Update 42

Howie Gordon
Nov 12, 2020
3 min read

I have a positive problem and I am sure it happens to a lot of you. I hear a song or I see a video and tune sticks in my head for days and nights. I am talking about an advert that has frequented the TV the last few weeks with a wide-eyed little girl singing, "It's a hard knock life". I think it was well done as I cannot get it out of my head. There is another song that I presented last week at the Early Learners Conference called, "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" That song also had a party in my headpace this last week. So I thought I would demonstrate this week's digital tool with this song.

It seems that the song is thought to have originated during a time when there was a large influx of German immigrants to the United States -- although probably none of them was named John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt, as there's no known record of the Jingleheimer surname. https://www.parents.com/

I used the Karaoke version of this song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4giYzY_RxZ8

You can find this song and many more on our webpage - http://bit.ly/learnintune

*Digital Tool*

Loom.ai

This is the tool I used and the reason why I like it is that the avatar that you create uses artificial intelligence to mimic your facial expressions so that if you are shy and do not want to peform, you can let your avatar do the singing.

A lot of people ask me how to teach a song in the class. There really is no right way or wrong way. I can say that music should be used often and not as a reward or encouragement. It should be used often to liven up lessons, to teach new words, for reading and speaking and the list goes on. Next broadcast I will relate to this.

But for now, start your Zoom with a song or background music of songs that your students know. They will appreciate your for it.

Adam J Simpson via the British Council offers an opinion and you can read the article here -https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/how-use-songs-english-language-classroom

There is always room for another digital tool.

*Digital Tool 2*

https://photoscissors.com/

Automatically Remove Background From Your Photos Online!

Remove a background and replace it with a transparency, solid color, or background image with just a few clicks! What I love about this is that you can remove the background of photso that you have taken and add a background easily and online too.

Worth taking a look.

*Something big is coming*

I can't say too much but just to let you know that something big is coming and that LIT are behind it. It will involve a lot of pupil participation and a lot of singing and spoken English. Watch this space for details. Exciting times ahead.

The LIT online course started this week and I am very excited as even more teachers will be singing, moving and using songs in their teaching on a regular basis.

A huge shoutout to our newest members and hope you gain a lot from these bi-weekly broadcasts.

Have a wonderful weekend and hopefully much use for this playlist