TimeToast activity

In the following link, a timeline activity can be found:

 

https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/2187218

With the proposed timeline, the students can read a traditional English story divided in parts, with images which support the reading and clues and/or tasks to help them to understand the text. Therefore, if I should establish some learning objectives, I would say that through this activity the students are going to improve their reading, to widen their vocabulary, to know English culture and to practise how to use a dictionary. 

A great advantage that this activity shows using TimeToast is the division of the story, allowing the student the work on it step by step, so they can manage it better than if they face the whole text. It could be stressing. 

I have managed the parts of the activity according to the parts of the story, creating what we could define as small chapters. Furthermore I have tried to include different kinds of clues, to make it more interesting. 

The students could find some problems, maybe because of the vocabulary. Then, I would encourage them to get the main idea of the “chapter”. I consider that the use of the clues and the images could be important to this point. 

Although I have not carried out the activity because of the age of my students this year, I would say that it is going to be very eye catching since the use of a computer is included and probably they do not know what a timeline is, so it is interesting. 

I think that I would use the structure I have followed in this occasion with more texts. Perhaps I could include more resources such as videos for a better understanding, or even music.

TimeToast has improved the reading task firstly showing it as something attractive. Later, I can create a structure with the parts to work in each session, so it is more accessible than a whole text. Finally, the possibility of using images helps the students to understand the reading better.

Reflecting on reading habits

The pictures show different people reading in a variety of situations.  They are reading novels, newspapers, school books, eBooks and probably more kinds of texts.  I think that in some of the pictures people choose what they read although in the photo of a classroom in a school they do not. In this case, the teacher is the person who chooses the reading.  

The feelings could be really different according to the person. What I refer is that people in the library could be reading for pleasure or maybe some of them are doing a school work, so the first ones could be relaxed meanwhile the others could be stressed because they have to put a lot of attention in what they are reading to learn it or use it later. It happens the same for the other pictures, some could be feeling in a calm and peaceful way and others under pressure as the pupils in the school. 

In my case, either in English or Spanish, I like reading when I am alone. I need silence to concentrate on the text, and at the same time, it allows me to reflect about what I am reading. I could read outdoors, as the man with the newspaper, but it should be in my garden, not in the street. Nevertheless, what I like the most is reading a novel in a comfortable sofa. If I have to study, it is different, I need my desk. It does not matter the language, but I have to recognise that I have some requirements before reading. I try to read every day I have spare time, and of course, I prefer paper books. Screens make me feel tired sooner. 

Finally, I think I do not have preferences between English or Spanish. Maybe if it is a novel with a lot of difficult vocabulary, Spanish is my best option (since it is my mother tongue). However, if I find a text which fits my level, I enjoy it deeply because my mind works in English and I love it.

Interesting webs

I share below three of my favourite webs when I have to work English. I hope you find them useful :)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/

https://www.wordreference.com/

https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/

Some nice pictures

You can find here two photos that are very important for me and at the same time, directly related to English culture. The University of Manchester, where I spent my Erasmus year and the city which gave me so much, and Stonehenge, one of the most magical places I have ever visited.
(This is part of a task of my new course).

                                              One of the best universities in the world

                                                     Without a doubt, an incredible place

INNOVATIVE TEACHING PRACTICES SUPPORTED BY THE FOCUSED USE OF ICT TOOLS IN THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

Hello everyone!

I have been admitted in a new online course, called "INNOVATIVE TEACHING PRACTICES SUPPORTED BY THE FOCUSED USE OF ICT TOOLS IN THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM". It's brilliant!

This course will allow me to know more educational tools related to new technologies which I will use later in my lessons. The more I know, the better my teaching will be!

Therefore, in this occasion, the following entries will deal with the different tasks of this course. I am sure they will be pretty interesting.

#EnglishTeacher

"¿Cómo de verdes somos?", Mi proyecto Flipped Classroom

Todo empieza con un vídeo (elaborado por mi) que los alumnos ven en casa. Este es el comienzo del proyecto "¿Cómo de verdes somos?" que consiste en un trabajo de análisis por parte de los alumnos de sus hábitos de cuidado del medioambiente desde casa para su posterior mejora y exposición de conclusiones en un vídeo.

El trabajo que se realiza por grupos (los cuales pueden proceder de trabajos anteriores o por afinidad, para desarrollar un mejor empeño, tal y como propone una de las compañeras del curso) y nuestra meta es producir un vídeo por grupos donde los estudiantes cuentan cómo ha sido el desarrollo del proyecto para ellos y sus resultados, pudiendo mostrar además distintos datos registrados durante el mismo. Esto fomentará un proceso reflexivo y analítico tras el creativo de las medidas de mejora y su aplicación, enriquecido además en la última sesión por los comentarios de los compañeros, lo que implicará también evaluación, ya que los vídeos se colgarán en el blog de la clase y tendrán que verlos en casa  los de otros grupos.


Estos párrafos anteriores podrían ser el resumen a grandes rasgos de lo que he creado en este curso, este es mi "artefacto" final, al que he llegado tras horas de hacer y rehacer, y que finalmente he cerrado con las revisiones de la tutora del curso y mis compañeros.

Todos los detalles se pueden encontrar en las distintas entradas de este blog, producto del curso sobre Flipped Classroom al igual que el proyecto.

Ha sido un trabajo muy satisfactorio pues he aprendido, considero que he crecido como maestro y aunque probablemente aún se pueda mejorar más, estoy contento con lo que he creado :)

Mi proyecto Flipped hasta ahora

Para finalizar el bloque 3 de este interesante curso en el que estoy inmerso sobre Flipped Classroom, y casi llegando al final del mismo, voy a hacer una valoración de todo lo trabajado en este último apartado.

En el bloque 2, podíamos decir que elaboramos nuestro proyecto flipped, y lo que ha hecho el bloque 3 es someterlo a una reflexión con el fin de perfilarlo y enriquecerlo. Pararse a analizar lo que ya habíamos creado creo que ha supuesto un enriquecimiento de nuestro proyecto.

No sólo cada autor ha revisado y ampliado su proyecto, sino que además hemos tenido la ocasión de hacer lo mismo con el de nuestros compañeros, lo que considero una ventaja pues cuantos más puntos de vista y aportaciones se tengan más variadas y creativas mejoras podremos aplicarles a nuestros proyectos. También aprendemos de los trabajos de los demás llegando a contar con una amplia bolsa de recursos.

Sin duda, tras todo el trabajo, me siento muy preparado para crear nuevos proyectos flipped, siendo consciente de las posibilidades de continua mejora de los mismos.