eTools for Language Teachers

Sketchnoting (or visual note-taking)(Click here for a presentation called "Sketchnoting for Beginners". Click here to see my sketchnotes on Flickr.) She told me that she made them with an iPad app called “Paper by fifty-three”. Well, I immediately downloaded the app and my journey into sketchnoting began. Sketchnoting is simply a way to take notes in a more visually attractive way than bullet points. Some people use traditional pen and paper, but my tech-inclined self prefers the iPad version. Silvia’s preferred app for sketchnoting is “Paper by fifty-three”, while I preferred FlipInk when I first started out because you can upload photos, type text, add lines for guidance, and change the thickness and lightness of your pen. When I began sketchnoting, I became frustrated because: I couldn’t figure out exactly how the apps workedI didn’t have a proper stylusI’m a terrible artist and I wasn’t sure that I had the skills to be proficient. Here is how I resolved my issues: Related: Blogs

A.J. Juliani — Teach Different Today I turn 35 years old. And I couldn’t be more excited than I am right now to share my new book, The PBL Playbook. Over the past few years I’ve been lucky enough to work with teachers, instructional coaches, and school leaders all around the world, both face-to-face and online. What I’ve found (over and […] Teaching is not always easy. I want to tell you a story. “What I know for sure is that you feel real joy in direct proportion to how connected you are to living your truth.” My good friend (and co-author) John Spencer, shared this on Twitter a few days ago: Teaching is an exhausting gig. The LAUNCH Academy: A Design Thinking Institute We still have a few more spots available for this summer’s live two-day design thinking institute in Philadelphia, PA (down on UPenn campus)! If you haven’t heard of Genius Hour or 20% time in the classroom, the premise is simple: Give your students 20% of their class time (or an hour each week) to learn what they want.

Bridge to the Future: Why Philosophy 4 Children? All teachers at our school, including single subject teachers, have just completed the two day Philosophy for Children Training lead by Dr Vanya Kovach from The University of Auckland and Krystyn Marr from Opawa School here in Christchurch. P4C is a thinking skills program which engages children in rich philosophical discussions. At many schools it is offered to children on the GATE register and it is exciting that all of our students will now take part in P4C. I am completely and utterly fizzing over this. My mouth is watering over the ways I can integrate P4C into my classroom programme to nurture a culture of questioning, thinking deeply and sharing. I'm excited! I am very fortunate in that this is the second time I have completed this training. I love this sketchnote from George Couros, sketched by Sylvia Duckworth. What hits me in the face when I study this graphic is that P4C is a brilliant way to bring these elements into the classroom. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Teacher Reboot Camp TeachBytes The Principal of Change – Stories of learning and leading Larissa's Languages The Innovator’s Mindset – The Principal of Change My first book, “The Innovator’s Mindset; Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity” is now available at Amazon. Below is the current table of contents which will house additional links, resources, as well as discussion questions for each chapter. I wanted to provide this as a space that brings the book to life, and encourage people to go deeper into what in the content, as well as provide links and questions to guide any book chats on the topic. Here is an endorsement from Michael Fullan, Canadian educational researcher and former dean of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education “At last here is an Innovator’s Mindset for everyday teachers and students. Please check out the chapter guides with questions and links below. (If you are interested in bulk orders, please do not hesitate to connect with Shelley Burgess of DBC.)1 Chapter 1: What Innovation Is and Isn’tChapter 2: The Innovator’s MindsetChapter 3: Characteristics of the Innovator’s Mindset

ThingLink Blog | One thing leads to another! A film-making Competition to Celebrate the Publication of My New Book Film in Action I’m delighted that my new book Film in Action has been published and is now available to buy at book stores or on Amazon. It’s a great honour to join all the wonderful authors in the DELTA Teacher Development Series and I hope that Film in Action will fit seamlessly into the series and enjoy the prestige that the other books enjoy worldwide. I would ask all teachers who use Film English to consider buying the book as the royalties which I will receive from sales will help to keep the website completely free. Writing the lessons and maintaining the site takes up a lot of my time and is very expensive, and unless a lot of teachers and directors of studies buy my books I will have no alternative but to start charging for the lessons. Let me tell you more about the book and an exciting film-making competition to promote it: It has over 100 highly practical activities which require little or no preparation that can be easily added to the repertoire of any busy teacher.

iPad Teachers Blog