Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Video SparkNotes: Orwell's 1984 Summary

Video SparkNotes: J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye summary

Video SparkNotes: Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet summary

Video SparkNotes: Shakespeare's Othello summary

Video SparkNotes: Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter summary

Effective teachers

Proven classroom management tips & strategies.wmv

Checking for Understanding.wmv

Solving percentage problems using reading skills.wmv

Engage Me!

How will you teach me in the 21st century?

Integrating Technology into classrooms

The wiki potential

Love is ?


Top Eight Challenges Teachers Face This School Year


Top Eight Challenges Teachers Face This School Year


1. ALL THOSE KIDS!!
With teacher bashing all the rage these days, we thought we’d show what teachers are actually facing when they step into the classroom each day. In no particular order, here are the top eight challenges facing educators this year: 
In Georgia this May, after state funding for schools was cut by nearly $1 billion, the state Board of Education voted to lift all class size limits. “We don’t have a choice. We didn’t give them enough money,” said state school Superintendent Kathy Cox.
And, of course, it’s the same story in states across the country. It’s tough for educators—but even tougher for those kids who need their attention. “There are a lot of geniuses sitting in the back of our classes, but they don’t get properly taught in classrooms with more than 30 other kids,” said one Los Angeles student in a recent news article.

2. TURNING ON TECHNOLOGY

Students today are technophiles. They love their video games—all fast-paced and addictive—and they can’t put down their smart phones, iPods, and social networks. And educators? They might also love new technologies, but even if they don’t, they realize that technology often is the key to locking in a student’s interest. The challenge is, how? Deitrya Anderson, a Tulsa teacher, puts those phones “to an educational use” through a site called Wiffiti that receives and displays student questions via text message. Others are using Twitter—sending tweets to students to remind them of key points from the day’s lesson or use it as a language arts tool. Even Facebook has its merits. Susan Colquitt, a New Mexico teacher, says she uses it to answer her students’ questions and mentor them.

3. CYBERBULLYING

Remember Phoebe Prince? Or Megan Meier? Both girls committed suicide after long, humiliating bouts with cyberbullies. Their deaths were tragic and unusual, but many kids are struggling to cope with this particularly virulent form of bullying. According to Pew Research, nearly one in three teens say they’ve been victimized via the Internet or cell phones. A teacher’s role—or a school’s role—is still fuzzy in many places. What legal rights or responsibilities do they have to silence bullies, especially when they operate from home? To more clearly define their prerogative, many schools are writing cyberbullying policies into their handbooks, in effect forcing students and their parents to sign contracts that allow schools to discipline them for Internet abuse. But prevention is the best policy and experts say the answer is more conversation with kids. Peer models—often from older high school grades—can be effective discussion leaders.

4. NCLB

“Testing, testing, testing, what is the point of testing? Do we use the data to remediate those who do not measure up? No!” complained Shelley Dunham, a Kansas special educator, on an NEA discussion board. Instead the federal law takes those test scores, which are incredibly flawed pictures of achievement, and uses them to punish schools. (And don’t even get us started on the inappropriate use of tests with students with disabilities….) This year, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (better known as NCLB) is up for reauthorization. The Obama blueprint offers more of the same, but the NEA’s Positive Agenda for ESEA Reauthorization would offer multiple measures of student learning, smaller class sizes, adequate funding, and support for teachers—even while insisting on high standards for students. Go toEducationVotes to find out more about this sensible approach.

5. PARENT INVOLVEMENT

Often, it feels like there are just two kinds of parents: The ones hunkering in a cave somewhere and the ones camping in your pocket. Unreachable? Or unavoidable. Either way, teachers wish for the kind of parent involvement that supports learning. Elusive parents usually have a reason for their mysterious ways, like language fluency. In New Mexico, teacher Ricardo Rincon asks students to host parent conferences. He also crafts homework assignments that don’t assume parents have advanced skills. For example, instead of asking them to supervise the addition of fractions, they might be asked to ensure their kids read for 30 minutes at home.

6. YOUR SALARY

What salary, educators ask. After paying the mortgage, student loan debts, medical bills, utilities, car and food, what’s left? “With pay cuts, furlough days, increased taxes and other bills, for the first time I am falling behind in my financial obligation, ruining a 30-year record of perfect credit,” writes one fed-up California teacher. “I feel my only route is retirement and possibly filing for bankruptcy.”NEA’s campaign for professional pay for teachers and support professionals is trying to change that.

7. GETTING HEALTHY

Everybody from Michelle Obama to the Naked Chef Jamie Oliver has turned their attention to that kid who can’t quite fit behind his desk in the back row. According to the federal government, nearly one in five children and adolescents are obese—nearly triple the rate of a generation ago—putting them in great risk of diabetes and heart disease. The Child Nutrition reauthorization bill, which would establish national nutrition standards for school food and provide more training opportunities to cafeteria employees, needs support. It passed the Senate in August and still needs a vote in the House. Some school districts are ahead of the curve. In Oregon, as part of a growing effort to close inequities in hunger and nutrition, using local produce and balanced meals, head cook Rhonda Sand has been slicing up jicama spears and filling trays with mixed berries—“They really weren’t a fan of the beets though,” she told Today’s OEA, smiling.

8. FINDING THE FUNDING

On the one hand, there are public schools that can’t afford to pay their educators, fix their leaky roofs, or replace their moldy textbooks. On the other, there are hostile legislators who would love to divert the ever-dwindling funds for public education to private schools and companies and a federal government that believes the Race to the Top Fund, a  $4.35 billion reward for states that promise to tie teacher pay to test scores, is the answer. (Clue: It isn’t!) Activism is critical this year. NEA activists will help elect pro-public education candidates—through donations to the NEA Fund for Children and Public Education and participation in local phone banks and door-to-door walks. And they’ll be holding those politicians accountable. “Sometimes I hear people say, ‘Oh, but I’m not political. I’m an educator!’” says Lee Schreiner, an active Ohio teacher. “And I say, ‘Bull! Name one thing in your job that isn’t political.’” To learn more about NEA’s work for pro-public education candidates and issues, visit EducationVotes.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Meals vocabulary

Food and Drinks - English Language

The Fruit Song

Vegetables Song for Kids | Simple Song for Children Learning English

English Phrases - Daily Expressions

Classroom Behavior: Listen to the Teacher (Project Refill)

Respect Explained

Teaching Respect to Young Children - Preview

Power of Peace

Anti-Racism Ad

Eric Clapton - Change The World

One World

Teaching Tolerance and Embracing Diversity

English alphabet - Sing the alphabet with me by alain le lait

10 Little Numbers

The ABC Song

Phonics Song 2

Animals Video for Kids

daily routines vocabulary - English vocabulary lessons

100 most common words in English

Teach English: ESL / EFL Teacher Training Part 1/6

Art of teaching


Art of Teaching: Best Practices from a Master Educator



Art of Teaching: Best Practices from a Master Educator
Average Customer Rating
4.4 out of 5
4.4 out of 5
34 of 38(89%)customers would recommend the course to a friend.
Teaching is more than a job. It's a responsibility—one of the greatest responsibilities in civilized society. Teachers lay bare the mysteries of the world to us. They train our minds to explore, to question, to investigate, to discover. They ensure that knowledge is not lost or forgotten but is instead passed on to future generations. And they shape our lives in limitless ways, both inside and outside of the classroom.
But teaching is no easy task. It's an art form; one that requires craft, sensitivity, creativity, and intelligence. Whether your classroom consists of 3 students or 300, it's important to be as effective and successful a teacher as possible, both for the education of your students and for your own professional and personal growth.
The Art of Teaching: Best Practices from a Master Educator, one of the most dynamic and innovative Great Courses we've ever produced, is designed to help you achieve new levels of success as a teacher. These 24 lectures will help you develop and enhance your teaching style; provide you with invaluable methods, tools, and advice for handling all manner of teaching scenarios; and open your eyes to how other teachers—and their students—think about and approach this life-changing profession.
An invaluable aid, this course's insights are useful to a wide variety of teachers and people in other leadership positions:
  • Current teachers at the college and high-school levels
  • Aspiring teachers and teachers in training
  • Corporate managers and trainers
  • Public speakers
In addition, The Art of Teaching has value for anyone who's curious about how academic education in the 21st century works. While the examples used in this course are rooted in the world of academia, the concepts and principles they illustrate—
  • lecturing,
  • presenting,
  • leading discussion groups,
  • using technologies, and
  • using creativity and innovation
—can be put to use in nearly every situation in which you're required to teach and lead.
Learn How to Teach from the Best of the Best
The Art of Teaching is delivered by award-winning Professor Patrick N. Allitt of Emory University, one of The Great Courses' most popular professors. A distinguished teacher with more than 30 years of classroom experience and 5 years as Director of Emory College's Center for Teaching and Curriculum (designed to study and improve the art and craft of university teaching), he is the perfect instructor with whom to explore ways to become a great—or even greater—teacher.
What's more: He enhances his lectures with candid and illuminating interviews with an all-star group of veteran Great Courses professors, some of the brightest teachers in higher education. Not only do you hear what they have to say about their roles as teachers, you actually witness them applying their tools and techniques in lecture halls, seminar classes, and even one-on-one student coaching.
These teachers are
  • John Hale, Director of Liberal Studies at the University of Louisville
  • Jeanette Norden, Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
  • Stephen Nowicki, Dean and Provost of Undergraduate Education and Professor of Biology at Duke University
  • Scott E. Page, Collegiate Professor of Political Science, Complex Systems, and Economics at the University of Michigan
  • Steve Pollock, Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder
  • Michael Roberto, Trustee Professor of Management at Bryant University
With these professors' wealth of teaching awards and accolades, their combined decades of experience teaching in classrooms of all sizes, and—most important—their deep and abiding passion for the importance of their profession, you'll learn how to teach from the best of the best.
Explore the Toolkit for Effective Teaching
At the heart of this new and unique course are the lessons you learn on how to enhance and improve your own teaching. In each lecture of The Art of Teaching, you'll discover a veritable toolkit of tips, techniques, exercises, advice, and wisdom rarely assembled in a single, affordable package.
Here's just a brief sample of what you'll learn in these 24 lectures:
  • How to handle the first day: The first day of your class is critical, because it gives your students an idea of what their learning experience will be like. Make sure that, during your first class, you explain your subject and establish your credentials for teaching it, demonstrate why the subject matters, set your expectations, learn your students' names, and immediately engage your students.
  • How to give a dynamic lecture: Excellent lectures are both informative and interesting. Some tips to make your lectures more dynamic and memorable: Start your lecture with something stimulating or controversial; vary your vocal volume, tone, and expression to maintain attention; occasionally ask rhetorical questions; and avoid overfilling your lecture with content.
  • How to effectively use technologies: When dealing with aids like PowerPoint, remember that the more teaching technology you use, the more time you're likely to devote to it instead of to your students. Keep your PowerPoint presentations bold and simple, and don't forget the usefulness of "traditional" technologies like blackboards. When using a teaching aid, always ask yourself: What does this method of teaching add? How will it help my students to learn?
  • How to create and administer exams: Exams should fully test your students' knowledge and thinking ability. Before writing an exam, ask yourself what you want the students to take from your course. Decide whether to administer a multiple-choice test, a take-home exam, or an oral exam; each has its benefits and drawbacks. Similarly, decide beforehand whether you're going to grade on a curve or according to an absolute standard, and what your policy will be for handling potential grade disputes.
  • How to survive the challenges of teaching: Teaching can be stressful at times, but there are many ways for you to remain focused. First, never take conflict with students personally; remember that your relationship with them is professional, and any disagreements should be handled professionally. It's also important to periodically reflect on your life as a teacher to ensure that you still view it as a vocation and not just a job to suffer through.
A Course Unlike Any We've Crafted Before
The Art of Teaching is a course unlike any we've crafted before—specifically because of how thoroughly it immerses you in the experience of being a teacher.
Professor Allitt's course takes you across the country and brings you inside the classrooms of some of the greatest universities in America, where you actually watch great teachers doing what they do best. It's this dynamic approach that makes the course a unique learning experience—one that gives you the knowledge on how to be an effective teacher, then demonstrates it for you.
In addition, you get a chance to hear views about teaching from the students themselves. Professor Allitt's interviews with students offer a fresh and often undocumented perspective on the art and craft of teaching. What do students think are the qualities of a great teacher? How would they describe the perfect classroom experience?
With its diverse perspectives, its immersive nature, and its unparalleled look at the lives and minds of a variety of instructors, The Art of Teaching will reshape the way you think about and approach this important profession. By the conclusion of the final lecture, you'll have an amazing reservoir of skills to draw on in your own teaching. Most important, you'll have found a source of guidance and inspiration that will last your entire career.
About Your Professor
Dr. Patrick N. Allitt is the Cahoon Family Professor of American History at Emory University, where he has taught for more than 20 years. He earned his bachelor's degree at Oxford University and his Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Berkeley.
From 2004 to 2009, Professor Allitt directed Emory College's Center for Teaching and Curriculum. In this critical administrative position, he led workshops on a wide variety of teaching-related problems, visited dozens of other professors' classes, and provided one-on-one consultation to teachers to help them overcome particular pedagogical problems.
Professor Allitt was honored with Emory's Excellence in Teaching Award and in 2000 was appointed to the N.E.H./Arthur Blank Professorship of Teaching in the Humanities.
A widely published author, Professor Allitt's books include I'm the Teacher, You're the Student: A Semester in the University Classroom, a memoir about one semester in his life as a university professor. In addition, he has written numerous articles and reviews for academic and popular publications, including The New York Times Book Review.
Available Exclusively on DVD
This course features in-depth interviews, extensive footage of teachers at work, and other elements to enhance your learnin

Teacher quotes



 

Quotations about Teachers and Teaching



A teacher affects eternity:
he can never tell where his influence stops.
Henry Adams
What nobler employment, or more valuable to the state, than that of the man who instructs the rising generation.
Marcus Tullius Cicero
The important thing is not so much
that every child should be taught,
as that every child should be given the wish to learn.
John Lubbock
Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life,
those the art of living well.
Aristotle
What office is there which involves more responsibility, which requires more qualifications, and which ought, therefore, to be more honorable than teaching?
Harriet Martineau
By learning you will teach;
by teaching you will understand.
Latin Proverb
Education is the mother of leadership.
Wendell L. Willkie
Seldom was any knowledge given to keep, but to impart; the grace of this rich jewel is lost in concealment.
Bishop Hall
If you would thoroughly know anything, teach it to others.
Tryon Edwards
We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own.
Ben Sweetland
Grammar speaks; dialectics teach us truth; rhetoric gives colouring to our speech; music sings; arithmetic numbers; geometry weighs and measures;
astronomy teaches us to know the stars.
Latin Maxim
To know how to suggest is the great art of teaching.
Henri Frederic Amiel
We learn by teaching.
James Howell
Natural ability is by far the best, but many men have succeeded in winning high renown by skill that is the fruit of teaching.
Pindar 
It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken
joy in creative expression and knowledge.
Albert Einstein
The most effective teacher will always be biased,
for the chief force in teaching is confidence and enthusiasm.
Joyce Cary
Education is the guardian genius of democracy.
It is the only dictator that free men recognize,
and the only ruler that free men require.
Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar
Whatever you want to teach, be brief. 
Horace
To me, education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil's soul.
Muriel Spark
Nine-tenths of education is encouragement.
Anatole France
The true aim of every one who aspires to be a teacher should be, not to impart his own opinions,
but to kindle minds.
F. W. Robertson
He that teaches us anything which we knew not
before is undoubtedly to be reverenced as a master.
Samuel Johnson
I hear and I forget. I see and I remember.
I do and I understand.
Chinese Proverb
From Teaching Quotations at Parrot's Meow
Be careful to leave your sons well
instructed rather than rich,
for the hopes of the instructed are better
than the wealth of the ignorant.
Epictetus
I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well.
Alexander of Macedon
To know how to suggest is the great art of teaching. To attain it we must be able to guess what will interest: we must learn to read the childish soul as we might a piece of music. Then, by simply changing the key, we keep up the attraction anil vary the song.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Teaching is not a lost art,
but the regard for it is a lost tradition.
Jacques Barzun
Education is the transmission of civilization.
Will Durant
To teach is to learn twice over.
Joseph Joubert
A schoolmaster should have an atmosphere of awe,
and walk wonderingly, as if he was amazed at being himself.
Newton D. Baker
One good teacher in a lifetime may sometimes
change a delinquent into a solid citizen.
Philip Wylie
A child miseducated is a child lost.
John F. Kennedy
A master can tell you what he expects of you.
A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations.

Patricia Neal

And one silly quote just for fun....

Never try to teach a pig to sing....it wastes
your time and annoys the pig.
Anonymous

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

I love English language

English is spoken by 1.2 billon people


English as an universal language


English as a Universal Language

by Carlos Carrion Torres - Vitoria ES - Brazil
English is without a doubt the actual universal language. It is the world's second largest native language, the official language in 70 countries, and English-speaking countries are responsible for about 40% of world's total GNP.
English can be at least understood almost everywhere among scholars and educated people, as it is the world media language, and the language of cinema, TV, pop music and the computer world. All over the planet people know many English words, their pronunciation and meaning.
The causes for this universality are very well known and understandable. English first began to spread during the 16th century with British Empire and was strongly reinforced in 20th by USA world domination in economic, political and military aspects and by the huge influence of American movies.
The concept of a Universal Language is more significant only now, in the era of world mass communication. Before this era Greek, Latin, French were to some extent universal languages, though mainly in Europe.
By a lucky coincidence due to factors above, English, the Universal language, is one of the simplest and easiest natural languages in the world. The only other simple and easy languages are constructed ones.
Of course the concept of easiness is relative, and it depends on which language you know already. However the concept of simplicity is undeniable: English in an easy language to learn, understand and speak. A complex language such as Hungarian would be a very unlikely candidate for a universal language.
First of all, English Language uses Latin alphabet, the most universal, simple and short one (only the Greek alphabet is shorter and simpler). In addition, in English, the Latin Alphabet presents its most "clean" form as a true alphabet with only 26 basic letters and no diacritics;
Verb conjugation is very simple and easy. Even for irregular verbs, there is almost no variation in person (except 3rd singular in present tense).
Regular verbs have only four forms: Infinitive + Present, Past Tense + Past Participle, 3rd person singular Present Indicative, Present Participle.
There are almost no Inflections. No number or gender inflection for adjectives, articles, adverbs. For adjectives there is only comparative and superlative, almost only number for nouns. In pronouns there are gender and number inflections and only three declension cases (Acc/Dat, Nom, Gen).
English is one of the most analytical languages, with no significant synthetic, fusional or agglutinative characteristics.

Could be there any other alternative for Universal Language, instead of English?

There are other languages that are quite simple and synthetic, with almost no verb conjugation, no declension, such as Asian languages like Thai and Chinese, but they are written with complicated scripts and are tonal languages. However if Chinese were to be written with the Latin alphabet, it could potentially become a univeral language.
There are other strong languages that, due to population and economic power, could be univeral languages, but they have a number of disadvantages when compared with English.
Some examples:
  • Japanese: has very regular verbs but also a very complicated script.
  • Chinese: no conjugations or declension, but a very complicated script and tones.
  • German has many more inflections than English.
  • The major Romance languages, such as French, Spanish and Portuguese, have fewer inflections than most of languages, but their verb conjugation is very complicated.
  • Russian has both complex verb conjugations and numerous noun declensions.
In conclusion, it is lucky for us that our universal language is the simplest and easiest, even though that simplicity and easiness weren't the reasons that lead English to that condition.

ENGLISH?

The importance of English language as an international language


English is part of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. It is spoken as a native language by around 377 million and as a second language by around 375 million speakers in the world. Speakers of English as a second language will soon outnumber those who speak it as a first language.
Around 750 million people are believed to speak English as a foreign language. English has an official or a special status in 75 countries with a total population of over 2 billion.
The domination of the English language globally is undeniable. English is the language of diplomacy and international communications, business, tourism, education, science, computer technology, media and Internet. Because English was used to develop communication, technology, programming, software, etc, it dominates the web. 70% of all information stored electronically is in English.
British colonialism in the 19th century and American capitalism and technological progress in the 20th century were undoubtedly the main causes for the spread of English throughout the world.
The English language came to British Isles from northern Europe in the fifth century. From the fifteenth century, the British began to sail all over the world and became explorers, colonists and imperialists. They took the English language to North America, Canada and the Caribbean, to South Africa, to Australia and New Zealand, to South Asia (especially India), to the British colonies in Africa, to South East Asia and the South Pacific.
The USA has played a leading role in most parts of the world for the last hundred years. At the end of the 19th century and first quarter of the 20th, it welcomed millions of European immigrants who had fled their countries ravaged by war, poverty or famine. This labor force strengthened American economy. The Hollywood film industry also attracted many foreign artists in quest of fame and fortune and the number of American films produced every year soon flooded the market. Before the Treaty of Versailles (1919), which ended the First World War between Germany and the Allies, diplomacy was conducted in French. However, President Woodrow Wilson succeeded in having the treaty in English as well. Since then, English started being used in diplomacy and gradually in economic relations and the media.
The future of English as a global language will depend very largely on the political, economical, demographic and cultural trends in the world. The beginning of the 21st century is a time of global transition. According to some experts, faster economic globalization is going hand in hand with the growing use of English. More and more people are being encouraged to use English rather than their own language. On the other hand, the period of most rapid change can be expected to be an uncomfortable and at times traumatic experience for many people around the world. Hence, the opposite view, that the next 20 years or so will be a critical time for the English language and for those who depend upon it. The patterns of usage and public attitudes to English which develop during this period will have long-term effects for its future in the world.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Traditional teaching vs modern teaching

Our society these days are divided in to two different way of thinking on the education. Some believe that modern methods are better than the traditional method of teaching but yet these two methods are both a successful way. In my opinion, every method in teaching is the same for they deliver the same message to the students. Therefore there are pros and cons to it as well in these ways of teaching.
The pros for traditional methods are that teaches shouldered too much of responsibilities for teaching in the classroom to make sure everything they thought were understood by the student. Thus it was a good method, where there was efficient communication between teacher and students. There was also the typical way and a controllable class where the teacher would teach on the blackboard, explained, asks students to copy and made sure students paid attention and listen. Besides that, the traditional way in disciplining students in school and teaching them was an effective way in building a good characteristic student where students were afraid of their teacher and respect them.
Talking about the pros there are cons to traditional method way where students were to afraid to ask their teacher questions. Thus students get board of the same way of teaching method done by the teacher which is on the blackboard and listening to the teacher talk while they sit down in class and heat up their chairs. Besides that, disciplining the students with canning and scolding is not a sufficient way for students get traumatizes in school. 
On the other hand, the pros of modern method in teaching help a lot where there is a centered classroom which is created by the teacher and accepted by the students. In modern method students are aware of their learning process through the computers. Thus with the help of computers teachers prepare their work in their thumb drive and present it to the class through slides show which is an easier way. And students can do their studying and their work all in the computer without depending 100% on their teacher in schools. Besides that, there is also classroom contract which consists on agreement between teachers and student regarding on how each will contribute to and behave in the classroom to start building a student’s expectation towards independence. Therefore students even have a bonding relationship with their teacher to be their friend so that they can share their problems to the teacher without being afraid.
As for the cons of the modern method of teaching students become too independent where they think they don’t need guidance from anybody because they think they can accomplish anything by themselves. Thus with the use of computers in school children gets distracted with online games and websites to browse on besides their studies which will cause them distraction. . Besides that saving all data’s in the thumb drive can be a problem when there is a virus which can also cause the students and teacher to get to comfortable and depend too much on technology and forget other better tools in teaching. Thus students also begin to be too comfortable with their teacher as their friend in schools and forget their responsibilities and respect over the teacher.
Lastly, I feel that the teaching methods should be balance because it both brings good intentions in educating a person for the better future of everyone. Thus it sends out the same message even in different way but yet it is useful.