Lesson Plan

Lesson plan defined as the preparation of teacher about what he would do in the class. It is detailed description involved instructions, activities, and assignments of the teacher’s plan to teach on a day.

In making lesson plan, we must include:

• Lesson objectives: what do you expect your students to learn.
• Procedures: the activities that should be done by students.
• Assessment: assignment that you will give to your students and the way you mark it.

You can use technology to support your teaching in the class, for example choosing the materials from internet like youtube, presenting materials by powerpoint, teaching using podcast, and giving online assignment through internet.

Here the example of lesson plan about teaching grammar for class X. In this lesson plan, we also collaborate technology with activities in the class.

Topic               : Holiday

Target Students: Indonesian Students learning EFL

Grade               : 10

Allocated time : 1 hour

Description:

In this lesson Teacher will assign student to make some examples and do some exercises about simple past. The class will be in the lab. The activity will be in the form of online game and watching video (videoscribe) about simple past tense. The formula and the function of simple past tense will be shown in video and then students do some online exercises about simple past tense. Students will assign to take advantages of Facebook as a popular social media they have already used.

Objectives:

a.       Students can apply the formula and the function of past tense.

b.      Students can differ between V1 and V2 by doing tasks in the internet.

c.       Students will have practiced make a short paragraph about their holiday and post it to the class group in Facebook.

Pre-activity:

• Teacher makes sure that the projector running well and equipped also with working headphones and microphones.
• Teacher makes sure that all students have Facebook account.
• Teacher introduce the videos and help Students to sign up if they have no account

Procedures:

ü  Teacher will begin the lesson by asking student to mention some verb 2. 

ü  Teacher will show some pictures about verb e.g. eat, drink, etc. 

ü  Tell students to watch the videos about past tense verbs in their screen. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_15Ij_omWc   and  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b4rsDuzThE

ü  Teacher gives some explanations and answers some questions from students if they have any problems about the video. 

ü  Teacher gives a glance of information about simple past tense. 

ü  Tell students to do some online exercises about simple past tense individually and get the score. 

http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-simple-past.php#.U4TR03YmTIU

ü  At the end of the lesson, students are asked to make paragraph about their holiday using simple past tense and post it to the class group in Facebook. 

Assessment:

·         Online exercise: (taken from how many correct answer from their online exercise)

·         Make paragraph:

4	3	2	1
Almost sentences use correct grammatical and clear content.	Almost sentences use correct grammatical, but unclear content.	Some of the sentences use incorrect grammatical and unclear content.	Almost sentences use incorrect grammatical and unclear content.

And here is the summary of the language learning activities in the lesson plan using Tiki-Toki media. Click this link.

Teaching Listening Using Podcast

For ESL or EFL students, listening is rather difficult skill, because they must learn to listen the native speaker’s speaking, moreover, sometimes the speaker speaks fast.

Listening is not only classroom activity for language learners, but should also be recreational activity outside classroom. Podcast is an interesting media for teaching listening, beside students must listen to the audio that based on their lesson.

There are many podcasts that provided in internet, which easy to be hunted for and downloaded by students. They can choose which podcast they like and suitable with their level. Podcast also provided various topics that will make students free to choose which topic they like.

In session 11, my project is making my own podcast by recording, it is group work, and the topic is culture shock. So, we are in five doing conversation about culture shock, we must record it and upload it in our blog.

Here is my group work for making our own podcast. Click here. ^^

Skype for Teaching Speaking

Speaking is productive skill in learning English. But, in teaching learning process, productive skills is less used than receptive skill.

As a teacher, we will face many problem when teaching, included when we teach speaking. But, it’s not impossible to try the best teaching to make students enjoying.

So, how to teach speaking in teaching learning process?

We can use our creativity to create something new for teaching learning process that will make students not bored. Moreover, we can use technology to do it.

The example of teaching speaking using technology is by Skype. Skype is a software application that is provided by internet which offer free calling between computers using webcam. Yeah, Skype is the best solution to teach speaking skill. Using Skype, students can improve their speaking ability.

Here, the example of Skype for improving speaking ability. This is my CALL project for session 10. But, the result is not really clear because Skype needs strong internet connection.

Click this link, and check it out..... :)

Teaching Writing Using Google Drive

Writing is productive skill, also speaking. Even reading and listening are receptive skills. There are many ideas to teach writing skill, such as: note-taking, paraphrasing, blogging, or writing letters, essay, stories, and email. Teaching writing skill will be interesting because nowadays many software application provided by internet that will support students to learn writing skill. Beside, teacher can look for materials in the internet, from the valid source of course.

By collaborating writing skill with technology, students will produce writing online, they can use blog for example. It depends on the teacher’s creativity, what technology that he would use to teach writing skill.

Here the example of teaching writing skill using Google Drive. Google Drive also good source to teach writing. This example is my CALL project for session 9 about teaching writing using online collaborative tool. Our task is produce two-paragraph composition about website that we visit often. Here the result.......

Try to create your own using Google Drive :)

Hot Potatoes and Comics for Teaching Reading

Hot potatoes and comics are the example of media that is used to teach reading skill using technology.

For hot potatoes, it is usually used for the reading tasks. Why using hot potatoes? Of course it is because teaching using technology nowadays is more interesting than just doing some activities in the class.

To make reading activity using hot potatoes, first, you must download the HOT POTATOES software (click this link to download it), and then you can make reading activity using it.

For comics, it is usually used to make the reading materials are more interesting and unique for students. For creating comics, you can choose one of these tools:

·         Toondoo

·         Chogger

·         Pixton

How to use these tools?

You can click one of the tools above and then sign up for free. After that, just follow the instruction how to create your comics.

My project in this session (session 8) is about making hot potatoes and comics for teaching reading skill, this is group work, and the members are the same as the project in session 5 about making mind mapping.

So, here are the result of our projects in making close reading activity using hot potatoes and making comics.

Here the result of Cloze reading activity using hot potatoes

And here the result of comic

Integrated Skill

(a poster about integrated skill)

Integrated skill is integrating more than one skill or all four skills in English (reading, listening, speaking, and writing) in teaching English. Before integrated skill, traditional ESL or EFL course using segregated skill.

Segregated skill is segregating language skills into reading class, listening class, speaking class, and writing class. Segregated skill assessed not suitable to be used in teaching because it only focus on one skill, so students cannot use language in meaningful way. Or in other word, segregated skill is uncommunicative.

While, the integrated skill considered more appropriate to be applied in teaching because language is used as a means of interaction, rather than an academic subject, and it is communicative.

Here some advantages and disadvantages of integrated skills:

Advantages:                                                                               

·         Language is taught in communication

·         Easy to use language in a meaningful way

·         Language is as a means of interaction than academic subject.

Disadvantages:

·         Students ca not focus on one skill at a time

·         Students cannot develop the skill that they have not mastered yet.

( The advantages and disadvantages is adapted from http://www.cenarestgabon.org/advantages-and-disadvantages-ict-integration-in-the-classroom.html )

So, which one would you choose when you are teaching? Segregated skill or integrated skill?

For me, I will choose integrated skill, moreover, now there are technologies that can help us to facilitate learning.

What is the role of technology in teaching integrated skill?

Yeah, technology can be used to teach integrated skill. The role of technology in teaching integrated skill is as the learning media. For example, teaching using Skype. By using skype, we integrate three skills, listening, speaking, and writing (note-taking).

Blogs in Teaching

What is blog? When it arise?

According to Merriam Webster dictionary, blog is a website on which someone writes about personal opinions, activities, and experiences. Or, other definition is a website that contains online personal reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer.

Blog for the first time was known as homepage. It was created by Justin Hall in 1994. See this Link.

In 1997, the term ‘weblog’ was coined by John Barger. The term was created to reflect the process of “logging the web” as he browsed.

1998 marks the first known instance of a blog on a traditional news site, when Jonathan Dube blogged Hurricane Bonnie for the Charlotte Observer.

1999 weblog is shortened as “blog” by programmer Peter Melholz.

And nowadays, there many kinds of blog that were created. Such as Blogger, Wordpress, Edublogs, Tumblr, etc.

(Adapted from The History of Blogging )

How to use blog for teaching and learning?

Generally, we can say that blog is an online diary, where people can write whatever there up to them. Beside, using blog they can also upload pictures or videos. Blogging is joyful activity, and most of people like it.

Teacher can use blog as the media of study, beside students have to come to class, receive knowledge, and participate there. Blogging is joyful so that students will like it. With blog, teacher can ask students to post their assignments, making summaries, making daily journal using English, etc. Also, teacher can ask them to comment their friend’s blog post. 

Blog in teaching and learning here is as other way for learning that will make students not bored. Yeah, blogging is as interesting as Facebook, twitter, and other social media.

We know that everything has positive and negative effect, same as blogging for teaching-learning, but if we can manage it well, it will have benefit more than the disadvantages.

Some advantages of blogging are:

·         Students enjoy blogging

·         Using blog make learning independent of time and place

·         It promotes their communication skills

·         It emphasize the test and learn, and “learning by doing” strategies instead of “plan and execute ones.

·         It gives a chance for shy students to participate with their peers and get their voice heard

·         It fosters the development of writing and research skills as well as digital skill

·         Blogging help teachers develop professionally

(Adapted from Ultimate Guide to Use of Blogs )

Mind Mapping

The easiest definition of Mind map that I have searched in the internet is from Wikipedia. Mind map is a diagram used to visually organize information. It is often created around a single concept, drawn as an image in the center of a blank landscape page, to which associated representations of ideas such as images, words, and parts of words are added. Other definition of mind mapping is a simple technique for drawing information in diagrams, instead of writing it in sentences. The diagram always take the same basic format of a tree, with a single starting point in the middle that branches out, and divides again and again.

Mind map can be used for both teacher and students. The advantages of mind mapping such as for taking note, presentation, and making easy to memorize the lessons.

How to create mind map using technology?

To create mind map is as easy as you make timeline which I posted in my previous posting. You can use a web-based mind map tools such as:

•  POPPLET 
• COGGLE 

Just choose one of those two tools, and then you can create mind map using technology. To shorten your time in making mind map, before, using search engine, such google, yahoo, youtube, etc, you can look for the materials that you will put in your mind map. When you make mind map using technology, you can just give the link of the materials and the title in your mind map, just click it and then you can directly visit the link.

Here the example of my mind map in CALL project, it was group work, so I didn’t do it alone. This mind map is about resources that can be used in teaching or learning English such as: grammar, listening, speaking, reading, writing, and vocabulary. This mind map maybe seems complicated because too many materials included. You can create as simple as you need.

Happy trying.... :)

Podcast for EFL Teaching and Learning

Using Podcast in teaching is effective way. It is a facility that is provided by internet and will help teacher in teaching language. It is free to get podcast in the internet.

Generally, we know that podcast is for teaching listening skill, but, if we think again, it is not only help students to improve their listening ability, but also help them to learn pronunciation for example, writing, and reading. so, we can integrate listening using podcast with other skills. 

How to use podcast for teaching writing?

Yeah, for teacher, you can ask your students to summarize or note-taking from the podcast they heard.

How to use podcast for teaching reading?

It is simple. Just give students the transcript of the podcast, then ask them to listen to the audio, after listening for once or twice, ask them to read again and comprehend it.

So, actually, teaching using podcast is not only for improving listening skill, but also integrating skill that will improve pronunciation, writing, and reading of students. it depends on the teacher would combine podcast with what skills. 

What is the benefit of podcast?

Everything that is related with technology always become interesting for students, using podcast, they can choose the podcast they like and based on their level, because podcast that is provided in internet has various topic.

How to use podcast for ESL learning?

·         1. Ask students to look for podcast in the internet, like BBC Podcast or Effortless English Podcast. 

·         2. Ask them to choose the podcast they like.

·         3. Ask them to summarize what they heard from the podcast.*

·         4. Sometimes, ask them to present it in front of class about it.

*it can be other options, based on teacher's goal.

That is the example of teaching idea using podcast, as teacher, you can use your creativity to make your teaching always interesting for your students, so maybe you can find other ideas for teaching ESL using podcast. 

I'm Going Crazy....

Every assignment that is given each week for CALL subject is challenging, beside it is really useful for us that will become teacher. But, from the first session till the eleventh session, for me, the most difficult assignment is session ten. It was group work, the lecturer also gave additional time for assignment in this session, but it really made me and other friends thought about it every day before the deadline. Yeah, the assignment was making conversation using Skype and recording it, and it really made us like crazy. T.T

Maybe you are curious why it made us like crazy. Was the material for conversation difficult? Of course no, it was just about integrating technology in Indonesia school. So, we just gave our opinion.

Then, what makes it difficult? Here the answer…..

So, for using Skype, we need strong connection of internet.  Actually, the university has provided Wi-Fi, but because many students or users use it, so, we cannot use it for doing Skype whenever we want. After thinking for few days, we decided that we could do this assignment only in early morning or in the evening; when the Wi-Fi users are lessen. Besides, we also had other problem at that time, for this session, each group consisted of 5 people, when we had big spirit to do this assignment, one of us could not use her laptop for video Skype, and she must look for other laptop, so we were waiting for it. It was really annoying. :(

Finally, a day before deadline day, at about 5 p.m we were doing that assignment, conversation among 5 people using Skype while recording, and when we wanted to do it once again, the connection is poor, we were give up, so, we submitted our first Skype result, although it was not good in recording.

Face Your Future Hopefully! :)

In sixth semester, my lecture is only 17 SKS, but the higher my semester, the heavier assignments I get. Recently, I can say that I don’t have time to enjoy my weekend. Usually, I use my weekend for washing clothes, ironing it, cleaning my room, and relaxing in my room, but now, I do it rarely, I often use my weekend for doing assignments, individual or group assignments. Yeah, that makes me stress sometimes. T.T

Why the lecturers really like to give their students assignments? Why? Why? *talking to the moon while crying*

That’s the stupid question that comes to my mind when I was depressed and frustrated with the assignments. But, then I know and aware that it’s for my better life in the future. My lecturers want the best for me by those assignments, for my successful. Success comes from hard work, instead of laziness. And this is also such practice before I do my Skripsi.

I like a beautiful quotation from Sidhartha Gautama “in the end, we would be very grateful to people who makes ourselves feel difficult”.

I always remember this quotation to make me enthusiastic in doing my assignments, and then I try to love my assignments, love my lectures and try to do my best for it. Okay, I can face all obstacles to reach my success. Fighting^^

Facebook for EFL Teaching and Learning

Together with the growing sophistication of technology, teachers can use it as the way to teach EFL, one of them is using facebook. Nowadays, who doesn’t know facebook or doesn’t have facebook account, especially teenagers? I swear almost most of them have it. Yeah, as teacher, we can use facebook as teaching learning resource.

How to use facebook for EFL teaching?

Although facebook is popular among teenagers, it’s no mistakes if you (as teacher) also have facebook account. For teacher, using facebook, you can join some pages in facebook about the ideas in teaching English, you can contribute there (comment or post something), so you can interact and share ideas with other people around the world. This way will help you increase your creativities in teaching.

Here the example of pages in facebook for teaching English:

• Teaching English-British Council
• Teaching Ideas
• Grammarly
• Songs for Teaching

And then, how about your students? How they can use facebook as EFL learning?

First, you have to make sure your students have had facebook account. If they don’t have yet, you must ask them to register here. It is free.

Second, make a close group in facebook for your class, where you can post materials, assignments, or create discussion with your students there.

Third, give weekly task for your students. For example, they must update status using English at least twice a week, and ask other students to comment it using English. (you can also determine the time or day for they updating status using English)

Fourth, ask them to like some pages that will support them to learn English. You can give recommended pages for them, or maybe they have other pages address. 

The example of facebook's pages for learning English are:

• Learn Real English
• LearnEnglish-British Council MENA
• BBC Learning English
• VOA Learning English

Next, ask them to make friends with students from different country, so they can practice their English. Sometimes, ask them to tell about their friends from different country in the class to make sure they have done your command.

Well, that’s all some ideas about how to use facebook as EFL teaching and learning. Here, the role of facebook is as supplement for teaching, not replacement.