Triptico- a tool that can trigger your imagination and bring fun to your classroom!

Triptico is a tool which I would highly recommend to any language teacher in my country. It is very easy to download it and works in any brand of Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) and with any kind of software you use. I am sure that nowadays most of you have already been asked to use an Interactive Whiteboard in your classrooms or if not, well, then you should get prepared because Interactive Whiteboards are in fashion lately. Triptico can transform IWB and makes us see it from another perspective. Phrases like "it often doesn't work the way I want it to work" can occur less frequently. Of course, when it comes to technology we should always expect the anticipated and never get frustrated when this occurs. So, Triptico can make things easier and give us the chance to get used to IWB. What is more, we can use it even without IWB as long as we have a computer and a projector. This was enough to make me download and give Triptico a try but what actually fascinated it me and convinced me to use it in my classrooms was its variety of resources which are costumisable. We can use these resources and make them do what we want to do depending on our students needs. These are just frameworks with no limits but our own imagination.

How can we download it?

As I have already said, first we have to download it. It is free! Of course, you can choose to subscribe and pay 15 pounds for one year if you want to take advantage of more resources. You can download it really easily, just visit the website here click on the" individual user" button and on the next page make sure you scroll down and click on the Triptico download icon. Triptico uses Adobe Air so if you have not installed this in your computer, you will need to download it. This will happen almost automatically when you click on the Triptico download icon which will let you know if you need to download or update Adobe Air. Then save and run the application. That was all!

About Triptico and how it works

Once you have downloaded it, you will see that Triptico offers four categories of resources (see Image 1) : tools, timers, selectors and quizzes. In total the application is constituted of around 20 different resources

•  which can promote vocabulary, grammar and text oriented activities ( "Word Magnets", "Order sorter"). 
•  Timers which can help us keep time for our activities, breaks and make class funnier and more appealing.
• Selectors can help you manage group work by actually making the groups.
• Finally there are some games/quizzes which can be fun and formative at the same time ( "Find Ten", What's the question?").

I will focus on the "Word Magnets" which is one of the most popular tool of triptico.

Image 1

Word Magnets

You click on the "Word Magnets" option and then you have two choices:

1. either to create a new board
2. or load a saved board

Let's assume that this is the first time we use Word Magnets, therefore, we will click on "create a new board". 

1. Afterwards, we can copy a text from somewhere and paste it there and then we choose a background (among 42 choices: triangles, two boxes, many boxes, arrows showing process, letters of the alphabet, graphs) and our text will be broken up into words randomly allocated on the board which our students will be able to move like refrigerator magnets. We can colour these magnets or change their size.
2. Alternatively, we don not have to copy and paste a text but we can simply overlook the steps copy paste and choose a background and create an empty board where we can add words immediately as magnets.

We can save the board we have made for future use!

What can we do with Word Magnets?

There is no limit when it comes to this tool so feel free to be creative and challenge yourselves. Here are some ideas:

•  If we copy and paste some text we can ask our students to move around the magnets and create it from the beginning. Our students will have to focus both on sentence structure and meaning at the same time, thus, the activity has a purpose and becomes memorable.
•  Furthermore, there is flexibility since we have to decide how to use the text. For example we can work on the grammar of the text or on the vocabulary. We can delete some words and ask our students to replace them with another one or we can check if they can remember the word that we deleted. Moreover, we can create sentences with spelling and grammar mistakes and ask them to correct these or we can ask them to establish cohesion in our text by creating words like nevertheless, on the contrary etc.

• In addition, if we choose not to copy and paste some text, we can choose the background which divides the screen into 2 parts and make 2 lists with singular and plural, countable and uncountable nouns, words with positive or negative meaning. 
• We can make a revision on participles, idioms, regular and irregular verbs.
• We can further divide the board into more parts or boxes and work on parts of speech or give our students one noun for example and ask them to create the equivalent verb or adjective.
• We can match synonyms.
• Another idea is to use the letters of the alphabet background to make a revision of the taught vocabulary.
• We can make family trees.
• There is also the possibility to upload a picture and have our students come up with words describing this particular picture. 
• We can present the process of the recycling by using the background with the arrows showing process or we can ask them to make a recipe.
• Finally, we can have fun with the boxes and ask them to create magnets with what they need to shop from the supermarket or what they want to take with them when they will travel to England.

Downsides

• Keep in mind that the text we aim to copy and paste should be short in order for the students to have enough space to work.
• We have to monitor the whole activity and make sure that only one student interacts with the board and the others have to wait for their turn.

Why I do suggest Word Magnets

First of all, I think Word Magnets is appropriate for English language teachers in Greece. All of us, have to work on grammar and vocabulary and devote a large part of our class time to these. Directors, our students parents and even our students sometimes expect from us to do only grammar. Word Magnet can give us the chance to teach English grammar in a funnier and efficient way for the below reasons.

• Promotes interaction and collaboration. We can work with whole classes or divide them into groups.
• It is visually and orally appealing and students have the chance to move around the classroom. So students with different learning styles can have the chance to benefit from our lesson.
• Students can create their own magnets, so the activity becomes personalized and more memorable. Apart from creativity, motivation is also promoted.

Why I do suggest Triptico

Word magnets is only one of the resources that Triptico can offer. There are many other tools which are all easily usable and adaptable according to our students level of English and needs. It is free and available for all of us. One last tip I want to give is to have a look at the Timers and Selectors. We can use them to keep time of our activities in class or to make groups. I would use them with funny tasks in class so that I can increase my students anticipation and create a playful and pleasant atmosphere in my class. Smalls details can make the difference! 

Have fun with Triptico! 

Printscreens from Triptico