Posts from ‘May, 2010’

Siklot: Reinvention of a Traditional Game for EFL Classrooms (by Marco Brazil)

May 29th, 2010

This post marks the beginning of a new series–EFL Makeovers. Teachers have long recognized the value of games in EFL—as effective substitutes for drills, as authentic tasks for children, and for the joy they bring into class. We adapt games from our home countries, and we adopt games from the countries in which we find [...]

More Than Five Things to do with LEGO® in the EFL Classroom Part 2 (by Emma Herrod)

May 27th, 2010

by Barbara.

7 comments

Part of the series: Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know If you missed the first half of this article, start here. Home Sweet Home This lesson makes for a fun way of working with language to do with accommodation and living spaces, as the students work together to build a large model house. The model [...]

More Than Five Things to do with LEGO® in the EFL Classroom Part 1 (by Emma Herrod)

May 27th, 2010

by Barbara.

13 comments

Part of the series: Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know Firstly, I’d like to put this post into some sort of context. In 2002, I landed a dream job (at the time) working at the LEGO Company. The next five years were so much fun and those little coloured bricks became part of my everyday [...]

One week in my Second Life (by Baldric Commons)

May 25th, 2010

by grahamstanley.

8 comments

Part of the series: Stories from the Front Lines of EFL In case some of you didn’t know it, Second Life (SL) is a relatively new country where the rules of Real Life (RL) often don’t apply. For instance, you can fly and teleport from one place to another in the blink of an eye. It’s [...]

High Tech Ideas for Low Tech Classrooms: VoiceThread

May 23rd, 2010

by Barbara.

17 comments

Some time back, Anita Kwiatkowska encouraged me to start a new series. I’ve actually been thinking of this idea for a few months, when OUP asked me to do a series of presentations about using technology in teaching young EFL learners.

How to Create a Jazz Chant by Carolyn Graham

May 23rd, 2010

by Barbara.

3 comments

Part of the series: Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know Last November, Carolyn Graham did a workshop at the JALT National Conference in Shizuoka, Japan, on how to make a Jazz Chant. I taped her workshop, and with her permission am sharing the part of it where she demonstrates her technique. One of the many [...]

Intersection on an E-Ferry (a poem by Hamdi Erestreams)

May 20th, 2010

by Barbara.

11 comments

Hamdi is a teacher I recently met on Facebook. He has taught EFL for 12 years in Tunisia and has recently begun to explore Facebook and Twitter as places to connect with other teachers around the world. Hamdi doesn’t have a computer at home, so he accesses the Internet at cybercafes and at school. In [...]

Never under-estimate what your students can teach you! (by Berni Wall)

May 18th, 2010

by Barbara.

14 comments

Part of the series: Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know As an EFL teacher with a long career, I’ve been around the block a few times! I’ve taught all levels from kindergarten to mature adults and I think I’ve learnt one or two things along the way. However, for me, I think the lesson that [...]

Why Recognition Matters

May 14th, 2010

by Barbara.

3 comments

Teaching Village has been nominated for another award! This time, it’s as one of the Lexiophiles’ Top 100 Language Teaching Blogs. This is the post where I would normally thank them for the award and give credit to my guest authors, who are largely responsible for any recognition Teaching Village receives. However, I just did [...]

Love and Respect (by Melania Paduraru)

May 13th, 2010

by Barbara.

7 comments

Part of the series: Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know A few days ago, a much younger colleague of mine in her first teaching year was complaining about how difficult it is to be a teacher and how stressed she feels when entering a classroom full of 14 year-olds who sometimes give her a really [...]