Podcast are what we need.

Hello again teachers !!  How are you?  I've heard a lot about podcasts lately,  but especially now that all of us give or recive classes virtually. We are not used to recording ourselves on video, so podcasts are a good alternative.

I didn't know much about podcast before, so I decided to do some research to find out more about it and  basically a podcast is a digital audio recoding about any topic that you can imagine. You can find podcast online or download it, and most of them are available for free. Some people use it for entretaining themselves, others for example to learn English or other subjects.

The good thing about podcasts is that you can find them about many topics therefore you  listen to audios that you are really interested in . Another good thing about podcasts is that you can download them and you only need a technological device to be able to listen to it,  without the need of internet connection.

We can use podcast as teachers for many different things. However , not only is it a great tool for teachers, also for students.

Setting up a radio at school can be a fun and enriching activity for our students due to the fact that they can develop all the skills: listening , speaking, reading and wiriting as well as  many competences, especially linguistic communicative competence and digital competence.

HOW TO CREATE A PODCAST

It's the first time I'm going to do it,  and I'm going to tell you my experience.

The first thing I did was a document in google docs, then I did the draft about the things I wanted to talk about and after that the final  script. I decided to  record myself with the phone because  it is easy to use it and I can save it in my dropbox, but you can do it with other apps if you want.

Afterwards, I downloaded free music archive to find a backgroud music to add  it to my recording and this way make my work look more professional.  Later, I downloaded Audacity  and watched a couple of tutorials to learn how to use it.

It was not easy to match my recording with the background music because I chose a short song and had to add several tracks and make them match, although it took me a while to get it ,  I like the final result.

After this I signed up in Ivoox to crate my channel and upload my podcast. This platform was very intuitive and easy to use. Now you have a channel a podcast an you can share it with everyone!.

To carry out this activity I have chosen the tools that seemed simple and practical , and  recommended by some colleagues who knew more about this topic.

In my opinion, creating podcasts with the students is a very interesting activity, the only thing that  could be more complicated for them to handle is Audacity

This is de document.

Here you have the podcast and the fifth grade channel.

If you liked my podcast you can subscribe by clicking this button. Thank you very much! . 
Este obra está bajo una licencia de Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial 4.0 Internacional.

Infographic

Hello teachers! How are you? I hope everything is fine . 

Today I want to talk to you about something I have seen many times but I  had no idea how they could be done. Do you know what is an infographic? Let's find out.

An infographic is a graphic representation that simplifies the information we want to transmit. It is visual and attractive , therefore helps us to communicate something and promotes content retention.

This sounds good but, how can we create an infographic? For instance with  Easel.ly. 

Easel.ly is a web tool that allows you to create infographics for free. In order to use it, the first thing you have to do is sign up , and after that I recommend you to explore and have fun.

You have a toolbar with different options such as templates, objects, media, draws, shapes , text, graphics or files among others.

What I like most about this tool is that you can add many options (images, icons, videos) and  the result is very nice. Moreover I find the templates very useful to help us start our work and  save time. You can also see other infographics already done to inspire you.

Something that I would improve is to put a video or a guide to be able to take better advantage of all the possibilities that the tool offers because when you start working it's a little chaotic. 

As far as I'm concerned, I've discovered a great web tool that I'm sure I'll use in my classes because the results are awesome !

Here you can see my Infographic about prehistory. I hope you like it . Click in the carrot if you want to see an interesting web page about prehistory, and dont forget to watch the video ! 😊😊😊 Thank you!

Create a mind map with Mindmeister

Hello teachers!  I'm glad to write a new entry on my blog ! Today I have a question for you, Do you use mind maps?

Mind maps help us to organize our ideas and understand information better. Moreover you can develop your creativity and improve your memory. At a glance you have all the important information about one topic.

I have a very visual memory, so when study I use a lot of schemes and mind maps. I used to make them by hand and I only included words and some drawings. Now  I've learned to create mindmaps through  Mindmeister .

Mindmeister is an online app where you can create mind maps. You can save your work, share and pulish it. To access this app you have to sign up, then a tab opens explaining in a simple way the steps to create the mind map. You can choose the kind of letter the forms, change the colors and so on.

The advantage of this app is that you can add , icons, videos, comments and  links . Another good point is that is collaborative, therefore  several peple can work together if you want.

What I like most about this app is that you can create mind maps very fast, which is a great help for all teachers.

One thing to improve is that you can't upload  draws, web images or even your own photos in the free version.  

I would definitely use Mindmaster as a teacher , to help my students to understand a topic. However,  I would only use this app with the students in  higher courses.

This is the mind map that I have created for the fifth course of Primary Education about the cells in Natural Science. In this case I added videos, comments, icons and  links.

Visually the mind map is simple for students to better understand the topic and I have also added several activities such as a video, a science lab experiment and a website game.

CELLS por Mirian Mdm

Create a comic with PIXTON

Hello teachers I sincerely hope all of you are well. I am heatlhy and very busy because, this week I've been learning how to create a comic using ICTs . Do you want to know how to make a comic book too? I'll tell you right now.

After exploring different tools to create comics I decided to use Pixton.

Pixton is a web tool used to create comics. The first thing you have to do is to choose between Pixton for educators, for students, for parents or for business. In this case, I've chosen Pixton edu for students, because I wanted to see if this tool is adecuate and easy to use for my students.

After signing up, it's easy to start creating a comic, you can choose different backgrounds, characters and customize the clothes, hair, change their position and expression. Moreover you can choose what the characters say, think,or whisper choosing between different speech bubbles.

What caught my attention about this tool is that you can put the characters in many positions, you can also put different focuses and change the expressions of the face, the latter is what I like most and other tools to create comics do not have it.I wanted to create a comic related to emotions so I needed a tool where I could change the expressions on the characters' faces.

In summary this web is easy to use, safe, and simple, besides the result is very good. However, from my point of view this tool could be improved if we could introduce objects into the scene. One thing I don't like is that the free version doesn't let you download, print or share the comic you created, so I had to take a screenshot.

I would use this tool with my students only if we can save and share the work we have done.

Remember that making our students create comics is a great opportunity to develop creativity, language skills and express feelings  . When pupils read comics they develop reading comprehension skills. The most important thing is that they learn by having fun.

This is the comic about emotions that I have created , it is for the third course of Primary Education. Here you can see a real example: