Family Vocabulary Game

Put the names in the right boxes! A game to practise family vocabulary (father, mother, brother, sister, grandfather, grandmother, uncle, aunt, cousin...).



Check out our Family Vocabulary List.

Blogging with students

This is the second year that I'm blogging with my students. Last year I introduced my 17-year olds to blogging the moment I learned how to do it. Or at least I thought I knew how to blog with students.

This year, I started out thoroughly prepared. Well aware of last year's weaknesses and strengths, I clearly defined the goals and strategies. I put together a clear and meaningful Power Point presentation. I thought long and hard about possible threats. And was convinced there would be nothing to catch me off guard. How wrong I was! There's always been something I took for granted and expected my students to know. But it turns out that most of them don't go beyond the basics of Facebook and MSN. And when it comes to blogging they rely entirely on me. Maybe it's time I said "Go figure it out yourself!"

Next year I'll do it differently.

#MSIEF

I'm an Innovative Educator and I'm going to Cape Town!

What a respectable siganture! I still can't believe that I'm one of those who will have the opportunity to meet innovative educators from all over the world. What's more, I'm one of them!

What have I done to deserve this? I just came up with an idea - and these fabulous teachers were kind enough to join me with their students.

They are Innovative Educators and I wish they all went to Cape Town with me!

Viviana Alayo, Colegio Machado de Assis, Joinville, Brazil
Candace Townsley, Owasso Public School, Owasso, Oklahoma, USA
Valerie Burton, West Jefferson School, Harvey, Lousiana, USA
Dan Roberts, Saltash Community Schools, Saltash, UK
Eva Büyüksimkeşyan and Culya Yapici, Esayan Armenian High School, Istanbul, Turkey
José Romão,Colegio de Alfragide, Alfragide, Portugal
Clara Vieira, Escola EB 2,3/S de Vale de Cambra, Portugal
Monika Hardy,Thompson Valley HS, Loveland, Colorado, USA
Shannon McClintock Miller, Van Meter Community Schools, Van Meter, Iowa, USA
Judy Uhrig, Latham Elementary School, Winston-Salem, N. Carolina, USA
Shyam Sunder Malhotra, St.Simran School, Patiāla Area, India
Vicki Palmer, Brisbane Grammar, Brisbane, Australia
Rositsa Mineva, The Fifth Primary School, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
Heidi Musterós, Colegio Goethe, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Jesstern Rays, Catholic High School, Singapore
Gyöngyi Tóthné Bán, Primary School Balatonboglár, Balatonboglár Hungary
Clara Gutierrez, Westwood Elementary School, Houston, Texas, USA

5 continents, 14 countries, 18 schools, 19 teachers, 290 posters and 420 students

Video listening quiz: Problems with English

European Day Of Languages

Yesterday we celebrated the European Day Of Languages with our students. First the teachers collected several frequently used proverbs and tanslated them into the languages taught at our school.

The teaching procedures differed from class to class. Some teachers asked their students to match the proverbs with their definitions, others wanted their students to match the first half of a proverb with its ending. I was lucky enough to sign up for the computer lab so that when I said a proverb in Croatian, my students had to search the Internet to find its English and German translations. I divided the class into two teams, which added a competitive feel to the activity.

The list of proverbs can be found on Google Docs. Feel free to edit it.

TED Talk: Sugata Mitra

I had the pleasure of hearing Professor Sugata Mitra at the Innovative Teacher Forum in Berlin in March 2010. In his splendid keynote he talked about his Hole In The Wall experiments and children from slums and poor, remote areas in India who acquire basic computer skills, even though they don't speak English and don't have a teacher to help them. They learn because they want to.

Food Game

Find the following food items in the kitchen! A game to practise food vocabulary (fruit, vegetables, drinks, meat, desserts...).



Check out our Food and Drink Vocabulary List.