ESLweblog

This comes as no surprise to me. As a student and teacher, I much prefer online learning to F2F learning. The report on which this article is based can be found at http://foxyurl.com/7No.

GetEducated.com | U.S. Dept. of Education Finds Online & Blended Education More Effective than Residential Method Alone

Is online education as effective as face-to-face learning at the college level?

The U.S. Department of Education analyzed research studies undertaken from 1996 to 2008 that address this topic and has concluded the following:

1) Online education is more effective than face-to-face learning;

2) Online learning combined with some face-to-face learning (blended learning) is the most effective;

3) Face-to-face learning alone is the least effective method among the three types studied.

Take a look at http://foxyurl.com/70W and see if something doesn’t strike you as just a little odd.

What I’ve been posting as riddles (the JAR postings) would be more accurately described as puzzles or word games. I had students write their own puzzles today and they did extremely well. Here are two examples of what they created. After posting the puzzles, each group then invited the other students to ask yes/no questions about the words. The class (about 15 students) took just under ten minutes to guess each puzzle.

There are two sets of words:

• The first set of words have the same initial letter, and the second set of words rhyme.
• The first word of the first set (S1W1) is an activity. The first word of the second set (S2W1) is an illness or ailment, and it is related to S1W1.
• The second word is the first set (S1W2) is associated with the second word in the second set (S2W2).
• The second word in the second set (S2W2) is a place.

I am thinking of two words

• The first word has two syllables. The second word has one syllable.
• The first syllable of the first word rhymes with the second word.
• The second syllable of the first word is a place.
• The second word is related to fast movement.

• I’m thinking of two words that rhyme.
• The first word is a body part, and is a compound noun.
• The second word is something that can be eaten.
• Both words are for things that are hard on the outside.

Here’s a nice resource for those of you looking for authentic L2 input:

SACODEYL Corpus Search

The corpora are based on structured video interviews with pupils between 13 and 18 years of age. The interviews have been annotated and enriched for language learning purposes. Feel free to explore them on your own! Access to the corpora and the videos is free of charge. To watch the videos, please install RealPlayer.

Here’s a very simple activity I’ve done as part of a story writing module. This is based on one of the Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me program. In small groups, students think of three stories, two fictional and one that really happened to one of the group members. All stories should be somewhat unusual yet plausible. The group tells a summary of each story, just a few sentences, to the class. The class chooses which one is true.

The group finishes by telling the full version of the true story.

Perhaps they should have been given extra credit for their organization and communication skills.

The Columbus Dispatch : Flip-flop prank nets students suspensions

Flip-flop prank nets students suspensions
Saturday, May 30, 2009 3:15 AM

DAYTON DAILY NEWS VIA AP
DAYTON — A high school is disciplining students who defied the dress code by wearing flip-flops to school en masse.

Jefferson Township High School principal Mattie White said the group spread the word about the prank via text messages. She said the students, who ignored repeated warnings, have been suspended for two days.

In the past, students were simply told to change shoes.

“It was mass defiance,” White said.

The school district in suburban Dayton banned flip-flops to increase student safety and reduce classroom distractions.

Thanks to Shawn for his answer to an earlier riddle. His answer led to this more related, yet more complex riddle:

There are two sets of words.
Each set has two words, for a total of four words.
The words in each set rhyme. That is, the words in the first set rhyme with each other, but not with the words in the second set, and visa versa.
Two of the words, one from each set, are synonyms. They are words for something everybody wants more of.
The synonyms are the second word in each set.
The other two words, those that aren’t synonyms, are names for different parts of the body. They are not related in any way, other than both being words for body parts.
In each set, one word has two syllables and the other one syllable.
In the first set, the first word has two syllables. In the second set, the first word has one syllable.
What are the words?

Options:

• This can be done as a 20-question type activity, allowing students to ask any yes/no question they like.
• The clue, They are words for something everybody wants more of, almost makes the riddle too easy, but some sort of clue is needed. A slightly more obscure clue might make this a better riddle.
• Clues could be withheld and provided for a "price". For example, if students are allowed N questions, a clue could be worth more than one question.

I remember reading somewhere about 25 years ago that trends in the US start in California, and become established parts of the US landscape when they show up on the East Coast.

I would like to think that this economic situation in CA isn’t the beginning of a trend, but I’m afraid it is.

Sacramento Statehouse Examiner: State Controller and Treasurer address California’s legislative budget committee

State officials are warning that California will run out of cash in two months. Treasurer Bill Lockyer and State Controller John Chiang told a joint legislative Budget Conference Committee Friday that the state’s financial condition could be four times worse than it was this winter when California halted infrastructure projects and delayed payments to vendors and refunds to taxpayers.

…The new grim news came a day after Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’ dropped a bombshell by announcing it has completely cut Cal Works for welfare recipients and the Healthy Families program for poor children along with deep cuts to state parks, correctional facilities, school districts and the state university system.

Riddle:
I’m thinking of two things.
The first thing is a part of the body.
The second thing is something everybody wants more of.
The part of the body ends in the same sound as the thing everybody wants more of.