ESL Level 1 Videos

This past year I had a videographer record my Level 1 class. My reason was to provide students that missed a class a way to keep up with what was going on in the class. Also, students could review a topic if they needed to. I'm also planning on putting them on my new weebly website, and I'll see if I can do a "flipped" classroom. It's a great resource to have and I recommend teachers try it out!

Prezi Help

I helped another ESL teacher, Matthew Staples, incorporate Prezis into his class by walking him through the steps necessary to create a Prezi. He quickly caught on, and the students appreciated the additional visual presentation in their class.

ESL Faculty Interest Group

This Spring, I organized an ESL FIG to discuss using technology in the ESL classroom. We were able to share a number of interesting websites and apps. Here are some of our favorites:

Google Voice--students use their phones to leave messages with the teacher. The messages are transcribed and teachers can also receive the messages via email.

Kaywa--creates a scan code which can be used as an easy way for students to do listening activities with their smart phones.

Socrative--an app that can poll classroom opinions

Weebly--easy way to make websites

English for everyone--website full of ESL grammar worksheets that can be used for classroom use

Bookr--makes a book using only Flikr images

Memrise--a free language website created by contributors from around the world

Swipe--Easy presentation website

geert-hofstede.com-- culture comparison website

freetech4teachers.com--Richard Byrne has a lot of good, tested website for teachers

Adobe Voice App

The end of the year is approaching fast and I have been wanting to bring in a new form of technology to my Level 1 ESL class at the DCA. I was able to borrow 9 Ipads from the ATC, and I had them install the Adobe Voice app. I stumbled across this app recently and I've fallen in love with it. I believe it's easy enough for my Level 1 class to use. Here is an example that I used in my class:

http://voice.adobe.com/v/W5FUT7Y6IZ4

The students were very impressed with my little video and even more excited when I told them they would be making their own videos. We began the process last Wednesday and will finish up on Monday. I had them answer a list of personal information questions on paper and I helped correct spellings, grammar and vocabulary. Now they are starting to make their videos, and they seem to be quickly catching on. We should be getting a set of ipads in our department soon, and I look forward to using this app more often in class.

Tech Summit

Last Friday I had the opportunity to attend the ABSE Tech Summit held at the DCA. I was only able to attend for part of the time, but I did come away with some great tech ideas.
At one session, I created a website using weebly.com.  It looks like this: http://level1esl.weebly.com
It looks like a promising tool to help digitize my materials for students in my class. I look forward to working on it more this summer.
The plenary speaker had some useful ideas about how to use QR codes in class that I'd like to explore further.
All in all, it was exciting to see the interest in technology from colleagues around the state!

Prezi as a Class Outline

This past year, I've been using Prezis as my class outline. I teach basic English to English as a Second Language Learners at the new Downtown Campus. It's been wonderful having access to the internet and all of the wonderful multimedia that can greatly enhance student comprehension through imagery and sound. Prezis are very useful, as you can quickly insert youtube videos, and any image you want from the internet. It's very adaptable and easy to use.

http://prezi.com/j9v0rj2qmnn2/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share