Twitter is useful. Click on photos to learn...

Here is my PLN, and people who I follow on twitter. Twitter is a good way of having a portable workshop and of sharing ideas and "discoveries" with people who have the same interests.

CLOZE· EXERCISES al instante...

Preparing cloze from any text is pretty easy via this toolbar. you can generate all sorts of workstuff from any text, and avoid the tedious work. Great for preparing students for Cambridge Exams... FERE schools, take notice!

This tool, Teachers Pet, has a free and paid version... both interesting.

Math Resources in English...

Clicking on this will take you to a HEAP of math information aimed at secondary students. SOME IWB stuff on there.

Here is some stuff for smartboard and prometheum for primary, and here is a general iwb page with various resources including primary math.

Classtools.net easy to make games. (actividades en inglés)

In classtools.net there are easy to make vocab games and "actividades en inglés."
Here is a vanity game (all about us) but in the web page you can make your own games very easily... great for early finishers, or study tools... you can set up stations in class if you want.

Click here for full screen version

Pizarra Digital Interactivo con wii: version windows xp, vista

If you have windows, an appropriate Bluetooth stack,a wiimote, an ir pen and a projector, you now have an interactive whiteboard. (without the projector, you only have a tablet pc or a really, really, really big virtual wacom-type tablet.) For more in-depth information, I set up a "mind-map" presentation here. Follow the arrow and you can get an overview on the whole process.

(uh, you have your whiteboard as soon as you download THIS SOFTWARE, and make sure you have at least SP 2 (xp only), and the .net 3.5 framework.)

Leave a comment or contact me if you have any questions...

We will be giving a *free* workshop on making this and giving the necessary IR leds to teachers in any schools we perform in.

Good ideas should be spread.

You don't always get better quality paying more.

Two fundamental ideas of Fifth Business.

BIS...

Same video just to compare vimeo and youtube now that you can embed in hd...

videos: Artist in Residence

A trailer of the show "Artist in Residence."

artist in residence trailer, www.fifthbiz.com from matt ledding on Vimeo.

An uncut video to show the language content used with these 6 year olds.

5 minutes sin corte from matt ledding on Vimeo.

New Video, Perception and Deception

Resource: Simple Machines in English

This is a resource for teachers teaching Science in English. An interactive activity that teaches science concepts in simple English words.

My first instructable, a simple IR pen.

Minimalist IR pen: no soldering, under a minute, under a dollar. - More DIY How To Projects

Sproutbuilder Back?

SPROUTBUILDER(DOT)COM


A story in past simple:

They offered a great new service to build widgets in flash.
They became very popular.
They suddenly decided they wanted everyone to pay large fees to use their formerly free service.
They lost their user (some would say FAN) base.

This week I received a message from them. They offered me the three free sprouts I had made without charges.

So the free sprouts are back, it seems, for whoever wishes to sign up.

Better not have anything important on them, though, because they seem to change their mind very quickly and that does not fill one with confidence on using their very excellent service. www.wix.com offers a similar service, and don't seem as arbitrary.

In the meantime take a look at both sites to make mini web pages with no programming.

(Sort of) Trading Euros for Dollars.

This is a fantastic program to project onto a whiteboard: it creates a visual background for language.

Imagine dividing the classroom into groups, coming up with strategies to solve the problem, and voting for the most elegant solution. Or in small classes, one person tells another what to do...

You can focus the language at whatever level you are on: conditionals, present simple vs. continuous... whatever. Students should be motivated by the openness of the game to produce language that pushes their boundries of production.

Above all, "Thinking in English" is not one single goal, but two goals. They have to think first... and a memorable visual background with a puzzle to solve is a good hook for memory.

Although a video game is different than a live performance, both projects follow similar principles of visual puzzles, and interactivity, and can motivate and create good memories in English, But... I can't compete with its price. Hmm. Maybe I should delete this entry. (or at least not mention the webpage http://www.crayonphysics.com/)

Or I could offer a discount of 20 euros off the price of our show to any school that buys the program. (at 20 dollars American... )

If you can't beat them, join them.

miralba

http://miralba.org/archivos/mago_matt_primaria_07.png

Here is another example of performing space, the classic stage.

This is one of the few times I did "Artist on Residence" on a stage... that is... without having the students on the stage as well.

This is the Colegio Miralba, which has a write-up on the show here:

 

http://miralba.org/archivos/primaria/001336.shtml

They build submarines!

In the Politecnico Cartagena, I had a lovely time.
It is a high school I would have enjoyed: they build fully functional models of submarines, and have made a C3P0 that is an actual working robot. (the link on the title of this entry goes to their web page.)

The staff, as you can see with the English teachers in the photo, are not at all shy, and do an excellent job "in the trenches". (I get to run in for one day, have fun with the students, and avoid the discipline problems and the meetings with angry parents. Que cara tengo.)

In Madrid

Here is a room with accoustic challenges... a square room and a pillar in the center.

I took the corner, to minimise direct echo, putting students on two sides.
I put the sound as close as possible as the students, and low to the ground.
This kept the echo down as they absorbed the sound.

Perception in Paterna... check out this space.

This is a very well designed theatre space... with the possibility of HORRIBLE acoustics, the walls were corklined and the ceiling lined with cloth. No echo, no need to put myself in a corner to minimize feedback. What a pleasant surprise.

Congratulations to the local administration in making the space so functional.

How to destroy your marriage making a bad "Speak and Spell"

Ok... I didn't quite destroy my marriage. (I did test my wife's patience quite a bit, though.)

Anyways. Some ideas are better than others.

This is a casiotone keyboard that I rewired to speak the phonetic alphabet.

I wanted to make it speak with juggling balls.

HOWEVER... the problem is that recorded sounds are phonetic, rather than phonemic. (they are mere echos, not meaningful chunks) It is extremely difficult to make a real word sound, let alone a natural sentence. Texas Instruments modeled the vocal chords with their "speak and spell" as seen in "E.T" to make something recognizable, if not very human. I can't put the logic units in without attacking the whole sound puzzle idea I had in the first place. (... and spending a lot of time making a 25 kilo speak and spell. Any programmers rise to the challenge of making some software?)

The good news is, I did invent a new musical instrument that I can play with juggling balls that doesn't merely rely on a sequencer to make the music. (Menendez has one like that... it doesn't matter where he hits, the programming only uses one basic trigger. That is for sissies. It looks really cool, but is for sissies. Sissy, sissy, sissy.)

The bad news is that I need to find time to learn to play and program it... and it weighs a ton. (so that the bouncing balls don't move it.)

I am a firm believer that the quality of a show is shown by the amount of good ideas you throw away making it... and this is an idea that is just "on hold" for a while longer.

Next year, Eurovision will be mine.

Artist in Residence Proyecto.

This is the Artist in Residence didactic guide.
Click on it, and use it like a magazine to read it.

-

Proyecto didactico para secondaria del espectaculo en ingles, "Perception and Deception."

Here is the project, in Castellano, for the show. Click to see the booklet...

Open publication - Free publishing

Teatro en inglés con estudiantes.Drama... mounting a full stage play (2)

If you are looking at doing a theatre project, and need to make stage props, you can get a look at stage design with an excellent, concise book on Design:

Scene Design: A guide to the stage
written and illustrated by Henning Nelms.

This 96 page booklet gives information on creating professional sets on minimum budget, and avoiding common mistakes. You can order it from Dover Publications who change a bit for the shipping from the US, but who sent my last order (which included this book, and a whack of great young learner stuff) in VERY quickly... under a week and a half.

Their bargain bin has some treasures worth digging through as well for young learners or people doing "teatro en inglés" They also have an excellent magic section, including the Bill Tarr book, which is great for age 8-13 (or even adults looking for a base in Magic.)



Gives