Reflective teaching: Exploring our own classroom practice By collecting information about what goes on in our classroom, and by analysing and evaluating this information, we identify and explore our own practices and underlying beliefs. This may then lead to changes and improvements in our teaching. Reflective teaching is therefore a means of professional development which begins in our classroom. Why it is importantBeginning the process of reflection Teacher diary Peer observation Recording lessons Student feedback What to do next Think Talk Read Ask Conclusion Why it is important Many teachers already think about their teaching and talk to colleagues about it too. However, without more time spent focussing on or discussing what has happened, we may tend to jump to conclusions about why things are happening. Beginning the process of reflection You may begin a process of reflection in response to a particular problem that has arisen with one or your classes, or simply as a way of finding out more about your teaching. What are you doing?
The Challenge of Teaching English to Dyslexic Students by Julia Shewry This week we are excited to bring you a post by BELTA member Julia Shewry, an EFL teacher in Wallonia. Julia shares with us her experience of working with dyslexic learners learning a foreign language. This is a topic you may find surprisingly relevant to your teaching context given the proportion of dyslexic learners in the school population as a whole – read on to find out more! Julia Shewry After studies in law/history at Cambridge, followed by a PGCE (secondary teaching qualification), I spent more than twenty years working in IT in various international companies before taking a career break to teach English in a very small Belgian school. How do we support our dyslexic language learners in our classrooms? I work in a school where there are a significant proportion of students with learning difficulties, which may include dyslexia. To develop specific dyslexia-friendly teaching techniques, I followed a distance-learning course from Dyslexia Action (UK). Back to the MOOC.
Ripetizioni gratis: nasce in Toscana il 1° social network per gli studenti Ricomincia la scuola e torna il dramma della fisica, della matematica, del greco antico? Ogni anno decine di migliaia di studenti sono costretti a far investire alle famiglie consistenti somme di denaro in ripetizioni scolastiche, torna lo spettro dei debiti formativi, dei voti bassi, delle vacanze accorciate per studiare (o almeno dello spauracchio, che poi si passino davvero sui libri è da vedere…), ma intanto i soldi per le lezioni sono stati spesi, e i libri sono sempre più cari, e far tornare i conti è ogni mese più dura. Ma da quest'anno c'è un social network che promette di risolvere il problema (o almeno di alleviarne il peso), si tratta di Teach4Learn: la piattaforma ideata da un gruppo di ragazzi toscani dove chiunque può iscriversi gratuitamente mettendo a disposizione le proprie conoscenze in cambio di una o più ore di lezione. Sul sito si contano già 8932 utenti, 536 discipline e 76 guide.
Scuola, compattare l'orario... si può! Sperimentando una delle idee del Movimento delle Avanguardie Educative Stefania Chipa e Lorenza Orlandini - La Compattazione del calendario scolastico è una delle idee delle Avanguardie educative che a Novembre 2014, quando è stato lanciato il Movimento, ha destato timidi interessi; ma poi, nel corso dell’anno, ha raccolto molte adesioni da parte delle scuole adottanti. Partita con 3 scuole capofila - l’IIS "Luca Pacioli" di Crema (CR), il Liceo Linguistico e Istituto Tecnico Economico statale "Marco Polo" di Bari e l’IISS "Ettore Majorana" di Brindisi -, adesso conta 25 scuole che, da settembre 2015, sperimenteranno questa nuova organizzazione del tempo scolastico. Certamente il primo effetto derivante dall’introduzione della compattazione è lo scardinamento dell’organizzazione temporale della giornata scolastica e, per questa ragione, richiede una grande attenzione nella progettazione dell’orario; a cascata, però, interessa tutte le dimensioni che fanno parte della scuola. Robert Lynn Canady e Michael D. Stefania Chipa e Lorenza Orlandini Indire.it
25 maps that explain the English language English is the language of Shakespeare and the language of Chaucer. It’s spoken in dozens of countries around the world, from the United States to a tiny island named Tristan da Cunha. It reflects the influences of centuries of international exchange, including conquest and colonization, from the Vikings through the 21st century. Here are 25 maps and charts that explain how English got started and evolved into the differently accented languages spoken today. The origins of English 1) Where English comes from English, like more than 400 other languages, is part of the Indo-European language family, sharing common roots not just with German and French but with Russian, Hindi, Punjabi, and Persian. 2) Where Indo-European languages are spoken in Europe today Saying that English is Indo-European, though, doesn’t really narrow it down much. 3) The Anglo-Saxon migration 4) The Danelaw The next source of English was Old Norse. 5)The Norman Conquest 6) The Great Vowel Shift The spread of English Credits
Listening to students' spoken language | ETp I was flicking through John Hughes’s new book ETpedia, which aims to provide English teachers with 1,000 teaching ideas, and was pleased to see some very useful teaching ideas listed under user-friendly page headers like ’10 ideas to add variety to a reading lesson’, ’10 sources of listening material’, ’10 activities using the objects around you’, and ’10 activities for the topic of food’. But the page that caught my attention was ’10 ways to correct a spoken mistake’. While keeping it simple and easily understandable, this page was able to summarise the main issues and techniques related to correcting spoken language that we try so hard on teacher training courses like the CELTA to convey to trainees. Hughes states: “If you are presenting a new language item and you ask a student to produce a sentence with it in and they make a mistake, then it's clearly the right moment to correct the error. - Should I interrupt the students in full flow and point out the error now or do it later? 1. 2.
Smart List: 30 Ways to Learn Almost Anything Getting Smart is acknowledging people and organizations making a difference with the second annual Smart Lists. During October and November you’ll see about 20 ‘Best of’ lists, not in order, not exhaustive, just people we appreciate doing innovative work. Today we are recognizing 30 open resources for K-12, postsecondary, and anytime learning resources. Free & Open Education Resources, K-12 Postsecondary OER Academic Earth: free online courses from the world’s top universitiesiTunes U: view a course, make a courseSaylor: 250 college courses across 13 subject areasWriting Commons: Freshman English from USFConnexions: open library from RiceMIT OpenCourseWareWikipedia & WikiEducatorPhET Interactive SimulationsWashington State’s Open Course Library Project: resources for 42 courses Anytime Learning Coursera: the world’s best courses for free * This Smart List was published in partnership with Getting Smart Services. * Learn Capital Partner, # Getting Smart Partner, ** Board member or Advisor
FORUM FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS-FELT How to write a personal statement for a UK university Kathryn Abell of Edukonexion shares some tips ahead of her talk at the British Education Fair in Madrid taking place on 19-20 October 2015. When applying to a UK university, the discovery that school grades alone are not enough to gain entry onto the programme of your choice can come as an unwelcome surprise. This is especially true for international students, many of whom see the words 'personal statement' for the first time when starting their university application. But far from being a barrier, the personal statement is, in fact, one of the stepping stones to achieving your goal of studying at a UK university. A personal statement can help you stand out If you have selected your study programme well – that is to say, you have chosen something that you are truly excited about that matches your academic profile – then the personal statement is simply a way to communicate to admissions tutors why you are interested in the programme and what you can bring to it.
Se le catacombe hanno le cuccette… Ve ne potrei raccontare a migliaia: dalle colonne rastrellate verso l’alto, al tabacchino di Bernini nella Basilica di San Pietro. Sono gli strafalcioni, i lapsus, i refusi dei miei studenti. Divertenti da impazzire, sconfortanti da morire… Lo so, lo so. Ho una vera fissazione con il linguaggio. Ecco, quando uno studente sostiene che nelle catacombe i morti venivano seppelliti nelle cuccette lungo i muri, le possibili reazioni sono tre: infuriarti perché a 16 anni non si può sconoscere il termine ‘loculo’, soprattutto perché l’hai spiegato a lezione e perché è un termine d’uso comune, non specifico della storia dell’arte;scoppiare a ridere e apprezzare la creatività dello studente e l’ardito accostamento (ma quando dovrai prendere un treno notturno d’ora in poi avrai qualche tentennamento prima di infilarti nella cuccetta!) Generalmente ho tutt’e tre le reazioni. I primi due anni di storia dell’arte, in effetti, sono un vero strazio dal punto di vista del lessico.
5 Great Web Tools for Creating Video Lessons December 2 , 2015 We have curated for you today a list of some very helpful tools to use to create interactive video lessons. These tools are particularly ideal for blended and flipped classrooms. You can use them to transform passive video content into interactive and engaging learning experiences by adding features such as questions, comments, hotspots, links, text and many more. 1- YouTube Video Editor YouTube Video Editor embeds all the hacks you need to create stunning video lessons. 2- Educanon This is another wonderful tool to use to create video lessons. 3-TedEd TED Ed is a website that allows teachers to create lessons around YouTube videos. 4- Blubbr Blubbr is a cool web tool that allows users to create quizzes around YouTube videos. ‘If you use videos in the classroom, EDpuzzle is a must have.
50 Things You Can Say To Encourage A Child - 50 Things You Can Say To Encourage A Child by TeachThought Staff There are many ways to encourage a child, but for students of any age, honest, authentic, and persistent messages from adults that have credibility in their eyes are among the most powerful. The National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning has put together the following list, 50 Ways To Encourage A Child. It was designed for younger students (head start/kindergarten), but with the exception of 4, 17, 21, and maybe 40, they’re actually useful for K-12 in general. It all depends on your tone, the situation, and who else is listening. In addition, they’ve got a couple of other useful documents under their tips for fostering teacher connections series you can check out as well. Thumbs up.You’re on the right track now.You’ve worked so hard on that.I heard you say how you feel. You can see the original pdf files here. 50 Things You Can Say To Encourage A Child; image attribution flickr user skokiemonumentpark
teachingenglish.org Songs provide examples of authentic, memorable and rhythmic language. They can be motivating for students keen to repeatedly listen to and imitate their musical heroes. Here, we look at some aspects of pronunciation that can be focused on through songs. Using songs to focus on sounds Using songs to focus on words Using songs to focus on connected speech Conclusion Using songs to focus on sounds Sounds are the smallest unit from which words are formed and can be categorised as vowels and consonants. Why are they difficult? As languages differ in their range of sounds, students have to learn to 'physically' produce certain sounds previously unknown to them. However, incorrectly pronounced sounds strain communication, sometimes even changing a phrase's meaning. How songs can help Songs are authentic and easily accessible examples of spoken English. What we do To focus learners on particular sounds, we create activities based on songs' rhymes. Why is it difficult? Balbina Ebong & Marta J.