Even more technology in the ESOL classroom !

I arrived one hour early -just to be sure ! The faithful caretakers had placed the laptop and projector in the classroom as requested. There they were standing there for all to see. There was no going back now - the learners would be expecting a show when they came into the room, and I shouldn’t disappoint them.
After avoiding the machinery for a few minutes, ( I did have other things to sort out first, after all ! ) I finally approached the laptop and switched it on…. it powered up - so far so good ! I carefully read the notes I had written down and followed Oriel’s instructions to the letter - must remember not to turn the projector on first, but must turn it off first at the end !

Next to pull down the screen. The first attempt failed, and the screen shot up again, wedging itself in the picture rail - I had to climb onto a chair to release it. After two more attempts, it finally stayed in position, completely covering the white board. Not sure about the convenience of that.

After successfully typing in passwords on the laptop and inserting my memory stick - it was all set to go- now for the projector….
I pressed the ON switch. Success ! The projector powered up too ! Now to follow the instructions on how to get what was on the laptop up onto the screen. The small instruction card that came with the laptop told me to press Fn and F8 to get it to project. Eventually, I had to call on a learning support assistant to find Fn for me . I had been looking where all the other F keys are situated on the keyboard, I had never noticed that one down in the corner !

Now there were two of us trying to get the projector to project - without success. In the end, we had to call in the Quality Assurance lady to see if she could help. She immediately removed the lens cap from the projector ( must remember to make a note of that on my list of instructions ! ) and there was my powerpoint presentation up on the screen, in all its glory ! And there were still fifteen minutes to go before the learners arrived !

The learners were excited at the prospect of this new technology in their lesson, and were suitably impressed. They enjoyed the visual delights of the various pictures I had added to the text - and were visibly motivated.
I used the Powerpoint to revise the topic of planning a trip. They were required to remember and ask possible questions and answers( Sc/E2. 2) prompted by the pictures, and then could see the text clearly written for them afterwards. They could also pick and choose different answers and express likes and dislikes ( Sd/E2.1c ) as I had used Action Buttons which meant the dialogue had various alternatives. They seemed to enjoy this element of choice and the interactive nature of the activity.
We then used the text to practise punctuation, stress and intonation too. (Sc/E2. 1a and 1b ) .I also used some TPR activities including hand movements and whole body movement to express the intonation going up or down. One learner from Bangladesh particularly seemed to benefit from that and improved in his intonation as the lesson went on.

On the whole, I think it was worth spending the time to create the presentation, and it is one I can use again and again. I am glad I have got over my first attempt at making one work in the classroom too, ( though I am also aware that technology can be unreliable, and so will always make sure I have an alternative plan ready in case. ) In the future, I will also make it available to individuals or pairs to practise together too, just using the laptop. There’s no stopping me now !