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Nowadays, teachers are faced with many challenges. There are students of all types and each one of them expects something from the teacher. Keeping this in mind, I see the need for material design and material elaboration in order to meet such expectations. In my search for new ways of improving the work I do in the Cimarroncitos program and complying with the material design and elaboration project, I decided to give my students to opportunity to use material designed and created with my own hands. A challenge that, I believe, has been overcome.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The material I created for this project was used with a group of twenty-six students who ranged from ages twelve to fifteen. These students had already been in contact with the English language before the signed up for my class. Most of them attend private schools where they have good access to the language. Several of them come from wealthy families, reason for which it is easier for them to get in contact with the language due to the fact that they have easier access to technology and gadgets in general.

This material was used in the "Cimarroncitos Teens" program that holds Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. This material was subject to the program's focus on communicative competencies that can enable students to become proficient in the English language. According to the school and language program, this material had to be educational as well as appealing to the students. The Faculty of Languages and the School of Foreign Languages where this material was used is highly motivated to increase its quality of education and meet the demand for language that individuals may have at the experiential level and this material had to really meet this criteria.

The students, for being teenagers, vary a lot from one to another. Half of my class is twelve and thirteen, and the other half is fifteen, so, there is a difference in how the students are, both physically and mentally. I could mention, for instance, one of them who is even taller than me. This fellow is only fourteen years old, but he sure looks older. Since they are teenagers, there are some marked differences among them, especially when it comes to boys and girls. It is not just their outward appearance but the ways in which they behave and react to the teaching materials. While boys are more excited about "who is the boss" of the game, girls are more worried about how their hair is and what people might say if they see them acting in a certain way. They are all coping with change and bringing to appropriate material for them to meet their needs becomes a challenge.

The teacher who used this material, in this case was me. I can say that I am all for communicative language teaching and, most importantly, providing students with opportunities for real-life communication. Since my English roots are both from EFL and ESL language atmospheres, I strongly believe in the use of materials that are suitable for language teaching as well as for making learning more enjoyable. I enjoy working with teenagers and can somehow relate to them as learners of English due to the fact that the first encounters I had with English learning were when I was a teenager. Definitely, bringing material that is up to the students' level and needs is essential.

The level of English taught in my course is seventh level. In this level we present our students with the use of conditional, linkers, passive voice, reported speech, relative non-defining clauses, as well as vocabulary in general. The purpose of the course is to prepare students for real-life encounters with English, as well as to make them aware of the opportunities that arise from being a bilingual person.

The book I used is called "English in Mind", by Cambridge University Press. It is a book that includes good exercises, grammatical rules, current topics, and interesting reading. It is a book designed for teenagers use; however, I found the need for more than just written, read, or listened to material. What I really wanted was to create a fun way of having my students practice speaking in English, so this is how I decided to used this material.

According to Ellington and Race (1994), games are considered part of instructional materials and can be very well be used by teachers according to the teaching needs. Considering this, I decided to use this material in order to review what we had already seen in class. The use of "If only", "I wish I was", and also adjectives. Other authors such as Cunningworth (1984), tell us that motivation is the most important single factor in success or failure at language learning. Keeping this in mind, I came to realize how important it was for me to create a material that would make my students want to learn, or in this case, practice what had previously been learned.

I decided to have my students play a board game in which they would have to roll the dice once and if they landed on an even number, they would have to say a sentence using "If only" and/or "I wish I was". Since I have a large number of students, I couldn't just use the regular type of board game, so I decided to make a large one for them. And also a large dice that was to be used during the game.

I name my material "The Floor Board Game". I called it that because it is board game that has the flexibility to be used with any topic and any subject. This material is instructional due to the fact that students have to listen to the rules, understand the rules, and follow a procedure. This makes it instructional. Yes, because students learn to abide by the rules as well as reinforcing whatever topic they had been previously taught. In other words, the objective of this material is to serve as a mean of reinforcement for students so they can naturally learn to communicate in a real-life setting and have fun.

The material was made with fabric (pellón), which was two meters long and about half a meter wide, which served as the base for the game board. The color is white and on it, square figures were drawn in order to have the students land on them. These squares are numbered and put into a path that leads from start to finish. Along the way, players may encounter obstacles that can either make them lose a turn, go back spaces, or stay in "jail" until someone else lands there. A set of twenty-eight chips were made with letters of the alphabet; these were to be used by each player. Finally, I made a big dice, which I made with a cardboard box and then covered it with poster board paper and then wrapped it around with clear tape.

The results of designing and using this material were very satisfying. First of all, it pumped up the excitement among the students for using this material due to the fact that it was appealing to them, it seemed fun, and the big dice was a big knocker. Another important result was that this material allowed my students to have real practice for communication in English and the atmosphere itself became real context. Finally, it allowed me to reinforce language form and language use in a contextualized atmosphere. Summing it all up, it was a great success.

When we used the material in class, there was an atmosphere of excitement and expectation. Students would look at the big dice and wonder what it was that the teacher was going to have them do next. We tried it outdoors on a grassy area, but since it was a little windy, we the fabric board kept on lifting itself up, so I decided to take them back inside the classroom. Once in the classroom, we were able to use it freely without having to worry about what the weather conditions were. I came to the conclusion that certain materials may only be suitable for certain environments.

Designing and elaborating material can be a toughie. Through the process of designing, I found out that, we as teachers, do not have to just make up something to fill in class time. It needs to be well-thought and, most of all, have a clear picture in our head of what the purpose for designing such material. Pedagogic material can be seemed as easy, but it does require a great amount of thinking what you want to do, when do you need it for, how will you elaborate it, and what resources are available to you. Once you know what is it that you want to do, then you begin on the hands-on part of the project. In my case, I had to go purchase the materials once I knew what I wanted to do, then I had organize the materials I needed once I got them; there was a lot of cutting and pasting, wrapping, folding, drawing, writing, marking, and storing of the material once finished. Like I said before, designing and elaborating material may seem like a burden, nevertheless, it will enrich your class as you become a better teacher and help your students become better learners.

Teachers face many challenges on a daily basis. Students have different learning needs and they expect the teacher to supply them. There is, indeed, a need for new materials that will make learning more meaningful. This is how this material came to be. Yes, on a personal need for professional growth and the opportunity to exploit hidden potential that I may have not been aware of. I will call it, if I may, one more mountain conquered.