Dear EFL teachers,
Now that you have connected to your mentor and learned about his or her opinion of Web 2.0 tool, it's time for you to connect using Google Hangouts, Facebook or Skype and plan to bring your mentor as a guest speaker into your classroom virtually.
Step 1: Learn about Google Hangouts from the video below.
Now that you have connected to your mentor and learned about his or her opinion of Web 2.0 tool, it's time for you to connect using Google Hangouts, Facebook or Skype and plan to bring your mentor as a guest speaker into your classroom virtually.
Step 1: Learn about Google Hangouts from the video below.
Step 2: Schedule a Google Hangout with your mentor. (If your mentor doesn't have a gmail account, you can plan a Skype or Facebook video conference instead). Use the PDF instructions posted on Scribd.
Step 3: Meet with your mentor "face to face" online and discuss the following:
a) Tell your mentor what age level and subjects you teach.
b) Ask your mentor what part of American culture, lifestyle or history he or she would be more interested to talk about with your students.
c) Decide, together with your mentor, how you can connect him/her with your students: via Skype, Google Hangouts or Facebook. d) Choose one of the topics from the textbook you will be teaching by the end of November and ask your mentor if he or she would be willing to be your guest speaker. Post your "plan" below, as a blog comment. For example:
Step 3: Meet with your mentor "face to face" online and discuss the following:
a) Tell your mentor what age level and subjects you teach.
b) Ask your mentor what part of American culture, lifestyle or history he or she would be more interested to talk about with your students.
c) Decide, together with your mentor, how you can connect him/her with your students: via Skype, Google Hangouts or Facebook. d) Choose one of the topics from the textbook you will be teaching by the end of November and ask your mentor if he or she would be willing to be your guest speaker. Post your "plan" below, as a blog comment. For example:
"My mentor will be available to meet online with my students on January, 19th, when we will be discussing US history and the Declaration of Independence. He/she will talk about the importance of this event for American citizens and then my students will ask several questions they will have prepared ahead of time. We have a computer lab in our school and will be using Skype to connect online. Our IT teacher will help us set up the Skype connection." "Both my mentor and I are active on Facebook, so we will use Facebook video chat to connect to my students. On January, 24th my mentor will be our guest speaker - my students will read about Mark Twain and "Tom Sawyer"and share their impressions with the mentor, who will tell them about other American books he/she recommends. I will bring my own laptop to class and set up the online connection myself." |   |
 |
One very important thing: please take pictures of your students interacting with your mentor during the live Skype or Google Hangout conference and send them to eflblogs@americancouncils.md.
We will place all pictures on our project blog and then invite your students to share their impressions.
|
I will meet my mentor Thursday, the 4th. We will have Google-hangout session. We are going to speak about social medias sites for the topic Plug or not to Plug in. It is the 9th that is going to participate in this session. We will use my English classroom...here i have a smart board ad all the equipment for this kind of sessions.
ReplyDeleteI hope it will be a very useful session for all the participants..
Hello,Diana! Sucj a wonderfu news! You seem to be the first to start this "journey". And it is so nice you have all and well-equipped classsroom ! It is no doubt you will have a nice session and your students will have the best of their experience. Moreover, the topic is rather interesting as well. Please, take pictures and share your experience. Good Luck !!!
DeleteHello, Emma) We are only going to skype with Dominique on Thursday and discuss possible ideas for our online class we're going to have on Saturday. Hope everything will go smoothly and there won't appear any "bugs") I'll let you know as soon as we finish our online discussion. I know, my comment is useless by itself, just decided to add something new to the 'comments' section)))
ReplyDeleteDear Maria! That is so nice that you have already planned your first meeting on Skype with your Mentor -- that means you will have the possibility to talk in details about the upcoming on-line class with your students. Have you already decided for the topic you want to cover with your students? I assume you will have a nice discussion on Saturday! It is very brave to organize it on a week-end day! How did you manage? What did your students say about such an occasion? Very brave !!! Hope to hear from you soon about the news!!! Good luck!
DeleteHi, Emma))
DeleteJust the way I promissed, I'm goint to tell you about our online session with Dominique. She is amazing and I like the way she laughs when something seems funny to her))) She is very easy to talk with.
Now about our plans: we are still going to have our online class on Saturday and we will talk about holidays. We will discuss our favorite ones and how, when and why they are celebrated. In particular we'll first talk about the St. {atroc's day and listen to an audio based on it. After discussing it we'll try to 'jump to onother upcoming holiday which also honours a priest - the Valentine's day' and watch a cartoon, telling the history of the holiday. At the end we'll make a Vienne diagram, trying to find common features and those which make the holidays unique. The hometask will be a voicethread project about one of them.
We'll work in a classroom specially equipped for my ACCESS classes and hope will have a lot of fun and positive emotions.
BTW we'll keep in tauch with Dominique and probabely contunue our online class tradition. I did not tell her to relax after the online class, but am sure she will understand it without words))))
Sorry: PATRIC'S* DAY/ Another*/honors*
DeleteOh, this stupid habit to check for grammar accuracy only after pressing 'publish'))
Great news,Maria!! It looks like a very well-prepared lesson plan indeed. I am sure your students will be just happy to have such a class with you and your Mentor.Moreover, it seems that your continuing work will bring even more good results. So I wish you the best of luck. We will anticipate the news about your activity on Saturday.
DeleteWe did it!!!! We had our first online session with Dominique and everithing went great)) We talked about exactly the same things I mentioned in the comment above and got a lot of positive emotions and fun. Now I'm going to the next step. Bye))
DeleteMaria !!!! What a woonderful news!!! Congratulations!!! if you did everything you said about: discussions on the holidays, videos and tasks -- than your students might be more than just happy. It would be nice to see the pictures that you did while your class, what do you say? And please post this information onn your Week 4 on mentoring together with the pictures and let us know, so that we could be happy together. we unticipate that!
Deleteluminita Tiuliuliuc
ReplyDeleteHello! I've talked to my mentor, Mrs.Gill and we decided to have the on-line session on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016 at 10.30 to discuss about Famous People of the World, people like C.Columbus whose discovery influenced the world course of events. It is going to be held in one of our school's Multi-media classrooms which is well-equipped and the SMART Board will help us to do it successfully, I hope.I will definitely take pictures and will even try to record some moments!
Hello,Luminita!!! A fantastic news about the such a soon on-line session organizing! There are so many advantages for your activity: multi-media room, a very interesting and useful topic for the students and their learning and a great possibility to get connected. Hope and anticipate to see the marvelous pictures. Enjoy the event!!!
DeleteHere we are! Done! Today together with my 10th graders we had an amazing video session that hd been monitoring by both LisaGill, my mentor and me. It was really interesting for the students to shave a chance to ask questions and talk to a native speaker so we hope it went on quite well!
ReplyDeleteHere is the link with the recorded session! Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShPW5-GwxQQ&feature=youtu.be
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Luminita, that is a fantastic class!!! The theme you chose is indeed a very thought-provoking one and all the participants on both side of the screen seemed to be interested enough. How well the students felt themselves! They seem to be calm and prepared for such an event, as if it happened to them before. And your Mentor is a great presenter with a nice and pleasant voice. Hope that you had a great debriefing with your students.Wish you even more nice emotions !!!!
DeleteLuminita's students were engaged and interested in the subject matter. I woukd have LOVED it if they were a little less shy aboiut asking questions but understand their reluctance. Perhaps when I visit their classroom we can be more interactive!
DeleteHi. I have talked to April and agreed to have an online class by Skype on Friday 12th, at 11.20 with the 12th grade. Students are interested in know more about the educational system in America, the way students choose the subjects thay want to study, the exams thay have, etc. besides, students are going to ask April much more questions on other topics. I am sure it will be a useful and fruitful meeting.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteEugenia, the topics about education are always very important because they never date out. Both students and teachers are always interested in such themes to be discussed and to know more. Who knows when and in what degree this information can be used and moreover, applied by them. So I wish you a great time and having as much implication of your students as possible, with a lot of information gathered and discussed.
DeleteGood luck and keep us noted about everything !!!
Hello Emma! Sorry for being late. I discussed with Dean, my mentor and we decided to have lesson on Monday the 8th. The lesson will be about Florida. Dean comes from Florida, so I am sure he has a lot to tell them about it. We will use skype for it. Hope it will go well.
ReplyDeleteDear Nadia! Your topic seems to be a very interesting one,as it deals with intercultural issue.Moreover, if taking into account that your Mentor is forom the place he is going to talk about--that would be even more interesting. Hope you ja=have a wonderful event and your students will be active and happy. Good luck and great time to have,both informative and important !!!!
DeleteHello Emma ,we discussed with Dominique and we decided to have our lesson on Thursday-11:45 till 12:30 with my 12-th form students.Our subject will be:How is it better to choose a career .WE will compare the professions in the USA and Moldova.I am sure that it will be a very interesting subject to discuss.
ReplyDeleteSo, Tatiana, we hope that you had a nice on-line meeting with your Mentor and your students. As far as you told us about your plans, we assume it all was extremely interesting and useful. We arw anticipating for the more detailed information and feed-back.
DeleteHello Emma! I agreed with my mentor to have an online session on Thursday with the 3rd grade on the topic ,,A happy family''. The pupils wil prepare their family trees and present their family and they want very much to learn about Amanda's family. Another session we will organize this week with the 4th form.
ReplyDeleteOlesea, this is so nice to ehar what grade you are planning to have the on-line session with. The 3d and the 4th graders are so little and might be so excited before this event. It is obvious for them to have this class full of important learning moments and emotional atmosphere. So I wish you the best of luck and enjoy the process and let us know about the event !!!
DeleteAs I said we organized an online session on Skype with 3rd grade. Pupils presented their family trees and after that they gave a lot of questions about Amanda's family and herself. They were very happy that they understood all that Amanda said. A big thank you to Amanda because she used a very simple vocabulary, she spoke slowly and very clearly. I was very satisfied of my pupils. They were very corageous and at the end they invited Amanda to visit Gura Cainarului.
DeleteOh,Olesea!!!! Great !!! It is really sweet to hear that: such little kids talking to their new acquaintant --native speaker in English ! They must be great with their family trees and activity . It is obviously your merit and the collaboration with your Mentor. It is to point out that using a simple vocabulary for such small kids is another important issue we have to appreciate. So, good luck in your next activities!!!
DeleteGood evening...
ReplyDeleteI am so exited of meeting my mentor Christine, but we have meet different circumstances to do this till now. ANyway, we are going to have our online session on Wednesday at 12.30 together with my mentor and students from the 9th grade. As we are passing with the 9th grade the Unit Man-Society Relationship, we have proposed Christine to relate us her opinion about living in Moldova. What does she like here , what not. What can she tell about the Moldavian people and relations between them. She seems to be very interesten in this topic. Hope to see her soon.
Hello,Aliona! Yes, you are right to choose such an interesting and important topic, as it is connected with intercultural issue and the real opinion of a real native English speaker stayinng in Moldova. This is something that is to be worth sharing and learning. There is be a lot to find out and to experience and the activites might be varied as well. Let it be a great class and a great opportunity for them to communicate. We are anticipating your moods and emotions. Good luck!
DeleteHi Emma! I want to announce you about our on line meeting with my mentor Matt.The session is going to be on Wednesday at 13.30 with a group of students from the 11TH form. The topic we have chosen is about teacher's job,"American teacher", he likes the topic as he has said and he wants to learn something about Dimitrie Cantemir as the school is named after him, he wants to improve his knowledge about the history of our country. Hope and pray God everything to go well.
ReplyDeleteGood luck,Eudochia!!!The topic you selected is a very interesting one in terms of the fact that it is one of those issues that can also become a profession of your students in their future life. We will anticipate their feed-back.
ReplyDeleteHello, Emma
ReplyDeleteI decided with my mentor Aaron to have an online meeting this Friday, 12.02.2016, at 8:35. It will be a meeting with the 9th form. Students are very excited, they are expectind this meeting with big emotions. We had some topics during our last unit (Judicial Authority, the Executive Power, the legislative Power) and next unit we begin next week is Familial Relationships. So we decided to ask him first of all about his country, personal aims he came in Moldova, and also to ask him about the the mentioned topics.
And because our students are in the 9th form many of them think to leave the school finishing this school year, so one more question will be about the choice students take after graduating secondary school in America.
It will be a conversation on different topics, not one special.
Hello, Emma
ReplyDeleteI decided with my mentor Aaron to have an online meeting this Friday, 12.02.2016, at 8:35. It will be a meeting with the 9th form. Students are very excited, they are expectind this meeting with big emotions. We had some topics during our last unit (Judicial Authority, the Executive Power, the legislative Power) and next unit we begin next week is Familial Relationships. So we decided to ask him first of all about his country, personal aims he came in Moldova, and also to ask him about the the mentioned topics.
And because our students are in the 9th form many of them think to leave the school finishing this school year, so one more question will be about the choice students take after graduating secondary school in America.
It will be a conversation on different topics, not one special.
Hello, Emma
ReplyDeleteI decided with my mentor Aaron to have an online meeting this Friday, 12.02.2016, at 8:35. It will be a meeting with the 9th form. Students are very excited, they are expectind this meeting with big emotions. We had some topics during our last unit (Judicial Authority, the Executive Power, the legislative Power) and next unit we begin next week is Familial Relationships. So we decided to ask him first of all about his country, personal aims he came in Moldova, and also to ask him about the the mentioned topics.
And because our students are in the 9th form many of them think to leave the school finishing this school year, so one more question will be about the choice students take after graduating secondary school in America.
It will be a conversation on different topics, not one special.
Maria, the topics you chose are really very important and at the same time easy to talk about and to make a good conversation upon. The quetsions that your students prepared are good for making their own conclusions and to talk to the native speaker as well, hearing how he reffers to one or another issue, what he thinks about it and what is his experience. Moreover, it looks like a good cultural exchange. it is also important for the age level of your children as well, as far as they can apply this knowledge. So I wish you the best of luck and wait for your pictures and impressions. Enjoy !!!!
DeleteHi Emma! I want to announce you about our on line meeting with my mentor Dean. The session is going to be on Thursday at 8:30 with a group of students from the 5th form. It’s a little risky, but unfortunately I don’t teach other classes this year, except primary ones. The topic we have chosen is "Holiday, holidays", he likes the topic as he has said and he wants to them a lot of interesting things about holiday celebrations in America, in special about the holidays we don’t celebrate here in Moldova.
ReplyDeleteHi Emma! I want to announce you about our on line meeting with my mentor Dean. The session is going to be on Thursday at 8:30 with a group of students from the 5th form. It’s a little risky, but unfortunately I don’t teach other classes this year, except primary ones. The topic we have chosen is "Holiday, holidays", he likes the topic as he has said and he wants to them a lot of interesting things about holiday celebrations in America, in special about the holidays we don’t celebrate here in Moldova.
ReplyDeleteMariana! To have such small kids for the on-line lesson--is a great challenge indeed. Both you and your Mentor are brave people to discuss the topic about holidays. Kids will be happy. Let's see and share !!!
DeleteHello! I have planned (on Facebook) a round table talk on the topic: "Schools and leisure activities in the USA".It will take place on the 17th of February at 3 p.m. with a group of pupils from the 5th-7th forms.
ReplyDeleteThat's a nice news, Aurelia !!! The topic seems to be a very interesting and important one. Have you elaborated the set of questions with your students or a preliminary lesson plan with your Mentor? It would be nice to see the result of such communicatiion. Good Luck!!!
DeleteHello Emma!
ReplyDeleteI want to announce you that on Tuesday, 16, Lisa Gill,my mentor and I,together with my pupils from the 2nd form, will have a disscussion on the topic The Seasons.Hope It will be very interesting.
Hello Emma!
ReplyDeleteI want to announce you that on Tuesday, 16, Lisa Gill,my mentor and I,together with my pupils from the 2nd form, will have a disscussion on the topic The Seasons.Hope It will be very interesting.
Veronica!!! Good luck with your little-very-little students. Let us know how they behave and feel for the approaching event. It must be so important for them and for you as well !!!!
DeleteThe students appeared very well-behave and very excited for our talk but it will be this coming Tuesday as opur session coulkd not proceed!
DeleteHello Emma! I discussed with Aaron and we will have our meeting on Tuesday 16. I, together with my pupils from the 8th form,will have under discussion the topic Holidays. They were excited when I heve anounced them about this event.
ReplyDeleteLilia, that is a great news!!! holiday topics is a very vast one and gives the opportunity to have an interesting and various discussion. You have probably prepared the plan on how to construct the class and conversations, maybe some additional activities and exercises. Anyway, we wish you the best of luck and hope to see how it will be together with the pictures and students' feedback about the on-line experience form meeting a native speaker. Enjoy the process !!!
ReplyDeleteDear Emma,
ReplyDeleteToday, at 13:00 we had our meeting(via google hangout) with my mentor Steven Mantani. As we've planned, we discussed about Education through films (VIIth form). Firstly we consulted the students opinion regarding the use of the film in the class and later the students, together with Mr Mantani, shared information about their favourite films and the educational aspect, the values that the film transmits through its characters. At the beginning the students were shy, I expected them to be more active. I'll share with you the video and photos.
Galina!!! Congratulations!!! It is nice to hear that you managed to organize the meeting and had such an unusual discussion --education through movies!!! it is also great to hear that your studens could discuss and talk.It is obvious that they were shy. But iin th elongrun,they managed to do everything with your coontributions and your Mentor;s help. So we anticipate the photoes!!!
DeleteThank you, Emma, for your encouragement. This permanent feedback from you, our TEACHERS, helped us to overcome all the difficulties.
DeleteGalina, my pleasure....you are more than welcomed!!! Good luck in your future training and Conference preparing and participation!!
DeleteDear Emma,
ReplyDeleteWe discussed with Matthew on Monday and we decided to have an on-line lesson today, on Wednesday,February 17th .We had a nice lesson on the following subject " Teenagers Healthy Lifestyles" .I organized it like a lesson .I think it was great.Matthew impressed everyone by his magnificent speech .Thank you for such a nice occasion to have American guests in our classrooms.
Dear Emma,
ReplyDeleteWe discussed with Matthew on Monday and we decided to have an on-line lesson today, on Wednesday,February 17th .We had a nice lesson on the following subject " Teenagers Healthy Lifestyles" .I organized it like a lesson .I think it was great.Matthew impressed everyone by his magnificent speech .Thank you for such a nice occasion to have American guests in our classrooms.
Vera, it's a good news and a nice topic that you selected for discussion. It seems to be very relevant for our students indeed. So, we hope to see your pictures and descriptions with students' feed-back,posted on your Blog page. Keep us informed through offering the link,please and good-luck!
DeleteHello,Emma. Today was released the online session with American guest speaker April Salerno. April guided the discussion about how to live a life with dignity. Students were little exhausted (it was the last lesson), but they were interested to discuss direct with a native speaker. Although we had some technical problems, we succeed to realize what we had to do. The students liked the manner to speak of April and got motivated to learn English more.
ReplyDeleteGreat job,Svetlana! The topic you chose is very serious. It can provoke different opinions and thoughts, and even if you had some technical problems, as you say, your discussion might have had an important impact on students, especially,communicating with a native speaker.We wait for the pictures you made so that we could share your emotions and news.
ReplyDelete