Our Class Blog

I don't know how much you use technological tools in or out of your classroom, but I am determined to use such tools as much as possible. As my students are learning English to pass our proficiency exam, their time is limited and they generally tend to write purely Academic English.

Thus, I wanted to urge them search the internet as usual, but in English websites and share what they find inspirational, interesting, or enjoyable on a blog so that they may be exposed to English more. I do not correct their grammar not to discourage them, but I do give feedback on their common mistakes during our writing sessions. They seem to enjoy the process.

Here is our class blog and you can't imagine how interesting their posts are!
http://preinta.blogspot.com.tr/

By the way, you are more than welcomed to share any comment :)

Best,
Ayca

How To Make Your Students Speak

Teaching English is not a piece of cake, but what challenges teachers most is speaking, I believe.

We teach grammar.
We teach reading.
We teach listening.
We teach writing.

...but when we ask our students speak, they are either shy or half of their speech is errr, uhmmm, wellll, one word and again errr, uhmmm..

Thus, today I'd like to share a nice activity, which challenged my students and helped them in an enjoyable way. In this one, all you need is some piece of paper, a pen, and some creativity. I prepared my cards with some words that my students can talk about including computers, football, movies.

The rules are simple. One student starts voluntarily or you may know how to choose him/her :) Then, the one chooses one card among a group of cards, one word on each. The student has 30 seconds to think and then s/he is supposed to talk about the word on the card for a minute without saying errr, uhmmm, oh, welll.

I know this is not easy, but it is fun and when students accept the challenge, you can see them controling their speech and producing more accurate and fluent sentences. If you believe that your students will be frustrated, you can change the time interval - 30 seconds maybe or you can simple give your students 3 mistake chance and they will have a better opportunity to speak.

Have fun!
Ayca

Great Websites and Apps

With the advance of technology and smart phones, the dynamics of the class have already changed. Students from different backgrounds, age, and level groups are surfing the internet almost everywhere, but can we help them use the internet in a smart way to improve their English?

I can hear you saying a big "Yes!".
Then, here are my favorite websites and apps.

https://www.coursera.org/

Coursera is a website letting you have online lesson notes, watch videos, do some activities, and even receive a certificate if you complete an online course. Moreover, it's free!

http://www.sparknotes.com/sparknotes/

I remember my literature courses when I suffered and tried so hard to understand Shakespeare! I needed some support to understand basics of Psychology and Sociology. If the case is similar to you or your students, here is Sparknotes. It is a great website for people who are interested in works of literature, mythology, or other subjects with lots of explanations, summaries, examples, and tests.

http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm

Not everybody is lucky enough to be student in MIT. However, if you have an access to the internet, you can also have an access to the materials of MIT courses. What a great source!

http://www.hackcollege.com/

I adore blogs and read them constantly, but this blog is a must if one is a students. With the slogan of "Work smarter, not harder", the website gives some great tips on college life. Simple, but effective!

https://www.pinterest.com/

I don't believe you if you still don't have a pinterest account. It is an amazing micro blogging website based on visuals and you can start having fun. Pinterest offers many categories and I'm sure there is one for everyone.

http://getpocket.com/

Do you find amazing articles, visuals, or websites, but don't know how to save them. Then, Pocket is for you. It is a simple application saving your e-mail adress and when you have a link to save, all you need to do is to send it in an e-mail to add@getpocket.com from the registered e-mail address.

https://www.quizup.com/

This is madness! This is fun! QuizUp is a game app and you can take some quizzes on almost every subject online. My favorite is "spelling" for sure, but be careful! When you start, it is hard to stop!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/

You must have heard or visited "buzzfeed.com" once. It is so popular, but this website deserves its credit. An amazing website on life, entertainment, news, video, and more. Easy to read and definitely contributing!

http://www.ted.com/

Well, I know... TedTalks is very famous, but I cannot take myself talking about it every time I have an opportunity because it is great! No matter who you are - a teacher or a student - you can watch videos on so many different topics, use them as clas activities, assign them as an assignment, and all of them are inspirational. Also, there is an app for it, so please do click it :)

http://www.thersa.org/events/rsaanimate

This website is another great one and it is somehow for advanced learners, but still I love it. RSA, explains all the complex concepts in the simplest way: by using animations. All the videos are so much fun and attracting, so if you want to discover, go for it!


Do you have any favorites?
...and yes, this post is a bit long, but if you are interested please keep sharing. :)

For the love of learning,
Ayca