Entries from September 2008 ↓

This is a simple activity that needs a bit of preparation before the class, but is usually enjoyed by the students. It’s a simple game where the students have to correctly identify the object that has been taped to their foreheads by asking a series of questions.

Put the students into small groups of four or five, and place the object cards face down in front of them with the sticky tape or blue-tac already attached to the back of the cards. When you say go, the students should place the cards on their foreheads at once, and janken to decide who goes first. Each student then takes it in turn to find out what they are “advertising” by asking Yes/No questions. If the answer to the question is “Yes” they may ask another question, if it’s “No” then the turn moves to the next player. Obviously the player who guesses first is the winner, but you may want to keep the game going until everyone has discovered their product. For the faster students, have them try to guess the exact product (brand etc), for the slower ones a generic object would probably suffice as an answer.

The time-consuming bit is in the preparation - it’s best to cut up the pictures - which you can download here (cards) - and put them onto some kind of card so the students can’t see through the paper. Two sets per class should be enough

A simple questionnaire that can be used during the semester to get the students to reflect on their own behaviour in class, and to anticipate their own participation grade.

student-participation-questionnaire1

Many teachers are planning encourage their students to read graded readers this semester. This worksheet may come in handy to help students prepare for a short oral book report.

Download the PDF: l1-book-report

Moodle Forums are very useful, and sometimes getting email by subscription is a great way to maintain communication. I frequently use the News Forum on each course to send students updates or announcements. I tend to send them homework assignments, but the students are really waiting to get cancellations and other important notices through Obirin Mail. Many users have email forwarded to their cellphones hoping they can sleep in or get an extra week to study for a quiz if the teacher is out.

Unfortunately, Moodle has spammed some users by repeatedly subscribing them to Forums without users realizing it. Here is one way to stop email from all regular Forums, but still allowing email from the important News Forum.

Download the one minute video Stopping Email From Moodle Part 1. The steps in this video are the same for students and for teachers. Please use the video in class, or embed it in your own Moodle course to help students learn how to stop unwanted email.

As teachers, follow the steps in this second video to prevent any user from subscribing to a specific Forum. It is very important to do this when you create the Forum. Download Stopping Email From Moodle Part-2.

A Quicktime movie with worksheet and activity explanation.

The movie talks about my Summer Vacation and has about 10 photos with a narrative. There is a worksheet for listening comprehension and a script for the teacher to expand upon. Please feel free to use the movie and alter or adapt the activity. There may be hitches with the Quicktime movie file depending on the platform you use. Please check it before you use it in class. If the sound file and slides do not synch. turn the volume off and read the narrative provided instead (you can use the arrow keys to click through the pictures on the Quicktime file).

The whole activity should take between 30~70 minutes depending on how you decide to expand it.

Summer vacation / Past tense activity

This next video introduces a content management function: Hiding content from students, and then unhiding it. This is quite useful when developing a one year course. You can keep everything in one place, sharing content like glossaries or media, but showing only the current topics to students. Hiding sections is also a great way to keep works in progress hidden until they are ready to go.

Download the Quicktime video Moodle Tip 003–Hide and seek. Running time: Two minutes.

This video introduces one function in the Moodle Course settings–Changing the name of your course.

Download the Quicktime video of Moodle Tip 002–Change the name of your course. Playing time less than one minute.

The Obirin eLearning site has a lot of documentation on the front page. So much in fact that it tends to push the courses off the bottom of the screen. Watch this short video to see how to eliminate the clutter. Or, take a chance and just try it yourself. Next time you login to Moodle, add the word “my” to the end of the URL.

Download the Quicktime video of Moodle Tip 001–My Moodle. Playing time less than one minute.

This is a sheet with Classroom English that I often use in class. Attached with this is a set of audio files that students can download and listen to if they want to practice them.
Classroom English audio files:classroom-english
Classroom English handout: Classroom English Handout

A wonderful free site. Difficult to describe what it is, or what it does ~ but if you are curious, go and take a look.

http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/view/SWhH8QsOtha6ElG2QhBBQ2~

If you can think of ways to integrate it into our classes, or have already used it in some way, please share your ideas & experiences as comments to this post.