Class Tools - Create Vocabulary Games

Arcade Game generator in ClassTools enables you to input one set of questions and answers, and create a whole batch of interactive, arcade-style games.

This is an example of a vocabulary game that can be created. Once you create your game you get a link and a QR code so you can share easily.














Application in the classroom:

This tool can be used to create vocabulary games and review material taught in a game form. It's fun and enjoyable. Also students can create their own games and let their friends play.


This is a tutorial that I've created:




If you have any comments, please write below :)

Crocodoc - Annotate Documents

Crocodoc Personal allows users to share and edit PDFs, images and Office documents. Using Crocodoc Personal does not require you to register for an account. To use this tool you need to upload your file, select your marking tool, and start working.

Among the features it offers to its users:

• It does not require any registration.
• It lets you annotate PDFs and pictures too.
• It allows you to share your marked up document and gives you a unique URL.
• You can collaborate with others so that you can all view and annotate the file.
• It lets you download the original file as well as the annotated version.

Here is a tutorial:





Application in the classroom:

How to integrate Crocodoc into the classroom:

• especially helpful for visual learners who need to see the text
• useful for peer editing
• students can submit their work to you using Crocodoc. You can add notes, highlight, and edit the document and “send” the revisions back to the students. 
• share documents with your colleagues, this is an easy way to collaborate on lesson plans, educational articles, and presentations. 
• students can use this tool to collaborate on group projects. It is simple to go back and forth on a document adding notes, text suggestions, highlight, and strikeout. 
• many free e-books can be viewed as PDF files, upload the e-book to CrocodocPersonal and share the URL with students. Students can highlight and add sticky notes to the text as they read. 
• if you use PowerPoint slides, upload the presenations to Crocodoc to share with students who were absent. Students who were absent can review the presentation, add notes, and type questions that they may have about the learning.

Lessonpaths - Viewing a Collection of Websites

Lessonpaths is a great tool for presentation and viewing a collection of web resources. It allows teachers to add files, links, and quizzes. The best way to understand what it is all about is to look at this Lessonpath I have created about the solar system.

Create your own Playlist on LessonPaths!

The website is very intuitive and is easily shared by a link or you can embed it in your blog or website as I have done here above. Here is a userguide.

Application in the classroom:

Lessonpaths can be a great tool to present any kind of project both by students and teachers.

Students can:

• present pictures of their vacation or present themselves
• collect websites for their project and send to the teacher in one link
• present their project to the class
• create a quiz for their peers

Teachers can design lesson plans to present in class. Never lose a site again!

Do you have any other ideas how to use Lessonpaths in the classroom? Please write in the comment.

Jeopardy Games

JeopardyLabs is an easy site to make jeopardy games. Jeopardy Labs lets teachers and students create their own online games of Jeopardy. No registration is required, and each game has its own unique url address. Most other apps to create Jeopardy games require a software download, which makes Jeopardy Labs really stand-out since none is required.

Search the Jeopardy Labs site to find interesting games. This is an example of a jeopardy about irregular verbs.

Application in class:

• review vocabulary/ideas and anything you have taught and play it in teams.
• ask students to create their own games
• review material before exams

If you have any more ideas how to use JeopardyLabs please write it in the comments below.

Free Images - Openclipart and Photos for Class

1.  ClipSafari provides many of the best clipart images available - it has more than 50,000 images.

Teachers may use all clipart from  ClipSafari all is free to use for any purpose, including commercial purposes.



2. Photos for Class is a site for teachers to download properly attributed, Creative Commons photos for school! 

Animation Creation - Parapara

Parapara is a very easy tool to create an animation. There is no need to register. Teachers get a link or a QR which they can share.

Application in the classroom:

• Students can use Parapara Animation to tell short stories through their drawings.
• Students can draw the scene from a story which they liked the best
• Students can draw a different ending to a story they had read

If you have any other ideas, please write below in the comments. I would love to hear from you!

The Busy Teacher

The Busy Teacher is a rich site with worksheets, ESL articles, word search makers and more...

Twitter in Education

Why should teachers use Twitter?

Twitter enables teachers to grow their PLN (Personal Learning Network), get new ideas, talk to other educators and collaborate. Twitter is my favourite tool for professional development.

Important things about Twitter:
Twitter is short and to the point. You can only write up to 140 characters in one Tweet.
Twitter uses hashtags # which categorize and cover the topics. For example,if you want to read tweets about technology in education, you might want to search for the hashtag #edutech as it is one of the hashtags that deal with the topic of technology in education.

How to start using Twitter?
1. Read this tutorial: Understanding Twitter basics. Then open a Twitter account.

2. Have a look at popular hashtags for education. What you need to do is simply write the hashtag in the search box in Twitter. Browse through the different tweets, while looking at Tweets you will find other interesting hashtags.
Popular hashtags for English teachers:

#eltchat
#tesol
#tefl
#elt
#ellchat
#auselt
#efl
#esl
#ell
#teachingenglish
#learnenglish
#teachenglish
#britishcouncil
#literacy
#langchat
#celta
#ielts
 
3. Follow people who you like their tweets. Check who they are following and follow them as well.

4. At a later stage, participate in educational chats. This is a list of Twitter chats organized in a calendar with dates and times. Every Wednesday at 9 PM you can take part in the ‪#‎ELTchat‬ on Twitter. See information here.

5. When you get comfortable using Twitter you might want to use Tweetdeck. With Tweetdeck you can track a hashtag with a column. It is comfortable as you can track a few hashtags at the same time. See the example below in which I track two hashtags in two separate columns.

Application in the classroom:
Here are many excellent innovative ways to use Twitter in the classroom. Also, watch this video how this teacher uses Twitter with his students.

I hope that by now you are convinced that it's worth your while to open a Twitter account but if you are still not sure, then it's worth knowing that you can search Twitter even if you don't have a Twitter account. You will find Twitter to have a wealth of information which will serve you both professionally as well as personally.

Online Presentation
I have presented about Twitter together with Adele Raemer in E_Kenes - a conference about digital pedagogy by the Ministry of Education. The hashtag #E_Kenes was used as a back channel. As a result of the conference we have decided to create a community of Israeli educators on Twitter using the hashtag #IsraEd .

Resources
eTools for Language Teachers is a fantastic resource for teachers on how to use Twitter in the classroom. It has a lot of valuable information.

How do you use Twitter in the classroom? Please share with me in the comments section below.

Howjsay - Audio Pronunciation Dictionary

Howjsay is an English pronunciation dictionary. This tool is very useful especially for students who are doing their homework at home and don't know how to pronounce a word.

Additional information about Howjsay, its apps and extensions can be found here
Notes • Tools • New entries • iPhone • Android

Create Custom Columns in Padlet

See how you can create custom columns on Padlet Walls

How to Copy a Google Doc

See how you can make a copy of a Google doc, in this link you'll find more information.



Let me know how you managed with it, write below in the comments.

Google Countdown Timer

Google Countdown Timer is a very easy and useful tool for students to see how much time is left to complete the assignment.... It's especially useful when students work in groups and are immersed in their activity.
All you have to do is write in Google Search the words set timer and the time. So for example, if you allow your students to work for 15 minutes on their activity then you need to write in Google search set timer 15 minutes.




Read more about it here.

Fun Vocabulary Games

This site has lots of fun games suitable for elementary and JHS level
http://www.eslgamesplus.com/fun-games/
Some of the games can be played in groups. It's worth taking a look!

And another site for elementary and JHS level
http://www.esolhelp.com/esl-games.html

Here are ideas about ten good games for recycling vocabulary

Do you have any other good ESL/EFL sites with vocabulary games? Please write in the comment below.

Listening to Music

I've created this detailed guide about a fun site with songs called Lyrics Training. It's a great opportunity for students to listen to music and learn English.
I'd love to hear what you and your students think about this site.

Another good site is Lyricsgaps which is slightly different and provides worksheets.

Did you students like any of the sites? Please write in the comments betlow.

Kahoot

Would you like to review material you taught and have your students feel that they play in class? Then Kahoot is for you. Kahoot is a great platform to create quizzes/games and is useful for alternative assessment. It engages students and creates fun and motivation and enables teachers to review any material taught. Students can use their cellphones/tablets/computers and the teacher needs a computer which is screened.

Here is a Kahoot tutorial but what is not mentioned in the tutorial is that teachers can dowload all the answers in an Excel sheet and in that way know exactly which material needs more review.

How to use Kahoot: Go to getkahoo.com to create a quiz or to find a public quiz and edit it. Students go to kahoot.it enter a game-pin and start playing.

Here are ideas how to use Kahoot in the classroom 

This is an example of a kahoot  that I used with my 10th graders. I made this Kahoot public so that you can play it as well.

Have you used Kahoot? It will be great if you could share with me some Kahoots for EFL/ESL students.

QR Treasure Hunt

Teachers constantly search for exciting ideas for English day. In this post I explain how to create a QR code treasure hunt activity which can be used in an English day by using this site QR Treasure Hunt Generator.
The questions in the treasure hunt can be based on any unit/units that were taught in class.

Before the lesson:
1. Print off the QR codes, cut them out and place them around your class or school. 
2. Arrange students into groups. Each group should have at least one mobile device with a QR reader downloaded onto their device. (note: an internet connection will not be needed as the questions are text based).

During the lesson:
1. Have the first ('introduction') QR code on display on your whiteboard.
2. Tell students to go and find the other QR codes.
3. The winner is the first team to return with the most correct answers in the time available.

This is a short tutorial I've created explaining how to use  QR Treasure Hunt Generator. 

Vocaroo

Would you like to record exams for your LD students and share them online?

Would you like your students to talk about their hobbies/families/trips and have it all shared so that other students can listen to in the regular classroom using their smartphones?

Would you like to create worksheets with instructions for your students to follow?
Then listen to this short tutorial I have created:





If you have questions or new ideas how to use this tool, please write a comment below.

Practise Spelling - Hachtava

Hachtava site is a good site to practise spelling. The students enter the vocabulary that they would like to learn and can hear the words and play games. It can also be used for preparation for spelling bee competitions. (There are some ready made lists of words in different categories).

GoSoapBox

This is another digital tool that I'd like to introduce to you called GoSoapBox. With http://www.gosoapbox.com/ you can create quizzes, polls and discussions. The advantage of it is that it's very friendly to use, students don't need to register and it works with a computer, tablet and smartphone.

Once you create an activity you tell your students to go to this site https://app.gosoapbox.com/ and give them the access code.

How can we apply it in the classroom?

Teachers can use it to create multiple choice questions on a story they taught in class. They can create a poll about a controversial topic that appeared in the news and later see the results in graphs and print them. The discussion forum is a great way to motivate students to write on any topic.

Here is a tutorial I've prepared explaining how to use this tool:

Zaption - Add Questions to Videos

I'd like to introduce to you a friendly and useful web 2.0 tool called Zaption. With this tool you can edit a video, add questions and transform the video into an interactive activity. This is a video that I made interactive using Zaption





There are other tools you can use as well such as EduCanon, Edpuzzle, Blubbr, etc. Today I decided to focus on this one as it's easy, the students don't need to register and the teacher gets the students' answers.

This is a tutorial that I made:


I'm sure that you have used similar tools so it will be great if you share the links with us!

Ebooks

Free ebooks on Oxford Owl




Link to more read aloud books

Pixteller

With Pixteller teachers can create images, banners, posters and greeting cards. It's pretty friendly to use. There are ready made templates that your students can just edit.

This is a tutorial

Application in the classroom:

Pixteller can be useful after a reading assignment, students can create a book cover, they can create posters about the different characters in the story, send birthday cards, can write their own short poems, etc. 
Can you think of other ideas? Please write a comment.

Fun Games

This is a site with fun games that you can change and adapt according to your needs.
The site was created by Uri Alon.

Moodle - How to

Explanation in Hebrew how to use Moodle. Look on the top right under the title מתחילים. 
http://moodle-handbook.macam.ac.il/

Wordle

Wordle creates word clouds from text that you provide. Wordle is a powerful way to really get through to visual learners.

How to use Wordle:

• Select all of the text that you would like and then copy it to the clipboard.
• Go to http://wordle.net.
• Click on Create your own.
• Paste the text.
• Either use a screen capture program to obtain the Wordle as a graphic or save the Wordle in the public gallery and use the code provided in your blog or web page.

Applications in the classroom:

• students write a story/poem based on the Wordle
• teachers create a Wordle and review vocabulary that was previously taught
• as a pre reading exercise ask students to predict what the main ideas of the reading will be about based on a Wordle
• Find what ideas are most important in a famous speach/poem/story

If you have any other good ideas please write in the comments below.