We're better when we work together
Creating a positive learning environment with few discipline problems is a goal of any teacher. We all want to give our young learners the best opportunity to succeed, but sometimes we forget that building this type of environment, much like tending to a garden, takes planning, effort, consistency and a fair amount of time and [...]
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It’s Wednesday, 11:00, just a regular day at the high school. Two English teachers are sitting in the teacher’s room marking exams during their “free” period. Every now and then you can hear each one exclaim (or mutter, as the case may be) “How could he have possible written THAT?” or “How in earth did [...]
Share the post "The “Reading Pictures” Strategy (By Naomi Ganin-Epstein)"
Bringing food topics into the language classroom is one way to stimulate language learning as well as hungry appetites. 9 and 10 year old students in the 5th grade of our elementary school in Japan take part in an 8-hour lesson on varieties of rice in Japan. This Japan-unit is later followed by a similar [...]
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I recently had a chance to sit down (virtually) and be interviewed by Chiew Pang. You might remember Chiew from his recent guest post here, or his work on his own blog, A CLIL to Climb, or his presence on Twitter. He’s a good man to know, if you haven’t had the pleasure yet. Anyway, [...]
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“Aren’t teenagers too self-conscious to speak English?” “Do they care about the contents that do not appear in their school tests?” “Well… I wouldn’t want to get into that area…” I have been teaching teens as well as pre-school and elementary school children at my language school, English Square, in Japan, for the last 20 [...]
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Sandy Millin first popped onto my radar as one of the most enthusiastic participants each week on ELT Chat, and I’m thrilled to have an excuse to get to know her better as part of Brad Patterson’s brilliant blog challenge: If you haven’t heard of it yet, the premise is simple. Ask your favorite PLN [...]
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Iro iro is Japanese for “this and that.” I love the sound of the word, and it sounds better than publishing a post called “miscellaneous stuff” So, here’s my iro iro: 20 years of learning and playing with Let’s Go Share the post “Iro Iro”FacebookTwitterGoogle+
Until a few months ago, I always considered myself an English teacher who specialized in writing. I love writing, and I love helping others realize that their stories and ideas are worth sharing in more than one language. Recently, however, I’ve been drawn to another area of the English language. I have a whole new [...]
Share the post "Teaching Pronunciation Online (by Tara Benwell)"
I’ve always believed in the power of people to be able to come together to create something much bigger than any one of them individually. Here is a story about a bunch of teachers (myself and Barbara included) who are coming together to create something new called The International Teacher Development Institute (iTDi). Share the [...]
Share the post "Teacher Development 2.0 (by Steven Herder)"
I must admit that when Barb invited me to submit a guest post, I felt I wasn’t worthy of such an invite. Later, I thought… if she’d felt that I had something to contribute, well, then I couldn’t very well let her down, could I? Besides, one has to step out of one’s comfort zone [...]
Share the post "Images à la Dogme (by Chiew Pang)"
