I have the privilege of teaching
English as a second language during the summer to Spanish-speaking baseball
players. I usually have about 8-10
students at a time. Yesterday, I found
out that I will have sixteen students! I
am looking for ideas to make my classroom engaging while integrating
technology. I found a great site titled “10
Modern Ways to Use Technology in ESL instruction” by Andrei Zakharewski. I am
already planning to use several of these ideas.
#1 – Film and Video – One of the best ways for students to
hear native speakers is by using film and video. There is a sight called ESL Partyland that
has resources for both students and teachers. It has links to teaching videos
and lots of lesson plan ideas.
#2 – Apps – Students can download apps on cell phones and IPad. Some suggestions are Grammar Up, Scrabble and
Best Colleges online, which has sixteen IPad apps for ESL learners.
#3 – Digital Field Trips – Middle School Net has dozens of
links that you can use to introduce your students to sights all over the world. Students may also like exploring Google Earth
to find sights that you assign them. I
may have my students look up all of the Major League Baseball stadiums in the United
States as part of a geography lesson.
#4 – Podcasts – If students can download iTunes on their
phones, they can listen to English speaking podcasts for free.
#5 – Penpals – For real world communication, students can
become penpals with other students all over the world. The sight epals connects
students individually or as a classroom.
#6 – Webquests – There is a site called webquest.org that
allows you to find other premade webquests or you can make your own. A webquest is an online task based assignment
in which your students must work online.
Your webquest should include higher level thinking skills and include
links for your student.
#7 – Online games – There are many online games out
there. This article mentioned FunBrain
which has games, reading, videos and even math.
#8 – Blogging – Blogging is a great way to get students
writing. The best news is that there are
many free sights such as LiveJournal, EduBlog and blogger.
#9 Skype – Skype is great tool for communication. There are many other apps now like Face Time
which students use for genuine conversations.
Teaching Degree has a list of fifty ways teachers can use Skype in the classroom.
#10 Other Resources – The author of this article, Andrei
Zakharewski also suggested
Dave’s ESL Café. This site has audio and video resources as
well as lessons for teachers.
None of these ideas are my own; however, I looked up all of
these sights and they are excellent resources. I am excited to meet my sixteen students this week. These sights have jump started my brain with all
kinds of ideas that I can’t wait to implement.
You are lucky to have a such a great summer job opportunity in helping these ball players improve their English. So cool! I am curious about if you feel that any of these recommended sites are too childish for your students. I teach high school ESL and I find that I run into that problem a good bit. Obviously I want to use resources that have lots of graphics and basic language, but often the pictures are very much geared toward younger students. I have a hard time finding good resources that have a more mature look and feel about them. Good luck with your sixteen students!
ReplyDeleteI am curious about where you teach the ESL baseball players. I had a similar opportunity a few years ago however I wasn't able to make the time commitment due to planned vacations. I was upset because I thought it would be such a great opportunity and learning experience! Thanks for sharing all of these websites. They look like great ones! Good luck this summer:)
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the great resources; I saved them to my social bookmarking site. You always share such helpful information. Have a great time teaching these young men! I hope you get to attend some games.
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