Thursday 30 August 2012

To produce a movie for free you will need the following apps

Windows Live Movie Maker
If you have
Audacity (audio clipping/trimming)
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
(for animation)
Photoscape (JPEG TO GIF converter)
http://www.photoscape.org/ps/main/index.php
Movies13 (GIF to AVI converter)
http://jansfreeware.com/jfgraphics.htm
A portable drive like this can only help:
http://www.redcoon.pl/B242355-Intenso-Memory-Station-500-GB_Przeno%C5%9Bne-do-25#39#39

Audacity for free audio editing for movies

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Good Books (A growing list)

http://www.nowaera.pl/opis-serii/english-explorer.html

All real, no realia.

And a few more links

http://lessonstream.org/browse-lessons/
Free short language lessons.

http://en.islcollective.com/worksheets/worksheet_page?id=2305
This is the worksheet we saw.

http://pinterest.com
Use this to find them! Join up required.

Use this link to get a bigger dropbox

http://db.tt/fXr0f5Wk

Wednesday 29 August 2012

I want to ask the questions, said the student.

An interesting video, I like its guerilla production value, it focuses on its message and does it well, using the materials at hand.

Teachers must never wait until they have the tools they think they need.

Do what you can now, with whatever you have now.


Warsaw Summer School 2012 curated list

This list changes. It is not exhaustive. That's what Google is for.

These are my top tools:
http://prezi.com/
Save time, search for a prezi presentation someone else has started, make a copy, fix it/finish it/adapt it to your needs. No point re-inventing the wheel.

http://www.frse.org.pl/
Get involved with a community of teachers to organize multinational projects.

http://www.reddit.com/r/TEFL/
Reddit divides its content into subreddits. I recommend you search only within subreddits in your area of interest.

http://qrcode.kaywa.com/
This is a way to make QR codes for free. I am currently experimenting with homework assignments using QR codes and even class-based use for cheap augmented reality lessons.

These are some of the tools I use:

http://www.facebook.com
You need to make it easy for students and teachers to find you. If you don't have the time to curate a your profile I recommend you don't have one at all.
http://www.linkedin.com
This is your professional profile and within LinkedIn, there are groups of professionals in ELT around the world who can help you. I belong to three groups: TEFL Institute, English Teachers Anonymous, ESL teachers on languagespirit (pending).

Transparency is increasingly important. Being a teacher has never been more of a public profession than it is today.

These are tools I am looking into:

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/08/the-21-signs-you-are-21st-century.html?goback=%2Emyg

These are tools I find interesting but don't recommend except for digerati:

http://moodle.org/


Czy podręczniki będą zbędne...? / Will coursebooks be obsolete...?

I gave this talk in 2012 at the National Library of Warsaw at the "Od Ala ma kota do e-matury" conference.

It was an intensely rewarding day with speakers concerned with design of educational materials drawn from across Europe.

Find out more at: http://eunic-alamakota.pl/


Warsaw Summer School 2012

This bog is part of my contribution to an intensive teacher training course organized by Naukabezgranic.pl (Learning Without Borders)

I am a teacher who uses technology both inside and outside the classroom to maximize quality by avoiding duplication of effort and automating as much of my out-of-class work as possible so I can concentrate on delivering the best language lessons I can.

I meet my colleagues tomorrow where I hope to share every tip and trick that works with them and I hope they will do the same for me.


Monday 27 August 2012

QR codes have many possibilities for classwork and homestudy

QR codes are increasingly ubiquitous on ads as quick links to sites-at-a-glance. If your students have phones then they probably have a QR (quick response) code reader. Try these codes for fun. They link to important language sites.

If you don't have a QR reader, here is where you can get one for your phone:
IOS: App Store, search: QRafter (It's the one I use and recommend)
Android: Marketplace, search: QRafter.

I can't recommend others because I've tried many which don't reliably read all QR codes.

Try these! Launch your app and let your camera hover over these squares and you should get a link.