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ELAC 2013 Conference

Awesome PD Opportunity! Fantastic speakers, networking & more!

Not an ELAC member yet? Visit our Specialist Table (especially to enter for some GREAT prizes!) and check out the ELAC website!

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Beginning Teachers' Conference 2012

Welcome new teachers!

Some of the best advice I received when I was a beginning teacher was stick with it for 3 years...I'm now in my 4th year :)


Shakespeare

• Survivor Macbeth! (ELA 20-1) - link to unit resources & suggestions

• The Tempest (ELA 30-1)
• Act I, scene i - "the boat" scene with modern translation - set up the illusion and magic of the theatre
• Vocabulary based on videos from Vocabahead
• 4-colour flags/highlighting
• The Tempest 2010 film (Dir: Julie Taymor)
• Act II & III Radio Plays (GarageBand on Macs or Audacity on PC) - 25 lines or so per pair
• Act Quizzes based on characterization/theme/symbolism & key quotations
• "Socratic Seminar"/Discussion - questions tweaked from this study guide
• Essay question: Discuss the idea(s) developed by the text creator in your chosen text about the impact of an individual’s ambition on self and others.

Strategies to help students & keep me sane!

• Goodbye chapter questions...
• 4-colour flags/highlighting
• Characterization, Setting/Tone/Mood, Themes, Essential Figurative Language/Literary Devices
• "Sticky Note Questions"
• Essay Breakdown

Competencies (Strategies - Reading & Viewing - Writing - Speaking & Representing)

• Bias, Character, Figurative Language/Literacy Devices, Film Techniques & Visuals, Genre & Form, Mood/Atmosphere, Plot, POV & Perspective, Purpose & Audience, Setting, Theme/Controlling Idea/Statement of Belief, Tone

CEATCA

Welcome to those of you from CEATCA today! Thank you for coming to our presentation and for your great comments and feedback. 


If you have any questions about what we presented today, please do not hesitate to contact me for more information!  mrsleschert@gmail.com

QR Codes

You may have noticed these funny 'barcode' type symbols cropping up everywhere - from real estate ads to application forms to our shirts!


These are called QR codes (Quick-response Codes) - and they're quite easy to make and fun to use! Basically, a QR code stores a variety of information. 


How to make one:

Poll Everywhere

Poll Everywhere

Tired of students using their cellphones for texting? Give them a specific use and keep them occupied with some pre-planned or off-the-cuff surveys! With a free account, you can receive up to 40 responses for one question.


Some of the ways I use this in my classroom:

• Grad song & theme selection!
• Bell Task
• Pre-learning activity
• Check for understanding
• Exit slip
• Brainstorming session (with moderation - does cost $) - but what about staff meetings?
• Take the brainstorming a step further - convert to a Wordle!

Let's give it a try!


Would you use this website in your classroom? (poll)


Possible uses within your classroom (brainstorming)




H/T: Free Technology for Teachers (a favourite resource!)

YouTube Channels for English Teachers

Biography Channel

• Maya Angelou
• Jane Austen
• Princess Di (what about when teaching "Candle in the Wind" to students who don't know who she was?)

The History of English (Playlist from Open U)

"Shakespeare"

"Internet English"

The National Writing Project

• Digital Storytelling Project (making writing authentic)

Nobel Prize Channel

• Poem Read by Derek Walcott (1992 winner, poet)

Rick Mercer Report (not just for the Social teacher - teaching SATIRE!)

• Anonymous - Warning to Vic Toews (fantastic allusion!)
• New Board Game

Vancouver Poetry SLAM (make sure to preview content BEFORE using)

• Shoolie - Video Games - especially for those students who think poetry is just about love!

How I use this in my classroom:

• I frequently use YouTube clips in my classroom - these channels provide useful and related clips that I might not otherwise find

If you want to save clips from YouTube, try KeepVid - paste the URL of the clip into the box on KeepVid and then follow the steps. I usually use .mp4s as they play on the VLC player (free download as well).