Posts

The Science of Storytelling: Why Telling a Story is the Most Powerful Way to Activate Our Brains

  A good story can make or break a presentation, article, or conversation.  But why is that? When Buffer co-founder Leo Widrich started to market his product through stories instead of benefits and bullet points, sign-ups went through the roof.  In this article he shares his own experience, the science of why storytelling is so uniquely powerful. Read the article and then post a word cloud with the words you consider best address the power of storytelling 

Fearless

Courage and bravery are admirable character traits.  Fear and doubts can sometimes prevent you from trying out things, going places.... Do you think being brave is important? Why? When?  Go over the vocabulary word cloud. Check for words you don't know the meaning of. Then listen to the song and enjoy!

The Curious incident of the dog in the night time

 A great book to read with adolescents, it is so easy to get caught in the story. Totally recommended if you are looking for real material to work with your upper courses.  But all books need us to get our students ready for what they will be reading.  I used Prezi  to prepare the audience. You will find here notes on the author, main topics, some elements regarding the main character.. even a couple of short videos.  

FCE - Speaking Paper - Part 2 Long turn

In my experience, Part 2 (long turn) is probably one of the most demanding parts in the speaking paper.  One minute might seem like a short time, but there are a number of aspects candidates need to cover efficiently in that time.  This is a presentation we've used to help our students get ready to tackle the test with confidence.  Haiku Deck  is a wonderful tool to prepare presentations. It provides pictures and a limited number of fonts. Its main advantage is how quick you can get ready a super presentation to share with your students.      FCE - How to go about Paper 4 - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires ;

C1 Advanced - Speaking Paper

For 12 years I had the opportunity to be hired as Oral Examiner by Buenos Aires Open Centre.  It was a wonderful experience where I learned so much.  Examing candidates form other schools and institutes gave me important insights into different strategies teachers used to prepare their students for the Speaking Paper. Experiencing the exam form the "other side of the desk" provided me with a totally different view.  In the following posts, I will be sharing material I prepared.  Hope you find some interesting ideas. 

Teachers Teaching Adults

Evidently, teaching children is different from teaching adolescents or adults.  Each age group has its own characteristics, motivation, pace, needs. It is fundamental teachers hold this very clear. There's a lot at stake! Some time ago I prepared this presentation on teaching adults and included some situations that adults go through when they decide to dedicate time to learn/improve their English skills. The idea was to trigger debate, consider different points of view, and help teachers plan the best course for their students. I used Prezi , in this case, to present my work to the teachers but uploaded a presentation I had already prepared using PowerPoint.   Hope you find it helpful.   

Make it Memorable (2)

  Giving students assignments can have all shapes and forms. Some can involve just a paper or line on the board, others can be a little more attractive.   What about this preparing one like this?  Glogster is a great tool for presentations, posters, assignments. It can have any shape, background, colour you can think of. It will give all the space your imagination needs. Give it a try!  This is a presentation I prepared for a group of teachers starting to use Edmodo