Their Past, Your Future is a website about different teaching subjects and it shows objectives and activities to practice with pupils.Mainly, the website is targeted at teachers who want to encourage young people to explore the impact of different History facts on the present.
This site meets perfectly teacher´s and pupil´s needs and interests because it answers to the each subject´s points.
The content is clearly organized in different subjects, in each subject there are different themes and each theme is clearly structured:
a. Introduction
b. Activities
c. Aims and objectives
d. Skills
e. Activity, behaviour and progression
f. Enjoyment, inspiration and creativity
g. Attitudes and values
h. Knowledge and understanding
i. Downloadable documents
There is enough text and it isn´t visually very attractive because there are a few images and there is no video.
It´s very easy to navigate around the site but the readers have no opportunity to interact with the content.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
A review onTeaching English web site.
I would like to make a little review of the website English Teachers and learners of English like myself can use.I think it is a very interesting web for self use because there are exercices with keys.
On the one hand, the activities that they propose focus on the more difficult issues of English in order to make learners aware of their problems. On the other hand, the materials and exercices are funny as well as interactive.
As far as presentation is concerned there are photograps,colourful pictures that makes it most attractive.There are links to connect the home page with the rest of the sections so you have free access to lots of web pages.
Skills such as pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary interest me most but as I teach Spanish language and Literature the Britlit will be one of my favourite ones.
On the one hand, the activities that they propose focus on the more difficult issues of English in order to make learners aware of their problems. On the other hand, the materials and exercices are funny as well as interactive.
As far as presentation is concerned there are photograps,colourful pictures that makes it most attractive.There are links to connect the home page with the rest of the sections so you have free access to lots of web pages.
Skills such as pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary interest me most but as I teach Spanish language and Literature the Britlit will be one of my favourite ones.
Review of Britlit
This is a review of a page which might be very useful for English teachers: britlit
On this page we can find several short stories and poems written by British authors. You can not only print the whole text but listen to it and work on the different activities and teacher's tips attached to them.
One of the good things about it is that you are in touch with real language which you can also listen to as it is read by native speakers.
Another very good thing is that if you are short for time everything is already there for you to use, you only have to download the activities you want your students to work with.
The available resources are divided according to your students' age, that is, primary, secondary and teens.
On the left of the page you can find a selection of texts. Every text includes a short description on the piece of literature we're going to work with.
I'd recommend this page for every teacher looking for something different to the sort of texts found in English cousebooks .
On this page we can find several short stories and poems written by British authors. You can not only print the whole text but listen to it and work on the different activities and teacher's tips attached to them.
One of the good things about it is that you are in touch with real language which you can also listen to as it is read by native speakers.
Another very good thing is that if you are short for time everything is already there for you to use, you only have to download the activities you want your students to work with.
The available resources are divided according to your students' age, that is, primary, secondary and teens.
On the left of the page you can find a selection of texts. Every text includes a short description on the piece of literature we're going to work with.
I'd recommend this page for every teacher looking for something different to the sort of texts found in English cousebooks .
Algebra Introduction www.algebra.com
In this page, we introduce into algebra
http://www.algebra.com/
in this address you are going to understand about algebra.
How it goes.
You click on the word and then you go to the page.
Whom is directed to ?.
In general terms, it's for secondary stage, indeedly you are going to see all about Algebra.
Main Features.
It provides activities and resources:
. Use more motiviting tasks for ours today's students.
. Giving them the chance of using English language in a practical idiomatic context.
. With internet in an interesting and enjoyable way to approach maths and science language and of course English.
Negative Points.
Some explanations, problems and activities are focused on some specific problems and examples.
BBC education review (by Palm Tree)
The website I've chosen is the "BBC learning site". In this site there are different places to visit depending on what you need. There are resources for adult learners, parents, teachers and school students.
In addition there are resources according to different subjects like history, science, maths, food and catering, gardening, languages and so on.
In the English section you can find more links which lead to free online texts from classic fiction to English Grammar Guides, pets and writers, advices to teach English, etc. But the most remarkable thing I could find is that there is a link to the British Council website, which means to me that this school is not only known in Bilbao, but in more cities in Europe.
In the l"word service" section there are videos about phonetic with subtitles.
I think that in this site there are more resources than I can use in my lifetime.
In addition there are resources according to different subjects like history, science, maths, food and catering, gardening, languages and so on.
In the English section you can find more links which lead to free online texts from classic fiction to English Grammar Guides, pets and writers, advices to teach English, etc. But the most remarkable thing I could find is that there is a link to the British Council website, which means to me that this school is not only known in Bilbao, but in more cities in Europe.
In the l"word service" section there are videos about phonetic with subtitles.
I think that in this site there are more resources than I can use in my lifetime.
Heziberri web site review
Heziberri website´s aim is to review education in the Basque Country. It opens a space for reflection and thinking how education here meet the challenge of innovation in Europe.
It is a collaborative project between the following organisations: The European Forum of Educational Administration EFEA, Education, Universities and Research Department of Basque Government, Innobasque and Jakiunde.
All people concerned with education can find interesting points to share with each other.
The information is clearly organized, at a glance you can grasp the whole content. At the top of the page you can find four tabs with the main focuses. On the left side from up to down three more tabs offer you the opportunity to participate in a blog, to get to know some new materials and find out about other people's experiences.
All of this is illustrated with images and also includs videos and it is easy to navigate around the site.
All in all, in my opinion it is worth, visit it.
It is a collaborative project between the following organisations: The European Forum of Educational Administration EFEA, Education, Universities and Research Department of Basque Government, Innobasque and Jakiunde.
All people concerned with education can find interesting points to share with each other.
The information is clearly organized, at a glance you can grasp the whole content. At the top of the page you can find four tabs with the main focuses. On the left side from up to down three more tabs offer you the opportunity to participate in a blog, to get to know some new materials and find out about other people's experiences.
All of this is illustrated with images and also includs videos and it is easy to navigate around the site.
All in all, in my opinion it is worth, visit it.
Their Past, Your Future
Their Past, Your Future is a website about different teaching subjects and it shows objectives and activities to practice with pupils.
Mainly, the website is targeted at teachers who want to encourage young people to explore the impact of different History facts on the present.This site meets perfectly teacher´s and pupil´s needs and interests because it answers to the each subject´s points. The content is clearly organized in different subjects, in each subject there are different themes and each theme is clearly structured:
a. Introduction
b. Activities
c. Aims and objectives
d. Skills
e. Activity, behaviour and progression
f. Enjoyment, inspiration and creativity
g. Attitudes and values
h. Knowledge and understanding
i. Downloadable documents
There is enough text and it isn´t visually very attractive because there are a few images and there is no video.
It´s very easy to navigate around the site but the readers have no opportunity to interact with the content.
Mainly, the website is targeted at teachers who want to encourage young people to explore the impact of different History facts on the present.This site meets perfectly teacher´s and pupil´s needs and interests because it answers to the each subject´s points. The content is clearly organized in different subjects, in each subject there are different themes and each theme is clearly structured:
a. Introduction
b. Activities
c. Aims and objectives
d. Skills
e. Activity, behaviour and progression
f. Enjoyment, inspiration and creativity
g. Attitudes and values
h. Knowledge and understanding
i. Downloadable documents
There is enough text and it isn´t visually very attractive because there are a few images and there is no video.
It´s very easy to navigate around the site but the readers have no opportunity to interact with the content.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Review on Elkarrekin website
Elkarrekin.org is a useful website for teachers in the Basque country.
It has an open section that everybody can consult, with its interface in Basque, Spanish, English and French, though the articles and materials inside are mostly in Basque and Spanish.
In the tabs shown on the home page you can find interesting links to other educational webs of other parts of the state, which provide a wide range of materials we can use as teachers with our students. Some of them offer materials in Catalan and Gallego too.
By clicking on the tabs you have also access to a library on line, which is not very complete but leads you to other websites where you can find what you are looking for.
You have also the option of going to blogs, webquests or treasure hunts made by other teachers that work for the Basque?( Only Bizkaia, Araba, and Gipuzkoa) government in public schools, which can be an interesting option if they are updated from time to time. I’ve tried some of them and I’ve discovered that a large number of them are not. I think it should be controlled in one way or another. Otherwise it takes a long time to find something interesting.
If you want to have access to the private side you must become member of the website. Then you can also meet other teachers and work all together in groups. This is really good as you can share your experiences and school materials with other teachers.You can create your own blog or website too, and you can find courses on line as well.
Finally, there are some links to the pages of the Department of Education and there you have access to useful information about your job such as Garatu Courses, laws that rules our day to day work and so on.
It has an open section that everybody can consult, with its interface in Basque, Spanish, English and French, though the articles and materials inside are mostly in Basque and Spanish.
In the tabs shown on the home page you can find interesting links to other educational webs of other parts of the state, which provide a wide range of materials we can use as teachers with our students. Some of them offer materials in Catalan and Gallego too.
By clicking on the tabs you have also access to a library on line, which is not very complete but leads you to other websites where you can find what you are looking for.
You have also the option of going to blogs, webquests or treasure hunts made by other teachers that work for the Basque?( Only Bizkaia, Araba, and Gipuzkoa) government in public schools, which can be an interesting option if they are updated from time to time. I’ve tried some of them and I’ve discovered that a large number of them are not. I think it should be controlled in one way or another. Otherwise it takes a long time to find something interesting.
If you want to have access to the private side you must become member of the website. Then you can also meet other teachers and work all together in groups. This is really good as you can share your experiences and school materials with other teachers.You can create your own blog or website too, and you can find courses on line as well.
Finally, there are some links to the pages of the Department of Education and there you have access to useful information about your job such as Garatu Courses, laws that rules our day to day work and so on.
The Ancient Greeks
www.arwhead.com/Greeks/
This is an educational web site about Greece and Athenians of Ancient Greece. Their beliefs, entertainments and the methods in which they lived. This site is intended for educational purposes.
It is an excellent site with good information for children, but maybe some links are missing or there aren't enough of them.
But there are only texts, without images. There are big letters and colours and you can find everything about Ancient Greece. Daily life, education and culture and a lot of Bibliography.
It is easy to navigate because you can always go to the main page.
Appropriate for upper elementary and up.
It includes lessons, homework assignments and quizzes to download.
Environmental Kids Club
When we were asked to write a review of an educational web site I immediately thought about this web. Maybe because I’ve been able to use it successfully although I’m not that one with the ‘scientific touch’.
http://www.epa.gov/kids/ is the address where you can log in it
Who is it directed at?
Its target users cover a wide range of age from 7/8 years old to High School students. The users are supposed to speak English or, at least, be able to understand it in different levels.
Of course, to all those teachers who want to use the English language as a learning language, or to get it closer to their students.
Negative points
Be careful with some activities because they are too focused on some North American specific problems and examples. Actually the website belongs to the Environmental Protection Agency of the United Estates.
http://www.epa.gov/kids/ is the address where you can log in it
How it works?
As you can see in the picture above, Environmental kids club has an easy interface that allows both teachers and students going through different environmental subjects and activities by clicking on the images related to them.
When the user chooses one of the images, he goes to another page which offers tasks, games, information about the specific subject, or links with other web sites.
According to the goal he wants to reach, the user is allowed to decide what to do.
Who is it directed at?
Its target users cover a wide range of age from 7/8 years old to High School students. The users are supposed to speak English or, at least, be able to understand it in different levels.
Of course, to all those teachers who want to use the English language as a learning language, or to get it closer to their students.
Main features
● It provides activities and resources for both the classroom and the teacher in order to:
a) Use more motivating tasks for our students.
b) Giving them the chance of using English language in a practical idiomatic
context.
c) Using INT in an interesting and enjoyable way to approach both learning
aims, environmental science and English.
● It allows the teacher to choose the activity according with the students’ English knowledge.
● It provides help and advice to teachers on the environmental subjects given also a wide range of links with other websites
● It’s easy to use it. It’s no necessary to know very much about computers.
Negative points
Be careful with some activities because they are too focused on some North American specific problems and examples. Actually the website belongs to the Environmental Protection Agency of the United Estates.
review on theBritishCouncil´sTeachingEnglishWebsite
As a new user of this site I am amazed to see how much information one can get from a single website.It is just one but it compiles so many sections that one could spend a lifetime on it.So after having a quick look at the Home page to have an overall view of this website´s contents, I personally would spend the very little time work and family matters let me by concentrating on the Try section.
Why the Try Section above the other five (Think,Talk,Transform,About Us and Help ones)? Well,because though these last ones look most attractive, on the Try one there are activities and links which I myself as teacher and my students can make most of them.
I´m afraid in this Internet world one has to be very selective and go straight into the matter, otherwise time can fly while browsing the website with very little profit.
Why the Try Section above the other five (Think,Talk,Transform,About Us and Help ones)? Well,because though these last ones look most attractive, on the Try one there are activities and links which I myself as teacher and my students can make most of them.
I´m afraid in this Internet world one has to be very selective and go straight into the matter, otherwise time can fly while browsing the website with very little profit.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Further pronunciation practice
Here are some web sites I recommend for further practice:
- Use minimal pairs to practise long, short and similar vowel sounds
- A real fun way of practising your pronunciation by singing along to your favourite songs. Log in first to get access to all the songs.
- Good demonstrations of using intonation in a series of videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2bHdXcszJ4, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh6kUsJcu3k, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k80wiT0t2rc&NR=1, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLGJb63mkyA&feature=channel
- Listen and practise the sounds in the interactive pronunciation chart
- Investigate the production of the different sounds
- My complete list of pronunciation sites grouped under headings
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Writing a review of an educational web site
You should have by now decided on the web site that you want to review. Think about the following:
Before you write your review, make notes about what your main points are. Think about how you are going to link your ideas together and how you are going to present them, for example in blocks of text or in bullet points.
There’s useful information about using linking words in English at these websites:
- What audience is the web site targeted at? Does it meet their needs and interests?
- Is the content clearly organized? Is there too much or too little text? Is it visually attractive? Does it include useful images or videos?
- Is it easy to navigate around the site to find the material that you are interested in?
- Does it give its readers the opportunity to interact with the content provided e.g. are there forums or the opportunity to comment?
Before you write your review, make notes about what your main points are. Think about how you are going to link your ideas together and how you are going to present them, for example in blocks of text or in bullet points.
There’s useful information about using linking words in English at these websites:
- http://www.vivquarry.com/wkshts/linkwd.html
- http://www.english-at-home.com/grammar/linking-words/
- And if you want to practice using linking words, there are some good exercises on http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/writing/linking/index.htm
- Go to https://www.blogger.com/start and sign in (email account + password for Google)
- Click on NEW POST
- Don’t forget to give your post a title
- From time to time click on SAVE NOW to save your post
- To return to it (if you haven’t published it already), open the blog and click on the orange B icon at the top, left hand corner of the window and then on Edit Posts. You’ll find your post in the list of all the posts on the blog with draft written next to it.
- Add links to the relevant pages of your web site by using the link icon on the toolbar of the post window
- Don’t forget to do a spellcheck by clicking on the ABC icon
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Presenting a recipe task
- Let’s look at a video from videojug. Pay particular attention to the sentence stress and intonation. Look at the text version by clicking on the tab.
- Work in pairs. Choose a recipe from this selection on videojug. Watch you video through first. Check the text version, make a note of any new vocabulary and listen again, if necessary, to how the word is pronounced in the video.
- Your task is to prepare yourselves to explain your recipe to someone who hasn’t watched the video.
- Now change partners and explain your recipes to each other.
- Work in pairs. Decide what new recipe you are going to present. Try and make it a simple one!
- Make notes on the different steps for completing your recipe – but don’t write the steps out in full. Decide which of the 2 of you is going to cover which steps. Think about and practice your sentence stress and intonation.
- Find and download some photos of your ingredients or prepared dish using google image search or flickrstorm
- We are going look at voicethread a free online resource we’re going to use for presenting recipes. Here’s a tutorial on using voicethread.
- Upload your photos to voicethread and record the steps of your recipe using your photos as visual aids (don’t try to use one for each step!).
- Embed your voicethread on the blog. Click on Embed button at the bottom of the voicethread page, copy the code and then paste it in the Edit Html tab of your post on the blog.
How do we react to new technologies?
Seeing this video you will feel that you are not the only one having problems with new technologies
i don't like mondays
here are the lyrics
because i just heard it this morning on the radio when i was driving my car to come here
I´m a believer
Here are the lyrics or below:
I thought love was only true in fairy tales.
Meant for someone else but not for me
Love was out to get me, thats the way it seemed
Disappointment haunted all my dreams
And then I saw her face
Now Im a believer
Not a trace of doubt in my mind
Im in love
Im a believer I couldnt leave her if I tried
We chose this song to make your day a wonderful one
you were always on my mind- Pet shop boys
Here are the lyrics
That's the perfect song to fall in love with.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
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