Keep Calm and Teach English

An Advent calendar is a special calendar used for counting the days of Advent in anticipation of Christmas. Many Advent calendars take the form of a large rectangular card with "windows", one for each day of December leading up to and including Christmas Eve (December 24). Consecutive doors are opened every day leading up to Christmas, beginning on December 1. The calendar windows open to reveal an image, a poem, a portion of a story, or a small gift, such as a toy or a chocolate item. The advent calendar that follows is a digital one. There is a new activity behind each door, from crossword puzzles and short stories to filling in Christmas songs lyrics and making easy Christmas crafts. The doors open only on the relevant day so they can be a real surprise. I have been making online advent calendars since 2016 and every year I change some of the activities. This year I have included two Kahoot quizes which can be played with the whole class on mobile phones if your sc

The goal of s ummative assessment is to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark and provide them with a grade or mark. photo by  athree23 The goal of formative assessment  on the other hand, is to monitor student learning and to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. Students can but don't have to be graded for the learning activity. Constant feedback on student performance is crucial for students to enhance their learning. By reflecting on their learning they become aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Good assessment tools can engage students in their learning especially if they are enjoyable instead of stressful. And we all know that if learners are engaged, they become more responsible for their learning. Formative assessment is an essential part of the learning process and student success, so it is a

Every day, whether we want to or not, most of us contribute to a growing portrait of who we are online; a portrait that is probably more public than we assume. Our digital footprint is all the stuff we leave behind as we use the Internet: comments on social media, app use, photo sharing, email records, the list goes on- it’s part of our online history and can potentially be seen by other people, or tracked in a database. photo by pexels-2286921 Everyone cares about their reputation, but many students (and teachers) don’t realise that what they do online can impact their digital footprint, permanently. How can our digital footprint become a problem? In the best case scenario, it helps employers look into your background and advertisers track your movements across multiple websites. Refusing to be a part of the online world is not always a solution so it is important for teachers and educators to advise students about the rights and responsibilities they have as digital citize