Hello, dear teacher!
This is my first Blog entry and it couldn't be a better one. I'm sure you all have heard before the term "Good morning slides", but if you don't know yet what they are, go check my page For the CLASSROOM.
This blog entry is intended to explain you HOW TO EDIT & USE the slides in your classroom.
I'm going to show you first how to insert the image to be the background of the slide.
Very important, DOWNLOAD the slides. Go to my page For the CLASSROOM and click the DOWNLOAD button.
There are 9 different versions in 3 languages: English, Spanish and Catalan/Valencian. Choose the ones you need and download them.
Go to Power Point or Google Slides and open a new document. Start with your slide empty.
Click BLACKGROUND and CHOOSE IMAGE. Upload the slide you have chosen (it will appear as a PNG image).
Once it has been uploaded, click the OK button. There you have it!
Click INSERT and then choose TEXT BOX.
Drag the mouse pointer and create a square/rectangle inside each box/section (To Do, Supplies...).
Choose a font that you like and type!
Now we have our slides edited and ready to display. But, how do we use them?
First of all, we need to think WHEN we want to use them.
Do we use them only in the morning as a GOOD MORNING / WELCOME TO CLASS?
Do we use them for each subject so they know what to expect?
It's really up to us to decide WHEN to incorporate the slides.
Personally, I would use them as a WELCOME TO CLASS. We all know how difficult it is for students (and teachers) to settle down quickly after entering the classroom. It would be very useful to display the slide on the board so students know what supplies they need for the oncoming lesson and the things they need to do before the lesson starts.
Also, the slides can help improve classroom management. Students will be given a certain amount of time to perform the tasks and they will get a reward afterwards.
Hello, dear teachers!
In today's post I am going to write about teaching English as a Foreign Language in an Infant Education classroom. We all have been there: we have arrived at a new school and the principal has told us we have to teach English in Infant Education (insert mental scream here). I don't know about you, but I had never stepped foot inside an Infant Education classroom before that.
The first weeks I was lost. I had no idea how children were going to respond to the activities I wanted to prepare for them. I didn't even know if they knew how to hold a pencil (it may seems obvious to you, but believe when I say I had zero idea of what young children can or cannot do)!
So, I got up my courage (and spent more hours than you could possible imagine on Pinterest) and prepared lots and lots of cute, fun, sophisticated activities. I decorated an entire classroom with flashcards and corners. I even bought a puppet (I was told children love puppets) to tell stories to them! To sum up, I went all out.
It didn't go to plan. At all.
That's why I am here now, writing this post, to tell you all the key aspects I have picked up along the years regarding teaching English for younger students. The aspects are few and simple (as English lessons should be for younger students). Although the main one would be SPEAK IN ENGLISH as much as you can in the classroom.
Movement: young learners LOVE to move. They cannot stay still on their seats for long periods of time. When the English teacher gets to class, students have probably been on their seats for a long time already. The least they want to do is to fill in a worksheet or colour flashcards.
Simon Says is a great game we can play every day to review vocabulary, to teach new everyday actions and to implement new routines.
Acting out stories may be the best way to tell a story. The more they listen to a story, the more they memorise it and the more they can act out the different parts.
Dancing along songs may be the best way of teaching English in Infant Education. Kids learn by doing, and what better way to learn than moving along a song about different topics?
2. Listening to stories: when talking about stories, cartoons and TV series can be included as well. There are loads of them on Youtube that are specifically made for younger children. Those stories and cartoons focus on the acquisition of new vocabulary and grammar structures for young learners. We might as well give it a go!
3. Singing: although it might seems Infant Education students are too young to sing along an English song, they can do it perfectly (allowing them to repeat the song as many times as they want to). They may not pick all the words or all the sentences, but they can (for sure) repeat the main words of the songs.
I have seen a huge improvement in my students. The amount of vocabulary they can learn during a school year following those 3 key aspects is astonishing. I didn't know when I went down this road that 3, 4 and 5 years old could integrate in their everyday vocabulary that many English words. Of course they cannot speak in English per se, nor can they carry out a conversation, but they understand you. They follow your indications and they interact with you while you speak in English to them.
Because my struggles have been real and intense, I thought I could share all the online songs and TV shows I have picked up along the years to teach English in Infant Education. The document is organized in three big charts:
First year of Infant Education (3 years-old students)
Second year of Infant Education (4 years-old students)
Third year of Infant Education (5 years-old students)
Inside each chart, you will see it is organised by topics. For each topic, there are different songs with the link next to them. You can either click in the link or copy-paste it to your browser of choice.
As a disclaimer, I have to thank Super Simple for the incredible job they do creating amazing songs and TV shows for the young ones. You will see what I mean when you download the file (yes, almost all the songs are by Super Simple... but they are the best).
INFANT EDUCATION RESOURCES.pdfHello, my dear teachers!
I know what the problem is. You have just got a digital planner but you have no idea how to use it or edit it. If that is the problem, you are located in the right place.
I have done my research as well and I have compile a few (a couple, to be fair) apps that can be used to plan in your device, whether is an Ipad or a tablet.
PS: I have created a Digital Planner as well. Click the button to grab your copy!
If your device is the famous Ipad, then you have two options (I'm sure you have more than two, but these are my favourite).
GoodNotes and Notability: They are the most known ones. They have a lot of features and they are shown everywhere on Instagram when you look at #digitalplanner. They are recommended all over the Internet and, from what I have seen, they are worth it. But, I'm afraid they are NOT free to use. You must pay for them. Below you've got a video on the differences between them.
2. Flexcil: this is the free version of GoodNotes and Notability. It hasn't got as many features as the GoodNotes app, but it is more than enough to use it for planning. It has all the most common characteristics: writing, typing, highlighting, etc. Below you've got a video on how to use this app.
If your device is an android table, do not worry. There are options for you as well. I have not used these myself, so I am going to leave a Youtube video below so you can see and compare for yourselves.
Bear in mind that all these apps are FREE to use!
Xodo Android
OneNote
Flexcil: this one can be used for Ipads as well.
Noteshelf
Hello, my dear teachers! We all have been there before. We get a printable planner but we don't know how to make it look presentable once is printed.
"Why is the cover after the section?" , "Why is this double sided page not looking ok?", "Did I do something wrong?"... As Pitbull says: "Been there, done that". The answer would be: follow the printing instructions. Many planners haven't been created to be printed as they look on a PDF. Some need a bit of love and planning beforehand to make sure they look great once in paper.
Following, you will find the steps you need to follow if you want to print my Printable Teacher Planner:
Print all the covers first. The covers are supposed to be printed one sided so they can be used as a divider page.
Print the sections individually. You might need some sections to be one sided and some others double sided. In this case, the Lesson Planning section has been designed to be printed double sided from the first page of the section to the last.
Print as many copies as you need of each section. Sometimes, the PDF version only has got 2 pages in a section (for example, the Checklists or Meetings sections). You can print as many pages as you need! Only change the number of copies when printing the document.
Link in the picture
Well, the printing has been a success but I am not sure how to use my planner. "Should I bind it?", "Should I laminate the covers?"... I am going to explain to you how I use mine.
I do not bind my teacher planner as if it were a notebook. I feel it gets very heavy and takes a lot of space in my schoolbag as I have to print all the pages on one go and carry them with me the whole school year.
Use binders to keep your planner. I have found is way easier to use a planner when I keep it in a binder. That way, I only print the sections and pages I need and when I need them. Also, I can get rid of pages I don't use anymore or store them at home/school for later use. In addition, it is a good way to customize the planner and put the different sections wherever you need them. On the left, I have linked some binders I would use. The one I have cannot be found anywhere, but those are similar ones.
Laminate the section covers. I laminate all the covers in my binder and use them as dividers along the binder. It gets easier to navigate through the pages when you can see the divisions clearly.
Keep the Checklist section separated from the rest of the planner. I keep my checklists in another folder. I don't need to bring it home, so I can leave this folder at school. Usually I print as I go, meaning that I print a few pages for each class to get going and increase the number of pages if I need to. I can also add modified checklists to the folder if they are doing a project or even rubrics. That way, this section is fully customizable.
Hello, my dear teachers! I dusted off the virtual class I created last school year to see what we had in there. After going through different ideas, I decided to keep it as close as possible to the idea I had in mind last year and just add or change a few things.
The biggest change you could see (you could had seen it, had I posted it last year - but I didn't) is that I decided to only use the Virtual class with my younger students (6 years old). I have taught them last year when they were in Infant Education and I know what they need in order to keep up with the new level they are facing this year.
Below, I am going to explain you how I intend to use my virtual classroom:
The main goal was reviewing the basic vocabulary we had been working for last year. In this case, these are: colours, numbers, the weather, family and the date. In order to do so, I linked different Genially games I have found on the Internet so we can work on that the first month of school until they get settled.
The virtual classroom is also useful to set a routine. As weather and date resources are linked, we can use them to implement a quick and simple routine, just to get things going.
Highlighting and keeping resources easy-to-reach for my students was another goal of mine. For now, the virtual classroom only has a few links (as I explained in the 1st point) but, in time, I will add more activities and songs as the school year progress.
It is now time to take a loot at this "masterpiece" (yes, I'm being sarcastic).
Hello, my dear teachers! After years of teaching, I have come to the conclusion that students learn regardless of the prettiness of the materials you have created. It is very difficult to accept, believe me. I have always been very specific with my resources and with what I believed was beneficial for my students and what wasn't. That is the reason why I come today here to explain you one thing: LEARNING STATIONS.
Learning Stations are physical locations in the classroom where students are asked to do something. It can be reading, playing games, listening to a story or create something. Depending on your students age and level, the activities can vary. Also, it is important to think beforehand what you want them to learn, that is, set a goal for the stations.
I usually set up Learning Stations for my younger students (1st grade). My goal is to practice the vocabulary of the unit. In the example I am going to explain, the goal was to practice numbers from 1 to 10.
Here is how you set up Learning Stations for a lesson:
Divide the students in groups. I usually create 4 groups and make sure they are mixed (outstanding students with students that need help). The amount of students in each group will depend on the number of students in your class.
Explain how the Learning Stations work. I always tell them that they will be playing a game for a certain amount of time and, when the timer goes off, they will change the game. For younger students, I prefer to change the game for each group myself instead of making them change the area. It will create more chaos if we allow them to move around the classroom at a very young age. That being said, when they students have mastered the mechanics, you can make them walk around the classroom later in the school year to change stations.
Make sure the students know how to play the different games. It is very important that students know how to play the different games around the classroom. You have to practice those games before hand so they can play independently for the whole session. That way, the time and activity is being used to its full potential.
Have backup games in you in case there is a group that has finished quicker than expected. There is always that one group that it's done in no time. The students might not be interested in playing a second round of the game (younger students get bored very easily), so having a backup game with you will entertain those students until the rest of the class is done.
Student face the cards down on the floor. Taking turns, they have to find the pairs (number - word). The student with more pairs in his/her possession, wins the round.
This game can be modify with number - number cards or words - words cards.
In pairs, students divide the stack of cards in two groups: numbers and letters. One student take each stack. Facing down the stack in their hand, they turn one card up at a time and leave it on the table. When two cards match (2 - two), the first student saying SNAP! take the cards. The winner is the students with more cards in his/her possession.
This game can be modify with number - number, or words - words.
This is more a practice station than a game station. Students trace the words using an erasable marker to practice writing numbers.
You can turn it into a game by giving a few cards each and play BINGO with them. They should trace the words when their number is called. The first one to trace all the words, win.
Students assemble the puzzles linking the number, the word and the quantity. There are 10 different puzzles they have to sort through (1 to 10). They need to work in group in order to complete the puzzle.
Make sure they are counting in English to link all the pieces together (they should know and recognize the numbers in order to do so).
