We're better when we work together
Over the last twenty-three years, I have taught English to people in every demographic category other than homeless people. Over that time, the issue that continues to pique my interest is their motivation for carrying their feet across the threshold of my classroom. I have an idea about what gets my college students into class, [...]
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I can still remember my first Christmas lesson seven years ago. My 3rd graders were making little Santas from red paper and we were chatting about the presents they expected to get that year. Foolish as I was back then, I suddenly asked ‘Of course you no longer believe in…?’. No, I didn’t finish that [...]
Share the post "Sometimes Less is More (by Anita Kwiatkowska)"
In February, I talked with approximately 1000 teachers in Fukuoka, Okayama, Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo as part of the OUP Teaching Workshop Series. Workshop titles were assigned to fit an acronym. I was the “I” in K.I.D.S.—Interactive Ideas for Keeping your English Classes Relevant for the 21st century. The challenge for me was how to [...]
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I fell into the world of academic publishing a bit accidentally. After finishing my MA in TEFL/TESL I was interested in maintaining familiarity with what I had learned and was worried that if I didn’t actively maintain my participation in the discourse of the profession, then the MA would become little more than another piece [...]
Share the post "An invitation to participate in academic publication (by Theron Muller)"
A very good friend, Ehrhard, a retired teacher from the former GDR, recently wrote a letter to me, which made me truly reflect. He told me that he was so happy that he had taught English “his way” successfully for many years, even though his colleagues had changed their styles and methods to suit the [...]
Share the post "Do It Your Way (by Janet Bianchini)"
Graduating from University felt awesome and life was beautiful. Full of enthusiasm and open for fresh perspectives I was ready to walk the new path as a fully qualified EFL teacher. I had taught before graduation – most students did. I already had my favourite games and a foolproof set of grammatical exercises that would [...]
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Introduction One of the more undiscovered or, in some cases, underutilized teaching methods is the use of mind maps. While the exact origin of this approach to learning is lost in the mists of time, mind mapping has for decades been a regular feature of primary and secondary education in Europe—in Germany and Britain, in [...]
Share the post "Mind Mapping: Learning and Teaching with Both Sides of the Brain (by Hobie Swan)"
When I sat down to write this post, the only thing came to my mind was, ”At the moment I’m where I’ve always wanted to be and this is because I’m an EFL teacher.” Being an EFL teacher helped me become who I am now. It promoted my creativity, enabled me to find different solutions [...]
Share the post "Being an EFL teacher (by Eva Büyüksimkeşyan)"
Part of the series: Stuff All EFL Teachers Should Know As a manager I interview a lot of teachers. One question I always ask is about reading texts. If you have a short reading text, what are some different ways in which it can be used? I am constantly surprised by the lack of responses [...]
Share the post "Text Your Knowledge (by Nick Jaworski)"
I jumped at the opportunity to contribute to what I believe to be one of the best blogs in the EFL blogosphere. I allocated an hour to writing this post, and even after 12 hours of fruitless toil, I am none the wiser. http://wordle.net What should every EFL teacher know? I have been trying to [...]
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