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tfunk
Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Location: Dublin, Ireland
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 Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 1:21 am Post subject: Material for classroom conversations - advice needed. |
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I'm experimenting with an idea and I'd love some feedback.
Check out TalkToTeacher
Would you use something like this in your classroom? Why/why not? |
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Whistleblower
Joined: 03 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 1:24 am Post subject: |
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It would be interesting but it depends upon the age you're teaching.
I would use the website for adult classes but for teens/young learners something more interesting for them. |
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tfunk
Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Location: Dublin, Ireland
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| Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 7:38 am Post subject: |
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| Whistleblower wrote: |
It would be interesting but it depends upon the age you're teaching.
I would use the website for adult classes but for teens/young learners something more interesting for them. |
Thanks Whistleblower,
I've made a few changes to make things clearer, and added a section for teens. |
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blackjack
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Location: anyang
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| Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 8:39 am Post subject: |
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Hi
Please don't take this the wrong way. But you might want to re-think the whole website design and some of the content.
Have a front page, an intro before heading off into the different sections, adult, teen, children (if you want). explain what the site is about and give suggestions on how to use it. Also I realise the site is new but there there is way too much blank space.
why do you have a hangul button? the only thing it changes is the column headings, if they can't read the headings they can't read the articles. The home button needs to be bigger and say home (or at least a nice big logo).
I don't like evil troll, and what is up with this "I totally disagree with the notion that euthanasia is great." great? wouldn't "a good idea" be a better word choice
once again sorry if it seems a little harsh but I can see what you are doing and i can see how it could possibly be used and really it needs work. Personally, i might just steal some articles from it but wouldn't actually use it as intended. That being said if you want some articles that have worked well with my adults I can give you them. |
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Hornet166616
Joined: 16 Mar 2010
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| Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 10:11 am Post subject: |
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| I think that there is potential with this idea. I agree with the most of the suggestions above, but I understand that this is just a start. I think that I would use a site like this for teaching content once it was more developed. |
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tfunk
Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Location: Dublin, Ireland
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| Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:18 am Post subject: |
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| blackjack wrote: |
Hi
Please don't take this the wrong way. But you might want to re-think the whole website design and some of the content.
Have a front page, an intro before heading off into the different sections, adult, teen, children (if you want). explain what the site is about and give suggestions on how to use it. Also I realise the site is new but there there is way too much blank space.
why do you have a hangul button? the only thing it changes is the column headings, if they can't read the headings they can't read the articles. The home button needs to be bigger and say home (or at least a nice big logo).
I don't like evil troll, and what is up with this "I totally disagree with the notion that euthanasia is great." great? wouldn't "a good idea" be a better word choice
once again sorry if it seems a little harsh but I can see what you are doing and i can see how it could possibly be used and really it needs work. Personally, i might just steal some articles from it but wouldn't actually use it as intended. That being said if you want some articles that have worked well with my adults I can give you them. |
Thanks blackjack,
Although it sounds corny, I actually appreciate negative criticism at this stage rather than saying 'everything's great'.
| blackjack wrote: |
| why do you have a hangul button? |
At some point, later down the road, the interface will be translatable into Korean. The article text and main content will still remain in English though.
| blackjack wrote: |
| I don't like evil troll |
Somebody has to play the devils advocate and represent unpopular opinions. I was thinking of issues like FTA etc. Also, I'm hoping to create controversy in order to encourage students to talk...not necessarily be p.c.
| blackjack wrote: |
| "I totally disagree with the notion that euthanasia is great." great? wouldn't "a good idea" be a better word choice |
My mistake, I forgot to delete that comment after testing.
The site is blank and that's because I want to experiment with different types of content before hard-coding a visual design. I'm taking an iterative approach to it's design; get feedback then change a little, get feedback then change a little. There's actually a ton of features I want to include, but I don't want it to be overwhelming (particularly if your first language isn't English).
| blackjack wrote: |
| explain what the site is about and give suggestions on how to use it. |
Golden advice. Thanks. |
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tfunk
Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Location: Dublin, Ireland
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| Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:20 am Post subject: |
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| I'm not a qualified teacher, and I've never taught mature students so if the pros could lend some advice I'd appreciate it. |
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blackjack
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Location: anyang
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| Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 6:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
blackjack wrote:
I don't like evil troll
Somebody has to play the devils advocate and represent unpopular opinions. I was thinking of issues like FTA etc. Also, I'm hoping to create controversy in order to encourage students to talk...not necessarily be p.c. |
Sorry by don't like evil troll, I meant the name why not call it devils advocate?
I notice you have changed the home button. I hate it when people use lower case letters for style (but that is just me). Also is it just me or is there two many different fonts
All so I have found students respond better to more light hearted articles. If an article is too controversial then people clam up because they don't want to offend anyone. I stay away from, drugs, sex, religion and North Korea. Ones I have used (I have around 50 of these)
Why DO women eat salads on a date
On a natural high in Vanuatu
have you found your soul mate
How to Follow British Table Manners
Breaking the shopping habit
How to avoid first date disasters
The BS about Workplace Bullying
Top 10 Fads of the Decade
Taller People Earn More Money
What the World Eats
I start each lesson with about five pre-reading questions, which I keep pretty fluid and open I try to direct questions at the quieter ones. Then I introduce key vocab and any idioms in the text. work through the text and then 5 or so post reading questions
Once again, I am just trying to be constructive |
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tfunk
Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Location: Dublin, Ireland
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 2:11 am Post subject: |
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| blackjack wrote: |
Sorry by don't like evil troll, I meant the name why not call it devils advocate? |
Done. Thanks!
| blackjack wrote: |
I notice you have changed the home button. I hate it when people use lower case letters for style (but that is just me). Also is it just me or is there two many different fonts
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Thanks. I'm working on making it more consistent. I uppercased the logo (except for 'talk to teacher' because I'm trying to use the 't' character for brand identity...maybe I'll change this).
| blackjack wrote: |
All so I have found students respond better to more light hearted articles.
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Light hearted, Agony Aunt, entries are in the pipeline.
| blackjack wrote: |
If an article is too controversial then people clam up because they don't want to offend anyone. |
I agree with you, though I think it varies somewhat on dynamics of the class. I have about five different conversational textbooks for the Korean classroom on my bookshelf and they all cover sex, drugs and other taboo subjects. Maybe the subjects are seen as more academic.
| blackjack wrote: |
Ones I have used (I have around 50 of these)
Why DO women eat salads on a date
On a natural high in Vanuatu
have you found your soul mate
How to Follow British Table Manners
Breaking the shopping habit
How to avoid first date disasters
The BS about Workplace Bullying
Top 10 Fads of the Decade
Taller People Earn More Money
What the World Eats
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These are awesome and are useful springboards for more involved conversation even though they are light. May I use some of these in the future? I'll credit you!
| blackjack wrote: |
I start each lesson with about five pre-reading questions, which I keep pretty fluid and open I try to direct questions at the quieter ones. Then I introduce key vocab and any idioms in the text. work through the text and then 5 or so post reading questions |
When the forum is on its feet I'm hoping people will contribute ideas as good as this. It'll be a wiki-esque way to create lesson plans around articles, topics etc.
| blackjack wrote: |
| Once again, I am just trying to be constructive |
Once again you rock! Thank you. |
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blackjack
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Location: anyang
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 2:50 am Post subject: |
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Here are some articles that you may want to use, some worked better than others, and some have been developed more than others but feel free to use.
http://home.blackjack17.operaunite.com/file_sharing_2/
password 0Hnw (case sensitive)
Good luck
One final thing. I have noticed that non-korean articles work better with adults while korean articles work better with children. |
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tfunk
Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Location: Dublin, Ireland
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 3:40 am Post subject: |
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| blackjack wrote: |
Here are some articles that you may want to use, some worked better than others, and some have been developed more than others but feel free to use.
http://home.blackjack17.operaunite.com/file_sharing_2/
password 0Hnw (case sensitive)
Good luck
One final thing. I have noticed that non-korean articles work better with adults while korean articles work better with children. |
I don't know what to say! These articles are perfect, very well designed. Thank you soooo much! |
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blackjack
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Location: anyang
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 4:19 am Post subject: |
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| No problem, if you see any improvements let me know. I know the earlier ones need work. |
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blackjack
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Location: anyang
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 9:35 pm Post subject: |
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You have kind of motivated me to do something similar, hope you don't mind
http://home.blackjack17.operaunite.com/webserver/content/
most of the links don't work but the materials do. It might be a bit slow because I am just using a home server |
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