Dynamic Dyptych

The saying goes that a photo's worth a thousand words. True enough, but as a creative source, there's even more value to be found when two images are presented together as a dyptych.

Winter (Varanasi India) by Ahron de Leeuw

Fun Show and Barbecue 12th July 2008 033 by Beachcomber1954

First Ideas

How related or distinct the images are is up to you. Once students are familiar with the dyptych concept, let them create their own to work with; the amount of guidance or restriction you run with is yours to decide - just as it is when you do the creative work of making a dyptych yourself. You might want to consider:

• Teaching aims - e.g. descriptive terms, present continuous for current actions, comparatives, themed discussion ...
• Titles - include or not; the difference they make; creating suitable ones; copyright requirements on reverse if appropriate
• Connective contrast - apparent/subtle < > similarity/difference
• Surrealist approach- random selection, any connection comes only from the viewer's imagination
• Theme - social commentary, activity, cultural difference, pastimes, location, behaviour ...
• Narrative - description, explanation, expectation, before and after, what happens next ...
• Dialogue - what do they say?, scriptwrting scene from a play, 
• Role playing - re-enactment, re-creation, 

Your turn

Have you ever used a dyptych? 

• What did you do?
• What worked? 
• What went wrong insight and opportunity for new ideas did you encounter? 

Encyclopedic Math(s)

Jeff Haden's reflective piece, 5 Things You Should Say to Your Colleagues Today, aims to make the workplace a more encouraging place for people to be. With a bit of creative licence, the ideas he presents reduce to the following equations:

• praise them < (praise them) ^ retrospectively
• help me = indirect praise
• say sorry = sorry + why - but
• help them = (time free + offer help) · (collaborative - patronizing)

First ideas

• Write mathematical summary of a text
• Sideways entry to covering mathematical symbols
• Venn sort logic & algebra symbols
• Building stages of interaction patterns
• For logical & abstract learners
• Offbeat summary technique
• Differentiated task for FFs
• Use with big data scientists

Basic maths symbols

Basic Maths Symbols at rapidtables.com

Newsflash

Quickly read Encyclopedia Britannica to stop printing books. Which of the following are true? Discuss.

• Encyclopedia Brittanica > Wikipedia
• Wikipedia ≠ Encyclopedia Britannica
• Encyclopedia Brittanica = fact
• Wikipedia = fiction

Creative Commons Magic

Everyone knows that photos are a wonderful resource in teaching, so I've made searching through the Creative Commons on Flickr a regular habit.

Creative Commons on Flickr

The advantage with using photos from the Creative Commons is that they have a less restrictive copyright than usual, meaning you can more likely use them without fear of the owner calling in the copyright police. 

Important though, is to actually follow the image owner's copyright requirements. If you choose only to search in the Attribution section of the Commons, then all you have to do is make clear who took the photo. A click through link is best of all, otherwise include where the photo is hosted, in the following case, on Flickr.

My Magical Room by Maggie-Me on Flickr 

Best of all though, is that the images you find are often more interesting than a lot of the 'protected' copyright stuff. 

Idea

If you had your own magical room, what would you put in? Add a comment below if you feel like sharing ;)

Mystery Tool

A Tool for Capturing Inspiration is another nice idea from part of the AlliedSignal (Honeywell) website. The written description omits to say what the tool actually is, and the inline weblink to the cited source no longer works. Added to this, the language used avoids giving the game away. There is however, an accompanying photo, and google does quickly point to the original article Clive Thompson on Capturing Aha Moments in Wired, but what are we to make of it all? The image doesn't match up to the source. Intriguing.

First Ideas
This text can:

• be a standalone task on descriptive (script)writing
• point to the original article for further exploration
• open up vocal < > textual dis/advantages
• slide into the theme of media manipulation

Get Creative

Can't wait to use this list of Twenty Rules of Thumb for Creativity. Sources include one idea each from Einstein, Lao Tzu and Aristotle, and two from Jonas Salk; there's also one instance of repetition. One or both of these themes provide a way into the list for learners. The list has been put up by someone from AlliedSignal (now Honeywell).

First ideas

• An ordering task for relevance / perceived importance / usefulness.
• Use as preliminary task in a writing workshop, creative or otherwise.
• Getting pictures of Einstein and the others might work for some.

Who is Jonas Salk?!
Ha! Look at this teaser from google's returned search:

Jonas Edward Salk (October 28, 1914 – June 23, 1995) was an American medical researcher and virologist, best known for his discovery and development of ...

Well, I guess you either know it or you don't. Me not know! Answers on a postcard ;)

Listen to this

The BBC World Service offers a superb range of radio programmes available as podcasts. The homepage is attractively laid out, with programmes ordered either by genre or A-Z. Each programme has an icon image, title and one sentence description, making the task of selecting a suitable podcast really quite manageable.
Value
The value for EFL learners seems clear, for example:

• Exposure to themed presentations and discussions on contemporary issues with an international flavour
• Building vocabulary
• Developing listening skills
• Dealing with a range of English accents

Strategy
There are a few issues that prospective listeners to BBC World Service podcasts need to deal with:

• BBC iplayer - can be tempermental in my experience, doesn't seem to work on all browsers. Make sure you can resolve these issues before rolling out in the teaching session.
• Seven day availability - there is no archive! Podcasts are avaible for download, but for a seven day window only. I'm trying to build the habit of checking for content on a weekly basis.
• Selection - even though the podcast homepage is accessible, there is still the difficulty of choice to work through. Naming a genre, using a shortlist or setting a specific podcast could help; try running a review task of the whole index as a co-operative work; get learners to share favourites, descriptions, reviews, reasons, opinions - all this kind of stuff will be useful to build accessibility.

Selection
The Forum (45 mins) - an ideas discussion show with presenter and three speakers. I especially like the Sixty second idea to change the world item. For this, one of the featured speakers suggests a world changing idea - this will be somehow related to their talk. The presenter then leads a short exchange of opinions and ideas in response this with the other featured speakers. Listener interaction is encouraged via Twitter.
The whole thing is ripe for use in a teaching session, whether EFL or other. See this hacked out idea, 60 seconds: Change the World.

Comment
By no means have I investigated all of the World Service website or the content on offer, but recognize that this is a high quality resource to not only make use of in-session, but also to point EFL and other learners to and encourage their use of it. Do it!

Not flotsam nor jetsam

this title

Connector Text

Alina Tugend has an interesting article on called Are You a Connector? on SecondAct.com, which takes a term from Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point to describe people who have "... a truly extraordinary knack for making friends and acquaintances." It's not as if these people haven't been around for a long time, of course they have, since the beginning of time no doubt, just that suddenly people are able to see this character trait crystallize or coalesece around this term. (rephrase)
Classification
This is in seed status. Its focus on character makes it quite accessible no matter what profession or position you're in. Also, the playfulness of language lends itself to EFL sessions. I reckon it'll get used pretty soon, if only as a standalone reading text.
Ideas
Make Qs / tasks to help explore, deepen/develop understanding of the idea of a connector.
Find egs of connector practice in your own world - yourself or others; maybe easier to think of others first
coopetition - expansion of this idea
Playing with language
Combination - coopetition
Opposites - connector/disconnect; thinking in linear terms; super-connect;
Fear

Interviewers Interviewed

People applying for jobs at an executive level only ever face three questions; it's just that they come in different guises. At least, that's the assertion of George Bradt in his article Top Executive Recruiters Agree There Are Only Three True Job Interview Questions. There are all sorts of links off to diffferent places in the text to get further information, but really the whole thing only gains value from the insightful comment by bethharte: interviews are a two way process.
Classification
This has seed status and might not move form there for a while. I have it in mind to use as a reading text for a young business apprentice who is way above the rest of the EFL group, but for the moment am not sure how that works out.
Value
The interview questions are valid, more so those of bethharte's, and not necesarily just at executive level, maybe a little modification in relation to context shifting is required. Interview roleplays are clearly an option.
The comments generated throw up discussion opportunities such as unemployment figures, the role of HR, interview techniques, discrimination, getting v. doing the job, managing-up / insubordination. Chuck Nigash raises the issue of all the time consuming faff in the interview process, and of how he opted for being an entrepeneur.
More language focused issues are question forms, word-selection (there's a word for that), e.g. love, tolerate
Then there are the acronyms BRAVE and FIT that crop up on page 6 of the comments too.

Sex, Ideas and Human Evolution

Another TED talk classic! Just listening to the first five mins of Matt Ridley's When ideas have sex suggests a wealth of opportunities for utilizing it in teaching sessions.
Seed
The statistics, lexical chains and easy relation to business open it up to various of my current business English groups and suggest that it'll quickly get used in an EFL session.
Notes
facts and figures of growth

hand axe < > computer mouse

both designed to fit the hand
1 million year model
30,000 generations

one substance < > range of substances
+ range of ideas

combination, cumulative, accumulation, combinatorial,

mutations, different

inherit, lineages, evolution, handed down,

exchange, reciprocity, trade,

traditions

Lard

Initial Idea
Who killed Lard?
podcast, US, npr - public radio
health, diet, marketing strategies,
range of speakers, accents and quality of sound
flash podcast & transcript as online news article
food < > business

handful of comments relating to cultural aspects of US, e.g. the deep south


Speaking Extension
conversation starters & discussion prompts
http://www.teacherjoe.us/englishconversation.html

Keep your meeting on track

Aim
Learn language for chairing a meeting and keeping participants from digressing too far.

Basic Plan
Set up multiple for / against themed argument to allow focus on mechanics of meetings
Skills focus on useful language could be useful
Game - prompt cards for discourse behaviour in meeting & useful phrase 

Skills building

like this idea of integrating chair practice into context of teaching session as means of problem solving

building this skill within a longer term type of course

aimed more at students, though straightforward to adapt for business
http://www.tefl.net/esl-articles/chairperson.htm

Kind of okay, but not much further than the usual
http://esl.about.com/cs/onthejobenglish/a/a_meetphrases.htm

http://esl.about.com/od/businessspeakingskills/a/b_meetphrases_3.htm

English for meetings - Smith, G.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2163247/English-for-Meetings

looks useful, what will a closer inspection reveal though?

make phrasals -
http://esl.about.com/od/intermediate-collocations/a/Verb-To-Make.htm
several of these are useful


Video
air powered car docu trailer

http://vimeo.com/14290007

Ideas

'discourse stages in meetings' - get the right heading from the book

Handford, M. 2010. The Language of Business Meetings.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p77

Deflating the Air Car

Article

http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/environment/deflating-the-air-car/0

use extracts on:
first and second version of aircar; second has diagrams
paragraph on power returns

dis/advantages of compressed air cars

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressed_air_car

Rare minerals dearth threatens global renewables industry
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jan/27/rare-minerals-global-renewables-industry
print friendly
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jan/27/rare-minerals-global-renewables-industry/print

tag cloud

http://www.compender.com/search/label/tags
to put a limit on the number of tags shown

Precious gift, precious treasure

Would you dare to teach this lesson?
Could your class dynamic withstand it?
What value might it bring?
What difficulties might arise?


Stacey Kramer: The best gift I ever survived 3:18 video on TED.com

bible kingdom of god the precious pearl
- somewhere is a great animation of this, never grabbed the link, somewhere out in the ether

Lesson seeds

Having to knock up a scheme of work in a hurry, I came across some sketchy ideas from around this time last year. I have a feeling that I was under a similar time pressure then as well.

Despite being somewhat baffled by what I originally intended for the lessons to look like, I'm planning to run with one or more of them this term.

I have to confess a liking for this idea of lesson seeds. I find that the creativity needed for devising an interesting lesson doesn't match with the structured approach that the obligatory lesson plan calls for. I also like the idea that these seeds would probably lead to something different each time I come to use them. This creation of a generative set of criteria seems a much more effective way of approaching planning to me.

Does anybody else relate to an approach like this? Perhaps you could share some seeds.

Werner Herzog

- Fitzcarraldo - Aguirre, the Wrath of God -

Book Drum

 Book Drum is a database of ...

The structure uses a six point covereage of a given literary work, seven if you include the titlepage

• Titlepage
  
• Bookmarks: page-by-page commentary and illustration of the text
• Setting: description and illustration of the main places or themes of the book
• Glossary: foreign, invented and tricky words deciphered
• Summary: objective synopsis of the book
• Review: subjective analysis and evaluation of the book
• Author: biographical information, interview videos, links and photos
  

There's an annual tournament for entries into the Book Drum database. Could be used for small group work on one or more selected books. Nice theme for an ongoing project or structure to hang a course around.

Aha, closer look shows it's aiming mainly at set course books possible to select from books already offered for reviewing, or to introduce any book in publication after your choice. Which makes it all rather more than ok ;)

Lots of value involved in the whole thing.

Bionic Eyesight

Augmented Reality in a Contact Lens by Babak A. Parviz in IEEE Spectrum

A new generation of contact lenses built with very small circuits and LEDs promises bionic eyesight

Wikipedia - trust, consensus, fact

extract from Wikipedia to Color Code Untrustworthy Text in Wired Science
 drawing on the original feature by Hadley Legatt in Science Notes
... Text from questionable sources starts out with a bright orange background, while text from trusted authors gets a lighter shade. As more people view and edit the new text, it gradually gains more “trust” and turns from orange to white.

“They’ve hit on the fundamentally Darwinian nature of Wikipedia,” said Wikipedia software developer and neuroscientist Virgil Griffith of the California Institute of Technology, who was not involved in the project. “Everyone’s injecting random crap into Wikipedia, and what people agree with more often sticks around. Crap that people don’t like goes away.” ...

Web 2.0 ... The Web is Us/ing Us

Michael Wesch's YouTube video Web 2.0 ... The Web is Us/ing Us
- found via Steve Wheeler's article YouTube culture on his blog Learning with 'e's