A lesson of humanity - how to start the New Year with great stories?

        Start the New Year with a great story

The year 2016 is over, however, there were a lot of inspiring events happening all over the year that showed us great acts of humantiy. They were all gathered under one headline called The 12 Most Inspiring Good Deeds of 2016 That Made Us Proud of Humanity. 
(website address: https://brightside.me/wonder-people/the-12-most-inspiring-good-deeds-of-2016-that-made-us-proud-of-humanity-274060/

Today, I would like to recommend you one of the websites that I look through at times just to find a great selection of photos with amazing articles and stories.

                                    www.brightside.me

This is a perfect website if you want to stimulate your students imagination? Why? It simply has a lot of great headlines as well as pictures, which alone are  enough to run a thought-provoking conversation with your students. Haven't you tried it, yet? Just make a new year resolution and keep yourself updated by liking it on facebook. When I read it I always have a few ideas how to use them with my students - even those on lower levels.

Let's not forget that visual literacy doesn't only apply to moving images but it also refers to the photos, which tell the stories themselves. Sometimes it's enough to show them to your students. For each of them the pictures tell different stories. Headlines? Perfect for building stories in mind, It's like creating mental pictures. How to do it? Let me show you a few techniques I used to run a smooth and informal conversation as well as engage students in the conversation. It also helps to build a good relationship with your students, too.

So there have been collected 12 different stories of people from all over the world under the title:
The 12 Most Inspiring Good Deeds of 2016 That Made Us Proud of Humanity. 

Some of the photos you can see in this post but the rest is on the recommended website. Each of them is amazing. There is one of Manny Pacquiao a boxing champion who built 1000 houses in the Philipines but there is also a story of a teacher who had a lot of rebellious students brough up by single mothers so in order to help them he created a "Gentelman Club" where he teaches them good manners and behaviour. Each story is suitable for the classroom use. Just check yourself. And here is the lesson plan:

Topic: the problem of humanity, good deeds, new year resolutions, generosity, abandoned, war-torn country, shelter, single-parent family, tuxedo, struggle, starving, orphanage, donations, sacrifice, parcels, bump into, recreate, gratitude, moose, violate the rules,

Time: 45-60 minute lesson

Level: pre-intermediate +

Age group: teenagers, adults

Activity aim: 

• to practice speaking
• to use students imagination and creativity, guessing, stories in mind
• in resolutions: to use "going to" for already made decisions e.g. "This year I'm going to........"

Article address: https://brightside.me/wonder-people/the-12-most-inspiring-good-deeds-of-2016-that-made-us-proud-of-humanity-274060/

Warm up

Write on the board the words GOOD DEEDS. Ask the students what it means. Can you give me any examples of good deeds? Have you heard about any good deeds in the place where you live? (Maybe there was some story in the place where you live so you can use it as an example) Then ask your students if they did any good deeds last year. You may be surprised or disappointed with their answers. I experienced both types of feeelings:). then you move to the next stage. (3 min)

Stage one

Print out the stories and cut them into 3 seperate pieces : a headline, a picture, a story 

(If you have more than 12 students in the group prepare 2 sets)

Stage two

Using blu tack put the stories on the walls of your classroom, headlines to the board and give each of the students just the photos. Students have to use their imagination and think what could have happened. Then they tell their predictions to the rest of the class. ( 5min) Then students are given a chance to match the headline from the board with their photos and one by one come to the board and choose a suitable headline. Then students read them aloud and make a comment about it. By getting the headlines they have extra info and their stories may change. They use the language of predictions what could have happened in the stories. Help them with unknown words if necessary at this stage of the lesson. (I think the story is about...., Perhaps it's a story of a.......who...... etc.) (5min)

Stage three

Now each of the students has to find his story on the wall and match it with the headline. Then students read the stories silently. (5 min)

Stage four

Tell your students that there is a competition for the best deed of the year. Students have to rememeber as much info as posssible as they are going to choose the best story of the year and vote for it.

Students tell their stories to the rest of the group or the class. They start with a phrase: "You won't believe what has happened in my story.........." (10-15 min)

Stage five

Now the voting begins and students have to choose their candidate and present arguments for it. Sometimes they argue really seriously:) (10 min)

Stage six

Class discussion. What about you? If you haven't done any good deeds maybe this year you could do something for others? Together with my students we discussed the topic and set a week for a good deed. They were suppose to find an opportunity to do sth for others. Some of them helped the neighbour with the shopping while others just talked to the girl nobody wanted to talk to. Everything matters. You can devote the rest of the lesson to a further discussion about New Year Resolutions with the use of   "to be going to.." (10 min)

Hope you and your students will enjoy it!

Christmas commercial competition and Film in Action (part two)

Christmas commercial competition - part two

So here is another interesting Christmas story presented in a commercial by Heathrow airport. At first glance, there is not much happening and there are hardly any words. However, it's not a problem at all. Quite on the contrary, you can use it very effectively. How?

In this post I would like to present you another activity shown by Kieran Donaghy in his inspiring book Film in Action.

Memory game

It's an activity in which you need a short film with lots of details. So the above commercial seems to be perfect. You can use it as a warm up, a filler or a closer. It's up to you!

Time: 10 min

Level: elementary +

Age group: 7-12

Activity aim: to spot the visual details, to increase general understading of a story

Film address: https://youtu.be/oq1r_M5a6uI

Stage one:

Divide your class into two groups and give each of them a buzzer (you can download the app called Buzzer and just place two mobiles on the desk in the middle of each group). Select a leader in each of the groups to press the button.(the toughest part:)

Stage two:

Explain the students that they are going to watch a short film connected with Christmas. All they need to do is to remember as many details as possible while watching.

Stage three:

Play the video and later ask the questions prepared in advanced. Here are some examples:

1. What was the colour of the blanket on the plane? (purple)

2. What was the name of the airport they landed? (Heathrow)

3. Did  grandma teddy bear have a bag? (Yes, she did)

4. What did grandma have on her coat? (a brooch, a light blue clover)

5. What did the driver of the airport car have on his head? (St. Clause cap)

6. How many buttons did each of the coats have? (3 each)

7. Where did the plane land? (UK, London)

8. What colour was grandma's hat? (red)

9. What was the name and the surname in the passport? (Bair Edward)

10. When was he born? (10th March 1944)

11. Who was wearning glasses? (grandpa)

12. Who used the toilet? (grandpa)

13. What colour was grandma's suitcase? (red with white dots)

14. What did granpa want to buy? (a box of biscuits)

15. Who was waiting for them at the airport? (grandchildren, a boy and a girl)

Of course, with less advanced students you can use questions with Present Simple or Present Continuous form eg. What is he wearing?

In such activity, students are completely engaged and watch eagerly as they want to win. Because Christmas is soon so why not to give them some treat as a reward:)

Have fun! Tomorrow another Christmas commercial and more ideas to use.

Christmas commercial competition and Film in Action ( part one)

     Christmas commercials competition - part one

Over the past few weeks there has been an intense competition regarding Christmas TV commercials. Every year the big companies such as Coca Cola, John Lewis, Sainsbury, H&M, and many others enter the competition to surprise their clients. However, as it was stated yesterday in the Telegraph, the most "moving and touching the heart" seems to be the Polish version (2.5 mln people can't be wrong). It is a story of a man who desperately wants to learn English. In order to do so, he orders a set of books for the beginners from one of the Polish auction sites Allegro. Yes, you are right, it is a commercial of the auction site but what an expressive one. But why does he want to learn English in the first place? And how can we use such short but heartbreaking stories with our students? In three days I would like to present you three ways in which I use  these short films with my students. At the end you will be able to decide which of the ads appeals to you the most.

But before that I would like to present you a ground-breaking resource that I find useful every time I want to run a lesson with the use of a short film. 

Film in Action by Kieran Donaghy is a fascinating edition directed to all professionals who have something to do with films during their work, teachers in particular. With over 100 activities for different levels I'm sure you can find something for yourself.  At the beginning you will find some introduction concerning the history of the film in education, visual literacy and the benefits of using films.  Then the ways of exploiting the film, the sound, the music as well as the characters and the script of the film follow. It has a clear chapter dvision and ready to use activities with the examples. Just try!

1. Screenshots in action!

"Forget the John Lewis Christmas advert - this year's tear-jerker comes from Poland" - The Telepgraph

So let's come back to the story. An older man orders a parcel from the auction site. Inside, there is a set "English for beginners", It's just the beginning of the story during which he uses various ways to improve his speaking skills. Purpose? Among two million Poles living in the British Isles is his first and probably the only granddaughter, who unfortunately doesn't know any Polish. That is why, his prime aim is to be able to communicate with her. Despite his age and difficulties he finally manages to communicate both with his granddaughter and his new daughter-in-law. There are many aspects that can be discussed while and after watching the film. 

Topic: the problem of immigration (over 2 mln Poles living in GB at the moment), family bonds, relationship between grandparents and grandchildren, aims in life and persistance required to achieve them and finally Christmas

Time: 20-30 min

Level: pre-intermediate +

Age group: 12+

Activity aim:

• to practice group speaking, class discussion
• to use the language of predictions: perhaps, I'm not sure but I think, probably, modals of deduction: must be, might be, can't be

Vocabulary to pre-teach: sticky notes, parcel, delivery boy, memorise, aim, emigrate, revise

Film address: https://youtu.be/XT7EVri0RDc

One of the ways to use such a story is to prepare a few screenshots of the most important scenes and give it to the students. Here are some examples:

     

     

Stage one: (group work)

There are two ways of doing it. 

1) Show a selection of screenshots to a group of max 5 students and ask the students to put them in a logical order and then ask to tell the story to the other group.

2) Give students only the first and the last screenshot and ask them to guess what might have happened in between. After they have read their version of the story, the students are given the other photos and they try to put them in a logical order.

Set the time limit about 5-8 min.

Stage two:
Now play the film but pause at a suspenseful moment when the taxi arrives at the house. Rememeber you cannot reveal the ending at this point. After that, students check whose version was the closest to the original one.

Stage three: (group work)
Students still work in the same groups. This time their task is to discover the reason why the man is learning English so intensively. You can write on the board the expressions that they can find useful when guessing: He may/might be -ing/ Perhaps he is...... and so on. (2 min)

Stage four: (Class discussion)
Play the rest of the film. Ask the students about their reaction. Did they guess correctly? Now you can have a follow up discussion about family bonds and how important they are for them. You can also ask if they have any relatives living abroad and if Christmas is the time they get together. Why? Why not? With my students at this point we also talk about their aims in lives and how to achieve them. Was the man successful? Why? Why not? Did they notice that it was a commercial? What was advertised?

Stage five:
For homework the students can write a narrative with an alternative ending. Just trust their imagination.

Tomorrow the next Christmas commercial with new ideas based on the practical book Film in Action.

Good luck!

Trailers market - www.comingsoon.net

Trailers in the classroom

Who of us doesn't like waching films? We all probably do. However, the most important is that our students fancy movies more than anything else. Quite recently I have finished a summer camp with my teens and almost every day we had a film planned for the evening, of course the one corresponding the topic we were covering - CRIME, ENVIRONMENT, HOBBIES, ADVENTURES and so on. Unfortunately, we normally do not have 2 hours to watch a film with our students during one class. What's more, we have no time to do some activities before, while or after watching as time is pressing at school.  Luckily, I had a chance to do it as it was a summer camp and we had plenty of time to talk and have fun. However, if you really want to use films in the class, I would strongly suggest using trailers. A perfect website that offers a wide variety of trailers is www.comingsoon.net.

Benefits:

• short (usually about 2-3 minutes)
• totally engaging
• often with special effects
• a concise story
• a wide choice to suit all the levels, ages, gender etc
• highly enjoyable
• listening for gist
• practice vocabulary
• touch a wide variety of topics

Let me just show you one of the ways I use them as a warm up activity or sometimes as w whole lesson if you are bored of coursebook work (in the next posts there will be other ways of using trailers presented). Choose a trailer that your studetns will enjoy, for example I have a group of 11 year olds 6 boys and 6 girls and the trailer is: "Mirror, mirror" with Julia Roberts.

Topic: any, depending on the trailer, in this example romance and love & hate relationship

Time: about 20-30 minutes
Level: elementary +
Age group: 11 and above
Activity aim: 

• to present/revise and practice vocabulary (depending on the trailer)
• to practice speaking, class discussion
• story writing
• Writing alternative ending

Film address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCdMHUx59mQ

Stage One:

Before I use any trailer with my students I watch it twice or three times and check if there are any words that could be used in an activity. From the above film I selected the following words:

MIRROR/QUEEN/PRINCESS/MARRY/BALL/SNOW WHITE/ROMANCE. 

You have to be sure that the words appear more than once in the film.

Stage two:
Write the words on the board and divide your studetns into two groups and enourange to create a story. Then one person from a group reads out a story and you choose the winners. I usually give them some sweets or other gadgets that I have in my secret drawer such as a rubber band or a ruler with irregular verbs.

Stage three:
Ask you studetns to rememebr the words you gave them (time: 30 sec) and then wipe out the board and check if they remember the given words.

Stage four:
Play a trailer and tell your students to (here are two options and both are fun) either stand up every time they hear a word from the board or clap their hands. With younger students I used the option of standing up while with the older ones of clapping. They enjoyed it very much.

Stage five:
Then you play the second time to see whose version of the story  was closer to the original one.
Extra homework: write an alternative ending using your imagination. It's a great activity to rechange the most obvious bed time stories as we are used to one version only and students prove that it's not the only one. Fun guaranteed!!!


But if we are in the topic of movies I cannot resist the temptation to suggest you one more activitiy that I use with my students and it's connected with your visit to the cinema. While waiting in a line for the ticket I always collect the cards with the films that are coming out soon. Even my students bring me fresh cards whenever they are in the cinema and I always try to use them efficiently. So one of the things I do is to give out the cards and tell that they have 3-4 minutes to read (sometimes there is a long text, sometimes just a few words and they are of course in their mother tongue but it doesn't matter) and then they have to imagine it's  Friday evening (perfect if you have a topic of entertainment) and our group wants to go to the cinema but we have to decide on the film we want to watch and convince each other giving reasonable arguments. Now imagine a person who gets a card with Finding Dory or Bella and Sebastian 2 and the others American Sniper or X-man: Apocalypse. There is a lot of fun and usually, which is not a sursprise, the most childish or stupid films win as it's the easiest to find arguments for and it suits all the tastes. It's perfect for levels pre-intermediate and above and the more advanced the more you are going to enjoy it. Just try!

Do you have your own way to use cards with film description?  Just share with us.

"Short of the week" - a source of ideas

www.shortoftheweek.com

Today, I would like to recommend you a great webiste with lots of videos to choose from and a ready to use lesson plan with one of the flms from this paricular website.

In one of the reviews of the website I've read that "Short of the Week aims to close the gap between artist and viewer by spotlighting the work of emerging talent every week. YouTube and Vimeo are more often graveyards than springboards to success for many talented film makers", but thanks to this site, they have an opportunity to spread their wings. There are no commercials and what's more, it offers a wide variety of genres to suit all tastes. You can watch documentaries, comedies, sci-fi, horror, experimental, animation, inspiration, student films, award winners.....and many more.

"Operator" - a dramatic battle to save people

What if your students could change place with somebody and feel how it is to do their work? What if they could be operators picking up an emergency call and dealing with extreme stress trying to help the victim? Get ready for an absolutely engaging video that will leave your students breathless.

The plot 

An Emergency Services Operator battles to save a young mother and her son from a house.The film shows what an amazing job the operators do, remaining calm and composed in such stressful situations. A perfect video to use in the classroom. 

                                     https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2016/04/01/operator/

Topic: difficult professions, jobs
Level: intermediate +
Age: group: 13+
Activity aim:

• to revise names of difficult jobs and adjectives describing them
• practice speaking (narration) and class discussion
• practice writing an account of the event
• listening for details 
• exploiting sound and vision of the film

Vocabulary to pre-teach: locksmith, duvet, sink, pillow, blaze, on fire, rescue

Time: 45-60 min

Film address: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2016/04/01/operator/

Stage one:

Ask your students to think about any difficult jobs they know. Typical answers will be: a fire fighter, a police officer or a surgeon. Students don't expect the job of an operator to be a difficult one. When you list all the jobs on the board, ask your students to think about some adjectives discribing them. What kind of a person you have to be in order to become a fireman or a policeman, for example? Together you list words such as: responsible, mature, hard working etc.

Stage two:

Class discussion: Would you like to do one of these jobs? Why? Why not? What could be the benefits and what drawbacks of such a job? Write the word OPERATOR on the board. Ask you students if the job matches the other jobs. Why? Why not?

Stage three:

Tell your students that they are going to hear but not see a video of a woman who is an operator. Students get in pairs. One person has to quickly draw a sketch of the house with two floors (see a picture below). While watching he has to draw where the woman and the child are and how they move during the whole situation. The second one gets a sheet of paper with a set of questions he has to answer during the film. Remember that there can't be too many questions as they can be destracting.

                                  A set of questions:

                                  What is her address?

                                  Where is the fire?

                                  Where is the woman?

                                  Where is the boy?

                                  How old is he?

                                  What's his name?

                                  What does her son like doing?

Stage four

After checking the answers ask your students to get in pairs but with a different person this time. Imagine that one of you is a reporter and the second one an eye witness. Narrate the whole story to a partner.


Stage five
Run a short discussion with the class about the job of an operator. What's their opinion now? What adjectives could they use to describe the her? (composed, calm, trusthworthy etc). Have they changed their minds about her job?

Stage six

Students watch again. This time they can see the video and have to write down all the instructions they can hear:
Try to calm down.
Stay where you are.
Stay with me.
I need you to stay downstairs.
Open all the windows.
Try not to panic.
Stay close to the window.etc.
Ask your students: Have you ever called emergency services? If yes, when, what was the reason. Discussion.

Stage seven: Homework

Tell your students that they will have to write a short text. (Can be done during the lesson if there is time)
The woman (the operator) comes back home after a hard day and.......
Group one: she opens her diary and describes what has happened.
Group two: she turns on TV to see.........write what happens with the mother and the son later on.

Maximum 100 words.

Hope you will enjoy the video as much as I did.

"Print your guy" - how to find a perfect match!

'Print your guy' - how to find a perfect match!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mbUzEPr4iM

The plot

Pamela lives on her own in an apartment in Paris. One evening while watching a movie she sees a commercial for a company who claims they can print her a perfect guy, by logging on at printyourguy.com. Very excited, she runs to her computer to order one, but when it arrives, she realizes that the product wasn't exactly what she had expected! 

Topic: love, relationship
Time: about 20-30 minutes
Level: pre-intermediate +
Age group: 12 and above
Activity aim: 

• to present/revise and practice personality adjectives: manly, cultured, sensitive, cool etc.
• to practice speaking, class discussion

Vocabulary to pre-teach: fragile, manly, senstive, cultured, cool, order, commercial, print, guy

Grammar to pre-teach: questions: What does he/she like? What is he/she like?

Film address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mbUzEPr4iM

Stage one:

Divide your students into 2 groups (preferably boys versus girls). Ask group one to discuss and list as many adjectives describing perfect boys as possible. At the same time, the second group writes down the adjectives describing the types of girls that boys usually look for. Monitor, helping the less advanced students to find a perfect equivalent of the words they need. Try to control the use of L1. This part should be quick less than 5 min.

In the meantime, write on the board the words that appear in the video - manly, sensitive, cultured, cool.

When they have finished the discussion, ask them questions referring to the words from the board:
Do the words describe a boy or a girl?
What does each boy look like?
What is he like?

Revise or introduce the difference between:
What is he like? He is sociable and funny.
What does he look like? He is quite tall and strong.

Stage two:

Now draw two columns on the board. Column one BOYS, column two GIRLS and ask your students to fill in each of them with the adjectives they have written down before. Add the adjectives from the video, as well. You will quickly realise that column GIRLS has fewer adjectives than column BOYS. Boys are less demanding:) At this moment I usually discuss why it is like that and have a lot of laugh.

Stage three:

Now tell your students that there is this single girl living alone in the flat having no boyfriend. One day she notices a TV commercial which offers her to print a perfect guy. What do you think she does? What kind of boyfriend she would like? Any questions of prediction follow.

Stage four:

Play a film. Students check their predictions. Watch the video until 4.33 min, pause and ask further questions: What is she going to do now? Why can't she find a perfect boy?

Stage five:

Play the film to the end. Observe students reactions. Ask them for their comments. Ask why this was a perfect match. Where is the clue? How to find a perfect boyfriend/girlfriend? Students usually comment that common passions, interests or hobbies are very important, Others don't pay attention to details and haven't noticed the title of the book that dropped on the floor, which was the answer to the questions. Continue the discussion.

I have done this lesson with a few groups before and no matter what age group it was, it was a success and students loved it. Obviously, it is not the only way to use this film in the classroom if you try and have some new ideas just write in the comment. ENJOY!

Six reasons why animated films are so good for the students.

Why are animated films so good for your students?

We all know that animated films are amazing. Cartoons can make you feel better. They can soothe a sick child, make you calm when you are angry or make you laugh when you are sad! Who of us hasn't seen Shrek or Ice Age,  to name but a few? But, have you ever wondered why children love animated films so much? Why they could sit for hours on end glued to TV screen? What are the benefits of watching animations? Well, I have. And the results are presented below:

Reason one - universal

Animated films, often called cartoons are universal films that everyone can relate to. They also have a clear message kids can connect to. And this means they are universal so everyone can enjoy it! In Shrek, we learn what matters is what’s inside. All Toy Story films teach us about letting go and about friendship. The Lion King teaches us about responsibility and facing your problems. These are all things we can all relate to. There's always a good moral to the story that even a child, 3 or 4 years old can understand! 

Reason two  - fun, fun, fun

They keep children entertained. Most cartoons are funny and if they make our students laugh,  it creates a great, positive  atmosphere in the classroom and encourages students to come more willingly. What is more, when people laugh their brains produce and release endorphins that cause them to feel better, both physically, and mentally! It somehow prepares the brain for learning, creates the environment for that. 

Reason three - motivation

Watching cartoons in the classroom can boosts concentration and motivation. We all know how difficult is is sometimes to attract our students' attention during the class. A short film used as a warm up, filler or closer is a perfect solution. Sometimes animations can help us show and generate interest in something which we otherwise would not entertain. They can help learners to understand complex ideas more easily. They have the power to gain the attention of a person for hours without boring them. 

Reason four - touch emotions

Animated films are emotional - we learn and remember more when emotions are ivolved, so if you use an animated film to teach vocabulary or grammar structure or just to develop students' speaking skills - animated film can guarantee a success.  Neuroscientists believe that we remember more and longer if something touches our emotions. And the cartoons have them all: anger, fury, love, envy, excitement, confusion, joy, anxiety, anticipation, amusement, admiration and many more.

Reason five - cater for all ages

Animated films are suitable for every age. Even if we are adults -  while watching them we can feel as children again. I often use animated films with my adults - sometimes in their fifties and they just love them:) Using with teenagers, on the other hand, brings back positive memories of the time when their life was "much easier and interesting" ;) They would never say no to a short cartoon.

Reason six - delevelop creativity and critical thinking

Animated films enhance children's creativity and critical thinking. Why? Children love stories. Period. There is something magical in them, they can develop their imagination, they can create endings, they can imagine being one of the characters, they can associate with them, they can ask questions and many more. Cartoons also develop children imagination. Children feel the part of a movie. They see the world through pictures/images and there is nothing better than a good cartoon to help them understand the world that surrounds them.

Obviuosly, there many more reasons why animated films can be benefical in an English classroom but  I wanted to focus on the first six, which for me seem to be covincing enough to implement short films in the classroom.

Do you know other benefits of using animations with the class - feel free to write in the comments.
Soon the ways of using video in the classroom, with the examples.

Generation Z or screenagers? How do you call your students?

What generation do we teach nowadays?

Popular names

There seem to be a lot of names for students that we teach nowadys, I'm sure you have heard about the most popular names for children born between 2000 and 2015 - Generation Z, Digital Natives, Generation Like, Selfie Generation, IGen to name but a few. But let's go further:

A report by Sparks & Honey, a US advertising agency, describes this generation as the "first tribe of true digital natives" or "screenagers". 

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/11002767/Gen-Z-Gen-Y-baby-boomers-a-guide-to-the-generations.html

In one survey in America, people were asked the question: What would you name today's youngest generation of Americans? There were over 200 various answers from people of all ages and backgrounds. Here are some of them: 

"Social Generation (the Socials) I’d suggest The Technicals. To reflect the technology boom this generation will experience "

The Tweennials: “We are in the ‘tweens’ of this century after all.”

Screeners: “My students live and die by the screen.”

"Call it the POST-IT GENERATION"

As a mother I like the most the answer :Generation Y Me? I'm sure all parents know why:)

Source: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/03/12/what-would-you-name-todays-youngest-generation-of-americans/

A significant aspect of this generation is its widespread usage of the internet from a young age. Members of Generation Z are typically thought of as being comfortable with technology, and interacting on social media websites accounts for a significant portion of their socializing.

What does it mean for teachers?

It is hard to ignore that the generation of children now moving through our educational system is by far the most visually stimulated generation that system has ever had to teach. Having grown up with cable television, video games, computer software that educates and entertains, and the Internet, our children are truly visual learners coming of age in an increasingly visually oriented world. (Visual Impact, Visual Teaching , Gangwer 2001)

This generation of children needs to be taught the way they learn best—with visual stimulation accompanied by active learning strategies. As educators, we need to prepare our students for the world in which they will live and work. We must allow this understanding of the visual nature of our students to influence our teaching techniques and the educational technologies we employ.

Over 10 years ago all those applications didn’t exist. That means that in 10 years time we really don’t know what kind of tools and applications will be like and how it will affect our students, very often then adults. We live in the world that is surrounded by images – in Polish the term is called "picture culture" and if there is a special term for that, it means that this phonomemenon is really widely spread. 

Felfie

Do you know that more than 17 million selfies are uploaded to social media sites every week. Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/british-teenagers-addicted-taking-selfies-5481458. But these are not only selfies. there are also belfies and felfies (yes ,the ones you take with animals:) With information, technology and global access at our fingerprints, we have to decide what we are going to do with such powers and possibility. 

"Visual Impact Visual Teaching" Timothy Gangwer

Visual learners think in pictures, see in pictures, process, understand and communicate in pictures. Pictures are holistic. They tell the whole story all at once. Language is more difficult for the visuals because it’s linear and requires progressive, step-by-step processing, requiring extra time when operating in the world of language.

Let me finish with a quote by Ceri Jones:

„The power of an image often doesn’t lie in the image itself, but in its ability to trigger images and stories in the minds of our students and create a need and a desire to communicate.”

Soon the practical part. If you want to share your opinion about the new generation of students feel free to do it in a comment section below.

The role of a visual stimulus in the classroom

Vision - the power of the teacher

Why is vision so important?

You may have heard that some of our students are visual ones (maybe you are a visual type of a student yourself, I am) and that we remember more information if we see it in a form of a picture. But what it means for us teachers and how we can use such information in the lesson. Let me give you a short overview why the sight and vision are so crucial in a teachers' job first.

Time for some statistics:

•80% of what we learn is through eyes

•If the human eye was a digital camera it would have 576 megapixels.

•An eye is composed of 2 mln working parts

•Eyes are the second most complex organ after the brain.

•The brain processes visual information 60,000 faster than text.

•90 percent of information that comes to the brain is visual

•People with blue eyes have a higher alcohol tolerance – cheers:)

Source:https://discoveryeye.org/blog/20-facts-about-the-amazing-eye/

Numbers don't lie so we can’t turn the blind eye to the facts EYES ARE THE MOST PRECIOUS THING YOU AND YOUR STUDENTS HAVE.

How to use it in the classroom?

All of that means that the coursebook, the board and the teacher are not enough to satisfy the needs of students, nowadays. It seems logical that we should exploit the sound and vision as motivators, captivators and generators. More in an engaging article by Fiona Mauchline: http://eflmagazine.com/sound-and-image-where-it-all-begins/

Motivators of learners -if we use pictures and/or a short film in the lessson, students are going to be more motivated as they would know that their teacher has always something interesting to show. It can be also used as a prize for good behaviour.

Captivators of attention  - how many times it happened that English was the very first or the last lesson and for you as a teacher it was difficult to attract you students attention - a picture or a short film could be a solution. Let's not forget that according to neuroscientists the brain learns better if the material is intriguing, funny, important and unusual.

Generators of language -  including pictures and films in the lesson can somehow "force" students to open up and start communicating as the films or pictures are much closer to their heart than the text. Why?

More about the "multiple-stimuli" generation soon.

Time to start

Hello everybody! My name is Magdalena Wasilewska and I'm the teacher of English with over 20 years of experience in this profession. I used to work in public schools for a while, however, for the past 15 years I have been DOS in my own private school of English called Green Hills Academy. I teach every day - children, teens and adults. But my favourite age group are teens, those the most rebellious ones that nobody else wants to teach. Why, you may ask. Well, working with them is the most challanging and at the same time the most rewarding kind of activity. I just love them. My second favourite type of students are exam groups that I've been teaching all those years - the most motivated and goal oriented students I have ever had. But I can't complain as I love teaching them all. As Rita Pierson once said:

"(...)kids don't learn from the people they don't like (...)"

And it's completely true. (God, how much I love the woman) Starting this blog is something new for me but I simply think it's high time to do it and share my experience with others.