Blog Post #9, my fave concept: PLN

 The concept that has stayed with me is the Personal Learning Network.  Maybe I'm not so crazed about plunging into the virtual professional network but I do feel my students can greatly benefit from being aware of and utilizing social media for professional development.  The world is fast paced these days, globalized communication is rapid fire quick.  Looking beyond the creepiness of apps like Twitter and Instagram there is an undercurrent of valuable resources.  Most of us have been aware of the need to have your resume out there, read articles and watch TEDtalks maybe, keep up with the latest in our field.  But the discussion about proactively looking for people and organizations to connect with makes perfect sense.  Yeah, the PLN is definitely my favorite concept that I will choose to avoid.

Movie Project or Whatever

Preposition Video Challenge

Laura Yang and Melodi Crowson

audience: university students

Assignment:  groups of 3~4 make a video composed of video clips acting out prepositions;

15 points towards final grade

 Requirements:

• 1 minute ~ 3 minutes, 1 point for every 10 seconds over or under
• Use a variety of prepositions; at least 6 prepositional phrases used properly & variably
• Email or post your video before the beginning of the next class 
  

 video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6aR91pzZtQ

Blog Post #8: My Kahoot! lesson redifined

This semester I made the bold, very bold attempt, to incorporate an interactive quiz app called Kahoot! into a review lesson...one lesson...one time...and was totally surprised it worked.  It falls under "redefinition" because I have never been able to get everyone one involved and keep tabs on student activity.  This semester it was a one shot thing for many reasons; i.e.. technical glitches, time constraints, learning the program... but it was definitely a good experience and task previously unmanageable.  Instead of a total 1:1 I allowed teams of two on one phone.  I'm not going to go through every detail but considering my students are low level adults letting them pair up is a way to help build confidence and get a little teamwork going.  Will do my best to get a few more going next semester.

My Web page

http://crowsonmelodi.weebly.com/

1:1 Classroom Expectations

Cell phones!!  They drive me crazy.  We sometimes need them in class, they're important tools.  But most of the time they're there to distract students.  I have a rule:  on the desk, at the top, I can clearly see them, face down or case closed.  If a phone rings in class I get to answer it.  That part can be fun! Except the one time it was a male student's girlfriend (remember I teach university)...awkward.

So students need their smartphone.  Activities are usually one phone/two students as some students have shattered faces or for the students who don't have the latest, greatest tech.  We rarely have phones scheduled in lessons.  If we do I give a week's advanced notice to have phones charged then I also send a mass text the day before class as a second reminder through our school portal.

here's how I word it on my syllabus:
handphones: 
I know you have one!  please place it at the top of your desk face down or case closed, always on silent.

If the lesson requires use of your phone I will give advanced notice in class and send out a class SMS the day before reminding students to bring phones fully charged.

Audio Project

My audio file is straight from a get-to-know-you lesson I give my students.  Three questions, fill in the blank:
1.  If you had to choose between _______________  and  _____________  what would you choose and why?  (two things comparable, either one difficult to live without)
2.  If you saw ___________________________  what would you do? (try a tough decision)
2.  Have you ever  _______________________ ?  (funny or surprising)

in the audio:
 1. choose between beef and chicken, 2. if you saw someone drop 50,000W, 3. pet a dolphin

audio:  https://soundcloud.com/crowson-m/get-to-know-you

Blog Post #7: I like Prezi

 Prezi! My favorite tool so far has been Prezi. I've been stealing from co-workers, *cough* Ian Pollard *cough*@hermanator1023 (thank you buddy). After he and other coworkers took this class they so graciously shared their wealth. We've been teaching a lot of the same stuff for so long it was great to vamp up the old Power Points with Prezis. This Modern Family intro before watching the show is a gem. We are fortunate enough at my university to be trusted with a certain amount of multi media in the classroom. It often seems like wasting time to put on videos, can easily be a lazy class. Showing the Prezi first gives a fun summary helping hold the students' attention. I found that after incorporating the warm up Prezi into the lesson the students were more engaged during the show, more completed their worksheet, and we had better class discussions.

Blog Post#6: The Power of Play in Learning

Gonna have to go with "Play" again!  Cannot emphasize this enough in my classroom.  I like this article because it makes reference to adults:

"Adults who are deprived of play are often rigid, inflexible and closed to trying out new options. Play is an active process that reshapes our rigid views of the world." ~The Power of Play in Learning

By Tina Barseghian January 4, 2012

Of course we always talk about children having fun, increasing retention and motivation through enjoying the process.  But what about adults??  I teach at a University.  Lecture is a part of secondary education life, can't be avoided.  For me an ideal lesson provides fundamentals, give the English building blocks, then incorporate a fun activity to reinforce the day's lesson.  Play never goes out of style.  That's why hobbies and leisurely activities are so important to us, part of a healthy and well balanced lifestyle.

Screencast: How to TED Talk

This is my first screencast!!  Who knew a two minute video would take daayyyzzzzz to make.  Props to movie makers er'where.  #EDUC932

http://youtu.be/8otoUi-UN3E?hd=1

Hotel Management & Culinary Arts 2016 Fall Syllabus

Here is my first Piktochart syllabus for this upcoming semester.  Not gonna lie, it was a struggle. #EDUC932

Did my hour of coding, 6yr olds have nothing on me.  Validation!

Google Form, Observing Small Groups

Thanks #EDUC932 for teaching me yet another handy tool to use in my classroom.  Small group work, games, and discussions are a part of everyday instruction in ESL.  Evaluating them hasn't been very scientific.  This Google Form will hopefully be a quick and organized way to track student progress and give better feedback to my kiddos.

Blog Post #5: Beyond Laptops

I'm loving this one!  I read three articles: #3 9 Essential Skills Kids Should Learn, #7 Three Ideas for 21st-Century Global Curriculum, and #24 Bloom's Digital Taxonomy.  They all looked at essentially the same issue from different angels: adaptive learning in our perpetually changing world.  Number 3, our 9 Essentials, wants to throw all tradition out the window, called it "unschooling."  I commend the efforts towards self learning and problem solving but as an educator I don't quite agree that all is broken.  Number 7 gives us three great ideas:  Adapt to Learners, Rethink Learning Spaces, and Leverage the Role of Play.  Awesome!  Our ever evolving technological world insists we become more adaptable to be successful educators, learning spaces can make or break a classroom, and play is a key component in retention and self motivation.  This article also gives handy little strategies for each idea.  The last one, number 24, took the old and helps bring it up to date.  This is a wonderful approach to incorporating new thinking into traditional design.  The breakdown of lower order and higher order thinking are still relevant, thinking and collaborating will never be obsolete even with the ever rapidly changing technological world.  All three articles address the need for adaptive learning and creative thinking, but number 7 spoke to me the most.  Specifically play!  It ain't good learnin' if it ain't fun. 

Pick ME!! Interview Presentation

As an associate ESL professor in Hotel Management & Culinary Arts my main semester focus is preparing students to interview in international hotels.  We have worked on interviews and menu preparation separately in the past.  This Prezi has wrapped them up nicely.  I plan to share it with my colleagues and hopefully work it into our syllabus for next semester.

 http://prezi.com/gvzbckqcpojt/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Blog Post #4, My Favorite Lesson

One of my favorite lessons is what I like to call "Coffee Talk."

This one takes quite the build up, need to be well in a semester.  If students haven't already engaged in some small group speaking activities they will be too shy.  I find it works with all levels.  Lower ESL students will need a bit more coaching but it's still fun.  Have them create 3 'get to know you' kind of questions, the more surprising but appropriate can be fun.  Then set up two lines of desks face-to-face to set up speed dating. (but don't mention the speed dating)  Give a limited time for the students to ask and answer each others' questions, I tend to go with 3~4 minutes.  There is usually a lot of laughter and free speaking, though probably lots of grammar mistakes.  For this particular game I let it slide, the idea is to stress free chat.  Set the tone, let them know it's for fun. 
 In so many ways you can find support on how to improve classroom discussions for this activity.  In "81 Ways to Make Your ESL Speaking Class Awesome" quite a few are covered in this fun little exercise.

Blog Post #3, Sculpting My Online Persona

I started revamping my online reputation and footprint about a year ago. I went drastic and haven't made many strides to develop since. This class is helping me rethink steps to take so the content better represents me professionally and adultly (yes it's a word). Until yesterday Twitter seemed a place for gossip and trollers. To see the professional side is refreshing. I'm not ready to take the full plunge but looking around there are some avenues worth exploring. Plenty of pages to follow and hashtags to search, almost overwhelming. But never fail, there are always people out there doing some of the footwork for you. A few good suggestions for the classroom like roleplay, following issues, or take and share notes sound great. Up until now I was mostly sharing Buzzfeed for life hacks, which is fun but when students take a tour around other lists there are quite a few less than educational may be best they don't find. Way too visual!

Blog Post #2, Effective Presenter

I can hopefully become a more effective presenter by simplifying my approach.  In Flipboard the article The Deadliest Presentation Mistakes Anyone Can Avoid expanded on what was discussed in class. In particular not relying on too many facts and figures, pertinent stories engage the audience.  The most informative presentation means nothing if it falls on deaf ears.  Also, practicing before presenting.  This seems to be a common sense tip worth repeating.  Starting with sticky notes sounds like a cool idea as well.  Physically writing things in a small space, shifting around on a board to organize, and only then plugging it into a computer sounds like a great way to break down the process.

Blog Post #1, ISTE Standards

My goal is to become a more efficient teacher. I've been teaching at a Korean University for five years. A semester is 15 weeks, five classes are non-instructional classes assigned for review and exams. Therefore only ten classes, two hours each (grand total 20 hours) are designated for instruction. English fluency isn't expected with such limited exposure but it would be nice to improve student retention and self motivation in this short time. This course seems ideal for such a task. Number 6, Creative Communicator, of the latest ISTE Standards particularly spoke to me. I'd like to become a more creative communicator and provide my students with a variety of tools in and out of the classroom. Basically lead a horse to water. 

One attempt has been to assign my Culinary students with the task of joining MeetUp, a site geared towards finding hobbies in your area. They join three, one must be food related. Low level English speakers find this task particularly scary, therefore I'm proud of my students for making bold steps and building on their experiences learning about these groups and ultimately sending messages to the organizers in attempt to communicate with total strangers. I'm particularly proud of Yu Jung, a low level speaker, who showed growing interest in her MeetUps throughout the semester. This is her first contact with the organizer from Cooking Class for Health and Making Money. Unfortunately this was overwhelming for some students, hoping to discover a better variety of tools in this class.