As an EFL teacher for the last quarter century (sounds more impressive than 25 years), I have been taught and have taught other teachers the profits, or perhaps more accurately the necessity, of providing an enjoyable lesson. I have said in my teacher training workshops that if the students are not enjoying their lesson, they [...]
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This is the 2nd part of my post on lesson planning. If you haven’t read through part 1 yet, there do that first. Click here for part 1. In this part we’ll start with some of the unanswered questions in Part One. Concerning possible problems that may occur in some of the activities that you [...]
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When I was training for the RSA Dip (currently the DELTA Diploma), the most useful lesson, the one that fundamentally changed the way that I had taught up to that point was ‘lesson planning’. Lesson planning gives direction and ultimately makes lessons more productive, interesting and professional. What follows are a number of exercises which [...]
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In my previous post, I discussed how and why to use songs in the classroom, but my main focus was how the lyrics in a song can be exploited. However, there are, as the old saying goes, many ways to skin to a cat. If we go beyond the words a song contains and think [...]
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The aim of this article is to get you thinking. That is, thinking about the use of songs in the teaching of English. To start with, the first thing to think about is you and music. How often have you used songs? Why is this so? Are songs a regular part of your teaching repertoire? [...]
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AIM: Question forming, Brainstorming, Narrative Work LEVEL: Intermediate – Advanced TIME: 10-15 minutes MATERIALS / PREPARATION: None PROCEDURE: – Tell the students that you have a story in mind and that they are to guess the storyline by asking yes / no questions. Give them a general theme for the story such by telling them [...]
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A Call to Action: Kick Ass Ecology (It’s more than just a classroom task!) As teachers of English, the de facto international language, what we should be doing is teaching our students the English they will need to help save the environment and the future of mankind. Now that’s a pretty noble mission, wouldn’t you say? [...]
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As a teacher trainer, I often enter a classroom, observe a class that a trainee conducts, make notes and then discuss what happened. One of the elements that we discuss, is the trainee’s class management skills. The following account is what I would describe as ‘typical’ of trainees who go into the classroom with very [...]
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Before you read any further, ask yourself the following questions and answer them honestly. Are you teaching English until you find something more fulfilling or interesting to do with your life, that is, how seriously do you take this profession? What do you love and hate about this job? What qualities do you share with [...]
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