EDB Classin Puzzle Me

Introduction

My name is Joanne, and I have been a qualified English Online Teacher for 10 years.

I have started a business making extra fun and educational activities for students.  Let’s first focus on the role of a Teacher, and an ESL Teacher.

Experience and lessons learnt

I have worked with various companies teaching different cultures and ages.  Each company has a way in which they want their lessons delivered, and your methods become very “by the book” with no variations or time to get to know the students that you are teaching.  I also have a son who has Aspergers, and I have had to teach him for a large part of his schooling career.

Teachers at institutions are very structured and have no time to deal with children who require different teaching approaches.  Not to imply that the teachers do not care, they simply do not have the means to deal with children who do not fit in the “box.” So those children are pushed to the back of the class.

Sadly, if this is not addressed in the appropriate manner it will result in a child who feels that they are not good enough, who will become demotivated, the target of jokes, and school bullies.

All children are special, and shine in their own way.  You just need to find the areas that they shine, and encourage them, with effective teaching methods that will fit their needs.

Being a successful ESL teacher – do you have what it takes?

Being an ESL is a very competitive line of work.  The key is when you are willing to go the extra mile for your students to further their studies, and to also get to know them.  They are not just names or a payment.  You learn to know their strengths and their weaknesses.  You work on their weaknesses and praise each achievement.

Being an effective ESL and delivering the lessons in a way that each student needs to be taught.  Each student is different and requires a different teaching approach.  If you truly care about your students, you can identify these areas and instead of them being an area of failure, turn it into an area where they can excel.

Flexibility and Commitment to your Students Success

Being an ESL online teacher, allows you to spend the time with your students and engage with them.  You can use different teaching styles that fit each student.  We are however still restricted to a time slot, and depending on whether I have another student after, I spend a bit of extra time with the student getting to know them, engaging in free talk.

Some students are very shy and scared to talk, other than what they have rehearsed for each lesson.  This also makes it hard sometimes to correctly evaluate your student’s level, as they come to class well prepared, and have learnt the materials and the standard questions in the materials off by heart, it is only when you engage further, that you can identify that there may be more attention needed in a certain area.

But the ones that do not want to talk, or do not understand is where you hit a wall.

Have you hit a wall- Missed in Translation?

They may have read the materials perfectly, and answered the questions perfectly, but they cannot respond to any other questions.  As a teacher you do not know if the student is shy or really does not understand.

The Beginning of EDB Classin Puzzle Me

After many sleepless nights and brainstorming ways to communicate with a student who does not understand or respond.  I came up with the idea of adding activities at the end of a class.  This also serves as a perfect reward for the students, and each student likes something different.

Challenges faced

I have always loved designing and editing pictures, but getting a puzzle pattern, and then being able to convert it into a Classin Format was a huge challenge, but I persisted, I am not the kind of person to give up, until I have managed to achieve my goal.

Finally – Eureka! As per the ancient Greek scholar Archimedes

All my edb files are interactive, educational, and fun.  The students love participating in the activities.  It changes the dynamics of a classroom into a comfort zone, they feel more at ease to talk freely about the activities, and some will even relate to certain things, for example what pets they like, and what they do not like.

Now I have a way to accurately assess where a student is at with their vocabulary, comprehension, and conversational skills.  Some of the students use the characters to tell their own stories, they enlarge certain images and draw next to them.  They are so proud once they have completed an activity that they often call their parents to look, or I send a screen shot to the parents with the feedback from class.

It has become clear to me that students benefit from these activities, so I have also started my own company called EDB Classin Puzzle Me, so that I can sell these products to other teachers, or even parent can benefit from them.

As long as you can access your Classin Black board, then you can practice the activity as many times as you like.  I also make designs on request as with my students, other teachers’ students may like something else.

These include, but not limited to (as I am always designing new ideas to assist my students):

EDB Classin Puzzle Me products

Jigsaw Puzzles

I make jigsaw puzzles with images I know the children would like, and the size is based on their capability in the short time we have to complete a puzzle.  They are very proud if I move them up a to the next level and they can successfully complete a larger puzzle.  The sizes of the puzzles vary, I do 9 pieces,16, 12, 15,18, 20, 24, and 25 pieces and so forth.

This encourages free talk about what they see in the pictures, what they like, what they would change, (hair, eyes, etcetera) They leave the classroom with a sense of achievement.

Benefits:

Let us look at the benefits of using a jigsaw puzzle in an online lesson:

1. Engagement: Makes learning more interactive and fun.
2. Collaboration: Encourages teamwork and communication among students.
3. Focus: Helps improve concentration and attention to detail.
4. Stress Relief: Provides a relaxing break from traditional learning.
5. Memory: Enhances short-term and long-term memory.
6. Problem-Solving: Develops critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
7. Digital Skills: Familiarizes students with using online tools and platforms.

These benefits can make the online learning experience more enjoyable and effective for students.

Crosswords

The number of words I use in a crossword is also to fit the student’s capabilities, I also evaluate their level as to whether they would need a picture to be able to complete the crossword, or if they need a picture and the name  I change the level of difficulty as I feel they are able to move up, but I always let them know that I am here to help them if they need assistance. They leave the classroom proud with a sense of achievement.

Benefits:

Let us look at the benefits of using a crossword in an online lesson:

1. Engagement: Makes learning interactive and enjoyable.
2. Vocabulary Building: Helps students learn and remember new words.
3. Critical Thinking: Enhances problem-solving and analytical skills.
4. Memory Improvement: Strengthens recall and retention of information.
5. Focus and Attention: Encourages students to concentrate on details.
6. Subject Reinforcement: Reinforces key concepts and terms from the lesson.
7. Digital Literacy: Helps students become more comfortable with using digital tools.

These benefits contribute to a more dynamic and effective learning experience.

Spot The Difference:

Spot the difference between two pictures is another wonderful activity, and I find my students are very quick at finding the differences in the pictures.  This also leads to free talk about the pictures.  Something else that I would like to add is that when students have to do their English Exams “IELTS” for example.  They get given a couple of pictures and they must describe what they see in the pictures in detail.  This is definitely a valuable activity for the students to get practice on.

Benefits:

Let us look at the benefits of using a Spot the difference in an online lesson:

1. Engagement: Makes learning fun and interactive.
2. Attention to Detail: Encourages students to notice small differences and details.
3. Focus: Helps improve concentration and observation skills.
4. Critical Thinking: Enhances analytical and problem-solving abilities.
5. Visual Perception: Strengthens visual processing and pattern recognition.
6. Memory: Improves recall by encouraging students to remember and compare images.
7. Stress Relief: Provides a relaxing and enjoyable break from more demanding tasks.

These benefits make “spot the difference” activities a valuable addition to online learning.

Memory Matching Game

An interactive and fun activity where the student and the teacher work together to find a matching pair.

Benefits:

Let us look at the benefits of using Matching activities in an online lesson:

1. Engagement: Makes learning interactive and fun.
2. Memory Improvement: Enhances short-term and long-term memory.
3. Focus: Encourages concentration and attention to detail.
4. Pattern Recognition: Helps with recognizing and remembering patterns.
5. Critical Thinking: Develops problem-solving and logical thinking skills.
6. Subject Reinforcement: Reinforces key concepts and information from lessons.
7. Stress Relief: Provides a relaxing and enjoyable learning activity.

These benefits make memory matching games a valuable tool in an online classroom setting.

Use your words

In my lessons I always encourage my students to use their words.  It is fine if you make a mistake, I am here to help you.  This activity encourages students to engage and use all their words to make sentences.  Colourful and appealing to children to identify what is in the picture, and to make sentences using the words in the Word Bank.

Benefits:

Let us look at the benefits of using pictures and a word box to help student to make sentences to describe what they see:

1. Engagement: Makes learning more interactive and enjoyable.
2. Vocabulary Building: Helps students learn and use new words.
3. Creativity: Encourages creative thinking and expression.
4. Observation Skills: Enhances attention to detail and observation.
5. Communication: Improves verbal and written communication skills.
6. Critical Thinking: Promotes analytical thinking by interpreting images.
7. Confidence: Boosts confidence in using language to express ideas.

These benefits make using pictures a valuable tool for enhancing language skills in an online classroom 

Word Hunts

The number of words I use in a Word Hunt is also to fit the student’s capabilities, I also evaluate their level as to whether they would need a picture to be able to complete the Word Hunt, or if they need a picture and the name  I change the level of difficulty as I feel they are able to move up, but I always let them know that I am here to help them if they need assistance. This differs to crosswords, as the student now has to search for the word amongst other letters.  They leave the classroom proud with a sense of achievement.

Benefits:

Let us look at the benefits of using Word Hunts to help students in an online classroom.

1. Engagement: Makes learning fun and interactive.
2. Vocabulary Building: Helps students learn and reinforce new words.
3. Focus: Encourages concentration and attention to detail.
4. Spelling Practice: Improves spelling and word recognition skills.
5. Critical Thinking: Enhances problem-solving and analytical abilities.
6. Memory: Strengthens recall and retention of words.
7. Stress Relief: Provides a relaxing and enjoyable learning activity.

These benefits make word hunts a valuable tool for enhancing language skills in an online classroom.

Phonics

Phonics flashcards – I am sure all teachers are aware of why we use these.  But lets just indulge.  The benefits of using flashcards for phonics is so that the student can identify the Letter and sound “Aa is for Apple”

With the Electronic flashcards the student can see clearly what you are trying to show them (instead of holding up a flashcard and hoping they can see it clearly). It also allows the student to see various examples of what the letter / sound can be used for, and it is interactive, so they can move the cards themselves.  The see the phonics, and the picture behind the card.  Goodbye old flashcards!

• Alphabets

This is a fun and interactive way, almost like building an alphabet puzzle, to evaluate whether your student knows their ABC’s

• Unscramble the words or letters

Unscramble the words / letters is another educational and fun way to assess if the student knows the spelling for each animal, and they know which animal goes with which letter.  I have included a podium in these ones, as my students love to rank their favourites after the have completed the spelling. A great way to encourage free talk about the animals, and you can let your students’ imaginations run wild.  You will be amazed with what they can come up with.

• Numbers

A great way to tell if your young students know their basic first ten numbers.  I have made it into a puzzle, so it is a fun and educational activity

• Counting games

I make the counting games as beneficial as possible, where they are learning not just the counting, but also what they are counting.  The name and picture for each animal or object is marked to maximize the effectiveness of this activity.

Benefits:

Let us look at the benefits of using counting games to help students in an online classroom.

1. Engagement: Makes learning interactive and enjoyable.
2. Numeracy Skills: Helps students practice and improve their counting and number recognition.
3. Focus: Encourages concentration and attention to detail.
4. Memory: Enhances recall and retention of numbers and sequences.
5. Critical Thinking: Develops problem-solving and logical reasoning skills.
6. Pattern Recognition: Strengthens the ability to recognize and understand patterns.
7. Confidence: Boosts confidence in math skills through practice.

These benefits make counting activities a valuable tool for enhancing numeracy skills in an online classroom.

• Occupations

Occupations is a subject that all teachers cover with their students at some stage, the popular phrase “when I grow up I want to be a …”  just stuck with me.  This example is one of a set of the most common career choices students select, but if you have a student who would like to be something else.

Let me know, and I will do a custom design of that occupation.  This is a fun and educational way to get your student to talk about their goals and their dreams.  Some want to be spiderman when they grow up.  We all once had weird and wonderful dreams, it is a part of growing up.  Allow them dream and tell you exactly what they want to be and why!

Custom designs are done on request, or you can choose from my large collections of ready to go edb’s.

JoAnn

Hi my name is JoAnn.

Happy Students + Happy Parent = Happy Teachers

Joanne Burmeister

EDB Classin Puzzle

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Email:  edbpuzzleme@gmail.com

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