This week was hard because it included a technological tool that we have to create on our own. Why do I always feel that the help and the explanations provided by the creators of an application are never enough?

When I was a teenager, I had an excellent jazz guitarist as a teacher. He taught me many valuable things, but when I reached an advanced level, he started to repeat himself on what we had already done, keeping the chords he taught me to a minimum. After several weeks like this, I decided to give up my guitar lessons, full of frustration and disappointment . I mention that experience from many years ago because today I felt the same when trying to tackle the interactive powerpoint task. In the end, I did it, but I was left with the bittersweet feeling that my work is of inferior quality, or at least, not what I really wanted to do.

On the other hand, I could see that some of my colleagues have prepared wonderful interactive presentations and I wish to congratulate them on doing so. If we only had the time to learn all the things they have already mastered...

In relation to our project, and further developing the ideas I presented in week 4, I decided to give it a try to some of Randall's (http://www.esl-lab.com/) easier tasks, which I listed as follows:

Easy
Calendars and Dates
Conversation Starters
Directions Around Town (1)
Introductions
Names: Meeting People
Shopping and Prices
Telling Time
Clothing and Fashion
Directions Around Town (2)
Family Relationships
Hobbies
Restaurants
Shopping Center
Telephone

As our multimedia lab is not ready yet, I will carry on with the exercises using the class In-Focus projector. I'll project each lesson a couple of times and students will complete the gaps in the dialogs and choose the correct answer. After feedback has been given, the students can practice the short dialogs in pairs. The example I am showing here is from the Conversation Startes activity.
Listen by pressing the "Play Audio" button. Then, select the correct answer for each sentence or question, which may be missing one or more words. Press the "Final Score" button to check your quiz.

What are these different audio choices?

[ Other Audio Options: Play RealMedia | Play Window Media ]  
1. Hi. Haven't we _______ before?
A. Yes. I believe we have.
B. Nice to meet you too.
C. Nothing special. 2. Long time, ________________. A. I see you too. B. It has been a long time. C. How about you?
3. Hi, how's _________________________? A. Five people. B. Oh really? C. They're fine.
4. So, _________________________? A. Pretty good. B. That's too bad. C. Nothing much.
5. Did you hear __________________________? A. Oh, what a shame. B. Hey, that's fantastic.
C. I like my job too.

There 5 more, but these are enough as an example. 

Well, this week's been heavy in terms of hard work, but I suppose this is the way things should go about, as we are  approaching the final week of our course. Hope everybody has a nice week and finds the time to do all the assignments without stressing themselves too much.