Category Archives: General

AI App Smashing for a Farewell Message for my Students and my new Workshops on AI

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One of the best things in life is loving what you do, and I have been very lucky in that respect.

Can you guess? I have 33 years’ experience under my belt (OMG, am I that old?) and when I started, we could only teach with a textbook and a chalkboard. Computers in the classroom? Not found!  And guess what? I had a blast with just those! So, I am not going to tell you to ditch the book altogether, I am going to suggest blending it with a bit of tech.

Back to my story: After some years, cool educational apps started popping up.  But though I tried and used lots of websites and created tons of digital activities, using them was never enough for me, so I used them, yes, absolutely, but in such a way that allowed me to combine traditional teaching and these new fancy tools to add colour and modernize teaching. Guess what? I realized that incorporating those new apps only added to my lessons.

And now all the fun is Artificial Intelligence. And I have hopped on board, too! Let me tell you; if I can do it, you can do it too.  Let me guide you through blending tech into your lessons for maximum fun, both for you and your students. Check my new catalogue full of AI workshops. ‘Cause trust me!  AI isn’t going anywhere—it’s here to stay and you, as a teacher, cannot be left behind. It’s not just learning about AI apps and productivity, though – it’s about learning how to integrate AI seamlessly into your lessons

So, what are you waiting for? Check out my workshops and get ready to level up your teaching game with AI.

https://ccd.my.canva.site/iacabal

Oh, and don’t forget to check out the little goodbye video I made for my students using 5 or 6 very easy AI technologies. I loved creating it, and I’m pretty sure they did too, but who needs confirmation when you’ve got laughter in the air, right?

Get Out of Your Seat! Engaging Peer Correction Activity for the Classroom

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This activity is simple but oh! so good! Here’s a neat idea for improving students’ writing skills with zero prep and a bit of movement. Let’s have students proofread each other’s work! They’ll learn heaps by giving and getting feedback!   And yes, you also have to do something! After all, you are the teacher. 

This is an activity you can do with any level. Highly adaptable. What’s not to like, then?

One of the things that worries me the most ,as the end of a course approaches, is the fear of not having dedicated enough time to a specific language skill and having favoured others. I don’t know if you feel the same way.

It’s true that I try to incorporate activities that integrate multiple language skills to ensure a holistic approach to language learning. However, I know that for some skills, it’s not enough. One of these skills is writing. It seems like there’s never enough time in class to stop and write. That’s why, many times, I assign my students the task of answering one of the questions we discuss orally in writing, usually as homework.  It helps them reinforce vocabulary and, of course, ideas. And that’s only half of it. In this activity, I’ve included peer correction to encourage students to reflect not only on their own mistakes, but also their peers’.

Homework Assignment
  •  After discussing a set of conversation questions in class, ask students to choose one or two and, at home, write a paragraph answering the question(s). Encourage the use of a wide range of vocabulary and structures.  Ask students to write on separate sheets of paper using their best handwriting.
In Class
Round 1
  • Collect students’ assignments and put them up on the walls of the class (gallery style).
  • Assign each pair of students, a piece of writing, ensuring it is not their own. ask them to grab a pencil.
  • Students should now stand up, read their assigned piece of writing, and spot any spelling or grammar mistakes in the text. Encourage discussion about why each identified mistake is incorrect and how it could be fixed, but students cannot attempt to correct the mistake on the piece of paper, just underline it using a pencil.

Round  2.
  • Give the students something to work on, like textbook exercises or an oral expression task. And now, teacher, it’s your turn to work. Correct the written exercises on the wall in this manner.
  • Take a coloured pen (red, green, pink… etc )
  •      if students have correctly identified the mistake, put a tick.
  •      if students have underlined something  thinking it was a mistake but it is correct,          write ” it’s OK”.
  •     If you spot any other mistakes, correct them.
Round  3
  • Students, again, stand up in their pairs and analyse the written expression that they have corrected, paying attention to the annotations made by the teacher.  This will allow them to see where they have identified the error correctly, where they have made mistakes, and they will also be able to see the errors corrected by the teacher that they did not identify.
Round 4
  • This is the final step. Students take the piece of writing they have corrected from the wall and find the student who has written the text, explaining the corrections made.

Let’s hope that by making them reflect on common errors, they will be able to get rid of them

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Stop Typing: Transcribe your Audio and Video Files for Free

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Freemium but with a robust free version, transcribing audio or video, downloadable in different formats and much more.  This little, easy-to-use speech-to-text AI tool is making my life way easier!!

Picture this: in one of your folders in your computer desktop or Google Drive, you find the perfect audio/ video that fits like a glove in the lesson you are teaching, but…. no transcript available. It sucks, huh??

No sweat! I got you covered! TurbosScribe.ai is just what you need!!!

Important:  Although it might look like a paid ad, it is not. None of my posts are sponsored. I just write about what works for me.

Why I like it
  • Freemium, but with a robust free version: 3 transcriptions/day
  • It transcribes and translates with amazing accuracy 98 languages
  • You can upload video or audio files from your device or paste the URL from YouTube and other platforms
  • Transcripts can be downloaded in various formats: PDF, DOCX, TXT, and even subtitle formats (SRT).
  • You can enable and disable timestamps in the transcript view. This will hide or show the timestamps in the transcript document.

Watch the video tutorial below if you feel like you need some extra help getting started.

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The Animal Kingdom: A Multi-Skill Lesson Plan for C1 Students

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Packed with engaging activities, this lesson plan about the animal kingdom is going to become your favourite. Trust me!!!

Have you noticed that it seems like everyone’s got a furry friend these days, and not so many babies? Parks are full of dog walkers, not strollers, you know what I mean? This is one of the things we’ll talk about in this lesson.

I was actually planning to publish this when I was not so busy with classes and teacher’s sessions, but I could not wait to get this into your hands because it is a lesson that worked really well. So before I forget, here it is! A lesson plan for C1 students about the animal kingdom and endangered species.

What you will find in this post is:

  • 2 Warm-up Activities
  • Revising and introducing the name of some animals
  • Vocabulary to talk about endangered species
  • Personalized Listening Comprehension
  • Grammar Game: Impersonal Passive
  • Out of their Seats: Controversial statements + some help
Warm-Up One: Sparking Discussion

If you have been reading me for some time, you know how much I like to play with IA, so to engage my students and spark discussion I have generated this image using Microsoft Designer.

In my experience, displaying the image is enough to create debate, but in case you need it, here is some help.

Question: It’s interesting to note the trend of more people opting for pets over having children. What do you think are some of the factors driving this shift in lifestyle choices?

Follow-up Questions: Have you observed this trend in your own social circles or community? How prevalent do you think it is? What do you believe are some of the advantages and disadvantages of having pets instead of children?

Warm-Up Two: Revising Animal Names Students already Know

Building upon prior knowledge is essential for effective learning, wouldn’t you agree?

In this spirit, I have asked my  C1 students to write a list of 10 wild animals excluding the usual : tiger, elephant, lion, zebra…. OK, you get it! I have given them one minute, and we have written the most interesting ones on the board, practising pronunciation.

Ready to revise and introduce some new ones?

Introducing New Vocabulary + Pronunciation
  • Endangered species
  • Threatened ,
  • On the verge of extinction
  • To become extinct
  • Deforestation
  • Habitat
  • Carnivore, herbivore, omnivore
  • Predator
  • food chain,
  • environmentalist,
  • ecosystem,
  • conservation effort,
  • global warming, recover,
  • vulnerable,
  • reforestation,
  • poach,
  • wildlife
  • to decline,
  • overhunt, overharvest, overfish,
  • To breed in captivity,
Helping Students pronounce better:

A word of warning: I forgot to insert some pauses in-between words, so you might need to stop the audio after each word. Sorry, but I realized once I was playing it for my students and I didn’t feel like doing it all over again.

ANIMALS VOCABULARY by cristina.cabal

Personalized Listening Comprehension
PDF here

Animals Listening comprehension by cristina.cabal

If you are wondering why I like using AI so much, I think this lesson is a good example. Most of the time, I am pressed for time and I don’t feel like trawling the internet or the hundred books on the shelves of the English department looking for the right listening comprehension, so now, I just create my own listening comprehension activities with the vocabulary that is relevant for my students. In this case, I have asked ChatGPT to create the text and then used Eleven Labs to read it. Easy-peasy!!

Grammar: Animals: Fact or Myth? Working with Impersonal Passive
Grammar and exercises here

That was fun.

  • I divided the class into teams and asked Team 1 to choose an animal. A representative read the sentence aloud and all teams – and this is really important-have to work  on their notebooks writing two impersonal passive sentences for each statement. Give them about  2 minutes to write both sentences. For example:

People believe that opossums are hanging by their tails.

  • It is believed that opossums are hanging by their tails
  • Opossums are believed to be hanging by their tails
  • When time’s up, ask the representative for Team 1 to read both sentences. If both are correct, Surprise!!!!! they’ll  get 1 point. If they are wrong or one of them is wrong, shout “NO” and the first team to raise their hand have the chance to say the correct sentence and get 1 point. Click on the PASSIVE button in the infographic to check it.
  • Now, back to Team 1. Ask, do you think the statement is a fact or a myth? Hover over the picture to read the answer.

 

 

Speaking: The Three Corners.
Material: Posters
Cards: here and here
  • Take 3 pieces of paper and write the following words on each: “I AGREE”, “I DISAGREE”, and if you have many students, “I AM UNSURE”. Place these papers in different corners of your classroom.
  • Explain they will see a poster with a debatable statement about animals and they will need to choose the corner that best represents how they feel about the statement.
  •  Explain that in their corners, they will need to talk about the reasons for their choice and develop strong arguments to support their opinion, as they will be challenged by students with opposing views. Encourage the use of vocabulary.
  • Give them enough time to come up with their own arguments to justify their position.
  • After a 10-minute discussion, ask students from both corners to face each other.
  •  Battle: This is the part I like best. Ask students to choose someone from the opposing corner. Pair them up and tell them they have 5 minutes to try to convince each other, using strong arguments,  to switch corners. For drama, ask them to use the phrase: “I challenge X”.

Note: Again, using AI, I have helped my students with some ideas to support their opinion. Of course, this is entirely optional, but I felt my class needed some modelling to get started. Here you’ll find the cards for two of the statements. Animal testing here and Animals in circuses here

I know writing is missing from this lesson plan. Keep posted! It’s coming!

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Chatbots to the Rescue: 8 Time-Saving Ideas for Busy ESL Teachers

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  1. Imagine having a tireless, always-available language tutor for your students – that’s the magic of chatbots! Can they replace teachers? Of course not! They are never ever going to substitute teachers. But, can they help students when teachers are not available? There you have it!  Chatbots are fun, interactive, and students can practise anytime, anywhere.

I tried and tested my first chatbot  in early February and wrote about it here. They worked so well that I have been on a creation spree, designing and testing chatbots for different purposes.

Ready to see my chatbots in action? Below these lines, you will find a cool interactive infographic below  -created with Genial.ly-  showcasing eight ideas to use chatbots in your classroom.

Here’s a sneak peek of what you’ll find:

  • Practice Conversations: Role-play everyday scenarios like ordering food or asking for directions with an anonymous chatbot, or talk about the environment with King Charles III.
  • AkAInator chatbot. A fun and engaging chatbot where students guess worldwide characters using yes/no questions. Enhances critical thinking and deductive skills
  • Grammar Drills: Get personalized feedback on sentence structure and verb tenses.
  • Pronunciation Perfection: This chatbot serves as a personal language coach, focusing on enhancing pronunciation through interactive practice and instant feedback. Ideal for integrating into language lessons to boost students’ confidence and accuracy in speaking
  • Grammar Quiz. Let chatbots design personalized quizzes based on learned material. Include explanations for correct and incorrect answers to aid in comprehension.
  • Topic-Related Conversations suggesting target vocabulary. This chatbot enhances vocabulary and grammar through interactive dialogue on travel topics, offering instant feedback and tailored suggestions
  • Interlinguistic Mediation. A language practice chatbot focusing on summarizing and paraphrasing Spanish texts about the environment into English. Enhances language proficiency and comprehension through guided practice. Teachers can use it to support students in improving their language skills.
  • Giving Feedback on Book Reviews. Students will write or paste their book reviews here and the chatbot will provide personalized feedback.

How to use the infographic. Click on the three dots to expand the Genial.ly and then hover over the texts. The text in bold will take you straight to the chatbot, and +info will explain what the chatbot does. Enjoy!!

 

I have used Mizou to create the chatbots. Mizou is surprisingly user-friendly, and I’d love to help you get started. Imagine the possibilities: personalized practice for specific topics, grammar drills that fit your curriculum, even cultural guides for exploring different customs!

Intrigued? Shoot me an email at cristina.cabal@gmail.com and let’s chat about how to bring chatbots into your classroom.

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