3 surefire ways to motivate your language learners to do homework Getting learners to do homework has long been a challenge for teachers. Homework has a negative connotation for learners and with good reason; they view it as an unwanted extension of the classroom that intrudes into their leisure time. I’ve argued on the blog before that assigning too much homework or giving meaningless tasks is detrimental. Nevertheless, as teachers we can employ the following three strategies to make homework more interesting and relevant, so that our learners will be encouraged to complete it. 1. If you’re assigning homework it should always be a positive thing; never create negative consequences for incomplete homework. Key concept Because we really should be using homework to reinforce learning and not teach new concepts, those who choose not to do the work will not be adversely affected. Make homework relevant, flexible and chosen by learners. 2. Quite simply, give your learners options. 3. Rounding up: 3 quick tips Do not give homework after every class.
10 Ways To Create Digital Exit Tickets Yesterday I read a fantastic post by Matt Levinson on Edutopia about digital media exit tickets that really got me thinking. In his article, he begins with a story of a lesson on prepositions he thought went really well, but eventually realizes that students didn’t get what he wanted out of the lesson. As he says in the article, “That experience served as a major “aha” moment to me as a young teacher. I realized that I needed to have some way of assessing what students were learning both as the class was unfolding and at the completion of class. This is the moment when I started using exit cards, a 3×5 notecard for students to write down something they had learned. Inspired by this article, I too wanted ways that they could quickly share their thoughts and questions about a lesson so that I could assess their understanding. So, I came up with 10 digital exit ticket ideas, and am excited to put these into effect this school year! Like this: Like Loading...
16 Funny Swedish Insults 28Jun 2013 Swedes have a colorful way of insulting one another. And most of our insults hail from the pre-industrialization time, when most of the population were farmers or worked outside. This means, Swedes love insults relating to dumb geese, stupid donkeys, and gossiping sheep. And in a time when cities were distant, and the countryside was full of peasants, you cannot go far from the forest. I split the list of insults into phrases and words. Insulting Swedish PhrasesSkita i det blå skåpet – To shit in the blue cupboard. The phrase originates from the comedy film, Göta Kanal, when the actor Janne Loffe Carlsson says, “Nu har de skitit i det blå skåpet, nu är det krig!” Gå och dra något gammalt över dig – Go and hide yourself under something old – Not only you should get lost, but put an old blanket over your head. Dra åt skogen – Go to the forest – Sweden is full of trees and when you want someone to ‘get lost’ you tell them to ‘go to the forest.’ Dum som en gås
No-hands-up, Exit Tickets och Flygande bedömning för ett inkluderande klassrumsklimat med stöd av IKT | Fröken IT Först några tankar sedan konkreta tips! Som högstadieelev gick jag med darrande ben in till en del av klassrummen. Andra klassrum längtade jag till. Jag har många gånger efteråt funderat över varför det var på det här sättet och kommit fram till ett svar, som jag tror stämmer: Jag var rädd för att räcka upp handen! Eftersom jag (och forskningen!) Nedan följer exempel på digitala verktyg som du kan använda dig av för No-hands-up, Exit-Tickets och Flygande bedömning. 1. 2. 3. Mer inspiration och information! Jag har tidigare skrivit ett inlägg om ”de fem principerna” i BFL – Bedömning För Lärande (Formativ bedömning) med stöd av IKT . Här får du tips på sidor med inspiration och information om det formativa arbetssättet: Padlet – Ett favoritverktyg – Patricia Diaz (här hittar du massvis av inspiration!) Tips på praktiska metoder för att synliggöra lärandet – Camilla Lindskoug En mycket bra miniföreläsning där Helena Wallberg ger sitt specialpedagogiska perspektiv på formativ bedömning:
Getting The Least Motivated Students More Motivated By Working With The Most Motivated I’ve been doing an “extra” project with my English Language Learner students the past few weeks that has been going very well, and I thought readers might find it useful/interesting. As regular readers know, one of the classes I teach is a two hour combination English class for Beginning and Intermediate ELLs (actually, one of those two periods is a Geography class for the Intermediates — I teach two separate classes simultaneously in practically all of my periods). At the beginning of each of those two periods, students do independent reading for ten-to-fifteen minutes. A few weeks ago, I invited three Intermediate students to participate in a special group that would meet with me daily during that time during the second period to work on their reading and writing. After first having them do simple writing assignments (write a paragraph with a topic sentence about themselves; write an introductory paragraph to it; etc.), I decided that it was worth investing a book for each of them.
10 Ways To Create Digital Exit Tickets – TeachBytes Yesterday I read a fantastic post by Matt Levinson on Edutopia about digital media exit tickets that really got me thinking. In his article, he begins with a story of a lesson on prepositions he thought went really well, but eventually realizes that students didn’t get what he wanted out of the lesson. As he says in the article, “That experience served as a major “aha” moment to me as a young teacher. I realized that I needed to have some way of assessing what students were learning both as the class was unfolding and at the completion of class. This is the moment when I started using exit cards, a 3×5 notecard for students to write down something they had learned. Inspired by this article, I too wanted ways that they could quickly share their thoughts and questions about a lesson so that I could assess their understanding. So, I came up with 10 digital exit ticket ideas, and am excited to put these into effect this school year! Like this: Like Loading...
The five strangest habits of the Swedes The Local's Oliver Gee has just left Sweden after four years, and reflects on what he found to be the five oddest habits of Swedish people. Swedes are an interesting bunch. They're efficient but they love a good coffee-break, they're humble but they hang flags on their front porches, and they can appear cold at a glance but are as warm as an Arctic sauna when you really, really get to know them. And to me, they're also quite odd. After my four years in the country, I've collected what I found to be their most unusual habits. I've touched on some of them before - click the links to read more. It is customary to stand at least one arm's length from another Swede at a bus stop. This is one of the first things I noticed about the Swedes. Photo: Shutterstock I like this obscure little obsession. 3. It is customary in Sweden to take at least four "fika" breaks each day. I'm a self-proclaimed word nerd but I always found this weird. But come on Swedes, you've got better unique words than that.
Everyone Believes These 16 "Facts" But Unfortunately They're Complete Lies 1. Chameleons change their color to blend into their surroundings. The color changing skill that chameleons have is actually to express their mood and mating behavior. 2. Multiple studies have shown there is no increased risk for arthritis among people who constantly crack their knuckles compared to those who don't. 3. Actually, every part of your tongue can sense all types of flavors. 4. In reality, the fruit was named first, and then the color. 5. Yes, penguins will stay with one mate for a season, and usually be with that mate the following season. 6. Bulls are actually color blind, it's simply the movement of the cape that makes them so angry. 7. A recent study from Yale proves that the hyperactivity that comes from sugar is all in our heads. 8. While we may call them beans, coffee actually comes from the seeds of a berry. 9. 10. Napoleon was actually 5'7" which may sound short by today's standard, but at the time, he was taller than the average French male. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.