5th January 2009
DEVELOPINGTHEWEB.COM - MOODLE HOSTING
You've probably heard lots about Moodle, the framework for providing online courses. Have you thought about having your own? At Developing TheWeb.com (a sister site of Developing Teachers.com) we provide you with your own Moodle for only $12/month or $60/seven months. Your Moodle installation comes with 500mb of space & 10gb/month of bandwidth.
We set it all up for you & you provide the courses. You don't need to provide the actual course, this can simply be an online presence, a way of keeping in touch with your students, a meeting place with individuals or whole classes, an extension of your lessons.
We like it so much that we run our own online development courses
at Developing Courses.com with Moodle.
For more information:
http://www.developingtheweb.com/courses.htm
Reliable & affordable Web Hosting for the English Language Teaching Community!
-----------------
-----------------
Sponsor links:
KBTeachers.com is the premier online destination for and by teachers. We offer over 10,000 pages of teacher-created, printable materials for all grade levels in subjects ranging from math and writing to geology and visual arts . Our simple user interface makes it easy and fun for you to access high quality worksheets, lesson plans and activities, giving you more time to focus on teaching. KBTeachers.com is used in k-12 classrooms all over the world, as well as by ESL instructors, tutors, teaching students, homeschoolers and administrators.
-----------------
A Happy New Year to everyone. Let's hope for a peaceful 2009.
On getting back to our students after the break a natural start would be through reflecting on the holidays & the past year & what is to come in the new year. Here are a few ideas to use:
We have designed our regular review of the past year in the form of a quiz which you can find at:
http://www.developingteachers.com/newsletterplans/quiz_2008.htm
There is a pdf download of the quiz & answers.
It is very easy & designed as a springboard for discussion. You might like to focus on the language of past deduction: could/may/might/can't/must have + past participle.
Another way of reflecting on the past year is through well known quotes from 2008 - here are a couple of links.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/the-best-quotes-of-2008-
1217875.html
http://www.allgreatquotes.com/quotes_of_the_week_2008.shtml
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2008/top10/article/0,30583,1855948
_1863080,00.html
The Top Ten of Everything in 2008 - Time:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2008/top10/
New Year Resolutions - there is a lesson plan on the site about New Year Resolutions at:
http://www.developingteachers.com/plans/nyrlp.htm
From Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year's_resolution
'Recent research shows that while 52% of participants in a
resolution study were confident of success with their goals, only
12% actually achieved their goals. Men achieved their goal 22%
more often when they engaged in goal setting, a system where
small measurable goals are used (lose a pound a week, instead of
saying "lose weight"), while women succeeded 10% more when they
made their goals public and got support from their friends.'
From a past Tip, there is the following article which would make a good focus for a lesson. Have a read:
Psychologists seek key to successful new year resolutions
Ian Sample, science correspondent, Friday December 29, 2006, The Guardian
The first mass-participation experiment to unravel what makes a new year's resolution a successful step towards self-betterment - or more commonly, a dismal failure of willpower - is launched by psychologists today. Volunteers taking part in the study can take comfort from knowing that no matter how badly they fail to keep their resolutions they will help psychologists identify the best, and worst, techniques for motivating people to change their lives for the better.
Richard Wiseman, a professor of psychology at Hertfordshire University, hopes to enrol around 10,000 people in the online experiment.
At regular intervals during the next six months those who sign up for the experiment will be invited to give updates on how well they are doing. "We know millions of people around the world will be trying to keep to new year's resolutions, but we don't have a clue what is the best advice to give them to succeed," said Professor Wiseman. "We want to find out what's the best way to go about it."
Most of the few studies conducted on new year's resolutions have focused on a very small number of people. The latest experiment, online at newyearscience.co.uk, is intended to attract volunteers of different ages from around the world.
The psychologists have identified five tips to help keep resolutions. The first is to make only one resolution: if you are an obese, misanthropic, SUV-driving smoker, Prof Wiseman recommends picking just one aspect of life to improve, to increase your chances of success.
They also suggest planning your resolution in advance, instead of waiting until New Year's Eve. The extra time will allow you to reflect on what you really want to achieve. Another tip is to avoid repeating a previous resolution, or at least try a different technique to keep it. So if trying to lose half a stone did not work last year, plan to exercise more instead. "If people think they can do it they probably can, but if they've already tried and failed, their self-belief will be low," Prof Wiseman said. The remaining tips include keeping resolutions specific and rewarding yourself by buying a new book or CD if you manage to lose a few pounds or cut down on smoking.
The most common new year's resolutions focus on improving health, either by eating sensibly, exercising more, or cutting out smoking. "By a long way, stopping smoking is the hardest, because there are physiological responses involved, it's an addiction," said Prof Wiseman.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1979625,00.html |
A few comprehension questions:
1. What is the experiment about & where do you sign up for it?
2. What is the main objective of the experiment?
3. what has been the difference with this type of experiment in the past?
4. What are the 5 tips on keeping resolutions?
5. Which is the most difficult resolution to keep & why? |
The text is suitable for the more advanced group but for the lower levels you could give an oral summary, providing some listening practice at the same time. There are lots of language areas in the text to pick up on; tenses, in/direct speech, gerunds/infinitives etc..
The questionnaire is in English & gives the students a small project. They fill in the three page questionnaire & then they are emailed in a few weeks & then after six months to see how they are keeping up with their resolutions. At each stage they can report back to the class on how they are getting on.
http://www.psy.herts.ac.uk/wiseman/resolutions/opening.html
As the sales are in full flow now there is a lesson plan about the sales that went wrong at IKEA:
http://www.developingteachers.com/plans/ikeamadness.htm
And there's a lesson plan about taking presents back to the shops:
http://www.developingteachers.com/plans/gifts.htm
More ideas & activities, please post for all to use at:
http://forum.developingteachers.com/index.php?topic=1781.0
Do you have an activity or teaching tip that you would like published in the Weekly Tip? Send it in.
ONLINE DEVELOPMENT COURSES
Online teacher development courses on Developing Teachers.com - individualised one-to-one course for ELT/ESOL teachers at any level of teaching experience. If you are interested in following one then do get in touch for more information.
The Weekly Teaching Tip is written by Alistair Dickinson at Developing Teachers.com.
This newsletter is a free service of Developing Teachers.com and is copyright © 2001-2008 Developing Teachers.com All rights reserved.
To subscribe to the Newsletters
To the Past Teaching Tips
