Tag Archives: AI

Exploring the World of Work (with a little help from Brad Pitt!)

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Oh, this lesson sounds like it’s going to be SO much fun! I love how interactive and engaging it is—plus, who can resist Brad Pitt doing all sorts of jobs? Those who know me know that Brad Pitt is a constant in my life, and whenever I can, here he is—brightening my lessons or adding a little spice to the mix! And in this activity, how could I resist? 😄

By the way,  I used AI to generate the images. Hopefully, Brad Pitt won’t mind being used for educational purposes!

Step 1:  Vocabulary. The hard work.

handout

First up, hand out the vocabulary, guiding students to describe what jobs involve. Responsibilities, pros, cons, you know the drill! Here’s the handout I have used + it contains a QR code to help with pronunciation.

 

This is what I’ve done to introduce the vocabulary little by little

  1. I asked them to silently read all the information under the heading General Responsibilities.
  2. Then, I played the audio to work on pronunciation
  3. After that, I displayed the image of Brad Pitt performing a job, and they used some vocabulary to describe the general responsibilities this job involves.
  4. I repeated the same procedure for the heading Advantages and Disadvantages to ensure they were comfortable with all aspects of the vocabulary.

This is the image I have used for this part

 

Step 2: The Guided Game (a.k.a. Guess Brad's Job!)

Now for the fun part—and this one is guaranteed to get the whole class involved! Here’s the game plan and again we go from guided practice to free practice.

FROM GUIDED PRACTICE TO FREE PRACTICE.

HOT SEAT with a volunteer.

  • Pick a student to face away from the board (let’s call them the “guesser”).
  • Display one of the job images on the board for everyone else to see.
  • The rest of the class will give clues about the job, but here’s the catch—they have to use the vocabulary from the handout! So, instead of saying, “He works in a hospital,” they might say, “This job involves communication skills because you need to explain medical conditions clearly to patients.”
  • IMPORTANT:They must describe the job without mentioning the place of work or giving obvious clues! For instance, if Brad Pitt is playing a chef in the image, the student can’t say “restaurant,” but they can say things like, “This job requires excellent time management because you need to prepare things on time, and it can be physically demanding because you’re on your feet for long periods”.

Students will work together as a class, tossing out clues about the responsibilities, advantages, or disadvantages of the job, and the guesser has to figure out what job Brad is performing in the image! We’ll play a couple of rounds to give students the opportunity to use the language.

HOT SEAT in TEAMS

  • Divide class into 2 groups and ask a representative from each group to take the hot seat facing away from the board.
  • Give each representative a bell.
  • The whole class will now start giving clues about the responsibilities, advantages, or disadvantages of the job. The first representative to guess the job will score 1 point for their team.
  • Rules: they have to ring the bell every time they want to guess. If they make a mistake, they won’t be able to ring the bell again until the other team has had a chance to have a guess, too.

Here you have the rest of the images I have used.

Add a heading by cristina.cabal

Step 3: Free Practice in Pairs

Students will team up: one student will face away from the board while their partner looks at the image.

The goal is for students to dig deep into their vocabulary  knowledge to give accurate but challenging descriptions. This not only pushes them to be precise with their language but also forces them to think critically about the roles we see in different jobs.

Do you think this activity will work well for your C1 students? Are there any jobs you’re dying to see Brad Pitt doing? Let me know!

Step 4:  Personalization

Time to get students working in groups of 4 or 5. One student in each group will choose a job—it can be their real job or their dream job. The rest of the group has to figure out what it is by asking up to 10 questions.

Important: Encourage students to use their newly acquired vocabulary. Instead of asking simple questions like “Do you work in an office?” they could ask, “Does your job require strong problem-solving skills?” or “Is teamwork a key part of your role?”

This brings the lesson full circle, with students practising vocabulary while keeping the conversation interactive and personal!

Another activity further practising this vocabulary is coming. Keep posted!!!

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Challenge 3. Magic! from a YouTube Video, Create a Quiz on Google Forms or a Presentation on Google Slides

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Before I start, let me tell you that I’ve officially dubbed myself “The Free App Teacher” because every tool I share with you is either 100% free or comes with a super generous free version—perfect for teachers like us.

And you know how we’re always on the lookout for the next tool that can make our teaching lives easier and more dynamic, right? Well, this is Challenge 3, but hold on… it’s got a little twist. We’ve got two challenges using the SAME tool! Yes, that’s right. We’re about to take on two challenges with one amazing Chrome extension: Brisk Teaching.

Brisk Teaching is about to blow your mind with how easy it makes creating resources from just a YouTube video. In the quick and easy video (yes, it’s in Spanish, but trust me, you’ll follow along with no problem), I walk you through how in under 1 minute, you can generate either

1. A fully editable presentation in Google Slides
or
2. A fully editable quiz in Google Forms

And it’s all with just one click—seriously. It’s like magic!

How It Works

The first thing you need to do is install the Brisk Teaching Chrome extension. Don’t worry, I’ll show you how in the video. It’s super simple!

1.  Open the YouTube video of your choice (find something that’s relevant to your lesson).
2.  Open up the Brisk Teaching Chrome extension.
3. Now comes the fun part—choose what you want to create:
– If you need a presentation, click the “Presentation” button.
– If you’re in quiz-mode, hit Quiz instead.

And BOOM!  In seconds, you’ll have either an editable Google Slides presentation or a Google Forms quiz ready to give your students

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Challenge 1: Create a Google Slides Presentation with just One Prompt

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We all know how busy our days get. Between lesson planning, grading, and meetings, who has time to spend hours on presentations? Good news — I’ve got a solution that’ll save you time and energy!

I’ve started recording these super short video tutorials (in Spanish) to help busy teachers like us get our work done faster. I call them “Teacher Challenges” because I want to make the process fun, simple, and rewarding.

And don’t worry, these videos are quick, clear, and even if you don’t speak Spanish fluently, you’ll find them easy to follow.

Challenge 1: Create a Google Slides Presentation with ONE Prompt

Thanks to Magic School, you can create an entire Google Slides presentation just by typing a prompt. Yep, AI does the heavy lifting — you write a few sentences, and it generates the slides for you. It’s that simple and … free!

Watch the Video

In less than 3 minutes, you’ll see how to use AI to create a presentation with no hassle. Ready to take on the challenge?

Custom-Made Mind-Blowing Chatbots for Spoken Interactions

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It’s mind-blowing! Believe me!!! Artificial Intelligence, particularly talking chatbots, are reaching levels of excellence that are simply unbelievable. Have you ever imagined having a smooth, natural conversation with a robot? Think about all the help it can offer students when practising for speaking exams.  Play.ai, is an AI tool that lets you have smooth, natural conversations with a virtual voice assistant. They are super easy to use, they are fun,  students don’t even have to register, and they can download or share the conversation with their teachers.

More? More! Teachers can also create their own talking chatbots with or without cloning their voice..

The app

Just by chance, I bumped into this new tool that is just mind-blowing and scary at the same time. Play.ai uses advanced natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to interact with users. They understand what you say and respond in a way that feels friendly and engaging. And honestly, it is mind-blowing how natural they now sound and interact. It’s like having a super-smart chat buddy. Play.ai calls them AGENTS.

 How it works

Think of it like this: you ask your friend “What’s the capital of France?” and they say “Paris!” Play.ai works in a similar way, but it has access to a TON of information, so it can answer pretty much anything you throw at it. Plus, it can adjust its responses based on what you say, making the conversation feel more like you’re talking to a real person. For learning purposes, instead of asking about capitals, you can ask it to have a conversation about…climate change , extreme sports, education or maybe stereotypes. Take your pick!

Students: no registration needed

1. Interacting with a talking chatbot (agent) Easy! When you first come to their page, just click the icon and start talking. You will be amazed at how natural it sounds and how smoothly and naturally the conversation develops.

 

  • If you want to talk to another, more specialized “agent”, click on shuffle and choose the one you like best.
  • If you want to save a conversation, or you are a student and want to share it with your teacher, you click on the Share Recording button, and you’ll get a link to share. You can also download the conversation.
  • Give it a try now and tell me what you think. Here
Teachers: registration required to create your own chatbot

2. Creating your own agent to share with your students.

That’s where the fun is. How do you create your own agent?

  • Click on Create Agent and pick a voice, or clone your own voice; they just need 30 seconds of your voice. You can either record your own voice directly on the website or upload an MP3 file. In my case, I have cloned my own voice.
  • Give the agent a name and upload a picture or avatar.
  • You can choose the Agent behaviour (I’ll go for Super Chatty, but you can select professional or neutral)
  • And then, you need to customize your Agent with some relevant information and instructions. You can also upload a document with the knowledge you want the Agent to have. In my case, I have decided to give it these instructions

In bold, the information the chatbot requires and then, you will find my own instructions to create my chatbot.

You are a friendly neighbourhood English teacher, specializing in grammar, vocabulary, and all things English language related. You are programmed to interact with students in a supportive and engaging way.
GREETING MESSAGE: Hey there! Looking to chat and practice your English conversation skills, or do you have some grammar or vocabulary questions?

ADD CUSTOM KNOWLEDGE My AI assistant will have access to a vast database of English language knowledge, including:

  • Grammar rules: From verb conjugation to sentence structure, we’ll tackle those tricky grammar points together. Think of me as your personal grammar genie!
  • Vocabulary expansion: Want to spice up your word choice? We’ll explore synonyms, antonyms, and even idioms to make your English shine.
  • Cultural context: Language is more than just words. My AI will provide insights into English-speaking cultures, helping you understand everyday expressions and nuances.
  • Real-world examples: I won’t just throw grammar rules at you. We’ll use examples from movies, music, and everyday life to make learning fun and relevant.
  • Once it is ready, share it with your students. Ask students to interact with the chatbot and send you the link to give them feedback on their conversations.

NEGATIVE POINTS:

  • In the free version, students can interact with your custom chatbots for a maximum of 30 minutes per month.
  • At the moment, chatbots can only speak English.
Try my Own Custom-made Chatbots Cloning my Voice

I am sharing two links for two custom-made chatbots. Remember, it might not work if I have exceeded my 30 minutes/month. If so, try again next month, please.

  • with my cloned voice here
  • With a voice from their library here

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?