Geeking out

Things I learned today;

1 How to download mp3s to my ibook. Talk about convoluted.
Windows has a much simpler procedure.
2 How to put music from someone else's computer on my ipod and visa versa.
3 How to get free internet access via wi-fi hotspot in the city.

I think I've geeked out enough for one day. On the other hand, I managed to get loads of music that I like and I figured out how to share this with others.

If you want to find out how send me an email.

DVDs and teaching

I happen to love movies and so I've accumulated quite a few films on video (wot's that grandad ?) and dvds. A few years back I found a way of using them to help me teach. So instead of being a saddo film buff/anorak I'm collecting valuable teaching material. LOL.

Anyway, The idea is that I give my students a film to week to watch. In that way;

1 - They get about 50 to 60 hours of listening practice per year as opposed to the paltry two to fours hours usually provided by course/exam practice books.

2 -The subject matter is more fun. Better they watch Harry Potter than listen to mind numbingly dull discussion on bee keeping in Shropshire.

3 - It's more realistic. Movies come closer to reflecting real life spoken langauage than most of the stuff in their course books.

4 - You get a wide variety of English, both geographically and socially.

5 - Students realise that you don't have to understand every, single nuance in order to get the message. A great confidence builder.

Usually, I choose movies I bought in the UK that don't have subtitles in foreign languages (or at least not in Greek) to ensure "honesty" in my students. For those students who find this overwhelming in the beginning ask them to put on English subtitles to begin with.

What do you do afterwards ?

Write a summary of the plot.
What you liked and disliked
Review as article
Review in the form of a letter to a friend
Ideas for a sequel
Comparison of the film with the book
Find the IMDB review (see user comments section) you most agree with
etc.

If you have any other ideas feel free to post them in Comments or -mail me.

Using music as an icebreaker

I thought I'd repeat an idea I had a few months back which I believe is great for helping students get to know each other at the start of a course. Ask each student to create their own music cd (audio or mp3) which they bring in to the class. They explain to the other students or the teacher what the music means to them. Alternatively, we try to guess which student brought in which cd.

Then the students swop and copy the music onto their computer and hence you can get a killer music collection in a matter of weeks. Just don't tell the music companies, it's our secret, ok?

It's good to see this site is drawing interest from abroad, but where are my fans in the southern hemisphere ? LOL.

A cheat's guide to lesson planning

Too tired, lazy, hungover to think up your own stuff ? Try the Britlit webpage at the British Council teaching English site. I've already done Killing Time and A House in the Country which were good for getting to think about a story as something other than just a bunch of unknown words and grammar rules. All you have to do is download and print out the materials and you have an instant lesson for B2 level and above.

Also Killing Time has an interesting listening component which you can download as an mp3.

Human cloning

I was having a discussion with one of my students about the ethics of human cloning and it occurred to me that I can't think of a single serious reason why somebody should be cloned. Any suggestions ?

In the meantime check out this site on the BBC web site which looks at both sides.

Teacher Dude has gone international

I put a wonderful piece of extra stuff on the blog which tells you where in the world people who view the blog are. We're now international. That's something that really blows my mind.

Teaching idea of the day

I'm using The Pocket and the Pendant audio book by Mark Archer as a teaching tool.I give the students a cd with the whole book in mp3 form and ask them to listen to a chapter each week and write a summary. It's great listening practice and a great alternative to the boring listening practice that they do in their course books.

The Pocket and the Pendant by Mark Jeffrey
From the Kirkus review:

"A sci-fi adventure steeped in the lore of an ancient civilization that will appeal to children and adults alike...driven -- and driven well -- by good old-fashioned sci-fi storytelling."

Max Quick's life drastically changes after time suddenly stops. The young man of 12 -- harassed by bullies, living as an orphan in a violent home for boys and about to be thown into juvenile hall -- is mysteriously immune to this chrono-freeze. He soon discovers other children who are impervious as well -- namely, Casey Cole and Ian Keating -- and the three find themselves embarking on a thrilling quest ... Heavily inspired by the folklore of the Sumer civilization of ancient Mesopotamia, the narrative shines brightest in the chapters that focus on the re-telling of this fascinating history. Jeffrey skillfully infuses the story with authentic historical context, and then thrusts this narrative into the future by introducing aliens, time travel and massive gems with the power to stop time and minds -- and difficult task indeed, but one that he successfully accomplishes.

A taste of Christmas

A few snapshots from my Christmas. If you can, post some photos from your holidays on your blogs.

I'm a happy camper

I got the computer, an ibook G4, that I've been dreaming of for a long, long time.

Happy Xmas to everyone

seasonal greetings to all my students

I hope everyone has a great time during the holidays.

It was the school's wine and cheese do last night

And a good time was had by all who attended. I posted a few photos to show those who didn't come what they missed. Of course, with the right financial incentive I can be persuaded to take down the photo of your choice. LOL

Discussion Forum

I have linked this site to a discussion forum (see the links section of the blog on the right). That's something like a chat room in which you can express your opinions. The first topic is;

What did you think of this term's lessons ? Feel free to express your opinions (you can do it anonymously).

Let it rip!!!!

And the hits keep on coming !

Create your own tv or radio ads


1 Tell the students about your favourite tv ad e.g. I love the latest
ad from Nova which shows a Greek cop chasing a a chicken thief
through a village. He finally catches up with the guy, and then
starts reading him his Miranda rights (in English).

The slogan is that the some people are glued to Nova.

2 Ask students to describe their favourite tv ad to each other.

3 The students then discuss the following questions;

What makes an ad successful ?
Apart from selling something, what else do ads want to achieve ?

4 Elicit answers. Write them on the board.

5 Show students three or four ads in English on video
(alternatively pin up ads on the board).

6 Are they successful according to the criteria we set
out in (5)? How could they be improved ?

5 Tell students that they're going to create their own radio
or tv ads. Divide students into groups of three or four.They
then decide what product or service they want to advertise.

6 Explain to students that they are going to write a script
for a 30 second radio/tv spot.Emphasise the fact that it has
to be 30 second exactly.Students then write and rehearse
their ads.

7 Record students using a cassette recorder (for you old
skoolers!!), mobile phone, mp3 player, digital camera (for
the low tech Hitchcock wannabe's)or a video camera (for
that full - blown Dolby home cinema experience).Pop corn is optional.

8 Play them to the other students who suggest ways in
which the ads can be improved.

Copyright Teacher Dude (just kidding)!!!!!

jellyfish

jellyfish
Originally uploaded by Gen Kanai.

No comment. Just a really beautiful image from Flickr.com to gaze at.

Correction Code

The object of this code is to let you
look at your mistakes on your own and
learn from them.

sp Spelling e.g. Friends not frinds
gr Grammar e.g. Lots of money not many money
pr Preposition eg. I live in London not I live at London
pu Punctuation e.g. I like milk not i like milk
vt Verb tense e.g. I went to Spain in 1995 not I have gone to Spain in 1995
wo Word order e.g. I like dancing very much not I like very much dancing
ww Wrong word e.g. I missed the bus not I lost the bus
mw Missing word e.g. I saw a bird not I saw bird
r Repetition i.e. saying the same again and again and again etc.

songs

Here are some of te songs I'm listening to at the moment.

Na,na,na,na,na - Kaiser Chiefs
Zeros and ones - The Prodigy Vs Jesus Jones
Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
Queen Bitch - David Bowie
Flash- Queen
I just want to celebrate - Rare Earth
Superstyling _ Groove Armada
Bombs over Baghdad - Outkast
Song 2 - Blur
Soul Rebel - Bob Marley and the Wailers

Long time, no see or Χρονια και ζαμανια as they say in Greek.

Well, I haven't had much time for this blog over the last couple of weeks. Exam time was upon us and it definitely was not the season to be jolly. Good luck to all my students who took the FCE, ECCE and CPE - talk about alphabet soup!



Here's my idea for a class project for advanced levels i.e. post B2 using War of the Worlds radio play by Orson Welles and the mercury theatre (see here for link to free mp3 download of the play and here for the transcript).

The idea is for students to update and adapt all or part of the story to fit in with their local circumstances. This means changing character and palce names, modifying topical references etc.

The original version

Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt our program of dance music to bring you a special bulletin from the Intercontinental Radio News.
At twenty minutes before eight, central time, Professor Farrell of the Mount Jennings Observatory, Chicago, Illinois, reports observing several explosions of incandescent gas, occurring at regular intervals on the planet Mars. The spectroscope indicates the gas to be hydrogen and moving towards the earth with enormous velocity.
Professor Pierson of the Observatory at Princeton confirms Farrell's observation, and describes the phenomenon as, quote, "like a jet of blue flame shot from a gun," unquote.
We now return you to the music of Ramón Raquello, playing for you in the Meridian Room of the Park Plaza Hotel, situated in downtown New York.

The new, improved Greek version

Hi everyone. we interrupt our laiko program to bring you a special news update from ET1. At 7:40 Professor Vritkas of the Thessaloniki university observatory, reports obsrving several large explosions of incandescent gasThe spectroscope indicates the gas to be hydrogen and moving towards the earth with enormous velocity.
Professor Vafopoulos of the Observatory at Athens confirms Vritkas's observation, and describes the phenomenon as, quote, "like a jet of blue flame shot from a gun," unquote.
We now return you to the music of Antonis Remos, playing for you in Mouses, situated in downtown Thessaloniki.


The students then record their version using their pc. Audacity has a free to download programme that is easy to use. The more computer literate may wish to post it as a podcast.

If anyone has any suggestions for warm up exercises, please let me know. This is very much a work in progress and I've yet to test it in class.

Black American

Black American
Originally uploaded by Kirja-addikti.

The point of learning is not to understand the world, but to change it!

A good site to do research

Check out Wikipedia

This is a great site to find out stuff like the ex 1 on Get ready page 38.

Any ideas what the sign means ?

beware of...
Originally uploaded by mjd-s.

I found this at www.flickr.com. Obviously, not eating all your crab is a big no-no in Japan.