you’ve got mail ceri jones tesol france 2011 em@il

You’ve got mail

Ceri Jones

TESOL France 2011

em@il

Basic premise

This session is not about teaching students how to write emails.

It is about using emails

• as a learning tool

• as a vehicle for communication

• as an extension of the face-to-face classroom

«Email» by smimenon87creative commons licenced image from flickr

‘using emails was really motivating’

‘the emails are like extra classes’

‘they make me think in English at home’

‘I felt more connected with the teacher and my classmates’

‘It’s like having your classmates at home with you’

‘I’ve learnt lots of natural expressions’

‘They give us instant feedback’

‘I’ll miss it’

My class

• 7 adults 25 – 50 +

• all Spanish L1 speakers

• mixed level intermediate group (A2+/B1+)

• no experience of using technology in the English classroom

Our aims

Students’ aims:•to improve fluency and confidence•to practise spoken English•to complement more traditional courses

My aims: • to experiment with the use of technology

and web 2.0 tools in the classroom• to follow the students’ lead

laptoppcmobilephonesmartphonedigitalcameraipodmp3playeremailinternetsocialnetworking

Which do you have?Which do you use most?

What for?

1 setting up the email system

• the personal touch

• the lesson summaries

• using material & requests submitted by email • sharing images of boardwork from the IWB

important factors :

Using students’ materials & requests

 3 Write a list of five things you'd like to learn to do in English.  

4 Send me a link to a video clip, or a photo, or an article on the internet and tell me why you think it's interesting - we'll share it with the class either next lesson or next week. 

3  Write a list of five things you'd like to learn to do in English.  will Vs going to phrasal verbs (more useful) pronunciation vocabulary in general listening

3  ALAMEDA    J shared her photo of the sea walls along the Alameda Apodaca with us.   A beautiful photo and an interesting conversation.  We talked about what to call it, is it a park, a square, a green space/area?  I thought maybe it was a kind of park, but Fernando pointed out it doesn't have a fence ... . But we all agreed that it's a lovely place, shady and peaceful in summer, sheltered from the wind, romantic for some but bright and fun too.  We talked about the tiles, and the streetlights and that it was definitely worth it - taking the photo and bringing it into class.   I'm looking forward to more photos.  4    GOING TO/WILL  J explained that she took the photo because her mother thought she might paint the scene.  We don't know if she's going to or not.  But it seems that she likes painting landscapes.

More about the lesson summaries

3  ImagesWe looked at a slideshow with five images. Can you remember what they were? Can you remember who chose them and why?  Look at this list of some of the new words and expressions we collected during the discussion. Can you use them to write a short summary of this part of the lesson?  Thanks!  Can you send a copy to everyone in the group?  Thanks again :)  shipyard,  cliffs, tram, Roman period, Roman road, low tide, high tide

Look at this list of some of the new words and expressions we collected during the discussion. Can you use them to write a short summary of this part of the lesson?  Thanks!  Can you send a copy to everyone in the group?  Thanks again :)  shipyard,  cliffs, tram, Roman period, Roman road, low tide, high tide

We talk about the Suazo bridge which was built in the Roman period, it`s near to the  San Fernando's shipyard, and the tram which goes to San Fernando is going over that bridge. I said that when there is low tide we see a rocks which were part of the Roman road, and then we knew a new vocabulary: low tide and high tide. We continue seeing a photo with a cliffs and a beach near "Zahara de los Atunes".

Lesson 4 (with Dan) 23/09/10 author: Paco

First, Daniel presented the theme "The music". We talked about several things: special words, kinds of music. After that we discussed some questions about this topic. We grouped words depending on genre, feelings, good or bad, quiet or loud...We also listened to some of Dan´s play list songs. He explained why he chose it. We learnt some new words connected with the music world: whistle, strum, a hit/blockbuster.

Whistle- To whistle / a hit-blockbuster- best seller / Strum / genre-kind-type / guitar / trumpet / drum

1. QUESTIONS/ANSWERS:

Do you find the emails useful?/why?, why not?What about the corrections?/ Would you like more / less?What kind of corrections do you like?/ Public or private? Why?

We answered this question in class and Ceri took notes about this.

2. VOCABULARY, we could find in the video clip of Since I left You ( or...Since i Had you?):

MinersTunnel, but inside a mine is a ShaftTrapped (people can´t go outside)Blocked (the place is totally close)Behind (detrás)Under (debajo)Audition (like an exam but for dancers or singers)CartwheelsTamborine (verb we use with an instrument is PLAY)Dig and the past participle dugDug outA dammed good time

Follow up tasks …

• contribute to an online document ( e.g. a wallwisher, a Google doc, a wiki page, a blog)

• do a webquest – find an article, a link, an image, information about a topic & prepare to describe it

• listen to or record an audio file online (using tools like voki, fotobabble, voicethread etc)

• create an image or text using online tools (e.g. mosaic maker)

• write a review of an online video clip or slide-show

• complete vocabulary and grammar revision exercises online

• share useful links and tools

… and following up on the follow up tasks

We used to have chocolate and churros for breakfast a lot when we lived in Madrid.  It’s great!  My kids love it too. And I think it’s a great idea to include the kids in deciding what to eat/cook for lunch.  But we never have a siesta after lunch!  My kids are too full of energy to sleep!  

When you say you “used to go on facebook”, do you mean, “I usually go on facebook”?  “used to” suggests that it’s something you did in the past, but don’t do anymore.  

 (I’ve underlined some expressions in my answer - you can compare them with yours – hope that helps! – let me know, it’s a little experiment – thanks!)  

I want to thank you for your revision task. Of course! I´ll compare them with mine, of that i´m sure. Then, I used to have chocolate and churros for breakfast. I see that your kids also love it, like mine. Both, You and I consider it´s important to involve children early in life in making  decisions, like: what to cook for dinner tonight, who  cleans the kitchen floor or who put the dishes on the table… ”Well done teacher” . continuo. I´m really love a siesta, a half hour no more, but my kids never have a siesta since their was one or their was very child.

You have reason when I wrote “used to” I´d want to say ( to means) I usually go on facebook and surf the internet.

On the First day (7) was very tired. I chose the wrong shoes to walk!!! Apart to (8) leaving cv’s I was in the city center the second day at night. I met other friend there. I was 2 months I didn’t see him (9).  We were in a few typical bars having “cañas” before going to a vegetarian restaurant to dinner. In those bars we had cañas at the bar but, we had  dinner sitting down at the restaurant.

(7)  I was very tired?  or Friday was very tiring?

(8)  apart from

(9)  this is a difficult sentence to put together in English!  I hadn’t seen him for 2 months.

(7)  I was very tired?  or Friday was very tiring? I almost wrote “tiring”!!! I thought about it too much!!! I wanted to talk about the Friday

(8)  apart from Ok!

(9)  this is a difficult sentence to put together in English!  I hadn’t seen him for 2 months. It’s been a typing mistake…Could be also it said “It was 2 months ago I didn’t see him” too?

(7)  I was very tired?  or Friday was very tiring? I almost wrote “tiring”!!! I thought about it too much!!! I wanted to talk about the Friday… ah, thinking can be very dangerous (8)  apart from Ok!

(9)  this is a difficult sentence to put together in English!  I hadn’t seen him for 2 months. It’s been a typing mistake…Could be also it said “It was 2 months ago I didn’t see him” too? No, I’m afraid not. This is one of those ideas that’s expressed very differently in English compared to Spanish. But you could say: The last time I saw him was 2 months ago

Drawing conclusions

Emailing added an extra dimension to our class …

• bringing the students’ world into the classroom

• taking the classes out into the students’ world

• integrating technology

a gradual but perceptible shift

•in the communication •in the responsibility the students were taking for their course and their learning (not only individually but as a group)

1 summaries me → them → public2 tasks private → shared → public 3 corrections private → shared

‘using emails was really motivating’

‘the emails are like extra classes’

‘they make me think in English at home’

‘I felt more connected with the teacher and my classmates’

‘It’s like having your classmates at home with you’

‘I’ve learnt lots of natural expressions’

‘They give us instant feedback’

‘I’ll miss it’

cerijones@ono.com

@cerirhiannon

http://cerij.wordpress.com