Day 5

Let s revise Blogging!

The main steps to the creation of a blog are:
1. posts
2. labels
3. formatting
4. extra pages
5. gadgets
6. design
7. settings (you can, for example, add authors to your blog)
8. themes (on the left)



Golden Rules
n.7 : Consistency  is a MUST.
n.8 : CONTENT IS KING (not theme, design....)

If you want to get more familiar and have some tips about how to use a blog in class, please have a look at this video. Author? No need to tell you, I suppose!!

Next , http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/

an astonishingly rich website with plenty of activities for different levels. 

The same author also created a similar website for lower levels (PET students): listenaminute.com

Teaching Tips
The activities in these two websites are automatically generated so not everything is perfect but in general two activities are great: Text Jumble and No letters.

An example of a combined activity:
- listening activity + note taking
- in couples discuss what you heard
- second listening.
- final discussion

While organizing activities, let’s keep in mind they should be:
· Communicative
· Engaging
· User-friendly
· Contextualized
· Personalized
· Affective


In group activities:

- competition is highly motivating so teachers should create it.
- the cut off point of an activity is when the first group has finished (unless you have another connected activity planned ).
- you can also set a fixed time. Not important if the students haven' t finished it.

Now, some new technology! Screen Capture
It is/can be used in many situations.
In education , mainly for audio feedback (by the way, this is what Russell Stannard got many prizes for!!!)

We can receive our students’ digital text texts , give them an oral feedback (grammar, vocabulary, spelling, text cohesion, content…) highlighting the text in a different colour and recording whatever we do on the screen.
Advantages? Many!!!
- highly individual
- motivating
- a general feedback to the class when same mistakes are repeated by many
- general feedback are reusable for the teachers!!
- students feel they are important to the teacher!!!
- while getting the feedback they will be listening and reading at the same time
- big amount of feedback can be given
- a form of distant learning but students will feel the teacher’s presence
- it tells much more than a simple “good”
- negative feedback can be made softer , more polite, less direct

Where else is screen capture used?
- tutorials about technology
- online courses
- pronunciation activities
-describing pictures
- flipped classes
- students can record themselves while presenting a PowerPoint presentation      and here's the feedback! ready made for teachers and students alike.
- give instructions about exams (PET, FIRST…)
- explain grammar rules
- record any lesson 

How can we get this Screen Capture technology?
Some is for free: Jing, Screencast-o- matic, Camstudio;
Some have a cost: SnagIt (30 $ , once in a lifetime), Camtasia.

Now, let's have a look at 10 different ways to use Screen Capture in class!