Podcasting

    

      I found a podcast called  Failing a Driving Test at ESL Pod.  I choose this podcast since the topic is very useful for English intermediate learners, especially, for the students who study in America. It is very common to drive in America. So when international students first came to America, they would practice driving and apply for the driving license as soon as possible.

However, when you take the test, the examiner will demand you to do certain driving in English. Therefore, it is very important to learn some terminologies of driving in English. On this dialogue there are a lot of good examples. For instance, the examiner told me to back off because I was tailgating the car in front of me. When I accelerated, I ground my gears and raced the engine. The car jerked so hard that the examiner nearly fell off her seat. I failed to stop at a traffic light and changed lanes in the intersection without signaling. The highlight parts are all the terminologies which are important for test takers to learn. Another thing I like this website's podcast is that this website is aimed to help  learners who regard English as a second language. So there are a lot of instructions on English after the dialogues. They always teach students how to use English phrases, how to choose appropriate words according to context and even some slangs. 

     Therefore, I will keep on using ESL Pod as a useful resource to assist my English teaching. I hope the podcasts I found can be practical and helpful for my students not only on academic but also in daily life. So I will keep on finding podcasts like I mentioned on this blog in my future teaching. I will also ask students to find their favorite podcast by themselves and listen to them as after class activities or holiday assignments.

Pei's Stupeflix videos

PHOTO STORIES.

   

     I like to use Stupeflix, here is the link of my own photo stories. They are on my next blog. I hope through my photo stories, my students can realize they can use their own photos to tell a story. I create a Christmas video because I want to learn some relative words for Christmas, like wrath and reindeer. So students can also create a video to help themselves learn new knowledge.

     I still appreciate of their photo stories because these stories are unique. I assess their creations through grammar, words they chose and spelling. If they can create photo stories by using the grammar and vocabulary we have learned recently, I will give them extra credits.

Comic strip generators

 

     I really love Strip Generator, here is the link of my own strip. The reason I love it is that students can create a number of scenes through the funny and cute cartoon figures. Through their dialogues students could feel free to express feelings and opinions and tell others what has happened recently just as the strip I demonstrate. Students can also create their own dialogues based on the topics they are interested in. There is no limited topic so that students can fully practice writing and speaking skills according to their own topics.

     I will appreciate of their unique dialogues.  In other words, I will not assess their topics and opinions. I will put more focus on their grammar and the words they chose to assess their creations.