A blog for the CALL lessons with my two 5th classes (2007-2008) at Esc EB 2,3 Sto. António - Parede, Portugal
Name: Teresa Almeida d'Eça
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Art Gallery 07-08
Dictionary: Audio Language Guide
Dictionary: Internet Picture Dictionary
Have Fun with English! 3
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MyChingo voiceboard
Today we will work with a new audio tool to send voice messages. It's very simple to use, I promise. And we'll be doing some interactive exercises.
Objectives
Students will:
Activities
1. Read the picture tutorial and text tutorial about the MyChingo voiceboard
2. Listen to two messages
3. Read a few text messages
4. Do interactive exercises: 1 (listening) & 2 (image & text)
5. Write a group message about the lesson
6. Record and listen to the message.
Let's look at the voiceboard tutorial.
| 1. This is the "voiceboard" |
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2. These are the two "messages" so far |
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| 3. These are the "Play" (= tocar) and "Stop" (= parar)buttons |
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4. To listen to a message, click on it and then click the "Play" button (once or twice) or double-click (two clicks) on the message |
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| 5. To leave a voice message, click on the "Leave me a message" button |  |
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6. A new window opens 7. Click "Record" 8. Click "Stop" when you finish 9. Click "Play" to listen to your message 10. Click "Send Message" if you like it, or click "Record" to try again (= para tentar de novo). VIP: You can also write the text of your message in the white area. |
Enjoy playing with this new tool or "toy"! And send me lots of messages!!! 
Classwork
5B: A group message written on the board with ideas from the students and copied into their exercise books. Mariana recorded it after a group rehearsal.
Hello, teacher Maru!
We are 5B. Thank you for your voice message. We like tody's lesson and the memory exercises in the Fun with English blog.
Bye-bye! Kisses from 5B
5A: A group message written on the board with ideas from the students and copied into their exercise books. FranciscoC recorded it after a group rehearsal.
Hello, teacher friends!
Thank you for your messages. Three are from Argentina. Wow!
The exercises are very funny and helpful! When the answers are correct, the octopus is green.
This CALL Lesson was very funny.
Goodbye! 5A
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Report
5B (21Feb)
Equipment: same as usual plus cable connection.
I started by showing the students how simple the MyChingo voiceboard is. They listened to the messages from me and Maru, in Mexico, and I told them that they would record their own message at the end of the lesson. They looked interested.
Then we went on to the interactive exercises. It's always a win-win situation. One student was at the laptop to do each exercise (four altogether) with help and hints from the class. They were very excited and participative both in English and Portuguese, the latter more than I would like. The first two exercises were listening exercises and most students easily understood the sentences I had recorded. Two matching exercises followed. They were based on images and text about school and classroom vocabulary just learned and enjoyed both activities. They didn't have any trouble.
It was time to write a than you message to teacher Maru and give feedback about the lesson. They wrote a group message that was recorded by Mariana (see above). They were amazed when they saw the voice message uploaded at the click of the mouse. And they had the chance to listen to it online before the bell rang.
5A (22Feb)
We started the lesson by singing "Happy Birthday" to FranciscoB. Here's a group of lively singers!
The 5A lesson was very similar way to the 5B lesson, however, they had new voice messages to listen to, because I sent out a message to the BaW08 list asking for volunteers to visit our blog and leave voice messages. Lorena (Argentina), Ronaldo (Brazil), Silvia (Argentina) and Maru (Mexico) collaborated, so 5A had a chance to listen to them and write and record their own message (see above).
Two curiosities: Both classes loved the color pictures, but not the black and white pictures in the exercises, and asked if I could change them. My reply: "As soon as possible!" This is the kind of feedback that I think is very positive, because a teacher's aim should be to create things that are attractive while generating learning (in a fun way, whenever possible). BTW, I knew the b&w pictures wouldn't be appealing, but I didn't have time to search for colored ones.
Both students that volunteered to record are average students who have progressed quite a bit, especially, Francisco, who has an extra hour with me each week. This shows how motivated they are about learning English and how their confidence has increased since the beginning of the year. It's really gratifying! 
Hi, Kids!
I found out about a new "toy" / tool - GIFup - to create animations and had to "play" with it.
Here are some of the tools we will work with in our CALL Lessons. Enjoy!
GIF animations generator gifup.com
Voicethread
During your second CALL lesson you will explore Voicethread (in "Have Fun with English! 3"), a tool for sending voice messages. You will listen to a few messages and learn "how to" send one.
Then you will explore both blogs: read messages from "you" and teacher-friends. And, though Christmas is over (= já acabou), you read a beautiful Christmas story sent by teacher Susanne and listen to Romanian carols (colinde) sent by teacher Dennis.
Finally, you will write a collaborative message with your "impressions" of this lesson, record it with Voicethread and listen to it before leaving the classroom.
In this lesson you will have the chance to use the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Objectives
Students will practice the four language skills by:
Activities
1. Listen to messages in "Voicethread" (FwE3)
2. Read a tutorial on "how to" record a voice message
3. Read messages/comments in both blogs
4. Read a Christmas story
5. Listen to Romanian carols (5, 12, 24, 25, 29)
6. Write a collaborative message
7. Record the message in "Voicethread" and listen to it.
Enjoy the lesson!
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Report
The main objective of this lesson was to introduce Voicethread, an audio tool for recording voice messages. I had started one over the weekend and was convinced that I understood the features of the tool after having inserted two photos (both of me, one with the title "Let's talk!") and recording an introductory message that I thought was linked to the title page. Two friends, Dafne and Dennis Oliver, also left messages prior to the lesson.
Anyway, I was wrong, as I found out in class. I didn't grasp the tool completely. And Internet connection problems during the 5B lesson didn't help at all. I got indications that the message wasn't being recorded, but it was. Then when I thought the recording had ended, because I had clicked the Stop button, it was still on and recorded an explanation that I gave the students about having to repeat the recording. Most of this, I believe, had to do with the erratic connection, because I spent the whole 5B lesson changing from wireless to cable connection.
With 5A I didn't have trouble with the recording, but I did have problems with inserting the recording where I wanted it to be. Better yet, I was under the impression that the recording wuld be inserted in chronological order and linked to the title page. It wasn't. Due to all these problems, but, above all, due to the fact that I didn't feel it was easy and intuitive enough for beginner EFL students, I put it aside. However, I didn't delete it. Everything is there to show how things didn't work the way I planned.
The students listened to a couple of Romanian carols and found them nice, though a bit strange, especially because they are sung by an adult choir. Though they didn't understand the text of the Christmas story, we talked about the animated pictures and they saw a simulation of an online book on the Web. They loved it.
Another activity they enjoy is reading or listening to new messages. They love seeing their own messages and reading those of colleagues. And they love writing group messages and then recording them. Emilia volunteered to record the 5B message and Juliana recorded the 5A message. It's cute to observe their expressions when listening to their recordings. It's a mix of shy and proud to have their voice on the Internet.
Naturally, the 5B lesson didn't run on wheels and wasn't what I had expected in terms of voice tools. On Friday the 5A lesson went great in terms of cable connection (very stable) and the kids enjoyed it. However, I still didn't empathize with Voicethread. But we always learn, or should learn, from our mistakes. And that's what I did. I immediately decided to look for another voice tool that would be as simple as possible for my students to use in class or at home.
The My Chingo voiceboard was my favorite among the tools I explored: Audio Dropbox, Chinswing, Daft Doggy, Evoca, Gabmail, Springdoo, Talkr, Twitter, Vaestro, Viewpoint, Voki and Yackpack. None had the simplicity of the Voiceboard: 1) click the "Leave a message" button, 2) leave your name and email (not shown), 3) record your message with the possibility of leaving the text version, 4) play it back and re-record if you're not happy, and 5) click "Send" to have your message uploaded to the voiceboard (with your name) in a matter of seconds ready to be heard before the kids leave class. And since the messages are all stored and visible in the voiceboard, anyone can play any message, anytime, anywhere by double-clicking on the name. I gladly got a one-year paid subscription. My students deserve it.
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