About The Teacher's Internet Toolbox

Our current site address is http://people.freenet.de/mvhs-english

The internet toolbox is a collection of links to web sites that might be useful to VHS English teachers in or around Munich.

How to Use the Teacher's Internet Toolbox

There are several ways of using this web-site to help with your English teaching. Always keep in mind that the internet is just another resource. Here are a few examples, each one is explained in more detail further down the page. For a guided tour of six useful internet sites, go to the sampler of English teaching resources.

• To find authentic material for use in a lesson.
• To find ideas that you can use for a specific subject. For example teaching irregular verbs.
• To hear about new English Teaching ideas.
• To suggest additional work for students on their own computers or at the internet cafe.
• To create a crossword as an exercise.
• To find or create an exercise based around recent events in the news.

Finding Authentic Material for Use in a Lesson

If you were looking for the lyrics of a song you want to play in your next lesson, you would:

1. Open the Toolbox
2. Click on the link titled "Lesson Planning Resources"
3. Click on "Authentic Materials"
4. There you would scroll down to "Lyrics" and link to some of the suggested pages.
5. Search for your song by artist or title.
6. You could then print it out or copy and paste it into your word processor to make an exercise out of it.

Finding Ideas on a Specific Subject

If you were looking for ideas on an exercise on irregular verbs you would:

1. Open the Toolbox
2. Click on the link titled "Lesson Planning Resources"
3. Click on "Lesson Plans, Activities and Ideas"
4. There you would scroll down to "Grammar" and link to some of the suggested pages.
5. You might end up at the "Grammar Page" On Dave’s Internet Café
6. Maybe you would choose the "Irregular Verbs Game"
7. You could then print it out for use in the classroom.

Getting General Ideas About English Teaching

If you want to find out what's new in the English teaching world:

1. Open the Toolbox.
2. Click on "Staffroom"
3. Read down the list of sites
4. Click on one that takes your fancy, for example, MELTA
5. Click on "Events" to find out what's going on around Munich.

Suggesting Out of Class Internet Assignments for Your Students

A lot of students, especially the younger ones, will have internet access at home or work. If not, they can also use the FREE (to MVHS Teilnehmer and Dozenten) internet cafe in the Schwanthalerstr. 2.

1. Open the Toolbox
2. Click on the link titled "Student's Links for Learning English"
3. Follow one of the links, for example, "Randall's Cyber Listening Lab"
4. There you would choose a suitable exercise for your student's level and likely interests.
5. Note down the URL (the web address) and give it to your students.

Maybe you are feeling particularly enthusiastic and want to create an online tailor-made exercise for your class.

1. Open the Toolbox
2. Click on the link titled "Computers in the Classroom"
3. Follow one of the links for exercise makers, for example, "Quia" (you will have to create an account but it is free).
4. Once logged in, you can follow the easy instructions (no computer knowledge needed) for creating your own word games.
5. Note down the URL (the web address) and any other information they need to access the games and give it to your students.

Creating a Crossword

This takes 5 minutes and looks very sleek, as opposed to the 2+ hours and scruffy look you'd get making it by hand.

1. Open the Toolbox
2. Click on the link titled "Lesson Planning Resources"
3. Click on "Tools"
4. Choose "Puzzlemaker"
5. Once on that site select "Criss-Cross" from the pulldown list.
6. Enter each answer word on a new line followed by a blank and then its clue.
7. Click on "Create", the generator will tell you how many of the words it was able to include.
8. Print it out. If you want to save the crossword, you can create an account (for free).

Creating or Finding a Lesson Plan Based Around Current Events

There are some well-planned lessons available, for example, from the New York Times.

1. Open the Toolbox
2. Click on the link titled "Lesson Planning Resources"
3. Click on "Lesson Plans, Activities and ideas"
4. Click on the "Daily lesson plan" see if it can be modified to fit your needs. (They are aimed at American high school students but can often be used for upper intermediate or conversation classes.)
5. If not, search the archives, or look at the Guardian's or English-To-Go's weekly lesson plan.

You can find and print out articles in English about today's news and create your own exercises.

1. Open the Toolbox
2. Click on the link titled "Lesson Planning Resources"
3. Click on "Authentic Materials"
4. Click on the "Paperboy" link and browse around articles in some of Britain's papers.
5. Copy and paste an article into your word processor for further modification.

Who Made this Web Site?