RSCON4 - An Exciting Weekend of Fantastic CPD!

I am delighted to be presenting at the global and internationally renowned RSCON4 virtual e-conference.  This action-packed event is going to be held online from Friday October 11 - Sunday October 13th.

I have had the pleasure of presenting for The Reform Symposium Conference on two occasions, RSCON2010, and RSCON2011 and this year, it promises to be bigger and even better than previous years. Presenters will be sharing transformative approaches to learning and teaching. Influential international keynote speakers are currently being lined up to deliver presentations that will challenge our way of thinking and inform us about the way forward in education in general.

Professor Sugata Mitra will be delivering the Opening Plenary - The Future of Learning.

Below you can view a screenshot of the main page of The Future of Education ning site where more details are available. If you join the Future of Education group, you will be able to keep up to date with all the announcements and news about the forthcoming presentations.

You can find out about all the RSCON4 updates via Twitter by following @RSCON4 and using the hashtag #RSCON4.

I can guarantee that you will enjoy a wonderful weekend of Continuous Professional Development in the comfort of your own home!  I am looking forward to learning about lots of different topical subjects from passionate educators from around the world.

You can read more blog posts about RSCON4 on this Gdocs created by Chiew Pang here: http://goo.gl/KvplSP

Some Visually Inspiring Activities!
My session is called 'Visually Inspire Your Learners!".  It will be held on Sunday October 13th at 4pm Rome Time.

I will be discussing ideas and highlighting some activities to inspire and motivate learners connected to images, comics and cartoons and photo-editing tools.

Examples of Picture activities I have blogged about in the past can be found under the label Picture Activities.

Teach Meet International presentation on Visual Blogging with Muzy:

Slideshare of the Virtual Round Table Presentation on Project 366: A Picture a Day.

Please note, sadly Posterous does not exist any more as a blogging platform and so the links refering to my Project 366 blog on Posterous no longer function, which is a great pity!!  However, some of the ideas contained in this presentation, and the others mentioned in this post, may be included in my RSCON4 presentation.

I hope to present some of my favourite activities and I plan to create a few new ones, especially for RSCON4.  Watch this space!!

WIKI 
I have created a special RSCON4 wiki page to add ideas, links and resources!  It is a work in progress.....

Please click on the Make Beliefs Comix below to enlarge it.

Interview Update
This evening I had the chance to chat briefly about the event with Bruno Andrade, an inspirational EFL teacher and moderator from Brazil, and you can view it below.
Thanks very much to Bruno for giving me this opportunity :-)

The Machine vs Janet

 11.45am  will be imprinted on my mind for a long time.

Image of bank teller windows from the free clip art site called ClipArt ETC here.
Full website: http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/galleries/317-banking

Have you ever got to the cashpoint machine, put your card in, pressed the amount of money you wanted, then heard a repeated whirring sound, then a receipt comes out saying "You have withdrawn 150 euros", but at the same time, NO money comes out???

It's a Saturday, the bank is closed so you are powerless to do anything at that very moment, apart from stare blankly at the receipt and the cash machine?

You wait until Monday morning, you go to the bank, and you are politely told that nothing can be done until the person responsible for the ATM machine comes in on Thursday?  Oh, I see. Va bene. Ok!!

Thursday arrives,  a phone call  from the bank informs me:

 "Good afternoon, Signora. Unfortunately for you, our ATM  machine showed NO irregularity. No excess 150 euros was found.  The computer says NO (cough!). We are very sorry, but there is nothing we can do.  I DO suggest that you ring your bank to sort it out? It's now between you and your bank."

 So I ring my bank who very politely tell me "Sorry, Signora, there is nothing we can do, It is now between you and the machine, and the bank!!"

 "What???  I can't believe this!!  The ATM machine did not give me the money but the bank has debited my account!!  Please advise me what to do??

"Ok, Signora I suggest you write an Express signed-on-delivery letter (Raccommandata) to the bank saying you would like a refund of 150 euros, due to the malfunction of the machine".

"Ok, thank you very much for this advice, but it does NOT help me regain my money immediately".

Kafkaesque
I now feel as if I am well and truly in a Kafkaesque situation.  A vicious circle. A whole week has passed. One tiny provincial  bank vs another multi-national, conglomerate bank.  Neither of them can help me.  Both banks have asked me to go to the other bank to "sort it out".

It is my WORD against the Machine, which printed out a statement saying it had given me 150 euros. 

At this point, my dear reader, you have most likely already formed a logical opinion of what happened, but I am the only person in the whole world who knows what happened in the space of a few minutes...

A Hypothetical Question
What would you do if you were me?  Would you give up at this stage and say "How on earth can I prove what happened?"  It is a no-win situation?

Or

 Would you take on the power of the machine, and somehow prove it got into a technical glitch at precisely 11.45am on Saturday January 12th 2013? Prove that this ATM unfortunately issued an untruth by printing out a piece of paper, which has no substance?

A Past Hypothetical Question
What would you have done if you had come to the ATM machine last Saturday and you had found 150 euros waiting in the tray?

A) Would you have rushed to catch up with me and say "Signora, I have just found this money which the machine  has only just dispensed after you left?  It''s not mine, so it must be yours? You were the last person at the ATM before me??

B) Would you have thought  "Well this is a nice unexpected present.  I could use this 150 euros to:

• buy a lovely bookcase from IKEA (approx 129 euros)
• buy some heating for the house (Gas bombolas cost 26 euros for medium, 36 euros for big)
• buy damp-proofing to fix a leaking roof (approx 500 euros)
• get 2 kittens spayed (approx 200 euros)
• buy a headlight for the Capo (approx 90 euros on EBay)
• treat my hubby and myself to a nice birthday celebration meal (approx 50 euros)

OR

C) Would you have gone into the bank on Monday morning and said. "I found this money in the machine.  It is not mine, so could you PLEASE check your ATM records at approximately 11.45am to see which card owner tried to withdraw 150 euros, and then could you contact the rightful owner and hand it over?

Would you have done A, B or C??

Scenarios
So there are 3 possible scenarios for the mystery of the ATM machine.
a) It encountered a technical /  mechanical issue / glitch and it counted the money internally, but for some inexplicable reason, the money did not come out, but it still issued a receipt!!
b) The money came out, but the person did not withdraw it before 30 seconds, so the transaction was null and voided, but the bank still deducted the money!!
c) The money did actually come out at a delayed time, and wait for it........somebody else took it???

 Image source of A stack of money: http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/19500/19551/money_19551.htm

Options
So I have 2 options.  I am going in on Monday to have a meeting with the bank manager.  I will politely and calmly ask to see
a) the ATM till roll to see all the transactions from 11.40 -11.53
b} the CCTV video footage.  This will clearly show me looking quite perplexed and will irrefutably show that I did NOT take any money.  All that will be visible is me waving a till receipt around and staring at the cash machine willing the money to come out...which of course it didn't in my presence.

Lesson Ideas
Exploit 2nd conditional hypothetical grammar by using this example as an introduction to a lesson on Hypothesis.
Expand into a review of 3rd conditional sentences.
Create a Wordle of part of the text above and ask students to guess what the story is about as follows:

Communicative interaction:
Role play the meeting between the bank manager and Janet with a bad outcome.
Role play the meeting with the bank manager and Janet with a very positive outcome.

Use the "Currency Exchange" image below as a prompt to write a dialogue.
Image found on  ClipArt ETC

Formal Letter writing
Write a letter to the bank manager outlining your situation and asking for a refund.

Create a comic with Pixton

Create a comic with MakeBeliefsComix

Create a comic in seconds with MakeBeliefsComix and leave the last panel with an open question.  Please click on the image below for a bigger picture.

 Discussion topic: the history of the ATM. 

Present perfect vs Simple past exploitation, eg

Have you ever been in a similar situation?  When? Where? What happened? How did you resolve the issue?

Future Outcome??
So I have got this off my chest and I feel a bit better.  I am not looking forward to being fobbed off on Monday morning.

Will I get a very pleasasant surprise and the till roll will prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the machine suffered a technical problem at precisely 11.45am?

Will the CCTV footage show exactly what happened?  Or will I not be allowed to view the video footage unless I make a formal complaint?

Will I have to resign myself that I can not win a fight against a machine??

 Wish me luck...

Addendum: 21st January 2013
I have just come back from the bank.  Due to restucturing of this bank, it does NOT have a manager in the branch.  The very polite bank clerk who attended to me looked a bit embarrassed when he said he could do nothing to help me.

"Can I speak to someone in the office in private, please?"

"No, Signora, they are bank clerks like me, and they will say the same thing."

"I see.  Ok.  What do I do then? "

"If you wish, you can apply to the Court in Pescara and ask a Magistrate to review the CCTV footage and the electronic till roll, which by the way, shows no irregularity"
.
"I see. How long will this take?"

Long pause.

 "Some time........It will have to go through a process which needs to be approved by a magistrate of the court and it will have to go before a judge."

"Years??"

Long pause.

"To whom can I address this Raccommandata letter, which outlines my situation?"

"You can send it to the regional manager.  Here is his address."

"Thank you for your help.  I am very disappointed.  Buon giorno!"

End of meeting.

End of discussion.

End of my hopes.

The machine has won.

IGNOTI
One word was repeated throughout our discussion.  The word "IGNOTI".  I didn't understand what this meant. I asked if the bank clerk could explain, but I am afraid I was a bit too distracted by the way things were turning out, and so I didn't quite understand what he said.

 I have looked it up now and it makes sense..

Ignoto =  unknown
Ignota = unknown person
IGNOTI
"sporgere denuncia contro ignoti" = to take action against person(s) unknown

This means I have to lodge a complaint file to the court saying that "someone unknown" has taken my money.  I do not wish to do this, as NO money came out of the machine in my presence. I do not believe anybody else took the 150 euros, as it was not dispensed from the machine.

The faulty ATM machine in question was struggling, chuntering, making a whirring sound as if it was trying to dispense the money, but something was preventing it from doing so. IF it dispensed the money after I had left the area to fetch K, then it will all be visible in the video footage, which I am not allowed to see...

What have I learned from this incident?
Never withdraw money from a cashpoint when the bank is closed
Always have someone with me by my side as a witness (eg K)
A few lesson ideas for 2nd and 3rd conditional activities
I have learned a new Italian word - "Ignoto".

That's how I feel at this precise moment.

Ignota.

Janet vs The Machine - Episode II
Wednesday January 30th 2013

18 days have passed.  No news.  I sent an express letter to the area Manager 12 days ago.  No news.

Just now I rang the local bank again (!!) and spoke to someone, who was covering for a sick colleague.  He was most sympathetic and asked me a few questions regarding the situation.  He actually told me that sometimes the machine doesn't dispense the money for 2-3 minutes.  This is an extremely interesting fact for me.  I can't remember if I stayed in front of the ATM machine for the full 3 minutes, waiting for the money to come out.  I know I did wait for probably up to 3 minutes.  In any case, the machine would still be at fault if it dispensed the money AFTER the 3 minutes, and I had gone back to the car to fetch K...

I told him I had sent an Express signed-on-delivery letter to the area manager 12 days ago and I still hadn't heard from him.  The bank clerk admitted that was strange.  Penne is only 20 kilometres away.  I could have easily walked to Penne and saved myself 4,30 Euros!!  He kindly gave me the area manager's phone number.

The Area Manager
I have just rung the regional manager and he seemed very nice and again, sympathetic.  This case is "being investigated at the moment", and I will hear from him in the next few days regarding the outcome. Hence the reason I haven't received confirmation that my Express letter had been received.

What continues to be very odd about this case is that there is no irregularity with the ATM machine, ie no excess 150 Euros was found at the end of the day, but my bank account has been debited.  It is a big mystery.

Psychology
I feel a bit better today after speaking to 2 people in the banking chain of command. Also a phone call to Adrian, a friend in the local area, helped me a lot, as he advised me to actually ring the area manager and speak to him personally. This is what I did as soon as I had put the phone down.

As you can see from the heading at the top of this new updated post, it is now called Janet vs the Machine.

Why?
Well, this heading puts ME in control of the situation.  It is therefore psychologically uplifting for me to know that my name comes before the machine. It means if I persevere, I may have a chance of solving this case.  However, I have to say, the odds seem to be stacked against me. But, I will NOT give up!!!

A very special thanks to family members and friends who have kindly given me advice about this, and willed me to pursue matters. 

I know it is not the end of the world, and far greater and worse things happen to people every day, so I have to put this into perspective.

I will know when the time is right to give up or not.

I'll update this post as soon as I know.

Janet vs The Machine Episode III
Tuesday February 5th 2013

RESULT!!!
The money has been reimbursed into my account today.  I rest my case.  The matter is now closed.

I would like to personally thank the area manager for being "on the case". I have phoned twice this morning, but he was busy.  I definitely want to say 'thank you' to him, so I won't give up until I have done so.

I think never doubting what actually happened at 11.45am on that particular morning 24 days ago has been my motivating force to not give up.

I am absolutely over the moon!!!  Ikea here I come!!

The Final Episode
Wednesday February 6th 2013
The area manager rang me today, and I was able to ask him how the matter had been resolved.  He told me  the following:

"I have taken your word, Signora, that what you say happened, did happen."

I was very touched indeed by this, and I truly thanked him for believing me.

The End.

How to be a Viral Educator with Shelly Terrell

Comic created with makebeliefscomix. Please click on the image to enlarge it.

Join the incredible and indefatigable Shelly Terrell in a free Webinar this evening Thursday September 8th, entitled "How to be a Viral Educator". It is part of a series hosted by SimpleK12. You can read all about it and register for the event if you read Shelly's blog post here.

I have already registered. For me it will be 9.30pm Rome time! I am very keen to learn more about this interesting topic, especially on how to leave a positive digital footprint.

Many thanks to Shelly for giving educators this incredible opportunity to expand our horizons! Remember - all the details are here on Shelly's blog. Hope to see you at the webinar :-)

Audioboo Update and Feedback
Watch this space for my feedback on the fantastic webinar presented by Shelly. I will be using Audioboo for the first time!! Coming as soon as I learn how to use Audioboo properly......

Audioboo Feedback is Here!
I have now recorded an Audioboo feedback on Shelly's webinar and you can listen to it below:



Life is for Learning!
For more news on CPD, conferences, webinars and courses that are available, you can view this fab Scoop.it topic curated by Sue Lyons-Jones called CPD in Education. There are lots of interesting links here to help us all to expand our horizons and develop as 21st century teachers!

Seeta Jazz Up Your Digital Storytelling - Feedback

Storytelling is big news at the moment, and so it should be! I have recently finished another wonderful e-course via the SEETA (South Eastern Europe Teachers' Association) on Jazz Up Your Lessons with Digital Storytelling with the lovely Ozge Karaoglu as the tutor. I knew I wanted to do this course, come what may, as soon as I saw that Ozge was going to be the tutor. She is the Queen of tech tools and her vast repertoire of sites and amazing experience in dealing with digital stories with young learners was a guaranteed sign of an exciting and jazzy course. I had the great pleasure of meeting Ozge in person in Brighton.

Press the link to listen to my Fotobabble feedback on the fab course!.

So, did I jazz up my digital storytelling skills on the course? Yes, I did! It gave me the chance to review some sites I already knew, but it also contained some really nice new tools which I'd like to look into, time permitting.

I was inspired to create a new comic to illustrate how you could use ones like makebeliefscomix.

Seeing so many faces I recognised was also a lovely feeling and everyone was very keen to share and encourage each other to do our best. Taking part in e-courses such as this one is also a great way to learn how they flow and to see the dynamics and interaction patterns within the forums.

I liked the way Ozge organised the course. It was very effective. Links to a pdf sheet of carefully selected tools in 6 different categories, and then the chance to participate in a forum to give our feedback on one or two of the new tools. I found that this was very manageable and I could easily pop in once a day to add to the forums and comment on other course members' work. A lot of creativity abounded and I learned a lot from everyone!

You can see a lot of Ozge's amazing links and resources from her blog here: 100 Digital Storytelling Tools.

I love "Daisy and Drago" that Ozge wrote herself.
Daisy and Drago

View more presentations from ozge

You can also view the amazing video of her fabulous story "Daisy and Drago and the Magic Wand", created by her 6-year-old pupils.

Thank you very much Ozge and all the course participants for helping to make it a very enjoyable and worthwhile course!!

ELTChat - Storytelling
Last Wednesday I missed one of the most interesting topics that have been discussed recently. Yes, you've guessed it already. I missed the ELTChat session on Digital Storytelling!! It's one of my favourite topics and sadly, I couldn't attend. However, Leahn Stanhope, a teacher from Fuerteventura, the Canary Islands, has done an incredible job of summarising the session in great depth. Just reading through all the links, resources, tips, ideas shared in ONLY one hour, will give you enough information to keep you doing "Storytelling" lessons happily for a very long time!! Here is the link for you to copy and then share with your colleagues. Enjoy looking at all the resources at leisure. Thank you Leahn!

http://earlyefl.blogspot.com/2011/05/eltchat-summary-storytelling.html

A Few More Links
Eva Buyukesmiyan from A Journey in TEFL blog has also written a fab blog post called "Teachers as Storytellers"

This blog post by Anita Kwiatowska caught my eye: "It was a dark and stormy night..." The blog post has some great ideas for exploiting this theme.

I recently gave a presentation on Storytelling in the Digital Era. Ana Maria Menezes from Brazil, invited me to hold a session via Wiziq. She then kindly wrote a lovely feedback post entitled "Learning with/from Janet Bianchini."

Below is my very own digital idiomatic story that took me months to create! "An Idiomatic Love Story."

An Idiomatic Love Story

Finally, one of my favourite (true) stories I've ever written is "And Then There Were Three".

Remember!
Everybody has a story within them just waiting to come out. Don't wait too long otherwise the moment will pass. Life is one big evolving story just waiting to be written!

Quote made up by me!

Top 100 Language Lovers Blogs 2011

Press here to vote!

If you would like to vote for one of the amazing blogs in the Lexiophiles Top 100 Language Lovers Blogs 2011, simply press on the link under the button, and then go through the list of nominated blogs until you find one you want to vote for!

Voting ends on Sunday 29th May.

An Idiomatic Story: Part 3 and Part 4

Part 1 began here.
Part 2 "The Return of the Lost Soul" came next.

Part 3: A Narrow Escape

Part 4: Broken-hearted!

GoAnimate.com: An Idiomatic Story Part 4



To be continued....

Make Belief Comics - News Update

Makebeliefscomix.com

This morning in my inbox I had a message from the Teaching with Technology section of English Companion Ning. Bill Zimmerman the author of MakebeliefComixs.com has just published a set of over 100 free printables for use in lessons. This is a wonderful resource for teachers.

I love using this comic site as it is so easy to use. It is a pity a comic can't be embedded onto a blog immediately, but you can email it or save it to your computer. This is what you have to do to save your comic. I have created quite a few comics, and as you can see above, I have just created one in seconds to incorporate into An Idiomatic Story - Part 3. Please click on the image to enlarge it.

Book Review:Moodle 1.9 for Second Language Teaching

It is my pleasure to review Moodle 1.9 for Second Language Teaching by Jeff Stanford, which has recently been published by www.packtpub.com. This review is based purely from my personal perspective. I hope it will give you some insight into the essence of the book, which is constructed on sound pedagogical principles.


Who is Moodle 1.9 for Second Language Teaching for?
It is aimed at "teachers, trainers and course planners with little or no experience of Moodle who would like to create their own language learning activities". Someone exactly like me in fact! I will definitely be implementing some of the wealth of resources within this book on my next Moodle for Teachers course, which begins in January 2010.

How is the book written?
The book is written in an informative, insightful and knowledgeable manner and contains comprehensive step by step instructions for how to approach each of the activities within the 10 chapters of the e-book. Chapters 11 and 12 are currently freely available to be downloaded. Jeff Stanford is an expert and enthusiastic follower of ICT, a teacher trainer, web site designer and avid Moodle practitioner. His skill and expertise is inherently obvious throughout the book. You can go to this site to read more book reviews. Click for a demonstration of Moodle on this site @ www.moodleforlanguages.co.uk

What will you as a teacher learn from reading the book?
If you are a teacher who would like to implement the Moodle platform into your teaching schedule, Moodle 1.9 for Second LanguageTeaching will give you a comprehensive, in-depth guide into how to use Moodle. It covers all the basic ground work for you, all in one extensive tome! No need to search the net for various bits and pieces of information, no need to do investigative research into how to use the various plug-ins that Moodle supports. No need at all, because you will learn all this and much, much more. It is in fact a one-stop resource available at your fingertips. That is the simple, essential beauty of this book. The following mind map shows you some of the functions of Moodle that are fully explained and exploited.


Does Moodle 1.9 for Language Teachers deliver the goods?
Absolutely. Whether you are a newbie Moodler, or seasoned Moodle user, I am certain that you will be satisfied with the content of the book. The aims of the book are clearly outlined by the author from the outset and I feel that all his objectives are fully realised. You will not need to go elsewhere for your research as a lot of questions are already predicted and fully explained by the author in each chapter of the book. Click here for the comprehensive table of contents.

What did I like most about the book?

• As a fairly newbie Moodler, I really, really appreciated Jeff Stanford's invaluable step by step guidance. The reliable and comforting "Here's how to do it" formula works wonders for someone who is maybe inexperienced and unsure about how to work things out in a totally new learning environment. This explanation is introduced after each activity is outlined.
  

• As a newbie, you need something to hold onto for dear life when you venture into uncharted territory. The fear factor of failure to comprehend a totally new concept is huge. This book definitely demystifies the whole process of using Moodle and makes it more easily accessible to the lay person.

• I liked the extensive use of screenshots to demonstrate how activities work. This is a fantastic feature and helped me to understand what was being explained.

• From a learner's point of view, I liked the cyclical recycling of major points. This helps to make the ideas more "sticky" and memorable. In particular, the author constantly refers to Chapter 2, "Getting Started with Moodle", which contains pivotal information and a thorough overview of Moodle. This chapter is at the heart of the book and demonstrates the core functions of Moodle, such as how to manage modules, how to set up activities, how to download videos from YouTube and so on.
  

• I liked the clarity of the language used to teach the various functions of Moodle. The author writes in a very engaging and knowledgeable manner. You feel compelled to read further and learn more.

• I liked the use of a stars * grading system for ease/dificulty of introducing activities. One star (*) = easy, two stars (**) =intermediate level , three stars (***) =difficult. I have to confess, activities with *** I did find difficult to follow and I feel they would be of particular interest to more experienced Moodlers, who would find these more complex activities challenging.

• I liked the fact that it is a true self-help book and it is flexible. You can go at your own speed. You can dip into it in any order that you want. If for example, your main interest is in learning about exploiting the communicative potential within Moodle, then turning to Chapter 4 "Speaking Activities", you will have a host of exciting and interesting projects to try out using the Forum, Quiz, Wiki and Chat modules. If you are keen to learn more about listening, then Chapter 8 has an array of useful and practical lesson ideas. For a free sample of the Listening section, please press here.

• The author systematically goes through the different options offered by Moodle and he provides a practical analysis of the pros and cons of the numerous resources highlighted in each chapter. For example, in Chapter 10, the author mentions the components and the limitations to the Webquest module.
  

• In Chapter 9, the book provides a useful checklist of the evaluation criteria for the Common European Framework.

• I am very keen on grammar in my own teaching environment and so for me Chapter 5 "Grammar Activities" was one that I naturally gravitated towards. Chapter 5 certainly did not disappoint. In fact, the myriad examples of how to make lively grammar activities on Moodle was amazing. The wide range included recording Podcast lectures to present grammar in a fun way, using polls, collaborative dictations, quizzes, gap fills, True or false activities and using chat session transcripts to provide error analysis. The list of exciting ways to transform a dull grammar activity into an interactive and entertaining experience was indeed formidable and certainly would attract and appease the most ardent grammarian amongst us!

• The book provides us with a comprehensive bank of Internet resources, which can be adapted by the reader. For example, I learned about Avatars, Widgets and various video making programmes such as Mashable.

• The clear and informative images really enhanced my learning journey!

Would I recommend Moodle 1.9 for Second Language Teachers?
This is a very pertinent question. Had I not had the opportunity to do a book review, would I have been attracted by the blurb on the book cover and inset details? The honest and truthful answer is a resounding yes! The book has provided me with a greater insight and understanding of Moodle. From a language point of view, it has shown me how to incorporate innovative activities within the 4 key skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking. Moodle 1.9 for Second Language Teaching has taught me how to integrate Audacity, Hot Potatoes, Images, Videos and a host of other external programmes and resources. In fact, a huge wealth of extras, which would satisfy even the most avid techie.

A bit of a coincidence?
Jeff Stanford and I share the same university! I studied at Leicester University for 4 years in the late 1970s and as I understand, Jeff Stanford is currently an associate tutor on the MA TEFL course at the same university. A coincidence indeed. A further coincidence is the fact that Dresden Technical University is a partner institution of the LOLIPOP project as referred to in Chapter 9 on Assessment. I taught at the TUD for a year in the 1980s! It is indeed a very small world, don't you think?

Click on the comic below to read what my final words are.

Picture Activities

Asking students to make up dialogues is always a great way to use the language you have exploited. I showed my 3 afternoon class students the example below that I had created from MakeBeliefsComix and then got them to create their own above. It took a few moments only and they told me it was a lot of fun.


Speechable is another great site for adding captions to your photos. The photo below was used to great effect as a warmer and to present and practise new language. The personal element makes it a little bit more interesting. This simple photo has a lot of vocabulary in it and is good for discussion.
Listen to some questions that I asked about this picture. Voki is a great little tool that can easily be embedded in your blog or other sites.




The photo below also from Speechable shows you how you can get your students to invent short dialogues between famous people. The pictures could be related to topics of the day.



I have just created another speechable about President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize.

I decided to carry on trying to fix an initial problem I had with this particular link above and my perseverance has paid off!!

Read the English Blog's explanation of a cartoon relating to the same Obama Peace Prize theme.

WikiEducator Update

In answer to the above question, created on Wordle, I certainly have! If you read on, you will find out why I have been staying up quite late recently.


I finished my WikiEducator L4C29 online course last week and I am now reviewing my notes from the excellent tutorials. I started off a bit hesitantly and I had a few doubts whether I would be ok with something new, but with the help and expert guidance of my tutors and moral support from my co-participants, I was able to work through the schedule and learn a lot of new things such as the special syntax which is a part of a wiki and templates for worksheets. I found out about Liquid Threads. I participated in a live WizIQ workshop and saw and heard my tutors and I actually said something "live". I felt a bit shy about doing this, I don't know why! I took part in discussions, commented on other participants User pages, made friends, read lots of interesting things written by the participants and generally tried to collaborate and share the learning process. I still have lots to learn and practise but it has been great fun and the support has been excellent. I am interested in doing the next Learning4Content -30th Online Workshop starting here in order to brush up my existing skills. I highly recommend the course. It has opened up a new dimension of learning and sharing for me and one which I would like to investigate further.


I was able to master Apprentice Level 1 after 2-3 hours, then I progressed to Apprentice Level 2, and finally I was thrilled when I achieved the status of WikiBuddy in my last week. I have a lot of reviewing to do now as it was quite a lot of information to take in. As an exchange for the free workshop I had to sign a contract which promised to share a worksheet or lesson plan with WikiEducator. I thereby got down to creating some tips for teaching idioms using Web 2.0 tools and set about creating entirely new activities to add to the free open resources for WikiEducator.

As I will be adding this to my User Page as a feedback to the course, I would like to present what I came up with in order to create the new worksheet. It was a fantastic opportunity to use my imagination and I had to work under pressure as I wanted to have most of the worksheet prepared within the course parameters.

Again, I worked very hard during the 10 days but I really enjoyed the challenge of being with people who all shared the same aspirations and objectives as me. All the participants were committed educators from around the world. My eyes opened up to a whole new universe of experts in technology, wiki masters, professors at leading universities, e-tutors, Heads of IT departments, writers, Web 2.0 specialists from around the globe. The huge talent and resources that lies within the WikiEducator community is absolutely astounding. Everyone has a common goal: to share, remix and reuse some content freely within an open educational context.

I created the following examples of idioms using freely available Web 2.0 tools such as www.pimpampum.net, www.fodey.com, www.xtranormal.com and www.makebeliefscomix.com. These tools can all be used in a variety of ways to teach all kinds of subjects. Your imagination is your key to open up a whole world of exciting possibilities!

My Bookr Idioms


My Newspaper Idioms


My Xtranormal Idioms



My Comix Idioms



If you would like to learn more about WikiEducator and build up your wiki skills, please click here for a link to the information and registration page for the next workshop, which begins on September 21st for 10 days. I am sure you will enjoy it!

Fun "Twitter" Expressions

Twitter has been voted number one top learning tool of 2009 in a recent poll published by the Centre for Learning and Performing Technologies. I decided to set myself the challenge of creating a little dialogue about the top tool of the year after reading Nik Peachey's excellent "Quick Shout Blog" where he presented how to make comic strip cartoons by using Make Belief Comix.com. I was inspired to create the comic strip above. It was quick and very easy to do and I had a lot of fun! Please click on the cartoon to enlarge it.

Twitter and Colloquial Expressions
twitterless: being without twitter
tweetless: being without a "tweet" (a message on twitter)
a twit: a silly person
twitter on: go on about something
tweetie pie: a play on the endearment "sweetie pie"
cheers: thanks
no probs!: no problem!
a doddle: very easy, a piece of cake

Onestopblogs
I found out today that Janet's Abruzzo Edublog has been included in Onestopblogs!. I feel greatly honoured to be amongst other illustrious ELT bloggers and it's a very proud moment indeed. I hope to continue publishing posts that will inspire teachers and students of English.

Kalinago English Blog
Today has truly been fantastic. My blog has been mentioned in kalinago English Blog under the posting "Best Articles Circulating the Blogosphere - May 2009". I am happy that I am doing what I love and I am experimenting with new web 2.0 tools and trying to keep up in my own modest and very simple way.

Guess the Idiom
The picture below is a clue to an idiom which you might think applies to my writing about the two mentions above. Can you guess it???