Ebaby's ESL Teacher

Today, computer skills are essential.  So how do we build computer skills into our ESL/EFL classroom?

Each week this month, I will address new ways of integrating computers into ESL/EFL classrooms.  This week, I will take a closer look at wikis.  Wikis are collaborative, quickly created websites.  Using a wiki makes each student an author, an editor and a web designer.  Here is my classes wiki: www.inspireenglish.pbwiki.com This page was completely created by the students and they are still adding to it. 

To create your own wiki, pick a site to host your wiki. There are a lot of options.  Look at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki_farm I chose pbwiki.  It is simple to use and the language is easy.  For example, the font size is “x-small”, “small”, “medium”, and   “large.”  It is a nice match for my students' language ability.  Students will quickly get excited to decorate the page. So once you have the page, keep your input simple and allow the students to make it more interesting.  Each class, teach them a new skill, like changing the font, creating a link or uploading youtube videos. My students have a great sense of humor. In the test section, they made it so that if you get a question wrong it brings up a page with this picture:

I have really encouraged them to have fun with the site.  When we started, there were only three links on the homepage: story section link, a grammar section link and a test section link.  Each day, students got to pick what they wanted to add to the page. If they didn’t want to add anything, they could edit what other students had put on the site.  Editing the pages was a great learning experience for them.

If you looked at my site now, www.inspireenglish.pbwiki.com , you will see that the content and the organization of the site has changed drastically from what the students saw on the first day.  One of my favorite parts right now is the action mazes section:  http://inspireenglish.pbwiki.com/Action+Mazes We are still working on these, but to begin students  created an outline on paper of what people could do if they had no money.  Like this:

•          You have no money.

•          You could get a job.

•          You could look in the newspaper for jobs.

•          You could walk around town and look for "Help Wanted" signs.

•          You could ask people for money.

•          You could ask your friends for help.

•          You could ask your parents for help.

On the site, we are putting the information onto a bunch of pages.  The first page has: “You have no money.” And links to three possible things to do to get money, like  "You could get a job." The links lead to more pages with what to do next.

All in all, this is a fun student-centered project. If you have any questions, leave them as comments. And if you create a wiki or have ideas of how to use them, PLEASE share.  

Learners, I have a few questions for you: What do you want to do in class? What should you do in class?  My students certainly did not know what I expected from them this week.  Some students came late every day and when I say late, I mean an hour late.  In some countries, tardiness is ok, but not in the US.  My class and I needed to come to some understanding of what was acceptable.  Too bad nobody could agree.

Teachers, you can try this English lesson in your class and see how it works for you.  I gave students a list of classroom expectations and asked them to put a check mark next to the rules we have in our class.

This is a check mark:

  For example:

     If you think any of these are rules in our class, put a check mark in front of the rule.

__ Students should be on time.

__ Students should not eat in class.

__ Students should raise their hands to ask                       questions. 

__ Students should turn off their cell phones                      during class.

I was so surprised; each student thought the class had a different set of rules.  For the most part, they thought they could be a little late… and I agree.  As for food, we decided no hamburgers and french fries, but drinks were allowed.  Making rules is hard for me because I see so many exceptions.  If my student needs to work, then he can be late.  If they are hungry, they can eat.  It is hard for me to set rules.  I guess, I am glad that I took some time from grammar lessons to talk about classroom expectations.

Next, I had them write about what they would do if they were the teacher.  And let me tell you: they would be horrible teachers. One of my students would have pizza and music.  She would make the students dance the whole time, but she, as the teacher, would just laugh at them.  My other students were also not very helpful.  Except, there was some hope that my student, Jesus, could be a good teacher.  He would take the class to the swimming pool.  There, they would swim and talk about life.  I wish we could all go swimming that would be fun.  Even though we can’t go swimming, we are going to “talk about life” more.  As I teacher, I think we already do, but today Jesus is going to lead the conversation.  I want them all to feel like they own a part of the classroom.  Maybe we will start using Ebaby so that they can "talk about life" with their peers and without the teacher hearing.  I am excited for class now; they are engaged and now they know my expectations better.