A GREAT IDEA FROM A PARNTER: TIMETOAST ABOUT WOMEN WRITER.

 Hi GEF students!

We all know that sharing is living and that is the reason why I am writing this. I have seen some parnters´ blog and giving feedback to them. But there is a great idea that I have to do with mi students.

The idea was to recognise the work of several English women writers and, in doing so, to develop and improve skills such as researching information, summarising, and making a timeline of their life or rather their most important works, thus making it easier for them.

I divided the class into 6 groups of 4 students so each of them has a specific writer:

- Agatha Christie.

-J.K. Rowling.

-Beatrix Potter. 

-Jane Austen. 

-Virginia Woolf.

-Charlotte Brönte. 

This is one of the result obtained:  https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/2947558

GENIALLY

 Hi GEF students!

If we want to improve our students´ speaking abilities, the first thing you think about is making oral presentations. In that way, they can include a fantstic app called Genially with which they can add the information in a more visual and attractive way. 

The activity I proposed to my school is working in a transversal way together with Spanish teacher and values one. Our students of 6º grade had to create, in groups of 4 students, an easy, short, understandable and adapted story in order to present them to the youngest students in our school, the students in 1º grade. 

For that reason, the tasks they have to do are:

-Making equitative groups. Each student will have a different role in the group: grammar checker, writer, designer, ICT manager.

-The group choose the topic and write the story in parallel with the Spanish subject.

-Once they have the story, they have to choose modality of Genially. Besides, they have to add some questions to check understanding and capture the attention of the audience. 

-Elaborating the project with de app. 

-The first presentation is done in the 6º grade class so as to colleagues give feedback in terms of oral presentation skills. 

-The second presentation is done in the 1º grade class to emphasize the importance of reading, partnership and accompaniment and care of the child.

This is a sample of a project carried out: 

https://view.genial.ly/647da4fb22c931001983ef1f/presentation-presentacion-minimal

They have obtained incredible results thanks to Genially as it allows them to improve all the skills that a language determines as well as to develop technological skills as they are motivated not only by the result but even more by the process. Genially provides many benefits in an intuitive and, best of all, collaborative way so that all members of the group can work and contribute equally. 

PIXTON

Hi GEF students!

I am going to present you today  an amazing tool called Pixton. You can create fantastic comic in order to practise writing between other skills such as creativity, cooperativity and design in a fun way. 

This is a comic as example some students did:

What do you think about it? It is incredible!

In order to get to that point I organised the class into 5 groups of 4 students. Each student has a different role: grammar revisor, brainstorming checker, designer and ICT manager. 

Consequently, each student has associated a specific task:

- get a concrete idea for our comic book through brainstorming. 

-Develop the written text using the vocabulary and grammar seen in class. 

-Design the comic according to the written text.

-Create the comic using the Pixton tool. 

-final revision. 

For that reason, the learning objectives in that project are:

• List different ideas to your project (by brainstorming).
• Find the role of each student.
• Invent the story.
• Write down considering grammar and vocabulary seen.
• Draft the comic on paper.
• Design the comic with Pixton.
• Review the final product. 

As I told them that the topic was totally free based on any topic seen not only in English lessons but also in any subject they love, they have to be creative as they choose. Furthermore, they have to show their final products to their colleagues and this is a source of motivation to be more creative. 

Moreover, it is a requirement to be evaluated by their peers as well as the teacher. When they finished the project, we dedicate a session to show their final results. During this process, we count with a rubric (for their colleagues and for me, the teacher) in which we consider the format, the grammar, the creativity, the design as well as the way the expose their work. It is important to leave space for them to offer improvements as well as to highlight positive and negative aspects of the work on display. 

As a conclusion, my students enjoyed a lot doing this task which has been quite intuitive but time-consuming. On the other hand, what they liked least is that it is not collaborative so only one person, ICT manager, could do things in the app and the rest would watch. 

This is what I would change for next time, I would make the groups smaller 1-2 students or directly individual with less requirements. 

EDPUZZLE

Hi GEF students!

Today I have created a new video for my students. I have used an incredible app called EdPuzzle. Here you can watch the result:

https://edpuzzle.com/join/ochocra

https://edpuzzle.com/media/647da442405bc042ad8a9cf1

The reason why I chose this video is because children feel motivated and engaged when other children speak and the themes are close to their own tastes. Furthermore, it is important that they realise the different accents that everybody has. Besides, the vocabulary used is affordable for my students. 

 The activities proposed are the following:

-Pre-listening: we work with the previous units the vocabulary mentioned: family, animals, food, hobbies... it helps them to understand better the information. Besides, I divide the class into 4 groups and each of them, at home (flipped classroom) has to takes notes of all kids that appears in each minute: minute 0-1 for team 1, minute 1-2 for team 2 and so. 

-While-listening: now is time to put in common the whole information compiled. We listen again the video and complete the questions that it offers.

-Post-listening: finally, students have to write and explain what makes they happy. Moreover, they have to interveiw four partners and takes note of their things choosen. 

In that way, the objectives for these exercises are:

• To practice vocabulary seen previously. 
• To write down in a table the information listened. 
• To share information collected. 
• To express feeling and personal information.
• To interview some partners. 

It has been a great experience to bring my students closer to an authentic video whose results have been more than fruitful. Moreover, with this activity not only one but all the skills have been worked on and, in a transversal way, values have been worked on. 

Some disadvantages are the use of new technologies and internet since in some houses they do not work well. For this reason, they are recommended to go to Guadalinfo centres or as easy as using telephones, most of whose families have them. 

TIMETOAST!

Hi GEF students!

The post that I write today is about an excelent app that I have found: TIMETOAST. 

You can use it to make incredible time lines.  In that way, some of my students, some who are more advantaged, did this incredible time line about a topic they like a lot: St. Patrick. Here I attached you the link in order to chek it better: https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/2945379

It was amazing to check the result as well as to carry out the proposed educational objectives such as a careful search on the internet, correct selection of information, reading as well as the realization of the timeline through this application. 

Using TimeToast was a great success because it is a very easy to use and effective program, besides obtaining the information in a visual way when it comes to retaining knowledge to our students. 

Since I have some gifted students in my class, I proposed them to try this application:

1. It was clarified what a timeline consists of.

2. They chose a topic to make their timeline (St. Patrick because they enjoyed a lot its celebration).

3. They started the search on the internet obtaining all the necessary information. In this way they were critical with the necessary data. 

4. I gave them some guidelines on how to use the TimeToast application.

5. They got down to work to obtain this fantastic result to which they even included images to facilitate the data to their classmates. They were fascinated with the work done and the ease. Although some problems arose such as internet connection and registration, this way they did it from my account. 

Once I have seen how the students use the application and all its possibilities, I will not hesitate to implement it with the rest of the students with different content, since it is quite simple to study it later on. 

My own reflection about READING

Hi again, GEF students!

Today I would like to make a reflection about reading habits, particularly when we read in another language. Keep focus and I am looking foward to read your opinions!

1. What kind of books or texts are the people reading? Did they chose the books themselves or did someone else choose for them?

Nowadays people usually read in a variety of formats, from the hardcover they might buy at local bookstore to the softcover on an airport book rack to the ebook people read on tablet to the audiobook that people stream on their phone. 

So, in that way, I can divide poeple in two big groups: the one who loves reading true literature and the other who reads just the texts that appear on social networks magazines etc...

Furthermore, in relation to the questions whether people choose the books themselves, I honestly think that adults are totally free to select which book they are going to read but the situation changes when I talk about teenagers or children who don´t choose their books because the school normally imposes them for educational purposes. They are appropiated for them but reading the genre you like, the kind of book you  are interested in, is essential to get a reading habit. The desired reading habit.    

2. Describe how they might be feeling at the moment and give reasons.

In that way, we can find two kind of readers: 

a) Readers who choose their texts so they feel so passionate and intrigued; exciting, pleasant and  comfortable with the kind of genre as well as the content. 

b) Readers who do not choose their texts so they may feel bored, forced and that may and this can lead to the opposite of the desired effect: a taste for reading. 

3. Focus on one or two of the photos and say how they relate to your own experience as a reader in L1 (Spanish) and L2.

My love of reading began in high school when a teacher encouraged us to read anything. We were all used to reading the same book regardless of our tastes, as shown in the fourth picture. Then I discovered in the library a small book, "The Shadow of the Wind" and it was the first time I enjoyed reading, I enjoyed something I had chosen. Reading anything but reading, that is the key. 

Think about the following things:

- What texts do you enjoy reading in each language that you speak? Do you choose the same kind of texts or do you read very different things depending on the language? What factors determine your choice? 

This question makes me think about the differences in both languages. In my mother language, Spanish, I love reading thriller and crime books. I feel so so dedicated to solving the mysteries that I can't put the book down. I am really passionate about them. On the other hand, in my foreign language, English, I mostly read informative articles, short stories... Also, when I watch movies in the original language, I do read the subtitles. 

In that way, depending the language, the readings are very different due to the reason I read because when I read in my mother language it is basically for hobby and in the foreing language it could be for practising, improving and learning more and more the language so the level of English should be suitable and the extension not to much. 

-  When do you read? In what format do you read (paper, e-reader, online etc.)?

I usually read in every spare time I have after work but the season of the year when I read the most is in the summer. I love taking out my book and reading wherever I go the beach, the mountains...

Although new reading formats are appearing, I still like to read in a paper book. The feeling of the touch of the paper and its characteristic smell is incomparable. 

 

MY FIRST PROBLEM  

(YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS) : 

LISTENING

Hi, GEF STUDENTS!

Some of you find the problem of understanding English but you are able to write perfectly in that language. Don´t worry about that, it is a long marathon in which you have to train daily yourself following the next tips:

Start with a positive mindset.

I know English listening can be very difficult, especially with speakers who have a strong accent or who talk really fast. But you’ve actually done it before! You learned how to listen and understand and speak a language when you were a baby. Why should it be any different now that you’re an adult?

Focus on actively listening. When people are talking, don’t focus on what you’re going to reply, don’t try to translate what they’re saying, don’t analyze the grammar structure of the sentences… just listen.

Study a little bit at a time.

Only have a few minutes per day to study? Perfect. There are a lot of scientific studies that prove that learning 15 to 30 minutes every day is much better than trying to memorize hundreds of new words and grammar rules in one day.

Try different types of content.

There are so many different formats for studying. Find the one that works for you, or switch between content types depending on the situation.

For instance, you can listen to podcasts, audiobooks and radio shows while you’re on the go. When you have time to sit and do more active studying, you can turn on a YouTube channel or read along with your audiobook.

There are benefits for studying with each type of content:

• Podcasts: You can hear natural conversational English on many podcasts, especially when they don’t have a script. This can help you understand people’s speaking habits, and hear the way real native English speakers have conversations, add pauses to their speech, and more. 
•  Here I attached you an interested podcast to practice listening: https://open.spotify.com/show/61uYuifW41s8WztnlcKFxA

• Radio: The radio has a huge variety of listening practice. You can listen to music, talk shows, and news broadcasts—just to name a few. Radio is great for passive listening (listening in the background as you do other things). You can choose different radio shows and focus on listening to different dialects and accents from English speakers around the world.
• Here you can find an incredible radio station: https://www.heart.co.uk/london/ 
• Audiobooks: An audiobook is basically a recording of someone reading a book. Audiobooks can be a great source of vocabulary since they use a wider range of words than common speech. People who read them often speak in a clear and articulated way. Also, audiobooks are highly entertaining, so it’s easy to listen for many hours.
• In that page you can find thousands of books: https://librivox.org/ 
• YouTube: There’s truly no end to what you can watch on YouTube. You could watch English learning channels, tune in to popular YouTuber shows, learn to knit, watch people play games, try new recipes, and so much more. Many YouTube videos have captions available. Though these aren’t always accurate, they can help support your listening until you feel more comfortable with just using your ears.
• 
  
•  An example is:  https://www.youtube.com/@AmigosIngleses

Listen to the same content every day for a week.

Find a bit of content that you enjoy like a podcast or a YouTube channel. Choose just one brief episode or video to listen to every day for a week.

Pick out words or phrases that are difficult to understand and look them up on the first and second days. Don’t forget to hit “pause” and listen again.

After a couple of days, you should be able to listen out for these words and understand them. Try speaking along with your audio source.  You can even record yourself and listen for the differences between yourself and the speaker.

By the last day, you’ll find that you can understand much more than on the first day. As your ear adjusts to hearing this English podcast episode, it’ll be easier to listen to new audio in English.

Listen for the big ideas.

At first, you should resist the impulse to try to understand every single word people are saying. It’s more important to keep up with the conversation and try to understand the main ideas.Listen out for certain words that give you a hint of the sequence or topic of conversation. 

Focus on keywords like these to grasp the most relevant parts of a conversation. Once you relax and make it a priority to understand the main idea, you’ll have the freedom to complete your comprehension with the details and clear the air later by asking questions.

Listen for the details.

Once you feel comfortable figuring out the main ideas of different conversation topics, you can start to listen in for the details. For example, if you’re interested in knowing the age of a person, pay attention to any words related to age like “old,” “years,” “born in” or even a number, which could be that person’s age.

Play ESL listening games online.

English listening games provide a fun, interactive experience if you’re looking to improve your listening skills.

A few great ESL listening game sites include:

• ESL Kids Lab: This site is filled with simple listening exercises for beginners. Practice understanding basic vocabulary for school, jobs, everyday objects and more.

• TeachThis: These games are designed for English classrooms, but if you have a group of friends to practice English with you can try them, too!

• Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab” This site is an absolute goldmine of English listening tests and quizzes. They’re organized by level, with something for everyone from beginner to advanced.

Listening games also give you an incentive to “win”—you’ll stay motivated and want to keep practicing English listening.