Lynda Steyne
ELT professional
London school bans students from using 'innit', 'like', 'bare' Staff at Harris Academy Upper Norwood hope to improve awareness of formal language by banning a list of slang words and phrases Photograph: @artsemergency.
Handwriting vs. Typing: Which Skill Do Students Need Most? What if 20 years from now, writing by hand on paper is as outdated as taking a chisel and hammer to a slab of stone?
It might sound unthinkable, but given the current trajectory of K-12 education, handwriting could take a backseat to typing as technology dominates the way we communicate. As digital natives have begun to make their way through the educational system — effortlessly wielding mobile devices and navigating the web for independent research — more people have begun to wonder about the future of handwriting. The first blow dealt by technology has been to cursive writing. Earlier this year, teacher supplies retailer Really Good Stuff released a survey that found that “41 percent of elementary school teachers no longer incorporate cursive writing instruction into their curriculum.”
While cursive has been the first pillar of student handwriting to fall, it seems likely that print handwriting will take a backseat to typing as well. 75 Simple British Slang Expressions You Should Probably Start Using. Oh, the Brits.
No-one can snark quite like they do, and there are certain turns of phrase that are so utterly delightful, the rest of the world really should sit up and take note. Below are just a few common British phrases that you might like to work into your daily vernacular, as they can pepper any conversation with a little extra something. Aggro: Aggressive/in someone’s face. “Are you having a laugh?” : Statement of incredulity, like “you’ve got to be kidding”, and such. London school bans students from using 'innit', 'like', 'bare' Students at Harris Academy Upper Norwood have been banned from using 10 informal phrases in school areas designated 'formal language zones', which includes all classrooms and corridors.
Moving to a new country (Sevastopol) A few days after I arrived in Sevastopol, Lea Sobocan posted this on facebook: I have a request for my PLN – more specifically for the segment of you who have experienced living in another country/culture.I’m currently discussing moving to another country/immigration with my students and I’d really appreciate any thoughts, feelings, difficulties and joys to be found in living abroad.
Reuters Video: Brit conquers 47th annual World Conker Championships. Low-level Teens and the Global SIG Food Issues Month (Part 2) In my first post about the Global SIG’s Food Issues Month, I described the background to my materials, some reflections on using them in the classroom with two groups of low level teenaged learners and the links to the materials themselves.
In the two lessons I described, I had not managed to complete all of the activities in the materials. In fact, with each group, we completed two out of the three pages of activities. I also mentioned that I would be very interested to see how much each group had taken in during their lesson. This post is the next instalment in the story and some reflection on the concept of the Global SIG Food Issues Month: So, in the next lesson, we started off with a review of what we *had* done, before proceeding to complete the final activities.
Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming. It’s important for people to tell you what side they are on and why, and whether they might be biased.
A declaration of members’ interests, of a sort. So, I am going to be talking to you about reading. How a Radical New Teaching Method Could Unleash a Generation of Geniuses. In 2009, scientists from the University of Louisville and MIT's Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences conducted a study of 48 children between the ages of 3 and 6.
The kids were presented with a toy that could squeak, play notes, and reflect images, among other things. For one set of children, a researcher demonstrated a single attribute and then let them play with the toy. Another set of students was given no information about the toy. This group played longer and discovered an average of six attributes of the toy; the group that was told what to do discovered only about four. A similar study at UC Berkeley demonstrated that kids given no instruction were much more likely to come up with novel solutions to a problem. Life Lessons From Winnie-the-Pooh. Your childhood is calling, it has some wisdom to share!
Sometimes, when I go back and read old favorites, I’m surprised at how much good sense is packed into the books I read before I realized how important they were. The plots were always entertaining, but the life lessons lost on someone who had lived so very little life. Now that I am three decades in, quotes from childhood staples are surprisingly valid and poignant. Don't go a-changing : The legitimacy of my English. I was in Dublin this week listening to the radio when I chanced upon an interview with a Professor Jeffery Kallen on the Mooney Show on RTE Radio 1.
Looking at the issue of whether the Irish and British are starting to sound more American, the presenter Derek Mooney starts by reminding listeners of the speech patterns of Vicky Pollard, the British schoolgirl character in the comedy series Little Britain. Attributing her catch-phrases, such as ‘Yeah but no but yeah’, ‘Shut up!’ , and ‘Oh my god! The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELLs In 2013 – So Far. Another day, another “The Best…” list….. You might also be interested in: The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELL’s In 2012 — Part Two The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELL’s In 2012 — Part One The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELL’s In 2011 — Part Two The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELL’s In 2011 — Part One The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELL’s — 2010.
Breaking News English Lessons: Easy English News.
PD. Classroom Resources. Miscellaneous Activities. Comics. Playing with Images.