I always face everything in life as a learning experience. I've just finished a webinar hosted by Camila Sousa with some teachers from Chicago and loved the chance to put together many different ideas we 've had .Camila Sousa , who is responsible for helping teachers  (Lincoln School in Chicago) integrate technology to their classes, invited me to present a webinar about webtools and the projects I've been developing.Teachers had to enroll for the session online at their school site and then were hosted by Camila Sousa in a certain classroom at the school in the U.S. First, we thought of presenting using skype and sharing the presentation file, but then we ended up choosing WIZIQ instead. Using wiziq, the presentation would be recorded automatically and other teachers from the online course I facilitate would have the chance to attend as well.Organizing a webinar is not an easy task, specially because you're dealing with technology. You have to foresee several technical problems that can happen. We tested our equipment (microphone, webcam, internet connection), a few days before the presentation and little by little we came up with solutions for the little problems we imagined. First, we tested different microphones, which one was clearer? Then, as I intended participants to see and hear examples of the project I was talking about, instead of screensharing which sometimes produces lots of delays and bad images, I created a LIVEBINDER which would be used to show the examples using THEIR computer.This would be the scenario: we would meet in skype a few minutes before the session, test our webcams and microphones one more time and I would set up a classroom at wiziq. Then, I would send the link to Camila Sousa to join the classroom. We would have two kinds of participants: some teachers in one specific classroom in Chicago, watching the presentation on a big screen and participating with a microphone attached to Camila's laptop and teachers from different parts of Brazil participating online via the chat in the wiziq classroom. Participants would be invited to contribute with ideas at different moments. Camila would mediate the participation in Chicago and I would mediate the discussion with participants online.AND HOW DID IT GO?Well, everything went just fine.The equipments ran smoothly.The platform worked beautifully. I only ended up forgetting to pause the recording while we were organizing the room (first 7 mins).People participated giving suggestions.The livebinder idea proved to be a very good one as they could hear the recorded examples perfectly.Although I was a bit tense with the whole thing and worried about observing what was going on, checking the chat area , my slides and my presentation, it was ok.Presenting online, has its advantages, you present from your own space (your bedroom, your office), you don't have to face a huge crowd even if you have 300 people participating from different places, and can always rely on your notes. A big disadvantage I still find is missing the reaction of the audience. You can't make eye contact with anyone and have to rely on the webcam to get a hint of what's going on at "the other end of the line". I'd like to thank my dear friend, Camila Sousa, for the invitation and the opportunity to learn a bit more about presenting online.  I'll be sharing the recording of the presentation as soon as it becomes available.

These are the recordings of the Webinar I presented to teachers in Chicago. I used screencast-o-matic to split the recording into 3 parts.PART 1 - Developing the 4 Skills PART 2 - The 10 Tasks ChallengeTo see the examples I mentioned throghout the talk, click on the LIVEBINDER below:http://livebinders.com/play/play/181930This is "The 10 tasks Challenge" WIKI where you can find explanations, examples, links and tutorials.

I've just discovered via @dkapuler a post from the fantastic blog Free Technology for Teachers a site which allows you to transform a pdf file into a slideshow which can be embedded online.SPEAKERDECK - http://speakerdeck.comWe use the Promethean E-board at the school where I teach and a way to share the files we use during our lessons would be to export it as a pdf. The possibility to turn it into a slideshow is more visually appealing, I guess.* I still haven't found a way to diminish the size of the player.

I've always dreamed of watching a performance of Cirque du Soleil. What I like about it? I love the way they have turned the circus into a stage of pure ART, full of enchantment, wonderful music and jaw-dropping performances.Next week, it is my birthday and last week I got the BEST PRESENT EVER. Guess what?Yes, a ticket to see the show Varekai from Cirque du Soleil in São Paulo. Although, I could not take pictures during the show (it's forbidden), let me share a bit of one of the most poetic moments.THANK YOU, MOM!

Although the site is still in its beta version and an invite is needed to join it, we can already imagine its potential in education. The site allows you to create online flyers and posters by adding text, images, videos, gallery of photos, map, testimonials, events and so on.http://www.smorepages.com/A Cupcake Story from Smore on Vimeo.How can we  use it with students?create online flyers for school events. Or even better, ask students to create different flyers for the same school event.students can create posters about topics they are researching about.students can create posters about different celebrations throughout the school year.Via Free Technology for Teachers.

I've started an M. A. in Applied Linguistics this year and have been struggling to reemerge among all these books and articles I have to read. This is the reason for the few posts in 2011. :)For my future theses, I've been trying to figure out how technology has influenced my life as a teacher.What movements has it brought about? And the concept of presence, how do I make myself present digitally and how does the digital presence or "lack of physical presence" of others influence my learning path? As to teacher resistance to technology, how have my own resistance barriers been broken and beliefs transformed?As suggested by my tutor Dilma Mello,I've started reading about the concept of Presencehttp://distanciaproximidade.wikispaces.com/homehttp://www.360doc.com/content/07/0525/12/18017_519886.shtmlhttp://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue2/lombard.htmlTeacher Resistancehttp://eprints.usq.edu.au/2101/1/Albion_Ertmer.pdfNew Literacies (Diana Brydon)http://dianabrydon.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/teacher-education-in-the-theories-of-new-literacies-and-multiliteracies/I'll be investigating my own path as a teacher and teacher educator using Narrative Inquiry which will allow me to relive my experience and this way build new meanings as I retell and listen to my lived stories.Narrative Inquiryhttp://www.jstor.org/pss/1176100

I've posted about TOKBOX many times before, and it used to be my favourite site for video messaging. However, with the changes that happened to the site and their choice to focus on the chat feature, I ended up giving it up, at least for teaching purposes.This afternoon, I invited some teachers from CULTURA EDTECH (online course I facilitate) and a couple of friends from facebook to join me in a new trial.The site we tried was TUBEIT . It allows you to create an instant chat room where participants have access to their webcam and microphones and also watch a selected YOUTUBE video chosen by the person who sets up the room.Today, I chose a video interview with Marc Prensky, where he discusses about the ROLE OF TEACHERS TODAY.I guess there's a limit of participants for the session (I"m not sure) as I could see the possibility of 7 webcams in the room. It's extremely easy to use. You just go to http://tubeit.opentok.com/ write your name, paste the video URL (from Youtube), grab the link to the room in TUBEIT, share with invitees via twitter, facebook or e-mail and start your discussion.This is how I planned it:1. I greeted participants.2. Participants had the chance to introduce themselves (webcam)3. Pre-question to start the discussion. ("What's the role of teachers?")4. Participants gave their opinion.5. We watched the video interview.6. Used quotes from the interview to promote discussion.Problems: well, the sound wasn't 100% (some speech breakdowns) but we managed to develop a discussion.These are the screenshots I took of the session with Roberta Righetto (Mato Grosso), Gildeta (Campinas), Ana Lucas (Uberlandia), Nina (Ukraine),  Angeles Berman (Mexico?).

Inspired by Salman Khan's presentation at TED, I thought of how to help my students get ready for their final English tests and I humbly created some GRAMMAR VIDEO LESSONS.Salman Khan: Let's use video to reinvent education | Video on TED.com via kwoutAlthough our main focus is not grammar, something my EFL students  always complain about is UNDERSTANDING how to use grammar. Many of them only have a chance to listen to an explanation once in class and others who have missed that specific class feel totally lost. This is the reason behind these videos. I tried to make the explanations simple / short and give them examples.PASSIVE VOICEREPORTED SPEECHRELATIVE CLAUSESThe idea Khan presented of maybe flipping the things around in the classroom made me think.What if we offered grammar explanations via video and used the time in class to learn how to use it in practice? Well, let's see if they find it helpful.Oh, to create the slides, two programs were used: Powerpoint or ActivInspire. Then, I used http://screencast-o-matic.com/ to record my voice while explaining the topic.

In my previous post, I talked about a concept which I first heard about in Khan's lecture at TED "flipping the classroom". The idea of recording videos of lectures and devoting classroom time for practice activities seems to be VERY INTERESTING.Created by Knewton and Column Five MediaThen, I thought, how could we flip our English classes? In my context, in language institutes, we normally start our classes presenting a new topic (vocabulary or grammar) and then move on to exercises (written and oral) to help students consolidate knowlegde by using it. I guess a way of flipping our classrooms would be to record mini lessons presenting the topic beforehand and then practice, practice, practice in class. My question is: would students watch the video at home? I've just talked to 3 Brazilian teenagers at home (my son and 2 cousins) and I made them the same question: If you had to watch a video for homework, would you watch it?Boys- Maybe not.But if your teacher told you to watch a video in order to be able to do some exercises the following class, would you watch the video?Boys - We would, we would be afraid of not being able to do the exercises the following class but many of our classmates wouldn't. They would ask the teacher to explain again.And if you had access to lots of video lectures before tests, do you think it would help you study?Boys- Sure, if we had problems we would be able to watch the video lecture again and again.Well, I think the idea is fantastic, however, I don't know how well Brazilian learners would adapt to it. The problem is that our students have been accustomed to the traditional format for too long and end up having a passive attitude to learning.Is it worth a try? I truly think so. If I'm brave enough, maybe next semester, I'll post about a flipped experience in an English Class.This is a video from Students who have tried the Flipped Classroom

For the last 5 years in January, I've had the pleasure to learn and share at the Electronic Village Online Conference which is offered freely to teachers worldwide. It is the perfect example of how learning takes place nowadays. Teachers from different parts of the planet, get together to help each other learn. And best of all, FOR FREE. This year, you can choose from 14 possible sessions.The courses take place online during 5 weeks from 09 Jan. to 12 Feb.My suggestion? Well, there are wonderful courses being offered but one is very dear to me.DIGITAL TOOLS WITH PURPOSE IN THE CLASSROOM.Electronic Village Online / Digital_Tools2012 via kwoutRegistration starts TODAY Jan. 2nd.The online courses start on Jan. 9th.TO JOIN our group: go to http://evosessions.pbworks.com/w/page/48526238/Digital_Tools2012 and follow the instructions.

A selection of sites and posts for EFL, ESL teachers.http://www.scoop.it/t/picks-of-jan-2012

A selection of articles and blog post for EFL / ESL teachers.http://www.scoop.it/t/picks-of-jan-2012

There are several things I like about backpacking,but most of all I love being in contact with other backpackers and listening to their stories.Our adventure this year was to the north of Argentina. My husband had been talking about visiting this part of the country for 4 years and this year it worked out. Once more, we traveled with our kids ( now not kids anymore ), each  with a backpack (thanks Marcinha for lending us your backpack).We started our adventure by car. We woke up very early in the morning and went by Piracicaba to pick my daughter up. Our plane left Brazil from the International Airport of Guarulhos. The first delay from a series, the flight from SP to Buenos Aires with Aerolineas was ok, apart from the snack they serve. It's not that it's bad but the thing is they never vary the snack, it's always the same thing, a ham and cheese sandwich , alfajor and a candy. We got a connection from B.A. to Cordoba and guess what, the same sandwich again.We got to Cordoba at night and what a night! Nearly 40 degrees Celsius, BOILING. As you can imagine, not a perfect night for some rest and sleep. We met some interesting people there, two from Brazil and a group from Israel. The center of Cordoba is very beautiful with interesting historical buildings to visit. I've been told there are lots of beautiful places to visit nearby if you have more time. Well, not our case, the following day after walking around the city for the day, we got a "coche cama" bus to travel north to San Miguel de Tucuman.Once we got to Tucuman, there was endless RAIN. Rain, rain, rain. We walked around the city centre which is quite nice but decided to got to Cafayate on the same day, to try to escape from the rain. The trip towards Cafayate is breathtaking. The bus goes up a green mountain in an endless zig zag. Cafayate was a wonderful surprise. We had planned to stay for 2 nights but ended up staying 3. The hostel (Rusty-k) was the best one I've stayed so far, extremely clean and with a wonderful backyard covered with vines. We enjoyed the atmosphere with very pleasant dinners my husband cooked. What to visit? We chose to visit a vineyard about 8 kms from the town where they produce the great wine YACOCHUYA. Although they have no wine tasting, it's worth the visit. The view is stupendous. We went by taxi but decided to come back on foot to enjoy the scene. Well, the first 5 kms was just fine, but the last 3 ...  We got back to town, exhausted and my tennis shoes came apart. I had to buy new tennis shoes .The next day was dedicated to trekking at the "Quebrada de las Conchas" , a wonderful area full of mountains and red rocks. Good points about Cafayate, beautiful and pleasant city centre, we found a great restaurant which serves typical food (Los Hornitos) such as fantastic empanadas, great places to visit, delicious wine and perfect weather.I was definitely sorry to leave Cafayate but it was time to move again. We traveled further north to Salta, which would be a stopover towards places such as Humahuaca, Tilcara and Purmamarca. The trip from Cafayate to Salta should definitely be done during the day due to the BEAUTIFUL, unrivalled scenery. Saltawas another place I enjoyed. The city centre comes to life in the evening when the historical buildings are illuminated by different coloured lights. The main square is THE PLACE where everyone wants to spend hours just strolling and observing people go by.We then travelled to Humahuaca. The village is interesting , however, I was expecting more from the pictures we had seen. The highlight there was a very pleasant lunch we had at the oldest restaurant in the village, "Pinocho", where we had a delicious meal and the pleasure to listen to a group of musicians playing music and reciting poetry.At Humahuaca we bought a bus ticket to Purmamarca to spend the day. We got to the bus station on time, however, we were told the buses were being kept outside the village blocked by a strike and we had to find a way to get to the bus on our own. There we went, running to grab a taxi. Once there, to our surprise the bus hadn't waited for us but fortunately there was another bus which would pass close to the entrance of Purmamarca. The bus left us about 4 kms from the village and once again, luckily a taxi stopped next to us and asked if we wanted to go to Purmamarca. Lucky me!Purmamarca is in the region of the colourful mountains. The village is surrounded by mountains on all four sides and everywhere you look different shades of brown, red, yellow, green and grey come to life. The more we stayed in Purmamarca the more we regretted not staying longer, the main square is a great place to feel the atmosphere, there is a wide variety of hotels and hostels, the "mercado de artesanias" is varied and the weather is great. We wanted to go to Salinas Grandes but didn't have enough time so we just enjoyed the village and explored its surroundings.The last stop was Salta, where we would catch our plane back to Brazil. The hostel where we stayed is very well located close to the bus station and just a few blocks from the main square which was my favourite spot. We bought some more wine to bring home, a few souvenirs and got ready to leave. Not to break the habit, the flight from Salta to Buenos Aires (Aerolineas Argentinas) was 2 hours and a half late which made us nervous as our connection back to São Paulo was the last flight to Brazil that day. When we got to Buenos Aires, they had already boarded the passengers and were calling our names. We ran, ran and ran but managed to catch our flight. However, once we got to São Paulo we saw that our backpacks hadn't been  as fast as our feet, they had been left behind in Argentina and only got home a day later.

Meeting Shelly Terrell last week was one of those moments I cherish which can come true thanks to the internet.I've been following Shelly's tweets and blog posts for some years now. We had exchanged messages, retweeted each other, left comments after blog posts , discovered common interests but had never had the chance to meet f2f. Well, Shelly is everywhere really, twitter, facebook, webinars, blog posts; if you are into edtech, you probably know who I'm talking about. This is why I told her "You don't need to be introduced, Shelly". lolThe chance to meet her was possible thanks to another dear member of my PLN, Márcia Lima, one of the owners of B. A. English School in Goiânia, who invited Shelly to come for lectures in Brazil. Shelly spent the last week offering different workshops to Márcia's staff and two outside teachers had the pleasure to join them: Raquel Oliveira and I. :)I only managed to get to Goiânia on Thursday afternoon; Shelly was talking about "Using Youtube videos in class". I have to admit my first impression was of surprise: She's as short as I am! hahahahahaha .Short women, great minds. :)In the three days we spent together, I can't thank enough for the so many things I learned. She learned a couple of things too, some words in Portuguese, acerola, baianada, and how not to have açaí with your boyfriend (your teeth become purple LOL).Meeting Shelly on PhotoPeach

Learned two things this morning and wanted to share with Life Feast readers.First, I watched a video made by Carla Arena where first she uses her webcam video to introduce what she's going to show and then shares her desktop. I already had Jing installed in my laptop , however, not the Pro version which allows you to record your webcam video and also publish it easily in Youtube. http://www.techsmith.com/jing.htmlimage originally from Shelly Terrell's blog Second, while reading a post by Shelly Terrell , I learned you can add wordclouds to images and make the background transparent. Idecided to try it out. It took me some time to find the place where to click, for this reason I decided to make a tutorial showing it step by step. Another great tip she gave is to use ~ between words of the same sentence. Ex: in this image she has the question How~do~schools~involve~parents? http://www.wordle.net/ + PowerpointThis is the tutorial I made.

Next week, I'm starting my classes for 2012 and we always want to start the new year with fresh ideas.I've put together a LIVEBINDER with fantastic resources picked throughout the web. Warmers and Ice breakers 2012These are someactivities I learned from Shelly Terrell last week:Alphabet Race: 2 lines of students, teacher says a topic (Ex: verbs, emotions, animals) and the first student from each line says a word in that category starting with the letter A, then the second with the letter B. As soon as each student says a word they should run to the end of the line. When the first student once again comes to the beginning of the line, that group wins.30 Second Debate: 2 lines of students facing each other, teacher suggests a topic, line A has to talk about his opinion in 30 seconds. The teacher blows a whistle at the end of the 30 seconds and student B has to refute the argument. Ex: If student is FOR, student B has to be AGAINST it. The teacher can keep changing the topics. Yes, and ..... or Yes, but: 2 lines of students sitting down or standing. Student A starts the conversation with a sentence, then student B continues starting with "Yes, and ...." , then Student B continues with "Yes, and ....."  . The same can be done with the prompt "Yes, but ....." . Watch a video demonstration. Show and Tell: Teacher asks students to select a picture from their cell phones and put the device in a bag. The teacher then, shows the device and the image to the class and students try to guess who the cell phone belongs too. Then, the owner of the phone talks about the photo chosen.Chain story: Groups of 3 or 4. Students have to create a chain story and use their mobiles to record it. Then they have to send it to the teacher.Guess the picture: Students go round the school with their cell phones and take a close-up  picture of any thing at the school. Then, after returning to class, the teacher collects the phones and passes the phones around the class for students to guess what object it is and where it is located.

Drawing and recording your voice is not an easy task. What I've discovered is that once you start drawing, and your focus shifts to the image, there are few barriers to speaking.The tool I'd like to share today is EDUCREATIONS . I haven't explored it to its full potential but what I've seen so far is good enough. The free tool allows you use your mouse or your finger (ipad) to draw stick figures while you record your voice. You can also upload an image and draw and record your voice at the same time. Once finished, look at the right side below the twitter and facebook buttons for the URL and the embed code which allows you publish the recording.This is a tutorial I've created showing how to make your Draw + Speak recording.These are some example recordings made by EVO participants:

HELLOSLIDE is a site I heard about very recently and was meaning to try out. The site allows you to add voice to your presentations, but NOT YOUR VOICE. What you do is: you upload your presentation in PDF, type the text which you would like to hear with each slide, save and play. It's as simple as that. The good thing is that you don't need to worry about your voice or recording, you can edit it later if you need to, and then easily share it by grabbing the URL or the embed code.This was my first trial:I've also made a tutorial if you need help.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTFrZWNqxdsHOW CAN WE USE IT WITH STUDENTS?You can use the site to prepare presentations of lesson topics using ppts you already have . Then all you'd need to do is to save it as pdf and then upload it to the site.You can create stories introducing vocabulary.You can have students create their own stories and then present it in class.

Let me share a project which has  started this week, the "AN IMAGE A WEEK " project.An image a week PROJECT - An image a week via kwoutSome weeks ago, while reading about the 365 Project  I started playing with the idea of having my students share images and write texts about them. However, I thought a photo a day would be impractical for my reality. Then, why not AN IMAGE A WEEK? Each student would take a photo to represent their week, write a 50-word text about it and send it to an assigned e-mail. My second thought was: why not invite other teachers from different countries to participate as well? I wrote some messages to teachers I know who teach students of similar ages and was thrilled all of them accepted the challenge.We'll have two groups from Uberlândia (Brazil), a group from Croatia, two groups from Italy, a group from Belgium and a group from Chicago. Click on the play button to watch the presentation Daniela Tomatis has created to introduce the project to students.The first step was to set up the main page (a posterous blog) for the posts.Then, to help our group work develop better I created a facebook group where teachers involved have been exchanging ideas.The project will take place from the 8th February to 22nd June, which make 20 weeks altogether. Therefore, by the end of the project each student will have shared 20 images along with 20 short texts.If you're interested in following our project this semester, please visit the AN IMAGE A WEEK page and leave us comments; every week lots of different posts will come to life.Thank you, Guido , Daniela Tomatis, Camila Sousa, Grace, Daniela Becchio and Arjana for joining the project.

Do you lose track of time while using the net?Do you turn on the computer with lots of tasks to do but after a few hours discover you've done very little because you ended up surfing and doing other things?Well, if your answer is YES to both questions, you might find this post helpful. Many teachers I'm in contact with use the net for professional development, therefore we have lots of things to do while using the computer. The other day I was talking to a friend and she complained about the amount of time she wasted online instead of doing what she intended to do.I've walked that road but am happy to say, my time is better managed now. And what do I do? Well, it's pretty simple.Before I turn on my laptop, I write down a list of online tasks I should do that day, such as answer e-mails, check what my students have posted as homework, check direct messages in facebook ....As soon as I turn on the computer, I go to an online alarm clock  http://kukuklok.com/ and set a time limit for surfing through my social network sites. These two simple things have helped me use my time better, juggling the different activities I have weekly: answer e-mails, facilitate an online course, prepare my lessons, check what my students have posted for homework, read articles for my M. A. program, write my theses, attend classes at University, teach  and have fun. Want to read more about this? Check out this interesting article http://www.wikihow.com/Keep-Track-of-Time-While-Surfing-the-InternetAND YOU? How do you manage your time while surfing?

My inspiration for these video activities was this post by David Deubelbeiss.the activities are short.the videos are all found in Youtube.there's no need to prepare any extra material.1. Predicting what's going to happen.turn volume off.play parts of the video, stop and brainstorm with the whole class what  they think is going to happen. Ex: I think he will .......Play and check their prediction.Suggested video:  http://youtu.be/L6Cuq-BueEs 2. Taking notes / reconstructing sceneStudents watch the video and take notes of what happens in the scene.Pairs compare their notes and write a description of the whole scene.Students then read each other descriptions.Teacher can build a description of the scene with the whole class using http://livetyping.comSuggested video: http://youtu.be/bS1ePEZZCDY 3. Describe what you seeturn volume offget students into pairs.they stand up, one facing the screen and the other with the back to the screen.the one facing the screen describes what's happening in the scene.teacher pauses the video and students swap places.do the same for the rest of the video (or for as long as the teacher decides)Students write down a summary of the whole scene.If students want to, show the whole video with sound to the class.Suggested video: http://youtu.be/1Efrg23Sqe84. Imagining thoughtsDivide students in pairs.You can turn off the sound or not.While students watch the video, they try to write down what the girl and the man might be thinking. Teacher pauses video when necessary.Suggested video: http://youtu.be/8yIuiXxwUtw 5. Predicting + RetellingShow the wordcloud below and ask students to predict  the story of the video. (PAIRS)Students watch the video .Pairs try to reconstruct or retell the story using the wordcloud (Speaking or Writing activity).Suggested video: http://youtu.be/rHKV92sNFVM6. Imagine an endingStudents watch the video up to 1.59 mins.Pairs tell each other what they remember.Pairs imagine an ending to the story and write it down.Students read their ending to the class.Show the rest of the video to the class.Suggested video: http://youtu.be/GJbiw_bOFmY7. Vocabulary Listask students to write the heading for  two lists in their notebooks (CITY LIFE / NATURE)Students watch the video and have to complete the lists by writing down vocabulary related to each topic as it appears in the video.Debriefing: ask students what words they've written down.In pairs students discuss what they understood about the video.Suggested video: http://youtu.be/qdxbIRkITBkFor more suggested animations, check out this playlist I've put together:http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL47140F33A452888D

After reading Jose Picardo's post about having using only one iPad in class, I decided to give it a go. I've recently got an iPad as a gift and wanted to see what I could do with it in class.Well, this afternoon I took my iPad to class as I wanted to record students reading their own sentences to a voice thread created by a colleague (AureaStela). Stela had the brilliant idea to create a wordcloud with verbs which take GERUND and INFINITIVE and then asked her students to record sentences using the given verbs.This is what I proposed to my students today:1. First, I opened her voice thread on the IWB and played the recordings for them.2. Then, I assigned a different verb to each student and asked them to make a sentence using Gerund or Infinitive. I monitored helping them out with their sentences.3. I gave them a hand-out with a grammar exercise on the same topic and asked students to complete the exercise in class. Meanwhile, I would use my iPad to move round the class to record each student reading their own sentences ( I used the voicethread app for recording) . To make it faster, all students used my voice thread account.4. After I had saved all recordings, I played their recordings on the IWB for everyone to listen to.   Impressions? I would definitely do this again. Students were involved and seemed to have enjoyed listening to all the sentences in class.

This week, I planned to revise content students have recently seen by organizing a revision lesson as a CAROUSSEL.First of all, I selected 3 activities :Students would complete a grammar revision sheet and then use the answer key to correct it.Students would play a  game called "Four-in-a-row" from the book "Grammar games and activities"  where students have to  know the infinitive/past/past participle of verbs.Students would choose from one of the topics provided in their own course book and write a dialogue discussing it using language to agree and disagree. Then, they would use my cell phone (Audioboo app) to record their dialogues. The 12 students were divided into 3 groups of four and I had them seating in different corners of the room. Students would have 20 mins to work with each activity. As a timer, I used the site ONLINE VIDEO CLOCK  where you set an alarm by selecting a video clip from youtube. Before the caroussel activity started I explained what students would do at each station and by the end of the class all of them would have covered the 3 activities. Impressions? I liked the way I was free to move from one group to another and help when I was needed. Students were totally involved in doing the tasks. Moving from the different stations kept a dynamic pace to the lesson. An important point is to organize activities which take a similar time to cover and also have an extra activity up your sleeve for fast-finishers (in our case, I had conversation cards ). Next class, I intend to play their recordings from audioboo and ask them what they thought about it.One of the recordings created in class by students:

I had already used EDUCREATIONS on my laptop during an EVO Session but had kind of forgotten it.Today, while searching for something else I stumbled into it again, but this time I decided to try its IPAD app which is totally free. This is what you can do with it:- You can draw using your finger and record your voice at the same time.- You can take a photo and record yourself talking about it.- You can use a picture from your photo gallery or from dropbox, draw and record your voice. After recording and saving it, you can share it via twitter, facebook or even grab the embed code for publishing online.MY FIRST TRIAL: http://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/my-living-room/844046/?ref=app  How can wwe use it with students? - you can ask students to research about famous people in history, ask them to upload a picture and record themselves talking about that personality.- you can record screencasts drawing and writing explanations.- you can ask students to share a picture of something special to them and talk about it.- you can ask students to upload a picture of a place they would really like to visit someday and talk about it.- students can draw and tell a story.