animation image2. Type the Keyword or hashtag, select the animation type, speed. Click SAVE SETTINGS.3. Click SHARE to grab the embed code for publishingFirst, I tried one with the Keyword "anamariacult", my webname.Then, one with the hashtag #EdmodoCon , a Virtual Conference taking place next week, 10 August.

Dear Lifefeast readers,I'm very glad to invite all of you to attend the first EDMODO virtual conference (EdmodoCon11)  where Educators from different corners of the world will share how they have been using Edmodo with students.My presentation will be about using webtools to assign homework. I'll be presenting a project I developed last semester with my students where apart from assigning the traditional homework, that is, workbook exercises and writings, students had to carry out 10 tasks using different webtools.EdmodoCon 1110 August (Wednesday)Sessions start at 10:30 AM Eastern Time (11:30 in Brazil)and go on until 8:30 PM ET (9:30 in Brazil)MY SESSION WILL BE AT 5:00 PM ET ( 6:00 PM in Brazil)EdmodoCon 2011 Presentation Schedule via kwoutHope to see many of you there.You can  regitster for EdmodoCon11  HERE.Click HERE to attend the sessions.

This is how everything started:Camila Sousa and I sending messages to each other. Camila lives in Chicago and I, in Brazil.- Ana, you've got to see the fabulous apps I've been exploring for the ipad.- I have an idea, Camila, why don't you write a guest post for my blog telling us all about it?I'm very pleased to host Camila's post just below. Check out her fantastic blog " 2 Teach is 2 touch lives 4 ever"Thank you to Ana Maria at LifeFeast who invited me to write a guest post for her blog. I am very happy to be sharing with you all. Those who know me understand that my philosophy and motto is - Sharing is caring! :-)I have been researching apps because the school district I work at is implementing a program that provides iPads for all 6th grade students and, believe it or not, they get to take their devices home!! I know, right?? These kids are so lucky!! I wish I was studying there. LOL I am the Technology Facilitator so I get to help them learn to use their iPads. It has been great hopping from site to site and  finding some amazing educators' blogs, wikis and social media pages that review apps or just list them.These are the free educational apps I have been collecting and sharing with the district staff I work with. I am very "APPy" to be sharing them with you all. My suggestions are based on schools I am currently working with.Free Educational AppsYou can also find a list of educators' blogs with their app recommendation on my online bookmarking website.

Last week, I was surprised to receive an e-mail from VOKI, a site I've often used with students and blogged about, asking for an interview about how I've been using VOKI with my students.This is a Kwout screenshot of the VOKI BLOG with the interview:The Official Voki Blog via kwoutThis is the video I produced answering their questions. I apologize for the buzzing sound in the background.

Ispired by #RSCON3, and after having seen some examples, I decided to make my own webpage using WIX.COM. I didn´t find it very easy to use but with patience and persistance you can do quite a good job.CHECK IT OUTFree website - Powered By Wix.comThese are other pages using different sites:- Vicky Saumell- Brad Patterson- Carla ArenaIf you want to make your page with WIX, this tutorial might help you.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6zMuiHNCUo

I´ve been in Argentina since the 24th August and have been enjoying myself so much I had no time to blog about it. On 25th, I took a bus close to the obelisk and traveled to La Plata to meet dear friend Nelba.I´ve known Nelba Quintana since 2006 through the internet but had never had the chance to meet her f2f. Her invitation to present at the Language Institute of the University of La Plata came as a GREAT surprise. I was welcomed with beautiful flowers, warm smiles and friendly hugs. So glad, Argentinians like hugging like Brazilians do. Susana Canelo, another webhead, traveled quite a long distance to meet us there as well.The three of us, Nelba, Susana and I  were thrilled. La Plata is a beautiful city about 60 kms from Buenos Aires. Loved the many wonderful buildings they have, all in an European style. As soon as I took out my camera to take shots of first buildings we visited, I discovered I had forgotten to charge my camera battery, can you believe that? Well, dear Susana, became the official photographer.After a very pleasant lunch, we arrived at ESCUELA DE LINGUAS and I  got ready for my presentation ¨Developing the 4 Skills with Webtools¨.The presentation, based on my second book , is about different webtools teachers can use to develop the 4 skills in language learning: reading, writing, listening and speaking.This is the powerpoint material I promised to share.Using webtools to develop the 4 skillsView more presentations or Upload your own.Nelba and Susana, thank you so much for the great time in La Plata.

This is my second time in Buenos Aires and the more I discover about the city, the more I like it.I´ve come to Argentina accepting Andressa Cardoso´s invitation for a joint presentation at ABS International Conference. Andressa lives in Goiânia, in the state of Goiás, I, on the other hand, live in Uberlândia, about 350 kms from where she lives. Then, ¨How did you two prepare your presentation?¨ Cláudio Azevedo asked. ¨With Technology, my friend.¨ For the last 3 months, Andressa and I have been having frequent meetings in skype deciding what to present and sharing what each of us had prepared so far. We also built a wiki as support material to offer to attendees. We only met face to face, a few hours before our jont presentation in Buenos Aires.Our chosen topic was ¨Homework assignments using Web 2.0¨. Andressa started the presentation talking about some theoretical background related to homework assignment and then I presented ¨The 10 Tasks Challenge¨, a project developed with my students last semester.Homework Assignments Using Web 2View more presentations or Upload your own.

Dear Life Feast readers,In 2009, as some colleagues of mine were asking me to share what I'd been learning online with them, I also noticed separate workshops would not be enough to help non-techy teachers get acquainted with webtools and their potential in education.For this reason, I created CULTURA EDTECH, an online course which has already helped the development of more than 60 teachers, not only from Brazil, but from the USA, France and Spain.I have the pleasure to announce the start of GROUP #8 which will be taking the course from September to November. During these three months, teachers will have the chance to experience learning using internet tools, be contact with other EDtech members, participate in virtual classes, take part in discussions, read interesting articles, learn about interesting webtools and reflect about the integration of technology and education.How is CULTURA EDTECH different from other online courses?The pace of activities is gentle enough to meet the needs of busy teachers There are several tutorials giving step-by-step instructions. The facilitator (me, Ana Maria Menezes) gives full support to participants via skype and screencasts if needed.Participants become a member of a community of teachers which constantly share ideas.Participants will have the chance to try out webtools with all the guidance needed.Listen to what some of the CULTURA EDTECH members have to say: Check out their COURSE PORTFOLIOS More information about the course, can be found at ABOUT THE COURSE page.

Some weeks ago, I posted about KNOVIO, a tool which allows you to add a video narration to your ppt presentation. It's the simplest tool I've tried to make a slidecast. All you have to do is upload your ppt and start recording your video/narration.It's a fantastic way to practice for presentations to come.You can record yourself presenting and then watch it so that you can improve it.It's also a great tool to record grammar and vocabulary explanations to students.Another idea is to use the site for storytelling purposes. Students can narrate their stories.This is how it looks:This is how you can make your own:The only thing missing is an embeddable player. (NOT ANYMORE, they provide an embed code)However, I've been told they're working on one which will be launched  soon.Anxious to use it more often. FANTASTIC TOOL.

Some weeks ago, I was in Buenos Aires for a conference when I had the incredible pleasure to meet some Argentine Webheads who are very dear to me. Before the trip, we arranged to have dinner together and meet f2f for the first time.We decided to meet at the hotel where I was staying in the center of city. First, came Vicky Saumell, all smiles, and full of stories to tell. I was anxious to talk to her about how she started using PBL with technology at a school in B.A. Then, Andressa and her husband arrived. A few minutes later, Jennifer Verschoor came into the lobby saying Claudia Ceraso was on her way and  would meet us at the restaurant. We chose a restaurant nearby to enjoy some time together. Andressa and I shared a delicious bottle of red wine and we all had a great time. Once again, I was SO HAPPY to meet these teachers with whom I have so much in common but still had lots to learn about. I learned that Vicky has been teaching online for a University in Colombia . Jennifer is very busy with her M.A. in Technology and we both talked about our dream to attend the M. A. offered by Warwick University with Russell Stannard. Claudia told us she loves dancing tango. Girls, thank you so much for taking the time to come and meet us.Their Twitter Accounts:Vicky Saumell (vickysaumell) no Twitter via kwoutJennifer Verschoor (jenverschoor) no Twitter via kwoutClaudia Ceraso (fceblog) no Twitter via kwout

I've been using EDMODO for some years now and every year I discover different things you can develop with students using the platform. I work at Cultura Inglesa Uberlândia and the coordination team has managed to involve the whole staff in using EDMODO as our virtual staff room, a space where we share material we've prepared, ask each other questions, help each other and so on. It's become a bank of resources to the whole school.Last week, at our TDC (Teacher Development Course) I decided to talk about other interesting ways to use Edmodo with students. Now that most teachers are fairly familiar with the platform, it is a logical step to take advantage of all of its potential for language learning.This is the presentation I shared with the teachers:

There are several tools available for the same purpose, however, each of them offer different features that can meet your specific needs at different moments. The ideal thing is to ask yourself what you would like the tool to do for you and then see which one meets your need.For the next posts, I'll be arranging different tools according to categories: such as: interactive boards, poster, wordcloud, podcast, image editing, video editing, slideshow,  presentation, screencast and  taking screenshots.NOTICEBOARDSVIRTUAL POSTERS

For this post, I'll be sharing sites with which you can create podcasts and different wordclouds.It's always nice to know different alternatives for a tool you use a lot. Say, the tool you're planning to use is not working properly on the day you need it. Then it's time to look for similar tools. PODCASTING                WORDCLOUDS