Last few months I have been truly impressed by the project that will surely  influence and maybe even change the education of teachers. I know many readers of my blog know exactly what I am talking about and in case you don’t, please visit http://itdi.pro/  and feel free to ask anything else you are interested in as everyone is welcome to join this great community of teachers who care and believe in change and in education.

Anyway, what I would like to write today about is the way this inspired me to change the traditional “holiday” project works and try the similar structure (iTDi is a course for teachers by teachers) with students.

Every single year we are supposed to work on projects with our students before holidays such as Halloween, Christmas or Easter but somehow every year all the resources are more or less the same. Well, of course they are! Is there anything new they could write about those holidays?

I tried something else (though surely not groundbreaking!).

I empowered my students, stepped back and let them choose what could be the best for other students.

Their task was: Here are a bunch of words related to Halloween. How would you teach them to younger students?

They could use colours or just write, they worked in small groups of three and the result was amazing as always when I trust in their abilities and encourage them a bit. Just note – my students are 14-15 and pre-intermediate level so please forgive their mistakes.

If you like their work, feel free to use them with your students . They would be proud to know that!

Happy Halloween!

One of my dreams came true this summer. I always wanted to teach English in English-speaking country and even though I always knew it’s not easy to get a job as an English language teacher for a non-native speaker there, I tried this year (many thanks to my dear friend and a great teacher Ania Kozicka for support and encouragement and David Meddows DOS for trust in me and my abilities) and was thrilled to find out they offered me an interview and later even the position of a teacher in summer school. However, I fully realized what it all means, to teach English in summer school, sometime in the middle of the summer. Honestly, a few weeks before I left for the UK, I was pretty much nervous and even insecure whether I meet their as well as my expectations.

I loved that summer and I learned so much about myself and teaching!

The whole experience was pretty challenging and demanding but I am grateful for it as a teacher as well as a learner.

Before I will share what I learned about teaching and learning during summer, let me introduce my classes a bit. I was teaching 5 lessons a day and had 10-12 students in a class. Students were from different countries (Italy, Spain, Mexico, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, France, Ukraine) and aged between 8 to 17. Of course they were divided into classes according to level and age but as you can imagine it’s not always so easy.

  1.  Is that Dogme teaching? (I am still not sure what it is J)

In fact, it was my very first experience with teaching little kids and with no chance to use their own language for either giving instructions or explanations. With class full of kids from different countries and cultures, you need to be careful with the choice of activities and course of the actions. I learned that some kids love learning and working in groups while others are individuals. I learned that there are kids who love presenting their work to others and kids who are happier with writing their opinions down. I learned that no matter what country or culture they come from, they love sharing with others about the things are know a lot about. So it made me think and I did my best to use that during lessons – their strengths, preferences and previous knowledge.

2.     Take away value – projects

I have never done so many projects with my kids as this summer. There were moments when the project work was planned and perfectly followed what had been learned before as well as moments when I decided to do some project in the middle of the lesson. We worked on newspapers but in fact the content was so various that it could be also called “the portfolio of my time in summer school”. And it gave each project even greater value. However, the best of all was seeing their faces the day before they left and every one of them got a copy of “newspaper”. They talked about it, proudly showed it to their friends or group leaders and realized the purpose and beauty of their works.

I kind of learned what a project work is about – brainstorming, discussion in groups, sharing information, visual presentation, oral presentation, explaining your opinions or asking additional questions and fun! Moreover, as a teacher you can easily include any grammar practice in the project work so help students realize how grammar works in context.

3.     Dynamics – games and breaks

Kids love structure and surprise at the same time. I did that with short 5-10 minute games I used either at the beginning or anytime during the lesson. They loved to play the games again and again once they learned how the game works. They loved easy though challenging word games and were happy when I announced a short game “break” anytime after some more demanding activity. Moreover, the best about all those games was the fact they wanted to be in charge and choose the words for my “wipe-out” game or hangman. Just give them simple rules and it will be fantastic way to recycle vocabulary from the lesson.

4.     Creativity – haiku

One of them most amazing and surpr@ising moments for me was when one day I took the kids outside and we talked about the things around us and finally we decided to create haikus on what they see and feel around themselves. It was the day when a few new students came and it was their first summer school lesson. Kids have such wonderful ideas and working on something like that you realize how much they perceive the world around them and how beautiful and precise those perceptions are.

5.     Empower your students – wipe out game and editors

As I mentioned earlier, kids love being in charge and even in the position of a teacher. What can I add? Give them this opportunity, step back and let them learn even more from it. We, teachers, were taught that by explaining something you learn and understand better so why not use it in the classroom. Use the classroom dynamics, find out about the strengths of your students and encourage them to come to the front. Firstly I played my wipe out game with me in charge. Then I asked students to come and choose the words and “test” the others, they loved it even more. Firstly, I suggested topics for our newspapers. Later I empowered the public person in the class to be an editor and they all enjoyed it even more. I learned that as a teacher I don’t have to be afraid of losing some control over the actions in the classroom.

So much was already said and mentioned about the power of PLN > it’s your 24/7 virtual staffroom, the people there are friendly, inspiring, encouraging and always ready to help or share. Well, if you are not on Twitter and don’t have your PLN that may seem as a cliche. Though, think about it for a minute! There must be a grain of truth in it if everyone is talking about it all them time!

And what a pleasure it is to meet them in person at the conference and find out that they really are so kind and lovely!

Tara Benwell is an important member of my PLN and now, after IATEFL 2011, I can say my very good friend.  She is funny, creative and full of positive energy. Lovely person you want to have in your PLN > @tarabenwell.

She does an amazing job on http://my.englishclub.com/ > site for teachers and students from any part of the world to learn and share together.

And before you will learn more about her from the answers (on the questions we all agreed on), here is a short animoto video I did for her > some of her pleasures and joy along with the photo of us from IATEFL this year (well, that could be a hint when you want to please her a bit ).

Dear Tara, keep smiling and shining!

Tara and her little pleasures

1) If your students were to label you with 3 adjectives, what might they be?

I went through my MyEC wall to search for some of the nice comments that English learners have written on my page. I think what they appreciate most is that I let them into my life. I hope they consider me to be positive, approachable, and dedicated to helping them love the English language.

2) What would we find in your refrigerator right now?

My fridge is a bit of a disaster right now. There is a tub of pineapple that my hubby cut up last week for our “new table” nacho party (we didn’t touch it), plus a bag of sliced pineapple that he cut up this weekend (Do I sound annoyed?). You’ll also find some lactose free milk for my son, and some mango chipotle salad dressing that we are currently using as marinade for everything now that it’s BBQ season here in Ontario.

3) If you weren’t a teacher, what might your profession be?

I’ve always wanted to be a librarian. When I was a child, playing library was my favourite game. All of my books had pretend library cards in them. Last year my seven-year-old daughter Jackson and I had a sleepover at our local library. It was a dream come true! I applied to do my Masters in Library Science after I graduated from U of T, but was told that I was one credit short of the requirements. Instead of waiting a semester and taking the extra credit (which I swore I didn’t need) I moved across the country to BC where I met my husband, became an English teacher, and started a family. I still think about going back to do my masters, but the thought of being a student again scares me a little now that my kids are in school. For now I’m content working in the ESL-Library.

4) What do you find most difficult about the teaching profession, or What has been your most difficult class as a teacher?

The most difficult thing about teaching is convincing English learners that learning a language is a lifelong challenge no matter what level they are. Many have unrealistic expectations and they want to know a secret to learning English quickly. My best piece of advice is always for them to take baby steps.

5) What was the last book/movie you read/saw, and what have you seen/read way too many times?

The last book I read was Meghan O-Rourke’s “The Long Goodbye“. I bought the audiobook version after reading a review that said it was a memoir written by a writer who lost her mother to cancer on Christmas Day. I lost my mother to leukemia on Christmas Day ten years ago, and I also wrote a memoir about it. Finding Meghan’s book proved to me that if you don’t do something that you feel called to do (such as polish and publish that book you wrote), someone else will. I finished listening to “The Long Goodbye” last night while I painted an old computer desk. I tweeted the writer as soon as I was finished, and wrote a review on Amazon. The book was an absolute treasure; the writer a genius. I love how social media has made it so easy to correspond with authors.

The movie I’ve seen way too many times is Top Gun. I have a new excuse to watch it again, because my four-year-old son Joey is obsessed with planes. We fast forward some parts, though he enjoys the volleyball scene.

Thank you dear Tara!

Slovakia, my little big country is busy and lively these days. The planes from different countries are arriving to Bratislava and Košice, you can hear people talking about the same thing on the bus, in shops or streets and Slovak flags are on the cars, windows, everywhere. It’s all because Ice hockey world championship begins this Friday in Slovakia. And I live in one of the cities where it takes place!

Slovakia is really hockey republic. It is probably the most popular sport here (and football of course). And even though it’s truly little country, we won the championship in 2002.  This year it’s our turn to organise the championship in our country and of course, we aim to win again.

I have also prepared a short lesson plan for my students to bring this topic to classroom as I am sure my students will be more than happy to talk about it even in the school!

You can try it with your students and I will give give you further information if you do.

Even if you don’t plan to use this topic with your students, you may want to try out my little chalenge. Look at the word cloud and come up with the story from my life > one of the most important stories in my life! You can ask Y/N questions.

Ice hockey championship 2011

Official trailer IIHF 2011 Official trailer IIHF 2011

The first workshop I attended was Ceri Jones’s Unleashing the power of images.

From that time on, I took pictures of shadows, close ups and absolutely anything that could lead to further use and discussion in classroom. What I learned is that you don’t need technology in your classroom to use images with your students. You can use their own memories through mental images – what a great idea. You can also use the images of the places your students are familiar with and don’t be afraid to use only fragments of the places (let them visualize the rest of the place, time, people and atmosphere). Help your students speak confidently about the places and things they know and include all of the senses when talking about it.

This is the picture of Tara’s book and the shadow of my hand. What is the story behind the picture?

Use all the senses to describe familiar places.

The next session that gave new perspective to my teaching was Jamie Keddie’s Authenticity trap.

Go off the piste when you are teaching and use authentic materials but choose carefully what is authentic and what purpose it serves in your classroom.

Ken Wilson also mentioned that we should be careful when working with course books because not everything there is meaningful and useful for the students and serves as a source of further discussion, collaboration and motivation > Do you want to read about full English breakfast or the future menu consisting of really nutritious and tasty insects?! So try authentic materials, play with them but always keep in mind why you are using them and how your students can benefit from them.

I was surprised and pleased that I learned many useful and interesting ways of using mobile phones with classroom at Shelly Terrell’s workshop. Do your students have smart phones? Let them use the applications while learning. It’s the cheapest technology you can bring to classroom. And in case you or your students don’t have ones, use their mobile phones to record their voices, interview each other, take pictures or any other collaboration. It’s fun!

Shelly’s favourite app called Mouth Off!

Russell Stannard, our Jing King, was also talking about super easy to use web applications and websites and he again proved that everyone can use them and there is really nothing to be worried about. He showed us great tool called Word magnets for which you don’t even need internet connection! Just be creative, playful and make your teaching (and your students’ learning) motivating, enjoyable and appropriate for the 21^st century.

David Warr showed us his brilliant idea of word planting and many ways of using and playing with them in the classroom. And I thought that it’s pity I am not a student anymore when there are such incredible things to use. And we’ve also learned Swahili language > using word plants, so nice!

Using word plants gives you and your students opportunity to remember phrases in chunks!

Sue Lyon Jones also asked in her talk why the teachers are so afraid of using technology and what’s the big deal when there is always plan B! Anyway, it’s just technology, it should serve us and not vice versa. Go and give it a try.

And then I heard some brilliant ideas on improving students’ writing through reading from Cecilia Coelho. We can help our students with writing by using storm writings or their supporting their imagination when describing characters in details that were not covered in the book. And you can enrich the project by using wallwisher notes where students can collaborate or even set up the class blog or wiki on the books and writings.

One of the books Cecilia used with her students!

The future of teaching is in technology whether we like it or not (well, I like it and don’t mind learning all the stuff!). We live in the 21^st century when all the kids have their own mobile phones, laptops, iPads and they want to use them. So why not using what they like when they are learning. It’s the most natural way of learning.

In all of the sessions I attended (and mentioned above), technology played significant role whether it was a direct use of it or it was just a medium for something else.

Eric Baber, new IATEFL president, also said that we must embrace the digital age!

And the last but not least I would like to thank OUP team for the opportunity to attend this amazing event and become a member of their social team during the conference. It was lovely to meet all those friendly people who work hard for OUP. My thanks go to Naomi Moir, Shaun Wilden, Dan Bond and Alex Williams and other great people I could meet! Amazing team!

TEACH – TECH  > not a big difference in the spelling but huge difference when they both meet in the classroom!

One of the most amazing things you can learn at an international conference such as IATEFL is that “teaching is NOT a lonely job”. I had incredible time in Brighton (beautiful and sunny), chance to meet many ELT speakers, authors, publishers and full time teachers from all over the world and I found out that as a teacher, wherever you are,  you are never alone. Oh, and don’t be scared there is nothing haunting out there! Quite the opposite!

The authors of the books you are probably using in your classroom, once you meet them in person, you see a brand new story behind the book and you know they are (were) teachers just like you.

Isn’t that motivating?

The power of social networking sites such as Twitter is immense. Beside the fact that it actually serves as your 24/7 staffroom, it opens up a new world of sharing, collaboration and support for you. And as soon as you meet the people face to face it does change the perspective. My friend Tara Benwell (@tarabenwell) told me that it is a pleasant discovery that all the people from Twitter are just like you imagine them. It doesn’t feel like a second virtual life where people are pretending to be someone else.

Isn’t that encouraging?

And at last but not least, visiting such an incredible conference gives you an opportunity to see the way other teachers are living their every day teaching days and lives. And the more you see and learn, the more you can apply to your own everyday life. See the ways others are using, take them, adapt them or just get most of them and come up with your own ways.

Isn’t it inspiring?

Creativity is brilliant gift but don’t get upset if you are not exceptionally creative! Passion is what’s important if you want to be a great (and satisfied) teacher! Conferences, for all the reasons I mentioned above, are the place to keep the flames of your passion alive. That’s what Jamie Keddie told me the other day!

The five days I spent in Brighton were truly remarkable. And though on the last day my body was completely drained and I felt exhausted (please, forgive me if you had to see me like that ), my mind was/is energized and full of new ideas. This is another thing I love about conferences. You get back home and can’t wait to try out all the new ideas in your classes. I think it’s nice and effective way to prevent burnout, isn’t it?

TOMORROW > Some of the ideas I brought back from the conference > NEW PERSPECTIVES

Brighton

Windy, enchanting, lively, extraordinary and definitely one of the most eccentric seaside towns in Great Britain. Brighton is the place one has to see when travelling to Britain in summer. I believe everyone can find something to enjoy there. Either bustling nightlife, traditional pubs with cider and pub quizzes, the romantic seashore with its endless promenade for walks, the famous shopping area of The Lanes where you can get almost everything or historic places which are as unique as the whole city of Brighton and Hove. Brighton and Hove lies in East Sussex on the south coast of England. It has a population of about 156,000 people but every summer thousands of tourists (and a lot of Londoners) come to spend their free days here.

The history of Brighton can be remembered easily using three Rs – Dr. Russell, Prince Regent and railway. Let me explain it in more detail. Brighton, or the fishing village of Brighthelmstone, was not very famous until the late 18^th century when Dr. Russell advertised the effect of sea water on the health, in London. Whether intentionally or not his research led to the growing popularity of this place. Dr. Russell claimed that breathing sea air was good for your lungs, swimming in the sea was good for your skin and drinking sea water was good for your whole body.  His advert was successful and it didn’t take long for the town to become a popular health resort for wealthy Londoners. One of them was also “Prinny”, Prince Regent and later King George IV. After his first visit in 1783, he spent much of his leisure time in the town. It was the Prince Regent who gave Brighton (as well as Britain) its most fantastic and eccentric building – The Royal Pavilion. The palace has an Indian design from the outside and Chinese decorations inside. It is also said that it was the place for him to meet his long-time companion, Mrs.Fitzherbert.  The Prince had wished to marry her; however it was impossible because of her Catholic religion. Nevertheless, the legend says he may have done it secretly. The next step in the development of the popularity of Brighton was the building of the railway system in 1841. This led to a great leap in history of the town. The population grew from around 7,000 in 1801 to over 120,000 in 1901. As the popularity of Brighton spread, many local residents moved to the nearby town of Hove for peace and quiet. In 1997 Brighton and Hove were joined to form the town of Brighton&Hove and later it was granted city status by Queen Elizabeth II. Despite that its citizens still divide themselves into “Brightonians and Hovians” and there are numerous jokes about each of them. It is generally said that Brighton is a vibrant area where even the nights are bright whereas Hove is a residential area where the nights are somehow darker.

Brighton is also famous for its Piers. It is the only city in Great Britain that has two piers. West Pier was built in 1866 and closed in 1975 waiting for renovation. Unfortunately, in 2003 it was completely destroyed in a fire. The other one is Brighton Pier which was opened in 1899. It is a place for entertainment. You can find a funfair, several restaurants and arcade halls there. Brighton has beautiful shingle beach which has been awarded a blue flag for meeting high environmental standards. As I have mentioned earlier, Brighton is famous for its nightlife. It is a place of numerous festivals and concerts. It is said that there are 365 pubs, one for each day of the year. Many popular bands and singers have performed here including ABBA in 1974. I had a chance to see Brighton Pride, a parade promoting equality and diversity and fighting discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. It is the second largest such parade in the world (the largest one is in Sydney). Very popular is the Brighton Festival Fringe, an art festival, which is the biggest annual arts festival in England.  Finally, I would describe Brighton&Hove as an international student’s city. Besides two universities located in the city (University of Sussex and University of Brighton) you can find here plenty of language schools offering various courses for people from all around the world. It is no surprise then that you are more likely to hear Spanish, Italian or Japanese on the buses than English.

All these things create the atmosphere of the city of Brighton&Hove and give it its vibrant holiday resort character. Nevertheless, if you wish to sit in the park, play Frisbee and eat your sandwich, there are many parks to feel relaxed and find a place to read a book. Brighton and Hove are two completely complementary  yet distinctive towns which form a balanced couple. It is a lovely “marriage” admired by all people who visit the place.

I woke up to a beautiful sunny spring day today!

I know it is not the first spring day this year but it is the first spring day in my hometown this year…and it is far more than beautiful.

My hometown is rather small but still town, not village. However, people are living here mainly in houses (not block of flats), have gardens and TREES! And that’s what filled me with joy and inspiration this morning as I was on the walk with my dog. I spent a few moments in a quiet meditation near the pond surrounded by fresh green grass, ducks on the water, birds in a lively discussion and of course my dog. I noticed that the cherry trees are in full bloom and I decided that maybe writing something about trees this time may not be a bad idea (not ELT topic but who knows).

I have Slavic roots and trees were immensely important for old Slavs. They believed in the power of trees and thought that living beings dwell in their trunks and branches >  various wooden fairies. Each tree had a different power for old Slavs and was worshipped for a different reason.

Trees and forests were home and source of everything they needed and they showed them deep respect and glory.

Even old Romans described Slavic people as those living and hiding in the impenetrable forests and they even feared them and attributed them supernatural powers when they were hidden in the woods.

But old Slavs didn’t praise only forests but also trees they could plant themselves such as cherry tree. And even though now Slovak people are “civilized” (using quotes as I keep in mind the meaning of the word as Huckleberry Finn described it), they still plant some trees according to old Slavic traditions.

One such tradition is planting a cherry tree when a girl is born to the family. The cherry tree represents a feminine power and our ancestors believed that womanly beings dwell in cherry trees so it gives strength and beauty to a new born girl. Nice, isn’t it? I also have my own cherry tree and really feel connection with it (I can really say it’s MINE!). I was climbing it as a child, watering it during dry summer days and raking its leaves in autumn.

And just to add that cherry tree is really connected with womanhood and love, there is one more tradition with this tree here in Slovakia. On 1^st May you should kiss your beloved one under the cherry tree to keep your love fresh and strong.

I think it’s time to go out and praise the trees we have for their powers and strength!

Next week I am travelling to Brighton, a lovely city in the south of England. I studied there few years ago and I have really fantastic memories of places, events and people there.

I stayed in Hove, actually!

However, this time it’s going to be brand new for me. I am really excited, thrilled and nervous as well because I am attending an annual IATEFL conference which takes place in Brighton this year.

IATEFL – International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language

Visiting such an international conference will surely be memorable and remarkable experience. I can’t wait to meet many Twitter friends from all around the world as well as former classmates and even my university teachers from Slovakia, make new friends and contacts, attend inspirational and motivational workshops and talks, and learn a lot in general.

Lots of fun ahead!

I am travelling from Budapest (another lovely city) early in the morning so I will have plenty of time to study the conference program properly.

I got the chance to attend the conference as a roving reporter for OUP after winning Diana Eastment Prize so stay tuned for tweets, blogs and more during the conference!

Before it all starts I have one question. Please, leave me a comment with your answer and we will see if IATEFL UK 2011 in Brighton meets our expectationsJ.

What are you looking forward to @IATEFL 2011?

If you paint in your mind a picture of bright and happy expectations, you put yourself into a condition conducive to your goal.

This post comes as a result of David Dodgson’s presentation:

Not Just a Pretty Cloud: Using Wordle in the Language Learning Classroom – 4th Virtual Round Table Conference.

He has challenged us to create a word cloud from the content of our blogs (interesting to see the most common words you use).

So here is my blog in a word cloud:

Apparently I am writing too much about the students, senses and yes, colours appear there too. What a surprise!

However, I also decided to summarize and share what I use Wordle for with my students.

• Predicting – let the students guess what the story/reading will be about or even come up with their own stories (that can be recorded – as a follow up homework activity)

• Collocations – match the phrases, compound adjectives, phrasal verbs…

• Pairs – synonyms, opposites, nouns, verbs – regular/irregular…

• Reconstruction – sentences, sayings, idioms, titles, headlines…

• Chain story – (for speaking or writing) each student has to continue in the story using the word from the cloud J

I believe there is far more to the word clouds than that! So feel free to leave me a comment and share your ideas on using word clouds with students.

Here is David’s blog post about the presentation he gave:
Head in the (word) clouds

I would like to add that you can create word clouds here:
www.wordle.net