My name is Toby, and I made a worksheet generator to improve the vocab review in my EFL classrooms. I think it will help in yours, too.
What is it? Sign in!Years ago, I had the realization that my adult students weren't disciplined or structured enough to review vocab at home without some kind of structure from me. In my desire to be a great teacher, I started typing up worksheets by hand for each group.
The worksheets were great. But I was going insane with the effort.
Then, I taught a group of programmers who, in turn, taught me that "programmers are always looking for ways to automate repetitive tasks." The next time I made worksheets, I realized I was losing a lot of my prep time to a repetitive task.
I needed automation.
"What's so hard about programming?" I asked the programmers. "They have code camps for kids. Why can't I learn it?" -- "Try it," they answered, and even told me where to start.
I never became a great programmer. But, the Internet is full of helpful stuff and tutorials for kids. With time, I got an offline worksheet generator working. Now, I'm trying to make it work online.
What will it do for me?This is not a library of worksheets that are intended to be "one-size-fits-all." (I offer worksheets like that at newsporkcity.com.)
This is a worksheet generator, programmed to make worksheets specifically tailored to each group that you teach.
The system helps you to manage taught vocabulary on a per-classroom basis, not only so that you can create an attractive glossary at a click, but also so the software can which vocab to include in worksheets and review activities.
The worksheets are put together using thousands of worksheet fragments -- definitions, gapfill sentences -- that I've made (or prompting you to add your own), so they don't "feel" computer generated.
Vocabulary moves through the worksheets, one page at a time and, of course you put your branding on them and take the credit.
Some examples from my collection of stories for English learners. Note how vocab on page one of one worksheet turns up again on page two of the next.
What happens to classroom vocabulary after it's no longer on the worksheets? It comes back, again and again in various review activities, such as wordsearches, crosswords, memory, and more.
These are ideal when you haven't prepared homework, or when you are ready for a game to break up the routine.
I'm excited about this. I'd love to show you more, maybe get you to test-drive it for me?
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