Copy of Music in English Teaching Part 2 Movies

For my students.

Teaching with Technology: Week 1

 

 

This is Nellie's introduction to the Teaching with Technology online course.

And this is Dr. Nellie's article describing not only this particular course , but also some basic information about education online.

 http://www.wiziq.com/teachblog/teaching-with-technology/

I followed the instructions and set my course; https://www.wiziq.com/course/95228-halina-s-conversational-english

I also conducted the first live class;

http://www.wiziq.com/online-class/2438529-introduction-to-halina-s-conversational-english-course

The meeting was very nice. It was a great pleasure to have a wonderful conversation with my online friends such as ;

 

Iwona Filip, Poland

Brian Boneham, United Kingdom

Nives Torresi, Italy

Jakub Kalinowski, Poland

Guadalupe Ortega, Mexico

María Jesús García San Martín, Spain

Prem Kumar Behera, Indie

Generally speaking, it was supposed to be an introduction to the values of being fluent in English as well as how not to learn foreign languages to escape from widespread learning mistakes.

I was presenting my teaching and learning experience and we were talking about our tutoring methods and discussing a value of English for communication approach.

 

Welcome to Halina's Conversational English

Halina's Conversational English Online

 

Join this free online course on WizIQ.

Are you unsatisfied with your level of English?

Would you like to become a fluent, as well as a forward-thinking speaker?
If yes, my course is exactly for you!

Course Highlights

• This course will help you to become fluent in English
• Astonishing learning methods that work in reality
• Make unbelievable progress through self-study; I'll be your tutor

Opening Meeting Class on WizIQ

http://www.wiziq.com/online-class/2438529-introduction-to-halina-s-conversational-english-course

 

The first class on the 17th of January 2015 is about meeting and getting to know each other.

The main topic is covering a short introduction to the values of being fluent in English as well as how not to learn foreign languages to escape from widespread learning mistakes.

Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova - Falling Slowly

 

 

Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová – Falling Slowly (from Once – The Movie)

Dave Dodgson: A year in review. Three Quick Ideas to Start your 2015 Classes | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC

Dave Dodgson: A year in review. Three Quick Ideas to Start your 2015 Classes | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC

 

Idea 1 - R&R: Reflections and Resolutions

An obvious angle to go for at the start of the New Year is Resolutions. However, this lesson can often have the same problems as resolutions themselves – generic, hollow, and something that is quickly abandoned or forgotten.

However, a couple of years ago while focusing on reflective practice during my MA course, I decided to apply some of the principles of teacher reflection to a New Year’s lesson for my students and the results were much better and it has now become a recurring feature of my late December/early January teaching.

1. First of all, I ask students to think about everything they did, were a part of, or witnessed in the year just gone. Their first task is to identify and list the three best things from the year. This is done as a silent individual activity with plenty of thinking time – it’s often harder for people to remember the good things than the bad!
    
2. Next, the students pair up to compare their personal ‘best of’ lists with plenty of questions encouraged.
    
3. To complete the T-P-S (Think-Pair-Share) cycle, each student shares what their partner told them with the rest of the class.
    
4. Now time to focus on the things that could have gone better. Again, students get thinking time to consider what didn’t work out so well (whether through their own involvement or something beyond their control) but they must also identify why these events could have been better. I generally tell them to stick to one or two things so the overall tone of the lesson remains positive.
    
5. Steps 2 and 3 are repeated as the students compare and discuss with a partner before sharing with the class.
    
6. And now for the resolution part. Focusing on those things that could have been better, the students must decide what they can personally do in the New Year to address these shortcomings, solve these problems, or make these improvements. Their goal in this stage is to write out two specific and focused resolutions (with help from the teacher to modify and reformulate when necessary).
    
7. These can then be shared either orally or through Post-Its on the wall or a class blog if you are into that kind of thing. Don’t forget that students will appreciate their teacher taking part in this process too!

Idea 2 - The best (and worst) of 2014

This is a more recent idea that I have used in the last couple of years as part of my game-based learning classes but it could just as easily be done with films, TV shows, music, or books if your students are not gamers.

Depending on what your class are interested in, before the lesson you should pick out one of the many ‘best of’ lists that circulate on websites and in the wider media at this time of year*. Try to keep it short – a top 5 is enough and it shouldn’t be more than a top 10. For low level classes, a simple list will do. Higher levels might be willing to get to grips with the write-ups that accompany the picks as well.

*There is an alternative to this, which is presented below.

The rest of this brief write-up will use games as an example but the principles are the same whatever media you choose.

1. Start with a discussion question: What new games did you buy/play this year? Again, give some thinking time before asking the students to compare their ideas in pairs and groups. In the whole class discussion, direct the class to identify which games they enjoyed and which ones were disappointing (it might be a good idea to get some of the titles up on the board).
    
2. Present each pair/group with the list you picked out before the lesson. Tell them which website/media source it is from and stress that it is just an opinion. Ask them to read through the choices and discuss whether or not they agree.
    
3. Task each group with drawing up their own ‘best of’ list for the previous year. How they do so is up to them – they might try to reach a group consensus, they could each choose one or two titles to go on a list, or they could vote. They must be ready to explain their choices to the rest of the class afterwards.
    
4. Higher level students could be asked to prepare an article introducing each game and explaining why it was chosen.
    
5. At the end of the lesson, students can refer back to the games from the past year they didn’t like and make an alternative list of ‘the worst games of 2014’. If you have time, you could present them with another article to kick-start the activity (plenty of the same websites that present ‘best of’ lists also have ‘worst of’ round-ups).

*As an alternative, you could not pick out a list for students to look at before the lesson and instead ask each group to search online for a list of the ‘best games of 2014’ and present it to the class This is a nice way to hand control over to the students.
 

Idea 3 – Word of the Year

This is a new one I tried out just before Christmas when I read a news story that the ‘word of the year’ for 2014 (as chosen by the Oxford Dictionary of English) was ‘vape’ (as in the action of using e-cigarettes). This is a rough outline of how I did the lesson:

1. Write the word ‘vape’ on the board and ask if anyone knows what it means. If they don’t (my students didn’t), ask them to first guess and then look it up (they will need to look it up online to find the meaning). If they do, great! Ask the person who knows to explain what it means and go to the next step.
    
2. Ask the students if they can work out why you presented them with this word (if they had to look it up online in step 1, they may have found the answer while searching; if they already knew, they may have to get searching now). Invite discussion as to why this was chosen as the word of the year.
    
3. Discuss with students how new words enter languages, especially their own native languages. Is it through common use? Featuring in a dictionary? Through an official establishment? (As many of my students are French speakers, we had an interesting discussion about the Académie Française and I also told them about the Turkish equivalent, the Türk Dil Kurumu).
    
4. Get the students to research previous ‘words of the year’ (they may also find an American version, which makes for interesting comparison). Did they know any of these words already? Which ones did they find the most interesting/bizarre? Why do they think these words were chosen? (One interesting trend my students spotted were the number of words relating to economic problems like squeezed middle and credit crunch, as well as the environmentally themed words like carbon footprint and social media related phrases like selfie, which they felt reflected our times).
    
5. Make a prediction – what words have been circulating in the media recently and could be the word of 2015?

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/davedodgson/dave-dodgson-a-year-review-three-quick-ideas-start-your-2015-classes?utm_source=07+January+2015&utm_campaign=ConstantContact+5+November+2014&utm_medium=email

Teaching with Technology

http://www.wiziq.com/teachblog/whats-ahead-2015/

 

 

Teachers will Learn to Blend and Flip your Classes with Technology. The course is available from January 5 – December 4, 2015.

The course offers new, veteran, and future teachers theoretical and practical knowledge on how to teach and learn using technology. The topics of the course will focus on applying the science of learning, ways to transform teachers, promote a learning partnership with students, will how to set up team and motivate students to become lifelong learners, and finally to teach small chunks in a live online class or micro teaching in pairs. Teachers will develop a philosophy of education statement and learn how to share it with the world.

Link to enrol: https://www.wiziq.com/course/92339-teaching-with-technology

 

By Dr. Nellie Deutsch

Elvis Presley, Martina McBride - Blue Christmas

 

I'll have a Blue Christmas without you
I'll be so blue thinking about you
Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree
Won't be the same dear, if you're not here with me

And when those blue snowflakes start falling
That's when those blue memories start calling
Youll be doin all right, with your christmas of white
But I'll have a blue, blue blue blue christmas
You'll be doin' all right, with your Christmas of white,
But I'll have a blue, blue Christmas  

 

From " The Travelling Teachers: A Christmas Carol: a flipped lesson."

The Travelling Teachers: A Christmas Carol: a flipped lesson.: Every year at Christmas time I talk about A Christmas Carol in my classes for many different reasons. It is a wonderful Christmas t

"Weird" Al Yankovic - Amish Paradise

 

 

 

What is – "Paradise" –

What is –  "Paradise" –

Who live there –

Are they "Farmers" –

Do they "hoe" –

Do they know that this is "Amherst" –

And that I –  am coming –  too –

Do they wear "new shoes" –  in "Eden" –

Is it always pleasant –  there –

Won't they scold us –  when we're hungry –

Or tell God –  how cross we are –

You are sure there's such a person

As "a Father" –  in the sky –

So if I get lost –  there –  ever –

Or do what the Nurse calls "die" –

I shan't walk the "Jasper" –  barefoot –

Ransomed folks –  won't laugh at me –

Maybe –  "Eden" a'n't so lonesome

As New England used to be!

                                                            F241 (1861)  215

We learn here that Dickinson found New England “lonesome.”

 

Coolio Feat L.V. & Stevie Wonder - Gangstas Paradise (Live @ 1995 Billbo...

Cabaret - Teaching English with Songs from the Movies

Micro Teaching on Songs with Halina and Brian

HALINA'S LEARNING, TEACHING AND MUCH MORE....: Songs toTeach English and More

HALINA'S LEARNING, TEACHING AND MUCH MORE....:

 Songs to Teach English and More:  Don McLean - Vincent ( Starry, Starry Night) With Lyrics Don McLean's Vincent (Starry,Starry Night) Almost all images created by...

Songs toTeach English and More

 Don McLean - Vincent ( Starry, Starry Night) With Lyrics

Don McLean's Vincent (Starry,Starry Night) Almost all images created by Vincent Van- Gogh. Song by Don McLean I in no way assume any credit for song or images.

• Music "Vincent" by Don McLean 

• Artist Don McLean

• Category Music

• License Standard You Tube License

What is important in Education?

I am going to talk about active teaching.

For me - teaching online is using technology in the classroom; as an additional method of traditional teaching.

I am for blended learning which means - taking advantage of both, traditional f2f techniques and possibilities given by new technologies.

Some say that: participants in online classes seemed to be more involved and engaged in lesson activities than students in traditional classes.

In my view, we can activate our learners, in the same way, in both situations.

Getting decent communication in different educational settings requires altered teaching approaches.

This way we can change them from passive learners to active students.

But how to help them learn actively and meaningfully, it is a separate issue.

Active learning includes providing chances for students to discuss and listen meaningfully, write, read, and reflect on the content, ideas, issues, and concerns of an academic subject.

(Meyers & Jones, 1993, p. 6)

Confucius’s aphorism:

I hear, and I forget. I see, and I remember. I do, and I understand.

(Page 75 Instruction at FSU Handbook 2011)

Should not be forgotten.

By doing and practicing, we build our long-term memory library.

Short term recollection is formed mostly by memorizing, which is, unfortunately, assessed in the majority of schools.

My experience tells that I ought to practice active learning principles to progress activities for my students that best mirror my particular communication style. What is more, I choose the subjects, forms of thinking, and strategies to solve the problems that should be understood and relate to the topics.

This method will help me to create “active learners”.

Looking for answers to the most common questions: what, when, where, who, why, why don't, how, etc. is always the starting point.

As a result of our discussion - we can put together part of incompetent content knowledgeable student with fully involved learner and self-motivated thinker.

Traditional education focuses on teaching, not learning. In most schools, memorization is mistaken for learning. Taking part in free study lessons and online Speaking Groups, will help a lot. This would also increase our confidence in speaking, as well as improve vocabulary and pronunciation. Additional excellent setting to practice is   Virtual Classroom such as WizIQ, where teachers would encourage us to work on all language skills.

Standards for Foreign Language Learning

Communication

Communicate in Languages Other Than English

Standard 1.1: Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information,

express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions.

Standard 1.2: Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a

variety of topics.

Standard 1.3: Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of

listeners or readers on a variety of topics.

In my view, the most important skill to master is speaking the language. Communication is a difficult assignment especially if you don’t live or work in a native speaking count. We can look for reliable supports to talk to via Skype. It is essential to find someone whom we’re comfortable talking to. The process of natural assimilation, involving intuition and subconscious learning. It is the product of real interactions between people in environments of the target language and culture, where the learner is an active player. It is similar to the way children learn their native tongue, a process that produces functional skill in the spoken language without theoretical knowledge. It develops familiarity with the phonetic characteristics of the language as well as its structure and vocabulary, and is responsible for oral understanding, the capability for creative communication and the identification of cultural values.

A classic example of second language acquisition is the adolescents and young adults that live abroad for a year in an exchange program, often attaining near native fluency, while knowing little about the language. They have a good pronunciation without a notion of phonology, don't know what the perfect tense is, modal or phrasal verbs are, but they intuitively recognize and know how to use all the structures.

The traditional approach to the study of languages and today is still practiced in high schools worldwide. Attention is focused on the language in its written form, and the objective is for the student to understand the structure and rules of the language, whose parts are dissected and analyzed. The task requires intellectual effort and deductive reasoning. The body is of greater importance than communication. Teaching and learning are technical and based on the syllabus. One studies the theory in the absence of the practice. One values the correct and represses the incorrect. Error correction is constant leaving little room for spontaneity. The teacher is an authority figure, and the participation of the student is predominantly passive. Schools will teach how to form interrogative and negative sentences, force to memorize irregular verbs, study modal verbs, etc., Therefore, students hardly ever masters the use of these structures in conversation.

The efficient teaching of languages isn't that tied to a packaged course of structured lessons based on grammatical sequencing, translation or oral drilling, nor is the one that relies on technological resources. Well-organized teaching is personalized, takes place in a bicultural environment and is based on the personal skills of the facilitator in building relationships and creating situations of real communication with comprehensible input focusing on the learner's interests.

Krashen, Stephen D.  Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition.  Prentice-Hall International, 1987.

Krashen, Stephen D.  Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning.  Prentice-Hall International, 1988.

Web source:
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/the-objective-of-education-is-learning-not-teaching/_truncated
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http://summit.k12.co.us/curriculum/forenlang/forenlang.htm_truncated
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http://cet.usc.edu/resources/teaching_learning/docs/Active_Learning_Florida.pdf_truncated