docendodiscimus

Hard Spell

BBC genius to the fore again; entertainment + education (remember the BBC Charter?) . . . . Hard Spell is useful. Download the Hard Spell Master word List !

Last Word

Lost for Words
John Humphrys
Hodder and Stoughton
From empty cliche to meaningless jargon, dangling participle to sentences without verbs, the English language is reeling. It is under attack from all sides. Politicians dupe us with deliberately evasive language. Bosses worry about impacting the bottom line while they think out of the box. Academics talk obscure mumbo jumbo. Journalists and broadcasters, who should know better, lazily collaborate.
John Humphrys wittily and powerfully exposes the depths to which our beautiful language has sunk and offers many examples of the most common atrocities. He also dispenses some sensible guidance on how to use simple, clear and honest language. Above all, he shows us how to be on the alert for the widespread abuse - especially by politicians - and the power of the English language.

[clip thanks to Classicfm.co.uk]

Singularitynews

From Simon at Singularitynews
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Electric currents boost brain power

Connecting a battery across the front of the head can boost verbal skills, says a team from the US National Institutes of Health. The volunteers were asked to name as many words as possible beginning with a particular letter. Given around 90 seconds, most people get around 20 words. But when Iyer administered the current, her volunteers were able to name around 20% more words than controls, who had the electrodes attached but no current delivered.

Booksearch

The new Google Print service looks like a useful tool for checking and exploring English language usage . . . by searching within published books . . even if one has forgotten a title/author. I notice that the developers and digitisers are working closely with major publishers such as Oxford University Press.

Palin Himalaya

Just started on BBC1 TV in UK is Michael Palin's new "Himalaya". I am usually rather scornful of his jolly style but now he is approaching an expedition more seriously? What _has to be seen_ is his English teaching performance in a school in a far-off valley in Pakistan . . just on TPR parts-of-your-body . . . The camera work is out of this world.

p4c

re "engage"
http://www.p4c.org.nz/

Whether it is truth or beauty, friendship or fairness, what’s right or what’s real, philosophy deals with so many things that children love to discuss.Set these ideas and concerns in stories and novels written for children. Add to this the procedures of classroom inquiry based upon the philosophical tools of reasoning and imaginative exploration. Top it off with a teacher whose role is to develop and challenge the students thinking.

About

About.com article on Weblogs in Education is quite interesting.

What do you think are the Top 5 uses of weblogs in Education (Teachers/Educators)? How can educators incorporate weblogs in the classroom? Why should they?

Weblogs are a great communications tool and they are also a great way to organize information. From a teaching standpoint, they can be used as online classroom portals, discussion sites, filing cabinets for handouts and syllabi, collaboration spaces and personal portfolios. I think the easiest place to start is to use the Weblog as a homepage for a class to post homework assignments, links, discussion topics.

Total Physical

I keep finding gem pieces in the British Council/BBC e-newsletters. Take for example - > this TPR summary. It's so good. Thank you Richard Frost:

It is a lot of fun, students enjoy it and it can be a real stirrer in the class. It lifts the pace and the mood.
It is very memorable. It really helps students to remember phrases or words.
It is good for kinaesthetic learners who need to be active in the class.
It can be used in large or small classes. It doesn't really matter how many students you have as long as you are prepared to take the lead, the students will follow.
It works well with mixed-ability classes. The physical actions get across the meaning effectively so that all the students are able to understand and use the target language.
It doesn't require a lot of preparation or materials. As long as you are clear what you want to practise (a rehearsal beforehand can help) , it won't take a lot of time to get ready.
It is very effective with teenagers and young learners.
It involves both left and right-brained learning.

Unforgettable

"Dog = Cow" might not seem the most promising idea re learning Portuguese? But the Unforgettagble Languages site does deserve attention. I make this claim having seen Jeremy Taylor grasp, very gracefully and indellibly, the whole class of 20 student's names by this kind of association method . . [20 secs. for each student identity x 20 = all summed up in about 5 minutes]. It is an awkward artifice ? But if it fits the bill for naming/relationship building I'll have to find out more and start practicing. . . I do know that I'll never win one of those TV show memory competitions. I'd like to see some further details of the Rugby School experiment.

Chien Méchant

The BBC - British Council newsletter today did interest me . . . re Thornbury's approach http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/dogme.shtml