Stay up-to-date with ELT trends and ideas with articles from experts and teachers in the field.

Articles

<blockquote>&ldquo;Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story.&rdquo;<br />
&mdash;Mason Cooley</blockquote>

<p>Teachers worldwide will introduce children to Halloween culture and traditions this year. Halloween is one of those holidays that children love to learn about even if it is not practiced in their countries because they get to dress up in costumes and eat candy. Even if you do not teach Halloween, the following activities are fun for children and help spark their creativity.</p>

<h2>A Few Wicked Web 2.0 Activities</h2>

<p>Below is a list of websites and apps and ideas on how to integrate them with your students.</p>

<h3>Skeleton Dance&nbsp;</h3>

<p>Your students upload their photos&nbsp;and their friends photos to star in this <a href="https://www.jibjab.com/view/template/skeleton_dance">Skeleton Dance</a> video. Your students will love doing this and posting on Facebook or emailing to others or their friends. Follow up this activity by doing any of these writing activities.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Have students use their imagination and write a story stating how and where they took this video.</li>
	<li>Divide your students into pairs or small groups and have them write a dialogue about the events leading to this video. They can write down the setting, character descriptions, and dialogue. You can <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FDTcjHxZGiBgDJ1pjfKGdSnQoPp7ToOkM2YYJHFp6Uo/edit">use this worksheet as a framework</a>.</li>
	<li>Divide your students into pairs or small groups and have them write a plan for a Halloween party they are throwing together. This will be the main entertainment. For an added bonus pick one of the ideas or a few to incorporate in a class/club/school Halloween party.</li>
	<li>Divide your students into small groups and have them create a play in which this would be one of the main scenes.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Halloween Jokes</h3>

<p>Jokes can be cultural, but they are a great way to study vocabulary and how words can mean something entirely different in various contexts. <a href="https://www.activityvillage.co.uk/halloween-jokes">Activity Village</a> has a list of free kid-friendly jokes and various ways to print them out and use them in class. Here are a few more ideas.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Divide students in pairs. Have them pick out 2 to 3 jokes they memorize from the list and retell in front of their peers.</li>
	<li>Print the jokes and cut the paper into strips with each joke listed and it&rsquo;s punchline on a different strip. Walk around and have students pull out a strip. They must go around the room and try to determine which punchline goes with what joke. Have them sit together when they think they find their match. After gather as a class and have each pair tell their joke to check if they actually found the right match.</li>
	<li>Have students pick out 2 to 3 jokes they memorize from the list. Then play the game mingle. Students are in pairs and are given 30 seconds to a minute to tell their jokes to their peers. You then blow the whistle and they must tell their joke to a different student.</li>
	<li>Divide students in pairs. Have students pick out 2 to 3 jokes they memorize from the list. Have them use the following free sites to have their characters retell the joke. They can use <a href="http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/">MakeBeliefs Comix</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="http://www.xtranormal.com/">Xtranormal</a>. If you want them to use their mobile devices, try the&nbsp;free dialogue apps,&nbsp;<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/puppet-pals-pocket/id395844666?mt=8">PuppetPals</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://outfit7.com/apps/talking-news/">Talking Ben and Tom News Reporter</a>.</li>
	<li>Have students create their own Halloween jokes in response to these and share them with the class.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Wicked Stories</h3>

<p>Students often love to listen to and create their own spooky stories. It&rsquo;s a great way to learn English and be creative. For older students, have them create stories they will read to younger students or their children. Teenagers love reading stories to younger children and the younger children love it as well. These sites will help inspire students with their stories.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I love the Digital ELT Play site which is filled with great Halloween story games where students walkthrough the story and complete tasks. You can find a great free lesson plan provided for each game for various levels and ages. Here is a list of their <a href="http://www.digitalplay.info/blog/2012/10/05/top-ten-for-halloween/">top 10 Halloween lesson plans</a> that incorporate games.</li>
	<li>Use a site like <a href="http://theshadowlands.net/places/">Shadowlands</a> to discover haunted places in your area or other places. Have students choose one of the haunted places to research for a writing project. They can retell the story with audio and visuals using <a href="http://animoto.com/">Animoto</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="http://www.fotobabble.com/">Fotobabble</a>. Have them use a Google Map to tell the story and mark the locations by time and event. These are great tools to do that: <a href="http://www.meograph.com/">Meograph</a>, <a href="http://www.scribblemaps.com/">ScribbleMaps</a>, or <a href="http://www.tripline.net/">Tripline</a>.</li>
	<li>Many of the stories at <a href="http://themoonlitroad.com/">Moonlit Road</a> have audio and visuals to go along with them. You can create entire lesson plans based on any of these.</li>
	<li>Have students use these story prompts sites to create their own Halloween stories: <a href="http://www.theholidayzone.com/halloween/writing.html">Writing Prompts for Halloween</a>, or <a href="http://jlbenet.com/horrorstoryprompts.html">Spooky Story Prompts</a>.</li>
	<li>Have students create Halloween stories using <a href="http://storybird.com/">Storybird</a>.</li>
	<li>Create a class spook story on the free <a href="http://www.boomwriter.com/">BoomWriter site</a>.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Pumpkin Sites</h3>

<p>Even if you don&rsquo;t celebrate Halloween, your students will enjoy pumpkin carving. It was one of the favorite activities my students of all ages did in Germany. Here are a few online carving sites and games that teach words as well.</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="http://www.abcya.com/pumpkin_carving.htm">Carve a Pumpkin Online</a> for young kids</li>
	<li><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/carve-pumpkin-from-parents/id394900607?mt=8">Carve a Pumpkin app</a>- With this great app from Parents magazine, kids create a jack-o-lantern that lights up after it is carved. Kids can add spooky stickers to their pumpkin. There are various pumpkins to choose from and backgrounds. Have the students e-mail the e-cards to friends of family members. A follow-up task includes having students get into pairs. Student A describes the pumpkin created. Student B must try to recreate the pumpkin by the verbal description. Make sure the students save the pumpkin to their photo library to compare. You can also have students try to carve their pumpkins in real life after the drawing.</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.starfall.com/n/holiday/halloween/play.htm?f">Pumpkin carving Starfall site</a> for small kids that also teaches them pronunciation</li>
</ul>

<h2>More Great Websites and Resources</h2>

<p>You can find more ideas in these posts:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Tons of <a href="http://preparednotscared.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Halloween?updated-max=2010-10-15T00:08:00-06:00&amp;max-results=20">Halloween printables, crafts, and games</a></li>
	<li>Tons of <a href="http://www.squidoo.com/Halloween-Party-Games">Halloween games</a> for kids to play in class or for a party</li>
</ul>


10+ Wicked Web 2.0 Activities for Halloween

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/250/Haloween-Default_Thumb.png

Learn how to make the most of your Ellii subscription with tips from our publishing team.

Teaching with Ellii

<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of&nbsp;being.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Goethe</p>
</blockquote>

<p>For many of us, the first day of our new classes is right around the corner. For many students starting classes is frightening.</p>

<p>Our learners will be meeting new teachers and students.</p>

<p>They will have to get used to a new routine, class schedule, and sleeping and eating schedule. They will have to adapt to new rules and new environments.</p>

<p>Sounds a little overwhelming, but as teachers, we have the ability to make the experience less frightening.</p>

<p>We can alleviate some of this stress by creating a safe and welcoming environment. If we do this at the beginning of our classes, our students will feel more comfortable participating, making mistakes, and using the language they have&nbsp;learned.</p>

<h1>Tips for creating a safe environment</h1>

<p>I hope the following tips and resources will help you in creating a safe environment for your learners.</p>

<h2>Tip #1</h2>

<h4>Let Them Know You Believe in&nbsp;Them</h4>

<p>All students should feel they can succeed in your classroom and that you aren&rsquo;t holding their past against them. Some of your students may have had behavior&nbsp;problems.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Greet them at the door with a smile, handshake or hi‑five!</li>
	<li>Let your students know they all have a clean slate and all can be successful if they choose&nbsp;to.</li>
	<li>Call their parents the first week of school and tell them something positive about their&nbsp;child.</li>
	<li>Find more parent engagement tips in this post, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tips-for-engaging-parents/" target="_blank">Tips for Engaging&nbsp;Parents</a>.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Tip #2</h2>

<h4>Surround Them with Motivation</h4>

<p>When our students walk in the classroom, they should feel inspired to learn. Here are a few&nbsp;suggestions:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Post motivational posters around the&nbsp;classroom.</li>
	<li>Write a quote on the board each day they walk in the room. Have them submit their own favorite quotes as&nbsp;suggestions.</li>
	<li>You can find <a href="http://pinterest.com/shellyterrell/inspiration-for-world-changers/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">many inspirational quotes and posters</a> bookmarked in my&nbsp;Pinterest!</li>
</ul>

<h2>Tip #3</h2>

<h4>Establish the Ground Rules for Respect</h4>

<ul>
	<li>Gather in a circle and ask students to tell you what is acceptable/unacceptable behavior towards each&nbsp;other.</li>
	<li>Let your students know the signals you will be giving them when they need to stop what they are doing and listen to you, line‑up, etc. Try using nonverbal cues so that way you never have to raise your voice. One example is when you are getting the class to be silent, raise your hand and put your finger on your mouth. As students see this, they will also raise their hands until the entire class has their hands raised and is&nbsp;quiet.</li>
	<li>If a student misbehaves, speak with them privately versus embarrassing them in front of the class. If you begin instilling fear in the first week then you will create a wall between you and that&nbsp;student.</li>
	<li>Try not to grade anything the first week of class but instead have various participation activities so the students feel they are starting off successfully. When I have to give grades the first week, I give them free 100s activities. Basically, the student will get a free 100 if they complete a task like sending me an email, posting on the class website, filling out a survey,&nbsp;etc.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Tip #4</h2>

<h4>Build Relationships</h4>

<p>Students need to feel like they can approach you with problems, questions, and ideas. That means they need to get to know you! Here are a few&nbsp;ideas:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Have them interview you! Give students slips of papers and have each student write a question for you. Don&rsquo;t have them sign their names. Collect the slips in a bag then pull each out and answer the question. Remind students to be respectful in their questions and make a clause that you have the right to not answer a question if it&rsquo;s too&nbsp;personal.</li>
	<li>Create a collage that gives students important information about you. Then have the students guess 3 things about you according to the collage. You can create a digital collage using <a href="http://glogster.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Glogster</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="http://thinglink.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">ThingLink</a>. Then have students create their own collages where their peers will guess 3 things about them.</li>
</ul>

<p>Students are less likely to pick on each other if they feel their peers are their friends. The first few days of class are great for getting our students to build relationships with each other. The following are some icebreaker&nbsp;ideas.</p>

<h3>Hotseat</h3>

<p>Play a hotseat game where students are gathered in a circle and the person in a designated hotseat is asked questions. You can start off in the hotseat and have students ask you questions.</p>

<p>One hotseat game I play is Who? What? When? Where? Why? Students ask questions during the first round that begin with What? In the second round they ask questions that begin with What? As they ask the questions, I write the correct form on the&nbsp;board.</p>

<h3>I can circle</h3>

<p>Students gather their chairs in a circle. You stand in the middle and begin. You will be playing this game with them which means there will always be one more student than a chair. The person in the middle says something he/she can do. The students who can do this will run to another chair, including the person in the middle. Whoever is left standing must say something he/she can&nbsp;do.</p>

<h2>More resources</h2>

<p>You can find more ideas in these&nbsp;posts:</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="external-link"><a href="http://www.lessonplansinc.com/classroom_management_safe_environment.php" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Create a Safe Classroom&nbsp;Environment</a></li>
	<li class="external-link"><a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-tips-create-safe-learning-environment-rebecca-alber" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">20 Tips for Creating a Safe Learning&nbsp;Environment</a></li>
</ul>

<p>What other ideas do you have?</p>


A Beautiful Beginning: Tips and Resources for Creating a Safe Classroom Environment

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/249/Shelly_A-Beautiful-Beginning_Banner.png

<blockquote>&ldquo;As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was going to happen.&rdquo; &ndash; Winnie The Pooh</blockquote>

<p>One of my favorite activities I show teachers is to go into a play area and watch very young kids learn without the parameters of a school. When you observe kids playing with other kids, they are exploring their curiosities and discovering ways to make sense of their world. At the same time, they are motivated and engaged because they have the freedom to explore hands-on and no one is telling them they shouldn&rsquo;t or can&rsquo;t.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, when kids go to school, they end up mostly sitting in their desks for the majority of the class period. As teachers, we can ensure they get to explore, move, and achieve their learning objectives.</p>

<p>Below are a few ideas and resources to get you started, as well as some reasons why you should give it a try.</p>

<h3>Lesson Ideas</h3>

<p>Here a few ideas to get your students moving:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Take a lesson outside! Make it a hands-on adventure where students are paired or grouped and allowed to explore within a confined and chaperoned space for a few minutes. Then have them gather back as a group and show their findings to the rest of the class.</li>
	<li>Have students play a game. Students can play various games like Simon Says and the musical chairs to get them moving. Here is a <a href="http://pinterest.com/shellyterrell/kids-classroom-games-for-learning/">list of several classroom games</a> including jump rope chants.</li>
	<li>Get them to jump rope and speak English.</li>
	<li>Get them to do <a href="http://pinterest.com/shellyterrell/total-physical-response/">Total Physical Response</a> tasks with <a href="http://pinterest.com/shellyterrell/chanting-games/">chants</a>.</li>
	<li>Sit on pillows on the floor for your next discussion or take the discussion outside.</li>
	<li>Take a class field trip and get students to create videos where they find specific information and report it live. They can use digital cameras, their cell phones, or an app like <a href="http://outfit7.com/apps/talking-news/">Talking Tom and Ben Newsreporter</a>.</li>
	<li>Get students to do stretches or yoga and when they use part of the body they can name what they are doing.</li>
	<li>Take in a game console for a day or once a week as a treat. A&nbsp;Wii, Playstation or other game console will have your learners using English to play interactive games. They can play guitar hero, Wii sports, Dance! Dance! Revolution, singing games and so much more. <a href="http://www.pearltrees.com/shellyterrell/learning-game-consoles-ar/id5627627">These resources</a> will give you some ideas.</li>
	<li>Try integrating a mobile device and do things like host scavenger hunts. Specific ideas are <a href="http://teacherbootcamp.edublogs.org/2012/04/23/magical-moments-in-mobile-learning-20-tips-resources/">included in this post</a>.</li>
	<li>Set-up tasks in a <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/ShellTerrell/getting-learners-to-speak-english-during-the-break">class calendar that students aim to complete</a>. This could include visiting the local library, finding a sign in English, and more. These are tasks that students complete outside of school and for points. By the end of each month, the students can exchange their points for small prizes like stamps, stickers, badges, cool erasers or whatever else you can imagine. Sharon Hartle includes a <a href="http://hartlelearning.wordpress.com/2011/12/04/christmas-is-approaching/">PowerPoint advent calendar</a> here that you can edit and customize. Use this <a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/how-to-create-a-personalized-advent-calendar-HA010336527.aspx?CTT=3">template to create a calendar in PowerPoint or </a> this <a href="http://ilearntechnology.com/?p=4395">post by Kelly Tenkely</a> will help you create one through Glogster or Wix.</li>
	<li>Set-up a karaoke or dance day! <a href="http://gret.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/divingintoaskypingadventure/">Greta Sandler</a> does this with her English learners in Argentina and they look forward to every Friday when they can sing.</li>
</ul>

<h3>More Resources</h3>

<ul>
	<li><a href="http://teacherbootcamp.edublogs.org/2011/02/08/goal-7-play-and-have-fun-30goals/">Play and Have Fun with Your Classes!</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=169047">How Do I Make My Classroom a Playground?</a></li>
</ul>

<h3>Reasons Why?</h3>

<p>When your students are active physically while learning they:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Get more physical activity, which promotes physical and mental well-being</li>
	<li>Are using up their natural energy which makes managing classroom behavior easier</li>
	<li>Release endorphins that get them thinking creatively and feeling good</li>
	<li>Look forward to your classes</li>
	<li>Discover that learning is all around them</li>
	<li>Store more in their long-term memory, which is often seen in <a href="http://pinterest.com/shellyterrell/total-physical-response/">Total Physical Response</a> activities</li>
</ul>

<p>What ways do you get your learners moving and learning English?</p>


We Like To Move It

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/248/Shelly_We-Like-To-Move-It_Banner.png

<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;At a funeral, people are five times more likely to want to be in the casket than giving the eulogy.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Jerry Seinfeld</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Public speaking is the number one phobia. People are more afraid of speaking in public than death which is why Jerry Seinfeld made the remark above.</p>

<p>At some point, our learners will have to give a presentation.</p>

<p>For many of our learners, presenting&nbsp;is a different type of skill they have to learn and their struggle with the language makes it more frightening for them. For teachers, this can be difficult to teach because we teach rehearsed language as well as presentation skills and presentation design skills.</p>

<p>However, teaching our learners how to present helps them with their English related to their working environment, and provides them with&nbsp;confidence and motivation to continue their English. Great presentation skills lead to promotions and accolades from colleagues!</p>

<p>Presenting is not only for adult learners, though.</p>

<p>We can and should get our students to present to their peers from as young as 10 years old. The more they practice, the better they will be at it! Plus, these skills will help them present their ideas in future classes.</p>

<p>I hope the following tips and resources will help your learners&nbsp;improve their presentation skills.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Tips and resources for preparing their presentations</h2>

<p>Before your students present, they will need to prepare what they want to say. Here are a few tips to get them&nbsp;started:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Have them observe famous speakers and speeches! Show them <a href="http://ed.ted.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">TED Talks</a> which are short and come with transcripts of the speeches. Here&rsquo;s a blog dedicated to <a href="http://esltedtalks.blogspot.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">TED Talk lessons for English language learners</a>. Also check out <a href="http://www.americanrhetoric.com/top100speechesall.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">American Rhetoric&rsquo;s top 100 speeches</a> of the century that include audio clips, video, and&nbsp;transcripts.</li>
	<li>Provide them with a simple checklist of what you expect from them as far as the topic, vocabulary to include, speech time, visual aides they can use, and&nbsp;more.</li>
	<li>Give them time to&nbsp;brainstorm.</li>
	<li>Have them diagram their presentations on paper before they begin putting it&nbsp;together.</li>
	<li>Allow them to write out their speeches and then have them summarize the main points. Many language learners will want to write out their entire speech so they can make sure the grammar is correct. Once you and their peers check their written speeches, have them create note cards with main&nbsp;ideas.</li>
	<li>Include a peer review process. <a href="http://voicethread.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Voicethread</a> is a great free tool for having peer reviews&nbsp;online.</li>
	<li>Give them plenty of time to practice, practice,&nbsp;practice!</li>
</ul>

<h2>Tips and resources for designing their presentations</h2>

<p>Now that your learners have determined what they are saying, it is time to get them to support these ideas with multimedia and visual aids. Here are a few&nbsp;tips!</p>

<ul>
	<li>Instruct them to support concepts and main points with multimedia, images, and videos. These aids should not distract from the message. The presentation should not have too much multimedia. Also, steer them away from using custom animations and transitions. Many times this will create problems with the&nbsp;presentation.</li>
	<li>Get them to use presentation tools other than PowerPoint. Here is a <a href="http://pinterest.com/shellyterrell/presentation-tools/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">list of various presentation tools</a> I&nbsp;recommend.</li>
	<li>They should design the presentation keeping their audience in&nbsp;mind.</li>
	<li>Teach them about creative commons. There are websites with free images and music. You can try <a href="http://flickr.com/" target="_blank">Flickr</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/eltpics/sets/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">ELTPics</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://compfight.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Compfight</a>, <a href="http://www.morguefile.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">MorgueFile</a>, <a href="https://groovesharks.org/" target="_blank" rel=noopener noreferrer nofollow">Grooveshark</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Free Music Archive</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://soundbible.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">SoundBible</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.freesound.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">FreeSound</a>.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Tips for dealing with the nonverbal communication</h2>

<p>Once the presentation is prepared, students should work on their nonverbal cues. They can practice giving their speech in front of a mirror or videotape themselves. Here are a few nonverbal issues that might&nbsp;arise.</p>

<ul>
	<li>To deal with pitch, pace, volume, and enunciation problems, students can practice the speech with a marker in their mouth. Once they let it out, they will notice the&nbsp;improvement.</li>
	<li>To deal with distracting pacing, students can practice presenting in a trashcan till they get&nbsp;better.</li>
	<li>To deal with too many umms, ands, and uhhs, students can practice with a peer who will ring a bell every time they do&nbsp;this.</li>
	<li>To help with eye contact, students can look at a point on the far wall and it will seem they are looking at the&nbsp;audience.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Lesson ideas</h2>

<p>Here are a few ideas to get your students&nbsp;presenting!</p>

<ul>
	<li>Have them do a short <a href="http://sixthings.net/2009/03/11/six-things-about-pecha-kucha-elt/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Pecha Kucha</a> or <a href="http://igniteshow.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Ignite presentation</a>. These are 5- to 7-minute speeches aimed at being highly visual and covering the most important points of a&nbsp;topic.</li>
	<li>Have them do a short online presentation with video and slides using free and user-friendly tools like <a href="http://present.me/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Present.me</a> or&nbsp;<a href="http://www.brainshark.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">BrainShark</a>.</li>
	<li>Have your students create their own short TED&nbsp;Talks.</li>
	<li>Have them present a project or topic in real time. They can receive immediate feedback from their peers.</li>
</ul>

<p>What other ideas can you think&nbsp;of?</p>


Tips & Resources to Help Learners with Their Presentation Skills

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/247/Shelly_20-Tips-and-Resources-to-Help-Learners-with-Their-Presentation-Skills_Banner.png

<blockquote>&ldquo;Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.&quot;&nbsp;~&nbsp;Gustave Flaubert</blockquote>

<p>Learning online can be an incredible journey but at some point, you may feel overwhelmed with the surplus of information and resources. You may feel very excited about a resource you come across, but want to access that resource at some other date. Perhaps, you are teaching your students how to research online and they want to bookmark and create notes on websites. Many free webtools exist to help us quickly save, bookmark, categorize, store, and share information. These tools are very advanced and store our information&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing">in the cloud</a>. Our information and the way we organize it is stored in cyberspace so that we have access to it when we connect to the Internet. Below are ways that I use this technology to keep me organized wherever I go. I hope the following tips and resources will help you and your students keep organized.</p>

<h3>Googlize It!</h3>

<p>Jump on the bandwagon and get a Google account if you haven&rsquo;t already. Google has so many tools that keep you organized and save you time. I will list a few of my favorites and how to use them. Learn more about each and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/about/products/index.html">download them here</a>.</p>

<p><strong>Gmail &ndash;</strong> Make the switch to Gmail. It has so many features and ways to keep organized. You can keep emails in various folders, star those that have priority, and filter emails into folders by keywords. The search feature is amazing and quick. Plus, the interface continues to get more intelligent and integrates with various Google apps and tools. For example, when my email has a date, my Gmail will often pick that up and give me options to schedule that event in my Google Calendar. Another feature I enjoy is how easy it is to create contacts and categorize them. Next to each email, on the right-side, I can see an image of the contact if they are on GooglePlus or have a Google account, and I can add them to circles, chat with them, or edit their details. My Android smartphone automatically syncs these contacts with their information and images.</p>

<p><strong>Google Drive &ndash;</strong> If you haven&rsquo;t already, make the switch from Google Apps to Google Drive. You have to sign up for it and it will take a few days to be accepted. Once you do, you will have access to a storage platform that goes wherever you install it. It allows you to create and store text documents, PDFs, slide presentations, videos, spreadsheets, forms, surveys, and more! You can categorize the files in folders and give links to anyone you want to have access to them or edit them. The search feature is very advanced with many options. The best feature, though, is that whatever is on your Google Drive goes everywhere you go because you can install Google Drive on your desktop, mobile device, or laptop.</p>

<p><strong>Google Chrome &ndash;</strong> This is my browser of choice because it doesn&rsquo;t matter what computer I use; I just have to download the browser and log in to have access to my bookmarks, favorite sites, and more. I carry my browser wherever I go with my preferred settings. Often, it will even remember passwords and login details for those I have previously allowed. This saves me a lot of time and aggravation when I cannot use my laptop. There are many customization options so I can personalize the background and make it look nice. Also, it has a very user-friendly interface that shows me clickable thumbnails of the places I visit the most. I can download several apps that tell me the time in all time zones, give me access to my bookmarks, and so much more. I can quickly install&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookmarklet">bookmarklets</a> of the various online tools I use and they will be easily accessible in my browser&rsquo;s toolbar.</p>

<p><strong>Google Calendar &ndash;</strong> Create events and send yourself and students reminders. You can create and share various calendars with students and their parents. You can create a calendar for each class. One of the best features is that you have the option to send yourself and your students alerts a week/day/hour in advance. The alerts will pop up on your mobile device or you can choose to text the alerts to any mobile device to remind students and their parents of important events (like a parent-teacher meeting) or homework.</p>

<h3>Bookmarklet It!</h3>

<p>A bookmarlet is a tiny icon that can be dragged and dropped into most browsers. Many online tools like Diigo, ScoopIt, Pinterest, and Delicious have bookmarklets. When you click that icon, you will be able to use the features of that tool quickly. For example, when I click my&nbsp;<a href="http://www.diigo.com/tools/diigolet">Diigo bookmarklet</a>, a small box pops up and I am able to quickly bookmark a website, add tags, categorize it, and share on social networks.</p>

<h3>Bookmark It!</h3>

<p>There are several free webtools that allow you to quickly bookmark, organize, and share resources. This means you have access to your bookmarks wherever you have Internet access. When you bookmark on any platform (a laptop, a friend&rsquo;s computer, your mobile device), it automatically saves it to be accessed anywhere. Great bookmarking tools include <a href="http://diigo.com">Diigo</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.pearltrees.com/">PearlTrees</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://livebinders.com">LiveBinders</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://scoop.it">ScoopIt</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="http://pinterest.com">Pinterest</a>.&nbsp;The best one of these, however, is Diigo. Diigo has so many options to get you organized and save you time. Additionally, you can bookmark from your mobile device with the free app and it has a bookmarklet. It allows you to create notes and highlight information on websites you bookmark. You can easily share your resource on social networks like Twitter and Facebook. You can set Diigo to create automatic posts on your blog of all the links you bookmark for the week or you can autobookmark any links you retweet or favorite on Twitter. The hashtags become the tags that categorize the information.</p>

<h3>Go Mobile!</h3>

<p>Your mobile device is your bestfriend when it comes to organization. Download free apps like Evernote, Dropbox, Diigo, Google Drive, and more to stay organized.The trick is to download the free apps that are linked to the organizational tools you already use online. This way you have all the information available on all your devices. Below is a description of two of these apps.</p>

<p><a href="http://evernote.com/">Evernote</a> has a desktop and online app as well as a mobile app. Create text, photo and audio notes that auto-synchronize your notes to your Mac or PC. Add, sync, access, and share files (PDF, Word, Excel, PPT, and more) among the different versions of Evernote. A free version is available on iPhone, iPod, Android, and Blackberry.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/anywhere">Dropbox</a> has a desktop and online app as well as a mobile app. It gives you&nbsp;2 GB of storage for free to upload photos, videos, documents, presentations, and audio. You can make these private or public (provides you a link to share for others to download). Save photos and videos taken with your phone&rsquo;s camera, share and send files via email, or copy and paste links to share with another app. Export files to other apps and favorite them for offline viewing. A free version is available on iPhone, iPod, Android, and Blackberry.</p>

<h3>More Resources</h3>

<p>For more tips on how to help with organization, check out my post,&nbsp;<a href="http://teacherbootcamp.edublogs.org/2010/07/10/tips-and-tools-to-manage-your-twitter-time/">Tips and Tools to Manage Your Twitter Time</a> and Nicky Hockly&rsquo;s great post,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.emoderationskills.com/?p=159">Not Waving but Drowning</a>! What are your favorite organization tools?</p>


Tips and Tools To Keep Teachers Organized

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/246/Shelly_Generic_Banner.png

<blockquote>&ldquo;We are born into a box of time and space. We use words and communication to break out of it and to reach out to others.&rdquo; &mdash; Roger Ebert</blockquote>

<p>Language learning involves community. Learners need to be able to take the vocabulary and skills they learn in the classroom and apply them in real world contexts. They need to be able to interact with other language learners and participate in real conversations. I&rsquo;ve been an English teacher for over a decade and have tried to find the best way to get my students to be able to practice language outside the classroom. One of the most effective ways is to get the students to use online tools that foster communication in English. As a language teacher, you can get your students to use these websites to participate in discussions or collaborate on projects. In this way, the students are applying what they learn in class to specific tasks. I hope the following tips and resources will help you plan these tasks.</p>

<h2>Collaborative Tools and Tasks</h2>

<p>These are some of the most effective and free collaboration tools I recommend and a few ideas on what your language learners can do with them.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups">Facebook Groups</a>&nbsp;- Facebook is the most popular social network so chances are your learners are already set up on there. This means they do not have to register so they are more likely to use this social network.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.edmodo.com/">Edmodo</a>&nbsp;- Learners can collaborate in a private, secure environment. They post discussions through the threaded feature that looks similar to Twitter and Facebook. They also can upload pictures, links, videos, and more.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.twiddla.com/">Twiddla</a>&nbsp;- This is an online collaborative whiteboard. Students can post documents, brainstorm, view a website, and so much more in real-time. Students don&rsquo;t have to register. They just click a button and are given a room link for others to join. The learners can even talk to each other while they work using the live audio feature.</p>

<p><a href="https://docs.google.com/">Google Docs</a>&nbsp;- Learners collaborate in real-time when&nbsp;editing a text document, spreadsheet, or slide presentation. There are chat and comment functions that make it easy for learners to communicate. Use this tool to have your learners brainstorm.</p>

<p>What other collaborative activities can you think of?</p>

Collaborative Tools and Tasks to Motivate Language Learners

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/245/Shelly_Generic_Banner.png

<p>Music is the soul of language. &mdash;Max Heindel</p>

<p>I am very interested in what motivates students to learn English. In conversations outside my classroom, I often ask language learners how and why they learned English. No matter what the age, I have found music to be a very powerful motivational tool for learning a language. For example, a friend of mine from Korea told me she learned English by studying the lyrics to her favorite English songs. This sounds like a more interesting and engaging way to learn a language than from a textbook. Teaching with music is also a great idea because it:</p>

<ul>
	<li>helps students learn language and even grammar in chunks</li>
	<li>is all around us. I have traveled to 22 countries and all had English music playing in the shopping centers or the radio.</li>
	
	<li>shows the vernacular. If students listen to popular music they can pick up slang phrases and idioms that are difficult to teach.</li>
	<li>promotes movement, which is a healthy and effective way to learn a language.</li>
	<li>is an effective way to teach about various cultures. We can learn about dances, traditions, costumes, instruments and more!</li>
</ul>

<h2>Activity Ideas and Resources</h2>

<p>It&#39;s Music in Our Schools Month! I hope the following tips and resources will help you along your journey towards integrating music into your curriculum.</p>

<h3>Modernize the Lyrics</h3>

<p>Learners modernize the lyrics to a popular song from the past, then create a music video. Works best with old children&rsquo;s songs, holiday music, or classics.</p>

<h3>Teach Chunks of Grammar</h3>

<p>Specific songs are great for pinpointing difficult grammar. You can have students highlight a specific grammar point by delineating movements for specific words or phrases. For example, the student can wave every time a verb is used in the past tense. Highlighting through movement helps learners listen to the lyrics carefully and pay specific attention to the language structure.</p>

<h3>Create a Lip Dub</h3>

<p>In a lip dub, students learn the lyrics to a song then record a video in which they mouth the words to the lyrics as the music plays. The students lip sync in the video.</p>

<h3>Drop the Lyrics</h3>

<p>Getting your students to learn a song can often be difficult. You can make learning the lyrics into a game. Display the lyrics to the song on the board. Play the song once for students to get comfortable with the beat. Then play only the instrumental version of the song and together as a class sing the entire song. Round one begins where you instruct your students to sing the song but drop the last few words or lines of the song. Continue doing this as often as you like. Usually, teachers play this using the lyrics to Row, Row, Row Your Boat.</p>

<h3>Dissect the Lyrics to My Favorite Song</h3>

<p>Have your students bring in the lyrics and sound samples of their favorite songs. At the beginning of the class, give each student a different colored marker. Instruct each student to go to the board and write down one line of the song on the board. Then instruct the other students to each write down one idea that relates to that line under the lyric. The idea is not related to the song just that one lyric. When everyone finishes, the class can try to guess the song. Each student presents their song and discuss the meaning and whether the ideas under the lyric hint at the meaning.</p>

<h3>Soundtrack</h3>

<p>Have your students research the life of a famous person they admire. Then have them choose 3 to 5 songs that represent significant events in that person&rsquo;s life. These events could include birth, death, a marriage, something that signifies why the person is famous, and so forth. The student presents this person&rsquo;s autobiography by playing snippets of the song and explaining the song choice behind that event. Another idea is for students to create a short film about a book or short story they are reading. The students will just write a short summary. Along with this writing, they should include a soundtrack. Alternatively, your students could choose 3 to 5 songs that represent the soundtrack of their lives.</p>

<h3>A Personal Theme Song</h3>

<p>Ask your students what personal theme song they would choose and why. They can create their own music videos using <a href="http://animoto.com/">Animoto</a>, Windows Movie Maker, <a href="http://glogster.com/">Glogster</a>, or other tools. Read <a href="http://teacherbootcamp.edublogs.org/2009/12/11/my-favourite-tools-by-alexandra-francisco/">this post</a> and <a href="http://teacherbootcamp.edublogs.org/2009/12/05/my-favourite-cool-sites-by-eva-buyuksimkesyan/">this post</a> for more ideas of web 2.0 tools your students can use for this activity.</p>

<h3>Have a Karaoke Day</h3>

<p>Every Friday, my friend <a href="http://gret.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/itsoktohavefun/">Greta&rsquo;s 5th graders in Argentina</a> would get to learn a new English song of their choice and sing it together. Once a week or month, designate a special day for your students to learn the lyrics of a song through Karaoke. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/TheKARAOKEChannel">Youtube has many Karaoke videos</a> for most songs students would like to sing.</p>

<h3>Make a Game Out of It</h3>

<p>Several video games include learning the lyrics to a song. If you get access to a game consule, your students will love learning the lyrics to a song with a game like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ-he3-7KTs">Guitar Hero</a>. Click on the link to see how these games are used to teach kids in the classroom!</p>

<h2 dir="ltr">More Resources</h2>

<p>These websites have plenty of activities and videos for teaching English through songs.</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="http://lyricstraining.com/">Lyrics Training</a>&nbsp;- Learn English through lyrics!</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qqlvg2LfOQ">Top 10 Songs for Teaching Conditionals</a>&nbsp;- Youtube video listing songs to teach conditionals</li>
	<li><a href="http://mondostoppops.blogspot.com/">Mondo&rsquo;s Song Lessons</a>&nbsp;- several lesson plans based on music videos</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.tuneintoenglish.com/">Tune Into English</a>&nbsp;- worksheets, Karoake, lesson plans, and more</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.musicalenglishlessons.com/index-ex.htm">Musical English Lessons</a>&nbsp;- categorizes by grammar taught</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/collolearn?feature=watch">Various ESL Rap Videos and Songs by Fluency MC</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.eslpartyland.com/teachers/music/musicimpressions.htm">Music Impressions</a>&nbsp;- interview and discussion activity based on listening to four samples of music</li>
	<li><a href="http://linguisticconsultancy.blogspot.com/2010/07/song-to-motivate-students-to-speak.html">A Song to Motivate Students to Speak</a> by Marisa Pavan</li>
	<li><a href="http://linguisticconsultancy.blogspot.com/2010/05/song-for-class.html">English Lesson Based on Enjoy the Silence</a> by Depeche Mode</li>
	<li><a href="http://civitaquana.blogspot.com/2010/05/eighteen.html">English Lesson Based on Marble Halls by Enya</a> by Janet Bianchini</li>
</ul>

<p>What activities do you do with music? You can also tweet your ideas, and follow the tag #MIOSM (Music in Our Schools Month).</p>

Activities and Resources for Teaching Language Through Song Lyrics

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/244/Shelly_Activities-and-Resources-for-Teaching-Language-Through-Song-Lyrics_Banner.png

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible.&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Vladimir Nabakov</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Our language learners have powerful stories to share, but they need their teachers to help them get these stories out in English. When our learners can tell their stories in English, they are able to share these experiences with a worldwide audience. Like all storytellers, our learners are strongly motivated to share their stories with an audience who will listen. For this reason, we often see learners sharing personal events of their lives on blogs, Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter. These social networks have millions of users and provide our learners with a global audience of parents, teachers, friends, and learners who will comment on their stories. Through storytelling we motivate our learners to apply, contextualize, visualize, and personalize the language they learn. There are great tools and websites to inspire your learners to think creatively and begin writing their thoughts. I hope the following tips and resources will help you along your journey towards integrating storytelling into your curriculum.</p>

<h3>Teach Them Free Writing</h3>

<p>Many times our students do not get the chance to write without having to edit themselves and worry about grammar. Being able to recall phrases and think in English without worrying about the structure is also an important part of learning the language. We can motivate our students to write for short time periods about whatever comes to mind. Some of the ideas below will help stimulate their minds.</p>

<h3>Get Them Writing Regularly</h3>

<p>Every day my students knew the drill. They would enter the class, look at the writing prompt on the board, and have 10 to 15 minutes to write in their journals. Every other Friday I would collect these journals and give them a completion grade. My concern was not over the grammar so much as getting them to apply the language they learned and helping them get into the habit of thinking and writing in English. Starting classes this way helped my learners to get their brains ready to think in English as well as express their thoughts on an interesting or thought-provoking writing prompt. Below, I share many websites where you can find 1,000s of writing prompts.</p>

<h3>Change the Environment</h3>

<p>On sunny days, my students and I would go outside and find a nice place around the school campus to take 10 minutes to write. These writings would be in their daily journals. I have also been part of a group that would go hiking once a month. Mid-hike we would stop and contemplate our natural setting and write any poetry, thoughts, or prose that came to&nbsp;mind.</p>

<h3>Stimulate with Music</h3>

<p>In these classes I often allowed my students to get out their mp3 players and listen to music. Many of them had English songs they listened to. They would have time to write while listening to the music. <a href="http://evasimkesyan.edublogs.org/2010/12/03/warmers-fillers-and-improvisations-in-efl-classrooms/">In this slide presentation</a>, Eva Buyuksimkesyan has many great ideas for using music to inspire your language learners to write. One of the activities includes playing a piece of music and then asking students to imagine what kind of movie would include this in the soundtrack. The students then write out the movie scene.</p>

<h3>Create a Scene</h3>

<p>Make a paper cut-out of a body and tape it to the floor (or create the body outline with masking tape). Put the students&rsquo; desks around this body and have them ask questions about the body, such as &quot;<em>What happened to this person? Is he/she dead or alive?</em>&quot;. Then the students write what happened to this individual. They can even do this as a news report. I got this idea from <a href="http://lessonstream.org/2011/02/27/lying-on-the-pavement/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jamie Keddie&rsquo;s lesson here</a>.</p>

<h3>Use Word Clouds</h3>

<p><a href="http://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2010/07/31/word-clouds-to-integrate-reading-and-writing/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Marisa Constantinides</a> created a great word cloud with images. She asks learners to create a story with the words then share the story on Voicethread. In classes, you can have your students create these stories in groups then listen to each group&rsquo;s stories to see if they are similar. With lower levels, I will ask students to use 5 to 8&nbsp;words.</p>

<h3>Writing Prompts, Story Starters, and Other Great Webtools</h3>

<p>These websites have plenty of writing prompts, story starters, and inspirational images to get your students writing.</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/ShellTerrell/ideas-for-inspiring-students-to-write" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Slideshow presentation: Ideas for Inspiring Our Learners to Write</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://exclusivetutors.com/apps/journaljar/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Journal Jar</a> &ndash; free web and phone app that when shaken comes up with a question to write about.</li>
	<li><a href="http://piclits.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">PicLits</a> &ndash; choose an image and your students drag and drop words onto the image to create a story.</li>
	<li><a href="http://stopmotionmovies.yolasite.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kevin Hodgson&#39;s Animation Site</a> &ndash; Several incredible storyboarding worksheets to help your students brainstorm.</li>
	<li><a href="http://tinyurl.com/scholasticstory" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Scholastic Story Starters</a> &ndash; this is an interactive website where students write their names and fill out questions.</li>
	<li><a href="http://smories.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Smories</a> &ndash; 100s of children read stories they created out loud on video.</li>
	<li><a href="http://plinky.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Plinky</a> &ndash; a question appears and below the question students write their opinion.</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.storyit.com/Starters/ststart.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">StoryIt</a> &ndash; print out a picture that has the first paragraph of a story.</li>
	<li><a href="http://bogglesworldesl.com/creativewriting.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Boggles World Creative Writing</a> &ndash; several creative writing prompts to print that were especially designed for English language learners.</li>
	<li><a href="http://moodstream.gettyimages.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Moodstream</a> &ndash; beautiful images accompanied by great music to help with the brainstorming process. Use this website with teens or adults but always check before you use a website.</li>
	<li><a href="http://5card.cogdogblog.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Five Card Flickr</a> &ndash; 5 random pictures from Flickr are posted and students can write a story in the space provided or view several other pictures.</li>
	<li><a href="http://oneword.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">One Word</a> &ndash; This excellent website posts one word and your students have 60 seconds to write on the website whatever comes to mind.</li>
	<li><a href="http://writingfix.com/classroom_tools/dailypromptgenerator.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Writing Fix</a> &ndash; hundreds of journal writing prompts, writing games, and more.</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.lightningbug.com.au/index.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lightning Bug</a> &ndash; find a story idea or develop one.</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.100wordstory.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">100 Word Story</a> &ndash; an image is posted and you can submit a story that is only 100 words. This site doesn&rsquo;t filter so you can use your own images and have the students create the stories in class.</li>
	<li><a href="http://issuu.com/turtle2000/docs/interactive_writing_tools?mode=a_p" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Multimedia Uses: Using Interactive Websites</a> by Keith Schoch has various webtools and ideas outlined.</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>How do you motivate your students to write?</strong></p>

<p>If you want to receive more of Shelly&rsquo;s tips for online resources for teaching English, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/authors/shelly-terrell">check out her other&nbsp;posts</a>!</p>


10+ Tips and Resources for Inspiring Learners to Write

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/243/_Default_Post-Banner.png

<p>Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare. &ndash;Japanese Proverb</p>

<p>Part of any language curriculum should involve students taking charge of their learning through goal-setting and reflecting. This process helps students find out how they learn best and what motivates them. It also helps them take control of their own learning.</p>

<p>January is a great time to get your students to reflect on their learning journey. When students actively reflect on where they were at the beginning of your class and what they have achieved, it gives them an idea of what they need to do to get to where they want to be at the end of the semester.</p>

<p>I&#39;ve tried many different approaches to get my students to ponder their language learning goals and create plans to achieve them. These are a few ideas that have been successful.</p>

<h3>Have them map out their goals</h3>

<p>Students should write out their learning goals on either a journal, blog, website, mobile device, or paper. They need to be able to keep a copy to refer to later. Concept maps are also useful.</p>

<p>Students can list English language goals as the main concept and then have branches listing specific goals.</p>

<h3>Goals should be specific and individualized</h3>


<p>Encourage your students to create personal goals that relate to their interests or needs. Also, encourage them to be specific.</p>

<p>For example, your student might write, &ldquo;I want to be able to read a novel in English or understand the lyrics to my favorite English song.&rdquo; Another student might need to learn English in order to pass a test.</p>

<h3>Create action plans</h3>

<p>After writing these statements, you can have your students pair up and come up with action plans to achieve these goals.</p>

<p>For example, students might decide the best way to read a novel in English is to read a certain number of pages each week and join an online discussion about the book. This type of activity spurs discussion among your students as they discover a little about each other. You can even pair them up according to those who have similar goals.</p>

<p>Encourage students to also determine problems they may have along the way to completing their goals and write out solutions.</p>

<h3>Goals should be posted and shared</h3>

<p>My students post their short goal statements on our class wiki page. This way, they are committed to accomplishing the goal and have a constant reminder of their goals each time they visit the wiki.</p>

<h3>Reflect on their goals</h3>

<p>Along the way, have your students go through previous assignments and tasks to see where they began and see how much they have progressed. Have them write down or discuss how they feel about their progress and think about what they need to do to achieve more.</p>

<h3>Motivating students to reach their goals</h3>

<p>Your students may need some motivation to accomplish their language learning goals. The following ideas may help:</p>

<ul>
	<li>A wall of inspiration - Put butcher paper over one wall and have students write out quotes, sayings, or thoughts that inspire them daily. They can also add pictures of them doing tasks to reach their goals. Students love writing on walls.</li>
	<li>A goal collage - Have students create collages with pictures that relate to their goals. Students can create multimedia collages online with this&nbsp;free webtool:&nbsp;<a href="http://glogster.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Glogster</a>.</li>
</ul>

<h3>More resources</h3>

<p>For more tips for achieving goals with language learners, visit these resources:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Slide presentation:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.slideshare.net/ShellTerrell/success-goals-language-tesol-images" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_bank">Showing Our Learners to Achieve Success with Resolutions</a></li>
	<li>Video archive:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4D7B60589206511D" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_bank">Goal-setting with English Language Learners</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://teacherbootcamp.edublogs.org/2009/11/18/goal-setting-with-english-language-learners/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_bank">Goal-Setting with Language Learners</a> post</li>
</ul>

<p>How do you motivate your students to accomplish their learning goals?</p>

Tips & Resources for Motivating Language Learners to Set and Achieve Goals

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/242/Shelly_Generic_Banner.png

<p>Chances are you and your students will want to send a holiday greeting, so why not use web tools in class to create them?</p>

<p>Various web tools and apps allow your students to be creative while spreading holiday cheer. Also, multimedia greetings are a fun way to learn about various cultures and their holiday traditions, because often they provide backgrounds and sayings for <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1854">Christmas</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1856">Kwanzaa</a>, and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1857">Hanukkah</a>.</p>

<p>Additionally, language learners can acquire new vocabulary and apply the vocabulary in a fun way while practicing writing, listening, reading, and speaking skills. Many of these web tools have the ability for users to share their productions via e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter!</p>

<p>These are the free tools I recommend. Some of them come as free mobile apps as well.</p>

<h2>Holiday Web Tools</h2>

<ol>
	<li><a href="http://animoto.com/" target="_blank">Animoto</a>&mdash;Upload images, choose a creative commons soundtrack from the library (many nice holiday tunes to choose from) and click a button to make a 30-second video. Sync your videos with your Animoto.com account, download videos for offline viewing, and make longer ones with an All-Access Pass. You can create your greeting online or use their free mobile app for the iPhone. Here is a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVEpiv9K4z0&amp;list=UUCC3RDxws3dOmIWWoMS9lrA&amp;index=1&amp;feature=plcp" target="_blank">holiday greeting to you from me and Rosco, my pug</a>!</li>
	<li><a href="http://goanimate.com/ecards-free?utm_source=newsletter" target="_blank">GoAnimate</a>&mdash;Create holiday videos that are funny. Use your own pictures or choose from their database. Narrate the characters. Upload your video to Youtube.</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.smilebox.com/" target="_blank">Smilebox</a>&mdash;Create a beautiful photo slideshow using their website or iPhone app. Upload your images and choose from various holiday themed backgrounds and music. Embed this in your blog.</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.fotobabble.com/s/mobile" target="_blank">Fotobabble</a>&mdash;Quickly create and easily share talking photos in 3 steps (Snap or select or a photo, speak into the microphone to record audio, share with friends via email, Facebook or Twitter). Fotobabble is really easy to use and free with various holiday themed backgrounds. You can create your greeting online or use their free mobile app for the iPhone.&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="http://storybird.com/books/" target="_blank">Storybird</a>&mdash;This is a free site for creating beautifully illustrated digital stories. Students write the stories and choose the characters and background. Furthermore, the site allows collaborative tools and ways to share the story in a blog. There are several holiday themes.</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.mixbook.com/edu" target="_blank">Mixbook</a>&mdash;Collaborate on a photobook with friends. Create stories, photo journals, and more with your uploaded images. You can zoom in on photos, add holiday backgrounds, and embed this in a blog.</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.northpole.com/" target="_blank">Northpole</a>&mdash;Students create holiday e-cards, stories starring themselves, chat with Santa and the elves, play games, write Santa a letter that he replies to, and so much more!</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.voki.com/" target="_blank">Vok</a>&mdash;This application lets students create personalized avatars to use on wikis, blogs or websites. You can also e-mail these wonderful characters and choose from a variety of holiday characters and backgrounds. Students record their audio messages on a microphone or through the telephone.</li>
</ol>

<p dir="ltr">What apps and web tools do you love using to send your friends holiday cheers? Leave a comment below so that we can give your favorite apps a try!</p>


8 Ways to Wish Someone a Happy Holiday

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/241/Holiday-Default_Banner.png

<p>Language learners often struggle with acquiring new vocabulary and teachers often use flashcards to help them learn long lists of words. However, just memorizing a word and its definition is one of the least effective ways to learn vocabulary. The learner will soon forget the word or often use the word incorrectly. We can support learners in using flashcards to visualize the meaning of words through games and activities. The following tips and resources will help you engage your students with flashcards.</p>

<h3>Flashcard Games</h3>

<p>Games are great ways to review the definitions of words or assess learners. You can use a deck of flashcards to play common games, such as Charades, Taboo, Bingo, and Win, Lose, or Draw. Below are a few more games using flashcards. Try these games instead of a quiz.</p>

<ul>
	<li><em><strong>Card Collector</strong></em> Have your students line up at one end of the room and at the other end of the room throw your flashcards in a pile. You will need a whistle. Tell your students you will name a category and when you blow the whistle they must run to the end of the room and search for the words that fit that category. Whoever collects the most cards at the end of the game wins. Your category choices depend on the vocabulary you are reviewing. For example, if you are reviewing clothing you might say, &#39;Find clothing you would wear during the winter.&#39;&nbsp;Make sure to have the students tell you the reasoning behind their choices or give specific examples so that they visualize the context.</li>
	<li><em><strong>Who am I?</strong></em> Put your flashcards in a deck. Have each student choose a card without looking at it. After choosing the card, the student places the card on his forehead. No one is allowed to tell the student the word or picture on the card. When you signal, the students walk around and ask a variety of questions to find out who or what is on the flashcard.</li>
	<li><em><strong>Chain Story</strong></em> Put your students in a circle. Give each of them 10 beans. The first student draws a card from the deck and must use this word to begin a story. The second student draws a card and continues the story with the chosen word and so on until all the vocabulary words are used. If a student uses the word incorrectly, that student looses a bean. Those who end up with the most beans at the end of the game win.</li>
	<li><em><strong>Let Me Tell You Your Fortune</strong></em> Divide students into pairs. Student A draws five&nbsp;cards from the deck and places them down in front of student B. Student B must invent student&#39;s A fortune using these five&nbsp;words. Then they switch. Try giving the teams play money. For every word correctly used in a fortune, the fortune-teller gets paid.</li>
	<li><em><strong>Noah&#39;s Ark</strong></em> This game is adapted from the&nbsp;original game by Jason Renshaw. You are Noah. You are asking your students for help in deciding how to categorize the animals in the ark so that they all survive. Divide students into pairs. Give each pair a poster board. Instruct them to draw Noah&#39;s Ark and divide the bottom of the boat into three&nbsp;areas. Each pair takes a deck of animal cards and decides which animals will go in each room for Noah to have a successful voyage. They will have to think about each animal&#39;s food preferences and habitats. They should write down the explanation for their choices.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Tips</h3>

<ul>
	<li>If your students journal or blog, have them draw a flashcard each day and incorporate that vocabulary word in their journal entries.</li>
	<li>Have students design flashcards on the computer and save them for future use.</li>
	<li>Have your students invent a card game for a unit&#39;s flashcards.</li>
	<li>Make it a class goal to learn a certain number of words per month. You can list new words on a word wall or place them in a blog or wiki.</li>
</ul>

<p>How do you use flashcards?</p>

Flashcard Fun! Ideas and Resources for Using Flashcards in the Language Classroom

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/240/Shelly_Flashcard-Fun-Ideas-and-Resources-for-Using-Flashcards-in-the-Language-Classrooms_Banner.png

<p>Towards the end of October and the beginning of November, several countries celebrate by wearing costumes. In Mexico,&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dia de Los Muertos</a> is celebrated and in mostly North America, Halloween is celebrated!</p>

<p>In most countries there are celebrations with costumes, fun customs, and great treats. For this reason, I enjoy having Halloween lessons with my language learners even if that is not a holiday celebrated.</p>

<p>This holiday is a great way to compare the way fun festivals are celebrated in various countries. Moreover, we have a lot of fun while learning! I hope these ideas will be useful in having some fun this month with your students.</p>

<h2>Discussion Starters</h2>

<ul>
	<li>If you have students from several countries, have them survey or interview each other about similar festivals and celebrations. This tends to generate a lot of discussion.</li>
	<li>Have students use a Google form to survey others online or through email about festivals that are similar to Halloween and discuss the results in class.</li>
	<li>Have students bring in pictures of their families, pets, or themselves dressed up in costumes. Play a guessing game where the students have to guess which picture belongs to which student. Then have the student discuss the picture&#39;s location, event, and so forth.</li>
	<li>Show images of several costumes throughout history and have students guess what the occasion may have been. You can collect several costume pictures from various countries on the Internet to show on a projector. Some festivals in which people dress in costumes include <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mardi Gras</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Carnival" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Carnaval</a>, Dia de los Muertos, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_in_Germany,_Switzerland_and_Austria" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Fasching</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_of_Venice" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Carnevale di Venezia</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purim" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Purim</a>.</li>
	<li>Show a collection of pet costumes. This is sure to make your students laugh. You can even have a debate on whether it is ethical to dress pets.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Activities</h2>

<ul>
	<li>Host a Trick or Treat event between classes. Have the younger kids dress up in costumes while the older kids pass out healthy treats. Kids receive the treats if they say, &quot;Trick or Treat!&quot;</li>
	<li>Here is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trick-or-treating" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a bit of history about this custom</a>.</li>
	<li>Here are <a href="http://www.schooltube.com/video/70212d532fa14c57b0a6/TrickorTreat-Safety" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">safety tips</a>. This video could be a good way to start a discussion.</li>
	<li><a href="http://genkienglish.net/trickortreat.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Trick or Treat song and video</a> by Genki English.</li>
	<li>Students can send a <a href="http://sendables.jibjab.com/personalize/204158/monster_rap?jjchannel=halloween" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">funny e-card where there friends are dressed up</a> in costumes rapping!</li>
	<li>Students can host a Halloween party with different stations of activities. Have students get into groups. Each group can be in charge of determining an activity, setting up the station, and organizing it. Some suggested activities include creating jack-o-lanterns, bobbing for apples, or a bean bag toss.</li>
	<li>Break students into groups and host a haunted house for the rest of the classes and parents.</li>
	<li>Have students read ghost stories and create their own.</li>
	<li>R.L. Stine&#39;s Goosebumps series is specifically written for adolescents and is not too scary. Check out the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.scholastic.com/goosebumps/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">website with games, audio clips, and more</a>.</li>
	<li>Here are&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ego4u.com/en/teach-in/cultural-studies/halloween" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">some ghost stories with activities</a> specifically catered to English language learners.</li>
	<li>Have students Skype with another country and ask questions about their festivals or how they celebrate one of the festivals mentioned. You can find classes in these countries through&nbsp;<a href="http://www.epals.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">EPals</a>.</li>
</ul>

<h2>More Lesson Plans and Resources</h2>

<ul>
	<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Background history about Halloween</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://bogglesworldesl.com/halloween_worksheets.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Halloween activities, games, and worksheets</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/halloween/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tons of Halloween resources, activities and games</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons" target="_blank">Beginner and Intermediate Halloween Lesson Plans from ESL Library</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.eslkidstuff.com/HalloweenGames.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Halloween Games to Play in Class</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.ego4u.com/en/teach-in/cultural-studies/halloween" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Halloween stories, activities, and more</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.esolcourses.com/topics/halloween.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Online Halloween quizzes and lessons</a> by Sue Lyon-Jones</li>
	<li><a href="http://iteslj.org/questions/halloween.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Internet TESL Journal Halloween Questions</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.primarygames.com/holidays/halloween/games.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Halloween Online Games for Kids</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/21/flashcard_categories/46" target="_blank">Halloween Flashcards from ESL Library</a></li>
</ul>


VIEWING POSTS BY

Shelly Terrell