Teaching phonetics

But, what is virtual realia? Essentially, virtual realia is any item from the target culture that is presented in a digital format. So, if the local city map is realia, a scanned copy of the very same map is virtual realia. It’s still very real – only digitized. Now, you’re probably wondering: why would we have digital copies of things we can simply pick up and take to class? Virtual realia certainly has its disadvantages, the obvious one being that students can’t touch or manipulate these items. Also, you need to have a computer, laptop, or at the very least, a tablet or Smartphone to show these images to the class.

The Advantages of Virtual Realia

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  It can be easily reproduced and shared. You can email each of your students a copy they can use.
  
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  It can be used in interactive formats. You can use virtual realia in the class blog or website, and even create quizzes or tests with this authentic material.
  
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  Students may have access to material from different cultures across the globe. Thanks to the ol’ World Wide Web, you can probably find all kinds of things you would not normally have access to due to geographic limitations.
  
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  Digital copies may be altered without damaging the original. Did you bring a menu or flyer from a recent trip to the UK? Chances are you don’t have many of those lying around. You can scan a copy of the original and alter it for gap-filling exercises – your souvenir will remain intact!
  
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  Virtual realia can be easily stored, carried and accessed. No need to bring a big bag of brochures or heavy catalogs. No need to sort through a box of flyers to find the one you need.
  

So, as you can see, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. If you’re an ESL teacher living outside the US or UK, you will be able to open a window into the target culture, something that is of tremendous value to ESL students.
TYPES OF TESTS
When some parents hear the word “testing” they think, “clear your desk and take out your No. 2 pencil.” They imagine testing to be what happens at the end of the year when students are faced with blue books and bubble sheets.
As a public school teacher, I use different types of testing throughout the year. For example, when I taught my second graders how to tell time on an analog clock, I handed out models of clocks and called out different times. The students moved the hands to express each one, and would hold up their clocks so I could check who was having trouble. This is one type of testing. It gave me feedback on student learning during the lesson and helped me tailor my instruction in real time.
What testing offers me, as a teacher, is information about where students are in their learning and insights that guide me as I move forward with my lesson plans.
As a parent, I get testing information on my two boys, Jace (13) and Luke (10), throughout the school year. I use the feedback from different forms of testing — grades on assignments, an analysis of a benchmark test, course grades, notes from their teacher, and standardized test results — to track the progress that they are making.
What testing offers me, as a parent, is an understanding of how my boys are doing academically. It gives me insight into their performance on a particular assignment, lets me compare my kids’ performance against their target goals, and allows me to assess their need for supplementary help. Test results are a way for me to have eyes on my kids’ classrooms even though I am not there. I value knowing where my boys excel and where they struggle, since this information guides what we focus on when we do homework at the kitchen table.
Understanding the different types of testing, the kinds of results they provide, and how they complement one another will help parents use this information in the best way to help their children learn.