Using PENpal to support independent learning

Hello after a long break 😊 The summer may still be in its full swing here in Poland, but come Tuesday I'll be back at school preparing for the new school year. I am no longer a form teacher 🥳 My kids have graduated and I am not going to take on another group. This means more time for preparing EFL materials and sharing my ideas with you ... hopefully 😅

Today, just to start us off, I'd like to show you my favourite teaching/learning toy, PENpal ❤️, in action. If you are new to this blog, let me quickly tell you what PENpal is. It is a talking pen, which lets you record sound onto anything using tiny stickers. You stick the sticker onto literally anything, touch it with PENpal, talk to it like a microphone and voila! it's recorded and now you can replay it by touching the same sticker with the same PENpal. Simple, yet genius.

I use PENpal when I create my teaching materials to add pronunciation to word cards, to record listening activities for exam practise, to record listening task for my board games or to add a recorded explanation to a task. My students use the recorded materials using their independent work cycle when they wish to practise their English skills.

But did you know that PENpal can come in handy at home or at a non Montessori school? Oh yes it can. PENpal is great when it comes to supporting your child's/students' independent learning. Can you imagine having a student's book that talks? With PENpal you can do it. Simply add the stickers to the pages of any book and record away! 🤩 You can record pronunciation next to the new vocab items, you can add the songs to play straight from the pages of the book, you can add audio to the comic strips. The course book becomes more interactive than it has ever been before. Your children can take PENpal to school with them and add audio to their notes and record the pronunciation straight after or during the lesson. This way they create their own revision material and they don't need anyone's help to practise independently.

Take a look at the example I created for you below:

Simple as! Just imagine what you could do with a picture dictionary 😅 And remember, it's not just English. If you combine the audio stickers with the StartArrow stickers you can create multilingual independent learning materials for your students and your own children at home 😊

If you'd like to read more about PENpal click here. And if you're fully convinced this is the thing that will take your kids' learning to a whole new level this coming school year, click here and get your PENpal today!