From the great Daniel Craig (not James Bond), I bring you a great mind map by Jesper Isaksson. The map is three layers deep. I reccomend you go to the actual mindomo page to view it full screen to see all three levels.
The map shows many of the great tools that can be used by schools, in the classrooms, by teachers, by students, or by... who else is left?
You can still click through things on this page, but it is pretty small. Like I said above, go look at the full screen version at the mindomo page. I have used several of he sources listed... several... well maybe some of them. I have used blogs with classes, created networks on Ning, flickr, voice threads, YouTube (of course), and many more. I don't feel like listing the ones I've used since it makes me notice all the resources that I have not used. To any teacher who struggles with students who lack motivation, or find that there just aren't enough class hours in the week, or you just want to mix things up a little, check out the sources on the mind map. As we all know, every class is different and every situation is unique. There are so many things we can use for our classes that take a little work to get rolling, but end up making our classes more enjoyable for our students and easier for the teacher to facilitate. But they do take a little advanced planning.
Here's the course I'm creating now. It's a the first semester of a two-semester program for English majors at a Korean university. A Korean Women's university where I happen to work. If you know me, you know which one it is. It is meant to be an 'integrated English course.'
We'll start with autobiographies. (Actually to be fair, we'll start with introductions, getting to know each other activities, and other anxiety-reducing tasks--but that should be a given.)
The students will read an autobiography of someone that the students are all familiar with. We'll also be using some clips from Snow * to supplement, where they can hear people talking about events in their own lives in very autobiographical ways. You know... past tense narratives. Then of course, students will have to write their own autobiographies. This is good at the beginning of the semester because they are freshmen just starting out in university. Many are comfortable talking about their lives because they know about it. I have been teaching long enough to know that not everyone has had wonderful lives that they want to share. But everyone has had at least one experience that they want to share. It could be a weekend or even an afternoon. The only rule I have is that it happened to them. Not their brother or best friend, or in their imagination. Those stories will come out next semester. Most importantly for the theme of this blog post (using technology in the classroom) is the fact that I'm adding to my classroom hours by having them follow lectures outside of class. This helps with listening comprehension as well as with content of the course. I have picked some inspiring talks for them to listen to, so hopefully they will enjoy it.
The next part of the semester focuses on the present tense. The students will use magazines and newspapers for the reading component, will listen to stories on NPR and BBC outside of class, and will create a class newspaper. Things that are happening in and around campus. Things that are happening in society that the students are interested in. But don't forget that for this part of the course, they are to be listening to English radio (even TBS Efm will find its way in) to supplement their exposure to English. This is four weeks of the semester**.
And finally, there is the future. What are their dreams and hopes for the future. What do they want to do with their lives? How are they going to achieve their childhood dreams? These two questions will be explored in a book, Snow lectures, in class discussions, in an essay, and in a final presentation.
A few notes here. I'm being purposefully vague with reference to the books we'll be reading because I wouldn't want anyone to steal my idea exactly. Feel free to do something similar, but wouldn't want someone to do the exact same thing as me! Also, I happen to know what the students will be doing in their other English classes. Yes, that is right, my course is in addition to the mandatory English classes that all students take their first year. The first semester in that program is discussion and presentation. I can give them a presentation assignment in my class and not worry about assessing them on their presentation skills--that is being handled in their General English Program course. I can just focus on the content that they are delivering. I also don't have to worry about teaching good discussion skills because I know that they will be getting those in the other classes.
Four weeks spent on the past, four on the present, and four on the future. I'm so excited to be doing this course. AND to be integrating some non-traditional resources into the curriculum. Additionally, we'll be using some class network as well. Ning has just changed to a pay service, and though I used it last semester for one class (and paid), I don't expect to do it again for all of my classes. I'm currently shopping around to see which one will offer the right kind of support and framework for what I plan to do with the classes. Any suggestions?
* Snow is a website that has TED talks, lectures and speeches from top universities around the world, and other political speeches as well. It is a pet project of the university and when I gave my course proposal, it made them very happy that I was including it in the curriculum, which may have helped me get the new job.
** A 15-week semester is really only 12 weeks of 'real' classroom time. The first week is all about passing out syllabi, introducing the course, myself, each other, etc. Then there is midterm week, where there usually are no classes. Finally, there is... finals. (Sorry for the pun). Finals week is the same as midterm week--no regular classes
The map shows many of the great tools that can be used by schools, in the classrooms, by teachers, by students, or by... who else is left?
You can still click through things on this page, but it is pretty small. Like I said above, go look at the full screen version at the mindomo page. I have used several of he sources listed... several... well maybe some of them. I have used blogs with classes, created networks on Ning, flickr, voice threads, YouTube (of course), and many more. I don't feel like listing the ones I've used since it makes me notice all the resources that I have not used. To any teacher who struggles with students who lack motivation, or find that there just aren't enough class hours in the week, or you just want to mix things up a little, check out the sources on the mind map. As we all know, every class is different and every situation is unique. There are so many things we can use for our classes that take a little work to get rolling, but end up making our classes more enjoyable for our students and easier for the teacher to facilitate. But they do take a little advanced planning.
Here's the course I'm creating now. It's a the first semester of a two-semester program for English majors at a Korean university. A Korean Women's university where I happen to work. If you know me, you know which one it is. It is meant to be an 'integrated English course.'
We'll start with autobiographies. (Actually to be fair, we'll start with introductions, getting to know each other activities, and other anxiety-reducing tasks--but that should be a given.)
The students will read an autobiography of someone that the students are all familiar with. We'll also be using some clips from Snow * to supplement, where they can hear people talking about events in their own lives in very autobiographical ways. You know... past tense narratives. Then of course, students will have to write their own autobiographies. This is good at the beginning of the semester because they are freshmen just starting out in university. Many are comfortable talking about their lives because they know about it. I have been teaching long enough to know that not everyone has had wonderful lives that they want to share. But everyone has had at least one experience that they want to share. It could be a weekend or even an afternoon. The only rule I have is that it happened to them. Not their brother or best friend, or in their imagination. Those stories will come out next semester. Most importantly for the theme of this blog post (using technology in the classroom) is the fact that I'm adding to my classroom hours by having them follow lectures outside of class. This helps with listening comprehension as well as with content of the course. I have picked some inspiring talks for them to listen to, so hopefully they will enjoy it.
The next part of the semester focuses on the present tense. The students will use magazines and newspapers for the reading component, will listen to stories on NPR and BBC outside of class, and will create a class newspaper. Things that are happening in and around campus. Things that are happening in society that the students are interested in. But don't forget that for this part of the course, they are to be listening to English radio (even TBS Efm will find its way in) to supplement their exposure to English. This is four weeks of the semester**.
And finally, there is the future. What are their dreams and hopes for the future. What do they want to do with their lives? How are they going to achieve their childhood dreams? These two questions will be explored in a book, Snow lectures, in class discussions, in an essay, and in a final presentation.
A few notes here. I'm being purposefully vague with reference to the books we'll be reading because I wouldn't want anyone to steal my idea exactly. Feel free to do something similar, but wouldn't want someone to do the exact same thing as me! Also, I happen to know what the students will be doing in their other English classes. Yes, that is right, my course is in addition to the mandatory English classes that all students take their first year. The first semester in that program is discussion and presentation. I can give them a presentation assignment in my class and not worry about assessing them on their presentation skills--that is being handled in their General English Program course. I can just focus on the content that they are delivering. I also don't have to worry about teaching good discussion skills because I know that they will be getting those in the other classes.
Four weeks spent on the past, four on the present, and four on the future. I'm so excited to be doing this course. AND to be integrating some non-traditional resources into the curriculum. Additionally, we'll be using some class network as well. Ning has just changed to a pay service, and though I used it last semester for one class (and paid), I don't expect to do it again for all of my classes. I'm currently shopping around to see which one will offer the right kind of support and framework for what I plan to do with the classes. Any suggestions?
* Snow is a website that has TED talks, lectures and speeches from top universities around the world, and other political speeches as well. It is a pet project of the university and when I gave my course proposal, it made them very happy that I was including it in the curriculum, which may have helped me get the new job.
** A 15-week semester is really only 12 weeks of 'real' classroom time. The first week is all about passing out syllabi, introducing the course, myself, each other, etc. Then there is midterm week, where there usually are no classes. Finally, there is... finals. (Sorry for the pun). Finals week is the same as midterm week--no regular classes
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