Compelling Conversations » YouTube homework http://compellingconversations.com/blog Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics for ESL learners and teachers Sat, 18 Feb 2012 04:22:03 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Do You Really Use Youtube in Your EFL Classes? How? http://compellingconversations.com/blog/2009/06/07/do-you-really-use-youtube-in-your-efl-classes-how/ http://compellingconversations.com/blog/2009/06/07/do-you-really-use-youtube-in-your-efl-classes-how/#comments Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:49:04 +0000 Chimayo Press http://compellingconversations.com/blog/?p=244 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Do you use You Tube in Your EFL classes? How?

Absolutely!

Like so many other English teachers, I begin teaching with student interests and habits in mind. Of course, I also want to take them from the old and familiar to new and unfamiliar while improving their English language skills. You Tube remains a powerful classroom tool to achieve that goal.

I’ve used YouTube to have students research job interview tips, stress patterns, pronunciation problems, and informational interviews. The results have been consistently positive as I have students write concise video reviews and email me their reviews for homework before the next class.

Then I slightly edit the reviews, watch the videos and add my own comments in blue ink, and combine the reviews into a single document that is emailed to all class members. “Use or lose” I say, but here are the reviews from your classmates. Result: almost every student watches every video recommended and spending far more time on the topic than I could allocate in class. It’s both popular and quite effective.

As English teachers, we are truly blessed to be working in the YouTube era.

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]]> http://compellingconversations.com/blog/2009/06/07/do-you-really-use-youtube-in-your-efl-classes-how/feed/ 3 Words of solace for a crammed semester http://compellingconversations.com/blog/2008/09/08/words-of-solace-for-a-crammed-semester/ http://compellingconversations.com/blog/2008/09/08/words-of-solace-for-a-crammed-semester/#comments Tue, 09 Sep 2008 05:46:51 +0000 Eric Roth http://compellingconversations.com/blog/?p=66 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are,” advised President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt. These words of solace often comfort me when I stress myself out trying to cram too much material into lessons.

How can I cover everything that I want in a single semester? It’s just impossible. For every new activity, I must let an old one go. If I add a Youtube homework assignment, than I should eliminate another homework assignment to maintain the balance.  For instance, I asked every student to find and review a YouTube video on interview skills so I had to cut the assignment where students found and summarize an article on job hunting skills.

As I continue to plan, adjust, and readjust assignments, I once again find solace in these words. Yet these continual curriculum revisions remain voluntary tasks in pursuit of excellence.  “A problem,” noted Duke Ellington, “is a chance for you to do your best.”

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