A Math teacher... teaching?

You can't miss the opportunity of watching this YouTube video in which a Math teacher does something quite unique. 

If you want to catch your students’ attention for a couple of minutes (maybe you want to wake them up in a Monday morning) this is a highly effective way to do it.

I won’t tell you what it’s all about because you have to watch it and see it for yourself.

Enough. Just ‘push to play’. ;)

Timeline

There is a new feature Twitter included in its tools: a widget that allows you to keep track on a Twitter user. That user could be yourself, if you want to keep your website visitors informed about your latest news or maybe another user whose information you want to share among your blog's readers.

What you post on Twitter is called 'tweet' (that is the famous 140-character text). When you post several tweets, they are organised chronologically and that canvas of information is called 'timeline'.

The Twitter timeline of a particular user is exactly what you can have embedded in your website or blog.

Ir order for you to have an idea, I'm posting here Edmodo's twitter timeline (i.e. we will have access to Edmodo's latest news through Twitter). Sometimes it takes some seconds to display:

Tweets por @edmodo

We said in a previous entry that Twitter can be a great tool to keep your students updated with whatever you want them to know. In this way, you can use a blog or a website to deliver these Twitter messages and it won't be necessary for your learners opening an account and registering on Twitter.

Google Street View

Nowadays there is a web revolution in Argentina because the latest news say that Google had implemented its street tool: Google Street View.

I used to look for places in Google Earth, which shows you almost any place you want to see from a satellite perspective. Now this new tool allows you to ‘walk’ the streets of the major cities.

Last year, they started to send their cars, all equipped with cameras, in order to recollect images; and yesterday, September 25^th, we could see them all at last.

Isn’t it a great tool for your students to move around the city without leaving the classroom? Don’t you think it would be great for learning how to give and take directions? You can even ask them to look for particular things or people that are displayed on those street images.

Google is, again, helping us in so many ways!

I leave you all for now showing you a capture from Google Street View. Do you know the place?

See you!

Folding Story

Searching the web for a tool that would allow me to play ‘Exquisite Corpse’, I ended up finding a very interesting site that could be useful for a classroom in which ICT is present.

It is called “FoldingStory”. Remember when you were a little kid and played with your friends that game that consisted of the creation of a story in which each participant had to add a sentence or a word? Well, this is a very good game for exercising language with your students and they can do it online –once registered, of course. Bureaucracy is everywhere-.

After logging in, they have the following options: CREATE (that is to begin a story), ADD (to continue an existing story) or just READ (to take a look at other people’s stories).

There is a twist, though. We all know about the increasing popularity of Twitter. FoldingStory borrowed that particular feature of Twitter that makes it unique: you have a 140-character limit for each entry. That is: 140 characters if you begin writing a story, and 140 characters if you add lines to another story. People who collaborate with your work will also have that same limit. This characteristic makes the creation of the whole story very dynamic.

Here you have the link: https://foldingstory.com/ and I hope you and your students enjoy it!

Google: searching by voice

Another great Google tool (at least I thought it was…) is its searching by voice option. Google released this tool on June 14^th, 2011. I think it is a great idea and it promotes integration for those who can’t write in a keyboard. So I tried it… and I’ll show you the results in a minute.

First, I will tell you how it works. You have to go to Google search, its main page (www.google.com), and click on the little microphone that is on the right. Needless to say, you’ll need a microphone in your computer. After clicking there, you will be automatically redirected to the next page, where Google will ask you to speak, saying the words or phrases that you want to search. Then you just have to wait a second and the results will be displayed. Easy! (or… I thought it was!).

I tried some words. I tried to be very accurate as regards pronunciation. I even had a monitor present (teacher Constanza Gauna) to certificate that I was pronouncing the right phonemes. Well, here you have the results of this little investigation:

1) I said 'Hamlet'. The result:

2) I said 'chair'. The result:

 3) I said 'contagious'. The result:

4) I said 'crocodile'. The result:

5) I laughed in an exaggerated way (ha ha ha ha!). The result:

6) Tired of repeating words and a little bit disappointed, I said 'what the f***!'. The result:

7) I said 'cat' (you can't do it wrong!). The result:

In conclusion, I think that this tool is highly useful if you are searching for a pet or for a particular vulgar expression.

A bullet-proof drive

So far we dealt with what the experts call software. Today I feel compelled to talk about hardware. That is, the physical aspect of a computer. First of all, I will only refer to a flash drive, which is a data storage device, very useful for carrying information from one computer to another. Second of all, I used the word ‘compelled’ because I was most surprised by a couple of events during the last months and now I feel I must share the experience.

Most of you probably know or heard about Kingston flash drives. Kingston it is a very well-known trademark in computer-related memory products. I have a flash drive, a little one, and black, not so fancy. I use it in the way it supposed to be used, copying files here and there, take information from one place to another, or when we have to make a presentation at the institute, for example, it’s very useful having the option of using a netbook from the laboratory instead of bringing our personal computer.

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that these series of flash drives, produced by Kingston, made a very positive impression on me after a couple of incidents:

1) It was chewed and chewed (courtesy of a little dog). When I could finally take it out of its mouth, I noticed it had some holes. The plastic was a little bit distorted. I tried it in my laptop, and it worked! 
2)  A couple of days ago, I went to my roof to bring my clothes, which were hanging there from the day before. When I took one of the pants, the flash drive fell on the floor. I admit I shouted a few nasty words while I was picking it up. I washed it! Half an hour in the washing machine, full of water, soap, detergent… Then a few minutes in the clothes dryer, spinning around at a high speed. And finally 24 hours in the open air, through dew and sun. And guess what… I tried it in my laptop, and it worked!

In conclusion, there are plenty of flash drives in the market, I’m sure, but if you ask for my opinion, I will certainly vote in favour of Kingston and its indestructibility.

Positive reward

Letizia, our ECO 2 teacher, came back from her trip to Liverpool and she was not empty-handed! She brought presents to all of us. Of course this entry's title is just a joke. I'm sure these presents are not JUST positive reward! (there's a fall-rise on "reward").
So thank you Leti!

P.S.: the mints are great! (and I'm sharing them, as you said, so don't worry!).

Male or female? - A gender analyzer

I came across a curious website and I wanted to share it with you. It’s simple, really. It is a site that can tell you if the author of a website is a man or a woman (boy or girl, right?).

The site informs that Artificial Intelligence is used in order to determine the gender of any website’s author, based on the way he or she writes.

It is easy to use: you just have to enter the address of the site or blog and hit the button “Analize”. In just a second, you will have the results.

Now, the funny part: I submitted this blog’s address… and guess what…

I’m a woman!

ADDRESS: http://www.genderanalyzer.com

A DRESS: that is probably what I need now.

Bye, Reader!

One of the tools we becam familiar with is Google Reader, the Google application that allows you to keep track of the latest posts of your favourite blogs.

Yesterday (Wednesday, March 13^th) Google announced in its official blog some changes. One of them is the retirement of this particular feature, which will be completed on July 1^st, 2013.

The official Google blog: Click here.

Luckily, there are alternatives for those who want to keep following blogs. Here you have some of them: Click here.

We have 4 months, more or less, to transfer our blog lists from Google Reader to a new platform.

Choose the one you like the most and keep on reading! 

You were always on my mind...map.

Are you that kind of people who can’t stand their own handwriting? Well, I am. I find it particularly sad to study from my notes sometimes. I’m not always motivated by my own words (or someone else’s words, but written with my pen).

I came across a highly useful tool called “C-Map”. Well, I didn’t find it just by chance. I noticed that it was part of a list of tools in a survey that we had to fill in last year. They asked us if we regularly use those tools. Curiosity led me to find out more about this ‘discovery’.

I downloaded the software and I saw that the program allows you to create, modify, save and export mind maps very easily. I use it now every time I can to make a copy of my notes when I’m preparing a final exam or if I have to summarise a text, a topic or, in this short example, a book and its author’s biography.

I hope you find this useful! AND... I want to take this opportunity to say:

BRAVO LETI! - Our teacher in ECO2, Letizia Russo, took part in a competition that involved showing an ICT project carried out at primary, secondary or tertiary level. She presented the reflective blogs (like the one you are reading at right now) and she won! Now she has the chance of flying to Liverpool to attend the 2013 IATEFL Conference. What's more, her work will be published in partnership with Mcmillan publishers as a handbook and also in digital format.

We are very proud of you!

AND… as I already told you: SAY ‘HI’ TO THE BEATLES FOR ME!

140 holy characters

Again, Twitter.

This time I want to highlight the power this tool has, since it is being used everywhere. At first (and now more than ever), it was a powerful tool for journalists. Then, it was used to tear down the censorship wall in Egypt, bringing down the Mubarak regime. After that, people started to open accounts in order to try to communicate with famous people, or to get a vote during Big Brother's nominations, on TV.

In this blog, some time ago, I wrote some lines as regard the use of Twitter in the classroom. You can read it here: http://www.santiagoeco2.com.ar/2012/08/what-little-bird-can-tell.html

So, I don’t have any new comment about Twitter as a tool for learning English. I just want to share a piece of news that caught my attention:

 So, my reflection this time will be:

Twitter is everything,

So listen, and listen well:

Twitter is in Heaven.

Twitter is in Hell.

So if Twitter is everywhere,

Underestimate it, you shouldn’t.

If the Pope and the Devil use it,

You can use it with your students.

WIX - A free webpage

I found a very interesting tool when it comes to creating webpages. This site is called “WIX” and it has a wide variety of templates that you can choose from to create a dynamic, visually attractive, free webpage. 

Registering is very simple: you have to provide your email address, a name for your account and that’s it.

When you are working with the editor, you can see that it is a user-friendly tool and allows you to include photos (slides, grids…), videos, applications, links (to other sites, to Facebook, Twitter), your location in Google Maps, buttons, other shapes, an online store, etc… and you can design several pages, linked to each other through buttons or menus (and submenus).

The Purpose?

Well, that’s up to you. Maybe you can share photos of the school you are working at or you can publish videos and activities to be carried out in your learners’ laptops. In that sense, being the site so visually attractive, students can feel motivated and willing to work.

Here you have an example: http://santiaguitoibarra.wix.com/brown

In this case, I just uploaded some photos and I created a second page with the location information (see the "Visit us" section).

Hope you like it! (sorry for those who were "burnt" -in Spanish- in the photos). ;)

Our last meeting

Finally, we presented our Pecha Kuchas in ECO2, giving the subject a nice closure. The special guest: Prof. Adriana Díaz.

In general, the three presentations were based on the tools we worked on during the year. We spoke about the web 2.0 tools, office software, platforms, activity generators, and some advantages and disadvantages when it comes to using these tools in an EFL classroom.

I think I can speak for the rest of my classmates when I say that we found this subject highly profitable, not only as regards technology but also about working in group in order to present a final product. And I’m not saying working in ‘groupS’, because, all in all, I felt like we were one big group, working together and learning from each other. 

Now I’ll share here with you the final Pecha Kucha that we presented together with Aldana V. and Fernanda. You can download HERE a file containing the presentation and the script, just in case you find it useful. 

ECO2 ends now, but I have promised to myself publishing here from now on every time I find some interesting information that could help you (he, she, they, we, me, even it) in the classroom.