My magic board has installed for a couple of weeks. The brand name is Teamboard but currently I’m using the Smartboard software with it.

I’ve always been tech-savvy so having this IWB installed in my classroom is like getting a new Christmas toy! My first impression of Teamboard, however,  is not too good. Comparing with Smartboard, Teamboard is a little less “solid”, less intuitive, less “smart”…if I can put it that way. Fortunately, the board seems to go well with Smarboard Notebook(could that be a quirky selling point for Teamboard? haha) so I wouldn’t complain too much about it.

With IWB I can finally bring in my blog with my lesson. I get to introduce my English learning blog for my students and motivate them with hands-on experiences with the MAGIC BOARD.

I’ve set up my blog 潛龍玩英文 several years ago but have never really integrated it with my daily lesson. One of the reason is that kids don’t get the chance to come to the board and try out the content thus it’s comparatively less interesting for them to do it at home. Now  I connect my Notebook file with my blog and I have kids try out the tests and games in my blog in the class. I can see there are more and more kids willing to hook on the blog in their own time.

I heard them asking “Miss Tsai, where can I find this website?””Ah, I’ve tried that at home!!”Now talk about motivation!!

This week I showed “Rain, rain go away” chant to my 3rd graders and they love it!  I’ve included it in my subcategory”看影片學英語”. It is such a nice chant to go with the weather condition recently. 

Ah, and my recent review over Teamboard:

1. The board doesn’t seem very sensitive. Sometimes I actually have to punch the board to get it moving!

2. Where is the matching software? Smartboard has Notebook while Teamboard has…none?

3. The tool bar is bloody ANNONYING!! So far I still can’t figure out what activate the drawing pad and once the draw pad is activated it affects whatever program you are running…

Pictures below are the CD token mentioned in my prior post. Again, thanks Moji for this wonderful idea!

So we have an native English teacher comes fortnightly this semester. My 6th graders are pretty excited about the new teacher and so far things has been smooth.

I've heard/read a lot about the difficulties of working with these Native English teachers. May it be cultural misfit or a matter of different interpretation of job description, I believe that it is our job to engage children as much as we can in the process of learning while having some fun.

My first impression of L is 1. He doesn't smile much,  2. he seems going to have a heat stroke in any minute. 3. he doesn't seem very professional.

The first thing he asked was, " Do you have flashcards?" Then he popped the second silly one " So what do you want me to teach?"

I was thinking, “What?? Please don't tell me you show up without any preparation!!! This is your first session!!”

Luckily he kind of improvised the whole session without great difficulty. How come somebody like him can locate a teaching job in Taiwan, while people who have decent teaching certificate are still on the long waiting list? When is this myth,“Native speaker” teaches better, ever  going to be corrected or acknowledged by our superiors and education administrators?

(sigh)

Halloween has long past but I haven’t updated my Halloween activity this year. I had my first try of story telling for the 3rd graders this year. The book I chose is “Go away, big green monster”.

Picture from Lakeshorelearning

I have to admit I’m not very talented in story telling. But somehow sharing a book with a 3rd graders doesn’t seem that challenging.

I searched the teaching tool kit and decided to make the teaching tool kit myself.

Then here comes the part of book presentation. Usually teachers project picture books so that everyone can see. But then there is this lack of interaction when you use projectors without IWB. My goal is to have kids interact with the book since the authentic book offer such interface.

So I decided to make a BIG BOOK myself.

I did the measure, planning, sketching and finally finish the whole book with some helpful suggestions from dad. The finished product enable kids to move the monster pieces along with the story. Then I have a Go Away bag for kids to make those scary parts to disappear.

I used the story and took kit with my kids and the teaching demos in other schools. Then wrap the whole lesson up with the very cute youtube by SuperSimpleSongs.

I also introduced my kids a Halloween-themed song, Walk like a ghost,  from Dream English. They offer quite a few downloadable mp3s plus matching flashcards!!

The song is easy to sing and kids are really having fun while learning the vocabularies. Thanks to all the free online resources!!

Funny I suddenly felt the urge to review the memories in Czech. This is the picture taken in Telc, one of the many famous UNESCO town in Europe. It was a cold day in late January. The town was almost coved in white with snow and heavy fog. Not much to see since the castle was closed.

I came across a couple from Taiwan in my stay in Telc and fortunate enough to be neighbors with them for one night.

I think I’ll visit there again, definitely in summer this time!!

I just came back from ETA book fair. This is probably the shortest ETA shopping day for me so far. However I still managed to spend over 3000 NT in 2 hours. I browsed through several major brand names in the market and also discovered some interesting new names , ie. Interactile Learning. I plan to use their Spelling Hive workbook for my winter remedial teaching class.

I bought several big books in Cats and MacKIDS. Learned that the teaching kit for Big green monster still costs 970 NT after discount. Well, I still prefer my DIY one made with felt. One of my pleasant discovery is MacKIDS’s CD collection for various major picture books(e.g.. Big green monster and Brown bear). Each comes in only 135 NT!!! What a save!!

It’s a shame that I just couldn’t stay long enough to join the free seminar offered by Union Ocean. Better wear sneakers next time!

After a tiring day in Taipei, nothing is more refreshing than a cup of tea.

I opened my notebook and try to write something I learned today in the discussion panel. Year after year, similar discussion panel was set up and year after year, we reported the same existing problems. English teachers don't have reasonable teaching hours to achieve satisfying learning result. We as the facilitators of professional development don't have reasonable time as well as resources to provide better service to teachers. As a result, English teachers burned out the passion to change and settle for reality.

After years of adjusting myself to fit in this seemingly quiet educational environment. I come to realize the best motivation for PD comes from sharing. Sharing your new teaching adventure with students and colleagues. Admiring kids' growing knowledge as well as feedback from like-minded teachers are the best reward.

As for expecting someone from the bureaucracy to improve the situation, well, self-help is always quicker.

Big universe is a really nice place to find e-book resources. Be sure to subscribe them to get free access to new books. Their recent free book "Counting in the city" is a great book to introduce/review city landscape and transportation. Note that the free access only last for a couple of days so be sure to back them up while you can. Hint: screen capture is our best friend...

Hmmmmm, what about taking this as the read-aloud material for kids?

Thinking ...

  Sometimes I wonder if it worth to spend so much time in classroom display. Would kids stop and read without teachers telling them to do so? My doubts were soon dissolved when I overheard kids discussing student works displayed outside of the classroom.I have set up a mini book fair there to showcase my prior students' works.(hmmm...maybe I should post it here next time)

This is one of the more cozy corner in the classroom. The sofa is basically only for show..well, I've never spent over 5 minutes on it. The foldable divider was donated by a retired dean at school. The sofa was left from a former colleague.

I wish I can have more time with kids and spend more time in books with them. SIGH...but recently I've been trying to keep up the schedule.

I've updated the back b.b.board to suit the Halloween theme. The letters are there for word haunt and categorizing. I intend to keep the tree until Christmas is over....

Wayne has told me that I have a short wick, meaning I'm definitely not a Ms. nice. I have problems with hypocrisy and bureaucracy. And I have major problems with authorities who only live up to cameras.

If I were a head teacher who has never trained to be a English teacher (let alone teach it), I wouldn't even dream to tell English teachers how to do their jobs. I'll consult them first then come up something with professional and practical concerns. I'll engage myself to the project before I public any policies.

With an ongoing so called " English experiment project" in my back, I'd put behind my 40-year-old insight in English teaching and seriously involve the project before I BLOODY SHOW UP IN FRONT OF THE PRESS!!

I'll definitely have a word with my English teaching crew before I come up with the "get-100-or-test-again" scheme and brag about the really INNOVATIVE spelling test to the press!!

Yes, I'm definitely not a Ms. nice and pardon me not to be one!!

I've made some changes this semester so far.

The classroom looks a bit nicer. We sing more songs. I spent more time to prepare lessons.

I trained myself to be more cheerful with those cranky adolescents.

All these changes are made possible for the start of our English Project. Though I have mixed feelings about the project yet I can't deny the positive changes it brings in. i.e. less teaching hours per week, more time to design lesson plans...

For the start of the 3rd graders-

I ask kids to write down their English and Chinese names on blank name cards. I asked them to leave the bottom space blank if they have trouble to write their own English names.

After collecting name cards from kids, I print out Name Trace worksheet from My moondrops. Considering the workload I have currently, I think that's a fair thing to do for each kid.

I also adopted Moji's classroom management idea. I recycled heaps of CDs as tokens. So far it has motivated kids greatly and encourage each member of the team to help each other to earn points. In my second session with class 304 even the well-known 阿賓(I learnt his name in the first ten minutes of our first session) is sober enough to make comment!! I'd like to thank Moji for this great idea. I also apply this tally system in grade 6 and it still works:-) Well, maybe I'm still in the honey moon phase with kids. I hope it lasts!

I bought this pocket chart from yahoo with 80 dollars only. I use it to organize name cards of each class. It's a great way to remember student names in a short time.

I also tried to start the semester with "Hey Jude" with my 6 graders. Lots of stories have been said about this song but I love the one of Paul MacCartney and Lennon's son Jules best.

Excerpt from Wiki

In 1968, John Lennon and his wife Cynthia Lennon separated due to his affair with Yoko Ono. Soon afterwards, Paul McCartney drove out to visit Cynthia and Julian, her son with Lennon. "We'd been very good friends for millions of years and I thought it was a bit much for them suddenly to be personae non gratae and out of my life," McCartney said.^[3] Later, Cynthia Lennon recalled, "I was truly surprised when, one afternoon, Paul arrived on his own. I was touched by his obvious concern for our welfare.... On the journey down he composed 'Hey Jude' in the car. I will never forget Paul's gesture of care and concern in coming to see us."

I start the song with Stephan and David Tao's MTV. Stephanie's KTV version is also a great version for kids to sing along.

I'll play some earlier version of Hey Jude in the future and hoping I can smuggle in some language input in the mean time!

Gosh Paul MacCartney is still as cute as ever!

These cute flashcards are from one of those Dollar Shop in Sydney. 2.5 AUD per pack. They are really eye catching and I just love it!

A local stationery shop owner recommended me this 3M super 90 and the test result is super! It saves tons of time and work over dealing with double sided tape!!! Just spray and paste. Mom reminds me to wear mask while using it though.

I'm going to test spray this tomorrow on the ceramic wall and see if it works good.

I love this "Welcome to my classroom" sign by Jan Brett (just love her book The Hat!!) There are signs both for male and female teachers. :-)

The picture of the smiling owl is from Flicker and I use blockposter to print out the poster. I know非常好色can do the same work but I prefer blockposter's interface:-)

Now I have to work on more with the interior....more work...but it pays to spice up the space where you literally spend 8 hours within!!

How do you turn a eye soaring classroom with leaking problem, badly-pilling walls and prior tape marks here and there into a presentable place?

I have sat on this problem for too long and this year I decided to make a face-lift.

Start with Obama-

I then put on a string across the ugly bars with prior student works.

and two string of flags, just to add a little "international" touch...

The sole purpose for this poster is to cover up  the ugly marks on the back door.

I bought the apple-shaped flashcards in a dollar shop in Sydney. I found them quite eye-catching:-)

I was meant to put on a world map but was some how end up putting on the Asia one....

I know I still have a lot to go....and I'll get there, bit by bit...

Where I found my inspiration:

Learning parade

Classroom displays

All kinds of labels

back-to-school

Where you can print out free map

收到敦煌營業部寄來的文章連結淺談字母拼讀法的教學及應用,原本以為又是針對phonics老調重彈的新書介紹,細讀之後發現作者應該是親上教學現場有實際教學經驗的老師.她點出了很多phonics教學在EFL背景大班級環境下的諸多挑戰並提出一些可行的建議.

以下為部份摘要-

"另外，教學者需要了解在教授發音課程時，其重點在於「聲音」；而字母拼「讀」的教學目的則是在介紹字母與發音間的對應規則。因此，需要了解有時候學生能掌握發音規則並不代表有良好的發音。因為有可能一個學生拼讀的規則記得很好，能夠聽音拼字，但發音品質不佳。因此，在教學上不論是拼讀規則或發音品質，都有賴於老師幫助學生分別練習並加以整合，讓學生能夠充分熟悉發音規則並也能發出正確的發音。"

"市面上常見的發音教材，通常是幾個習題帶過就進入另一個單元，聽、說練習嚴重不足。學生在這樣的學習過程中往往囫圇吞棗，不知其然更不知其所以然！因此，在教學的過程中，老師除了使用教材中的題型外，建議多補充練習活動，如：在白板上寫出不同的題組，讓學生聽音辨字，選出正確的字（如：pin和bin），接著再請學生唸誦該字詞，分辨其不同處。"

"學生應該多嘗試模仿句子的唸誦語調。由於台灣學生習慣團體班的上課方式，唸誦句子總是拖得長長的完全不似英語的語調。因此，筆者建議從一開始就鼓勵（要求）學生注意CD中的發音及語調唸誦方式並努力模仿。"

It doesn't seem like an appropriate post here but somehow the goods is teaching related.

I've been trying to locate a teacher's bookshop here in Sydney without success. However, watch out for those bargain sales stands in local bookshops, you might just came to the right place for all sorts of interesting teaching material...with very teacher-friendly price!

1. Guess how much I love you

I've always love the warm touch of this story and glad to see this audio package with book & CD. The price is not bad, approx. 208 NT. This can be the perfect gift for friends/relatives with little children.

2. Dr. Seuss lacing cards

I've been crazy about Dr. Seuss's eccentric imaginary rhymes and stories. This Lacing cards box set is of course for developing hand-eye coordination. Perfect settle-down kit for the two little devils at home.

3. Slide&Learn Interactive flash cards (Tell the time)- one of my favorite!

         I learned this cute flash card design from one of the seminars sponsored by AIT years ago. The speaker even suggests us to make cards by ourselves( or kids) for the price and accessibility. With price tagged 14.99 AUD, interactive flashcards is a great thing to have but it tends to shrink your wallet real fast. Especially when there are so many series to choose from....

Titles in this series:

Alphabet. Animals. My Body. Number. Opposites. Phonics. Shapes and colours. Tell the time

Luckily I got it with 6.99 AUD only! Hurray!

This is a great teaching props especially for small-sized class. Great for pair-work dialogue practice or whole-class dictation game.

Alas! Summer break is officially here! It has been a tough term. A lot of things happened since my last entry two months ago. I was busying at RT club and remedial class other than everyday teaching. To make things more challenging, our school is going to have a major change next semester, which brings in more learning hours, more English teachers, new text book, possibly alternative teaching style, routine classroom observation and quite a few unsettled issues.

After two days of workshop at the beginning of the long summer break, I'd like to share a little work-related exploration I've done so far.

1. 聯洋文化 is the local dealer of The Storytown textbook series. The series focuses on reading and phonics. Their website still has a lot room to fill in but I found the grammar glossary is pretty eye-catching! Animation certainly adds a nice touch for the stiff grammar point, don't you think?

Have a great vacation everyone!

AJ is a 16-year-old parakeet that can flip, turn around, play golf and basketball!!

Great material for practicing sentence patterns 'It can .... It can''t....'.

I first learned DogoNews from Larry Ferlazzo's blog. Great place to dig up some treasure!

Not sure how this gonna help my class but it's a neat little gadget. You upload a picture then pick the size of each puzzle piece, viola! There it is! The picture above was taken in Prague old town square. Try assemble the puzzle here.

Possibilities:

1. as a scoring system?

2. as a guessing game?

hmmmm.....

3. I know it would be great to go with IWB! When can I have my hands on one?

在教hard c/ soft c 時,可以考慮播放teachers' domain裏的影片加強記憶.TD裏的影片內容通常都相當短,所以不會佔掉太多教學時間,反而有畫龍點睛的效果.

我的教學流程是

1. 講解完規則

2. 試著讓孩子在word list中apply the rule找出target words

3. 撥放影片-

4. 考孩子記得幾個單字(在soft c的影片裏只有5個單字)-通常孩子可以記得約4個單字,但是影片中的certificate就有些難度-

5. 再放第2次讓他們專心聽/看certificate這個單字,並與他們的生活經驗做連結.

6. 秀出影片中出現的單字,再請孩子再度講解一次soft c的規則.

7. 開始依word list裏的單字做分類.

我用的是T-chart

T-chart的左上方我會要孩子們寫上 sounds like "cat",另一邊寫上"sounds like cell",然後要孩子從wordlist中為單字歸類.

Teachers' Domain裏的影片可以下載,很棒!但是須要註冊才行.

3月11日週三下午在潛龍國小有一場由劇場工作者沈斻所主講的"用創造力教戲劇英語"的研習.

研習內容可參考沈老師的部落格,在這裏摘錄部份內容,歡迎大家至教師研習系統報名.

I. Creative Drama Warm-Up and Activities
A. The importance of warming up
B. Songs and chants: “The English Boogie”
C. Drama games to promote concentration & energy
D. Drama games to boost energy
E. Cooperative drama activities
F. Drama games to promote all of the above

How to Turn Drama Games into Performances
A. Music!
B. Lines!
C. Costumes and props
III. Group Practice
A. Character Plays Rehearsal
B. Reader's Theater Rehearsal
IV. Presentations

Technorati 的標籤：RT,drama English,TEFL,戲劇英語,沈斻,國小英語研習

開學第一週除了給4年級的孩子做一些orientation之外,就是用switcheroo zoo來複習上學期教的動物字彙.每一班孩子都看得樂不可支.非常有提高學習動機的功能.也很適合做課前或課後的teaser.

這個網站若有配合電子白板的話,效果會更好.若沒有,也很適合做mini-lesson用來複習

我的流程是

1.用上圖來複習已知的單字,孩子須到台前指出並造句-例I like _____. I can see a/an _______.

2. 接著開始用其中一種動物做變形.我先示範給孩子看-句型當然可隨孩子的程度而變化.我的學生是4年級,所以我的句型是- I want a (pig) (head). 孩子必須到台前指出他想變的部位與動物,並唸出來.

圈起來的部份就是可以選擇要變那個部位.

然後就變成這副模樣了

變化很多,孩子非常喜歡嘗試這種張冠李戴的活動.

我的觀察:

1.能力強的孩子樂於參與

2.平時較沉默的孩子也會想試試看.

3.也有孩子雖然表現高度興趣,但是仍保持沉默.

課後一堆孩子主動抄下網址,有些從來上課都沒反應的也淎過來說要回家玩玩看!

每次走進校園裏就感覺自己像個陀螺.這次開學更是如此.由於寒假跑去布拉格玩耍,收心的日子沒幾天就開學了.怪得是從台灣去布拉格我花了5天才調整過來時差,從布拉格回台北只花了1天就恢復作息了.真奇怪

第一節課除了發簿本,給六年級的孩子本學期syllabus之外,還預告了一下去人骨教堂的故事,最後就是欣賞1978年由Village people 唱的Y.M.C.A.了

這裏可以看到這首歌相當詳盡的介紹.雖然wiki強調部份資料未經過採證,不過當成講背景故事給孩子聽是可以的.

我先放了由英國倫敦兒童合唱團唱的版本給他們聽,大略提了一下這首歌的背景(當然略去它和gay culture有關的那部份)

"In the gay culture from which the group sprang, the song was understood as celebrating the YMCA's reputation as a popular cruising and hookup spot, particularly for the younger gay men to whom it was addressed."

接著再放這段勾起舊時光的MTV,嗯village poeple 還真有點娘...

看完這部MTV後,他們一定會問Y.M.C.A.到底是什麼東西?

我很喜歡Y.M.C.A.的氣氛,那種國界,種族,語言的不同在這裏都相對的被抹平了.只有同是旅人的五味雜陳.WIKI裏對YMCA有相當完整的解釋-

"The YMCA idea, which began among evangelicals, was unusual because it crossed the rigid lines that separated all the different churches and social classes in England in those days. This openness was a trait that would lead eventually to including in YMCAs all men, women and children, regardless of race, religion or nationality. Also, its target of meeting social need in the community was dear from the start."

孩子們會很喜歡聽老師非教學得那一面.有了音樂,視覺與源自於老師本身個人的故事與經歷,孩子想學會這首歌的動機就提昇了!

下午掃地時間我已經聽到孩子們邊掃地邊唱著it's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.!

這裏還有卡拉OK版.感謝ddeubel的整理!

This is a funny online newspaper clipping generater. You get to make your news clipping in your own words with your own headlines!

Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo, great place to look for TEFL resources!