I want to be a help in your classroom. I know that sounds like I'm over-promising, but I wrote the software that I'm calling a "teaching assistant" to help me out in my classroom and it has become indispensable for my classroom preparation, and a vital part of how my learners learn vocabulary. Let me tell you about it, and how it will let me work for you.
You can read the video
I prefer reading text to watching videos. If you're like me, there's a text version of this available. It says basically the same things.
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What I can do for you
I want to be a help in your classroom. I know that sounds like I'm over-promising, but I wrote the software that I'm calling a "teaching assistant" to help me out in my classroom and it has become indispensable for my classroom preparation, and a vital part of how my learners learn vocabulary. Let me tell you about it, and how it will let me work for you.
You can read the video
I prefer reading text to watching videos. If you're like me, there's a text version of this available. It says basically the same things.
I think it's easiest to begin by explaining what this is not: this is not another worksheet library. I think we already have enough great worksheet libraries, both paid and free, out there.
Instead, this should be the next best thing to having a teaching assistant who takes some of the grunt work off your shoulders.
Background... And the vision
I'm a teacher. And I want to be a great teacher. One of the things I was not great at was vocabulary review.
I was great at vocabulary in each individual lesson, but when the next lesson came around, I didn't do a great job of bringing back the vocabulary from the previous lesson.
I made up various systems with Excel spreadsheets but they quickly overwhelmed me. I realized I needed someone who could help me manage classroom vocab. The more I imagined how it could work, the more I was willing to pay for the service.
But, the service I imagined didn't exist. That lead to my next realization: If I know it would be a good idea in my classroom, I should just make it.
What it is
I talk about it like a person here -- your teaching assistant -- because I first imagined having a teaching assistant like my professors had in university. I would come out of the classroom and give the assistant the vocabulary we covered and trust them to make up my review activities.
Of course, the assistant would consult me if something wasn't clear -- did I teach "tracks, as in 'train tracks'" or "tracks, as in 'animal tracks'"? -- and would learn what kind of examples I used in class, to include them in the worksheets. (I always use Udo Jürgens in musical examples, the worksheets should use him, too.).
I had to teach myself programming and development wasn't fast. But eventually, here is what resulted: A teaching assistant who:
Manages vocabulary lists on a class-by-class basis. That means I have to setup classes, and enter the vocabulary after I finish a lesson.
Makes standardized worksheets to bring vocabulary back as often as possible. In most of my classes, these are the 'normal homework.' Vocabulary appears only once per worksheet, but recurs over up to three worksheets, so that learners are confronted with it lesson after lesson.
Knows which vocabulary has been 'learned,' and needs review. Even if vocab returns across three worksheets, eventually, it's no longer part of the 'normal homework.' The teaching assistant remembers it and uses it to make different review activities, from memory games to crossword puzzles.
The benefit
For your students, the benefit is clear: Consistent and regular vocabulary review. My students regularly comment on how helpful the system is.
For you, the benefits can be a little different: You get an excellent return on the time you invest in working with the assistant (it does cost some time), and you get materials that your students will think took you hours to prepare, finished in less than a minute in most cases. And that frees you up to teach (and earn) more, or to make other materials in the time you've saved.
You have to try it to believe it
It's different than other websites for English teachers. I understand that. That's why you're welcome to try it for free. I'm convinced that, if you use it long enough to pass out two worksheets to one of your classes, you'll be convinced of the value of it.