Posts from ‘September, 2009’

A 1.5 Million Yen Secret (by Steven Herder)

Sep 23rd, 2009

If you read Stories from the Front Lines of EFL, and thought, “I’d really like to be part of this project, but I’m not sure anyone would be interested in my story” then this post is for you. Answering just a few important questions can give you the confidence to share your thoughts and ideas [...]

What I’ve Learned from my PLN

Sep 17th, 2009

by Barbara.

3 comments

(Note: If this is the first post you’ve read in this series, and you’re mystified by the PLN acronym, start with What’s a PLN, anyway?) This has been a resources kind of week for me–free books and free conferences!

Stories from the Front Lines of EFL

Sep 16th, 2009

by Barbara.

13 comments

Do you remember the Indian fable about blind men describing an elephant? Depending on which body part they touched, they described a very different animal. At times, trying to describe English as a Foreign Language for young learners feels a bit like describing an elephant. There are two things common to young learner EFL classes: they [...]

What is a PLN, anyway?

Sep 10th, 2009

by Barbara.

34 comments

A good friend (and a great teacher) e-mailed me after my last post. “Great links,” she said. “But what’s a PLN?” A good reminder about why I try to avoid acronyms and jargon in my writing. PLN is an acronym for Personal Learning Network. The acronym is relatively new, but the idea is not. Teachers [...]

What I’ve Learned From My PLN (September 1, 2009)

Sep 1st, 2009

by Barbara.

2 comments

This week was about motivation–both mine and my students’. It started with an #edchat conversation on Twitter about the value of homework. Alfie Kohn (a man decidedly against homework!) shared an article from the journal Theory and Research in Education about self-determination theory as regards motivation. While the article was interesting enough, what really got me excited was discovering that ALL [...]