Friday, November 12, 2010

The Epson wonder-thing

Our school got an invitation to visit a certain informatica shop in Viterbo, to attend a presentation of the new Epson EB-450Wi interactive projector with a view to perhaps adopting it in our classrooms (in some imagined far-future...). I went with a colleague today at 11 a.m. We were the first to arrive. Did someone say interactive whiteboard thingy? I'M THERE!!!! In fact, I had already cased the joint at 8.45, so that I knew where to go.
I didn't have to be convinced by the IWB. I already am. I've been desiring one since I bought the 4th edition of Jeremy Harmer's The Practice of English Language Teaching, which shows teachers using the things. Then, as previously posted, I got to try one out at the recent IH ELT conference in Rome.
This new Epson wonder-projector negates the need for an IWB though! You can project onto any surface, including a blackboard. How retro would that be? That surface then becomes interactive, by using a special infrared pen (or else there is an infrared light from the projector which recognises movement...or something! I don't need to know how it works to know that it is wonderful.)
The people giving the demo were suitably convincing, and my colleague and I chatted about the application all the way back to school.
Then I got to thinking. I've been considering getting my own set-up to take when I go out to other schools. A decent lap-top and a portable projector - but is this the way to go, or will it create other issues which I am unaware of? How much can you actually do with the thing once you've got it? Am I going to have to learn a whole new skills-set to maximise the benefits? And will the technology make me a better teacher, or will it interfere the rapport I build with my students?
Consider that I don't really know how to use Powerpoint...

I did consider this, and as I had a bit of time up my sleeve (due to the fact that we really didn't take much convincing about the Epson Wonder-thing, and that they couldn't really keep us once we'd seen what it could do), I played with Powerpoint before my individual lesson.

What I came up with was a short presentation with images of Tod's shoes and bags, a photo of Diego Della Valle, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Why? Well, this particular student is preparing for a public exam to enter into a certain public entity which has something to do with markets and stock exchanges. For the English part of her exam, she will be presented with a fairly technical article about finance or markets or something. She will have to read it, then precis it, and then answer some comprehension questions about it.

I'm running out of financial articles that I can grab from the 'net! We've done them all. Especially ones about Italy. However, today I found a little piece about said Diego become the main shareholder of Saks. It was an uh-huh moment. I found as much information as I could about his company, Saks Inc., Carlos Slim (who was the main shareholder until Diego shouldered him aside), and the deal.

The PPP worked as a nice lead-in to the articles...but then?

Sadly, there is nothing that technology can really help with when the exam she has to do is sooooo dry! She did enjoy the article about the slap-down shouting match between Silvio and Diego, though.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

A Word Monster

I also had my Starters group today. I wanted to jazz up their vocabulary learning a little, and remembered an activity I'd used with the pre-school class. The Word Monster. Which was perfect for  today's lesson, as we were doing body parts (having done colours, numbers and "how many..." over the last few lessons.)

I had a sheet of brown paper already stuck to the board when they came in, so they were very curious about what we'd be doing. I went over the body parts with them, eliciting face, head, eye, ear, nose, mouth, body, arm, hand, leg and foot.

Then I got a big pen, and said...This is our Word Monster. He has a BIIIIIIIGGGGGGG head (which I drew). Then I asked how many eyes does he have? etc etc etc....

Once we'd drawn and coloured our monster, and talked about him, they gave him a name (apologies to Alex Case - it was the students' idea, really!), and we put him back on the board. 

Now, this is a Word Monster (idea taken from "Very Young Learners" by Vanessa Reilly and Sheila M. Ward), so he 'eats' flashcards. I forgot the blu-tak today (will forget head tomorrow). Usually I would blu-tak the flashcards they know to the monster's mouth, and then check again at end of lesson - if they remember, then the monster eats the words which end up in his BIIIIIIIGGGGGGG STRIIIIPPPPPPPYYYYY BOOOOODDDDDDDYYYYY. :-) Today he got to munch on those words immediately, and the flashcards sat on the ledge of the board. Ah well. It was fun and creative.

Instant warmer for PET

I started with a new PET prep class today, at one of the local high schools. Lovely school - run by nuns, and the English teacher is switched on and speaks very well. I have sixteen students, probably all about 15 and 16 years of age. A good mix of boys and girls, and all at about the same level (with the obvious gradings of ability).

I only have them for an hour at a time, once a week, for 24 hours in total. That isn't much time, when you consider that I am preparing them for all three parts of the exam (Reading/Writing, Listening and Speaking). Usually our job is just to prepare them for Listening and Speaking. We decided to use Skills Booster 4, by Alexandra Green (published by New Editions, HEINLE CENGAGE Learning), because it is a short course, and covers the four skills very nicely, and is also aimed at the appropriate age group.

As I was preparing the first lesson yesterday, I had one of those completely blank moments - I just KNEW there was something I usually do at the beginning of a PET Prep class, but I couldn't force it from the dark recesses of my currently-overtaxed brain...

Until I got into the classroom, of course! Ta-dah! I immediately discarded the completely lame idea I had planned as a warmer, and put them into groups. Then I wrote up some questions about the exam on the board : How many papers are there? How many parts in Reading? How many in Writing? How many words do you write in Part 2 Writing? In Part 3? How much time do you have for Reading/Writing? How much time for Listening? Where do you write your answers for Listening? How many people at a time do the Speaking Exam? How many examiners are there?

I negotiated a time limit (5 minutes) and set the timer, then let them at their handbooks....

They really got into it, and although no group answered all the questions, it familiarised them with the handbook, and with the exam.

And then we got on with the Skills Booster book, lesson one.

And I am well pleased with the book! It is just the right level. Gave them a confidence boost right from the get-go, and I think it is going to be a great group to work with.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

NaNoWriMo in Iceland

I'm wearing a different hat in November. I'm a teacher. It is what I do. I love it. But I'm also a writer. It's what I do. I love it. I get paid for doing the first. I'd love to get paid for doing the second (actually, I have been paid, once. Which means that I know I can do it again.)
Why November? If you follow the link to NaNoWriMo, you'll find out. NaNo gives me the kick in the pants I need to make me fit writing in and around all the other aspects of my life (you know, wife, mother, daughter, sister, teacher, friend...), and shows me every year that I CAN write, and I LOVE writing.

The first year was when I wrote the novel I'd been thinking about for ages. I finished that book, and its been rejected by several very reputable agents. :-) As you know, rejection means that I'm a "real author"!

Last year I wrote a book which I loved - only it had a very saggy middle which kept me bogged down. So much so that it is still a work in progress. I thought about resurrecting it this year, and making the 50,000 words the second half of that book - but then I had another idea.

And also a change of genre.

I've moved from Chick Lit - erm, I mean, Contemporary Women's Fiction - into ROMANCE. Yes, romance, with the necessary Alpha male, strong yet vulnerable female, and some slurpy bits. And to add a bang to the whole story, I've set it in Iceland (because I needed a literal bang, as in a volcano!).

Previously, I've written about New Zealand, Italy, London...you know, places I've actually been to, and know something about. This year, I'm completely in the dark. Well, not completely, of course, because we have the Internet, with blogs, flikr, ads, mapmyrun for calculating distances, and all those good things.

However, if you are visiting this blog, and you live in Iceland, or have been to Iceland, I'd love to hear from you. Really! Especially if you live anywhere near Skaftafell, and/or are a geologist, an Earth Sciences student, or a photo journalist :-)

Thanks for checking in!