Video from Videopedia

Vesuvius' Eruption That Buried Pompeii

Personally, I am interested in History. Even though I don't know much about the history I like searching for the information related to history. While I was browsing this website I could see many categories of video. Then I got to the "Knowledge" category where I could find 'history' there. Then I saw this video and I came up with the idea abou how to use it in my classroom later.

2 years ago, I was teaching English at Private Language School and I taught several short reading books. One of the reading book was about Pompeii. It would have been great that I had showed my students this video. It could have helped students comprehend the reading book better and they might have been interested in the reading book more.

Like my example, there are many videoes that the teacher can use in their classrooms in Videopedia. Especailly, they can be used in Content-based Instruction setting.

Video from Teacher Tube

Using video is always effective, because students can focus more on the lesson and they can learn language in the context as well. I am a big fan of the website 'Youtube' and I didn't know there is a website called 'Teacher Tube'.
Thesedays, I am taking Practicum class and I have to go to real ESL class and teach them once a week. The topic is 'Cause and Effect' so I tried to find out some idea how to teach the topic using vedio. Then I found this video. I could use this video in my classroom and also I can create other materials based on the idea I got from this video.
Therefore, one of many usages of video in the classroom is that the teachers can gain ideas when they need to create materials or they are looking for other approach of teaching.

Following tweet....

I've spent some time to go through the long list of tweets from the people I follow. Most of the tweets are from EFL CLASSROOM blog and it's hard to understand who wrote it to whom. However, one think I found interesting is that I could read what my classmate wrote. She wrote how she is doing and what she wants to know. After I read some tweets and i tried to update about what I am doing and send some direct message to classmates. I am still learning how to use it and haven't gotten used to it yet, but I am willing to learn the new technology all the time.

Twitter: A tool for classroom???

Microblogging: Collaborative technology with a growing interest from users coming from different domains. (CAN WE USE TWITTER FOR EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES? BY GABRIELA GROSSECK/CARMEN HOLOTESCU) I would like to start to state with the definition of the microblogging, since its concept is quite new to me. I have heard a lot about blogging and I also doing it now, but microblogging is a fairly new experience to me. That's why I want to make sure what it is.

I started having microblogging experience with joining Twitter. The first impression of the website Twitter is quite strange for me. What does it mean by strange? It seems like a chatting room. People were writing message and I didn't know what the message is for. I couldn't think of any use of the twitter in education at a first glance. However my view has started to change after I looked through the articles about the potential usage of Twitter and other microblogging in the classroom.

One thing popped in my head is that students may get interested in what is new to them. For example, I teach class which discussion is the big part of it. Even though the procedure of discussion may same, I can use a new tool to introduce the topic or I can have the students generate their thought through a new tool such as Twitter or microblogging. Although they can communicate through email, a new tool always draws students' attention.

In addition, I like the ideas I read in an article . It says that the Twitter can be used in various ways such as polling or continuing conversations. The ideas are for training teachers which fits to myself right now. I haven't' used twitter like the article presents but it's definitely possible and I would like to try it.

Also I think the second article(CAN WE USE TWITTER FOR EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES? BY GABRIELA GROSSECK/CARMEN HOLOTESCU) I read points out a brilliant point. People cannot write more than 140 characters so writers need to summarize what they are going to say. So it may help students to practice summarizing skills. For example, the teacher can give a task for students to post a summary of what they read using Twitter.

I think I did judge the book by the cover at first. Yet looking at more closely and reading about it make me realize my judgment was wrong. I am glad I can have a chance to consider another tool for my future classroom.

Using Games in Language class.

I visited the wesite called "EFL classroom 2.0". There are lots of resources presented from different teachers and I can share with other teachers from different countries what they think it's beneficial resources.

Personally I like using games in language classroom, because it's a good way to practice what students learn in interesting way. There are a range of methods to use games such as board games, team games, and so forth, but using computer game is convenient for teachers and students with one click. So I thought the post on this website is interesting and good way to practice language. This particular game is designed based on the game show in America, "Jeopardy".

Also there are many other games for me as a teacher to use in my classroom in the future.

Today's Learner is.....

After reading the article and watch videoes, I came up with an interesting analogy to illustrate today's learner. A learner is like a farmer. The reason why I think this analogy is interesting is that Connectivism has been brought up along with the development of techonolgy, but I compare a learner to a farmer who may be far away from the computer techonolgy. I grew up in a farm and I helped my parents with working in the farm so I know pretty well how they work.

First of all what a farmer does is planting seeds and harvesting later but the farmer will gather much more produce than he plants. Planting seeds is like making network. If a learner constructs network(planting seeds), the learner will learn much more knowledge(harvesting farm produce). In Siemens' video Networking is the Learning(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpbkdeyFxZw&feature=PlayList&p=3E43054A8703F57A&index=4), he mentioned that adding a nod to a network increases entire network exponentially.

In addtion, the farmer cannot gather produce unless the farmer does keep sound relationship with nature. This fact is connected to one of the principles of connectivism that is mentioned in the article. In the article, he wrote "Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning. " (Sienmens, G. 2005, Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age) Therefore the learner can learn more knowledge when they keep staying in the network and working on the network building.

EFL Classroom 2.0 - Social Networking Group

When I started searching for the group I would be interested in, I typed 'EFL' in the search engine because that's where I would like to be working in the future after graduation. Then I found out this group called "EFL Classroom 2.0". Its URL is http://eflclassroom.ning.com/index.php

This is really big networking group having lots of members and materials.

First of all, as a learner in English teaching and English language, there are a range of materials that I can use in order to improve my language skills. For example, in the homepage, there is "
Daily English Lesson" showing vocabulary and how it is used in the context.

In addition, as a teacher in EFL classroom, there is various materials regarding reading, listening, writing and speaking. Also the types of materials are various from videoes, reading materials, and so forth. Therefore I can gather some ideas from them or even I can use them in my classroom as well.

Lastly, I think I can get some advice from members whenever I have problems in my classroom. It's possible because there are teachers from different countries and have more experiences than me. Especially when I have multicultural classrooms I think I can find a member from a particulare country and ask heror him to get information about his or her culture.