Digital Story Telling

Digital story telling is a fun way to learn vocabulary and to be part of a story by using the target language.

Story jumper 

https://www.storyjumper.com/


This is a great app  you  can share a link with your students for them to read, also you can add your list of students in Google Classroom to this app to be able to see their books .
There is an option that allows you to use the books they have, to share digitally.

Wevideo 

https://www.wevideo.com/
It is a video editor that allows you to edit your videos using different effects and including your voice or music if you want.

OFFICE 365

This is an useful  tool by Microsoft to have your files in real time in the cloud you can use them in any place if you have access to One Drive. Also, you can create and share online  just with  internet access.  You can use your company account to start using Microsoft products.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/products/office

Another tool that you can use is Microsoft Teams to be in contact with your students and share materials there.

Polls and Short Exams

Polls,  short exams and interviews online are very useful and funny for students and teachers. First, you have the result of that very easy and also you have fun answering the questions.

There are some tools that we can use to do this and have fun!

Poll everywhere 

https://www.polleverywhere.com/

Here you can create different kind of polls like open ended questions, word cloud , multiple choice, competitions and many more. 

Padlet 

It is used  to collaborate, reflect and brainstorm ideas in a classroom or to use it as your own portfolio. This is a wonderful tool to use with your students to create portfolios

https://es.padlet.com

Socrative  

https://socrative.com/plans/

This is another tool that you can use to engage your students in the classroom. You can create polls, exit tickets and others. Try it!

Using technology in the Classroom

"Technology  is not just a tool. It can give learners a voice that they may not have had before"George Couros

Technology , Learning and Entertainment

When we use technology in the classroom, it is important to take into account the 21st Century Competencies and the six dimensions of 21st Century Learning are:

Collaboration 

Knowledge Construction

Real-World Problem Solving and Innovation 

Use of Technology for Learning 

Self-Regulation

Skilled Communication

Technology tools that we can use to improve our classes...

Google Classroom   

Google Classroom is a way to interact with your students and parents if you want. 

There are other tools you can use  for students to work an be active in the class.

VOKI 

https://www.voki.com/
It is used to create your own Avatar and include your voice, another person's voice or a recording, it is very funny and students enjoy it.

Vyond Studio

https://www.vyond.com/ 

This is used to create videos with animated characters and you cn have a free trial if you want, also it is possible to add voice or music. This is a great tool.

Manga Avatar face maker 

https://www.faceyourmanga.com/editmangatar.php

This aap is used to create manga avatars as we know our students love manga characters and they can create their own avatar based on manga characters. Besides that, it is free and you can send it to your e-mail. It can be used just to have fun!

Make beliefs comix

https://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/

This is a great app for students to practice vocabulary and conversation, they can choose characters and send the link by e-mail to the teacher to check it. There are many characters and different backgounds. You can try it! 

Garfield Comic Creator 

https://garfield.com/games/comic-creator

This app is really beautiful there you can create a comic with Garfield's characters and then you can print it when you finish. Good to practice vocabulary and conversation.

Activities to use in the classroom

"Good teaching is... 1/4 preparation and 3/4 theatre"

Gail Goldwin

Classroom Activities  

There are many funny activities we can do in the classroom to motivate our students

5 Propositions about Teaching

Teachers are very important for  society, this is a hard job and teachers must work a lot in different ways during the school year.
According to Research for better Teaching, Inc., One Acton Place.Acton,MA 01720. there are some propositions about teaching that we can take into account and analyze.

I. Nothing is as important as a teacher and what goes on between a teacher and children, minute to minute, lesson to lesson, day to day. (I am important, students forget what they leran but not how I make feel)

II. Of all the things a person could pick to do for a living, it is hard to imagine anything more demanding or perceptually complex than teaching.(The average makes 1300 decisions everyday at the classroom)

III. The study of teaching is inherently interesting, not just because it is so important, but because we must be constant researchers making hypotheses about what we can change and do in order to get results for children. ( A good teacher is always trying something new)

IV.There is a real knowledge base about teaching that is large, practical, and accessible, and it is not a prescriptive list of do's and dont's. ( Teaching is not a formula)

V. One of the most satisfying and productive things we can do for each other is to talk about teaching together. (Talk about teaching with my colleagues)


You can comment on this, agree or disagree? 

Welcome to my blog!
The objective of this blog is to share different activities, ideas and technology tools that I learned  at the University of Nevada ,Reno when I participated in Fulbrigth Teaching and Achievement Program, an excellent program that is promoted by IREX and the United States of America Embassy, this is a great opportunity for teachers to improve and update the knowledge we already have.
The information about the program can be found in the website of the United States Embassy in Costa Rica there you can fill out a form and participate. Good luck!