Interview with Alan Maley: Exploring Creativity in the Language Classroom | ELTWO by Flora Debora FlorisPetra Christian University, Indonesia Introduction Professor Alan Maley has been involved in English Language Teaching (ELT) for over 50 years. Alan has been privileged to work with some of the ‘greats’, well-known people such as Michael Swan, Robert O’Neill, Ron Carter, Earl Stevick, and N.S. But apart from the people, Alan says, “I have also received great satisfaction from the way ideas and new approaches have evolved over the years, and the passion which drives that process. View the full paper (PDF)
Teaching Resources | Instruction, Classroom Management, Study Skills & Special Education A Nation Still at Risk: Real Education Reform Needed Now In 1983 the landmark publication of the report A Nation at Risk seemed to shake our nation from its slumber regarding the scary truth about education in America. It detailed how there were serious problems in schools in this country and recommended fixes for what ailed schools. Unfortunately, twenty-eight years later there are still many things that are wrong in education, ... Rated: +3 Should Students Be Able to Grade Their Teachers? My first year teaching in Compton, California, I asked some of my students who they thought was the meanest teacher in the school. The consensus was unanimous: "Ms.
Why classroom games can be much more than lesson fillers Mike Astbury, four-time winner of our TeachingEnglish blog award, explains how classroom games can benefit your students, lessons and professional development. Picture a perfect class of English language students. They are motivated and work hard. I think you can take steps towards creating this ideal environment, by considering how to build games into your lesson plans. Some teachers may consider classroom games to be frivolities or distractions. Games are a good way to revisit content that you've already covered Well-known games such as ‘back to the board’ (in which a student sits with his or her back to the board and has to guess the word written on it from their teammates' clues), the charades-inspired guessing game Pictionary, and ‘board race’ (where students race each other across the classroom to write the answer to your question on the board) can be effective ways to revisit a previous topic. Games can pep up a course book-based lesson Games help you become a more inventive teacher
tubequizard The Science of Awkwardness Vsauce Vocabulary in contextPeople & society18 items Academic Word List (sublist 1) Preparing for IELTS? Studying academic vocabulary? Emma Watson's Harry Potter Outtake Jimmy Kimmel Live Vocabulary in contextEntertainment20 items Frequently used verbs. The art of asking | Amanda Palmer Grammar for listenersTalks & interviews17 items 'Would' for past repeated actions and habits. My stroke of insight | Jill Bolte Taylor Grammar for listenersTalks & interviews13 items Present Continuous Watch the story of how Jill Bolte Taylor realized she was having a stroke and type phrases in Present Continuous. The art of misdirection | Apollo Robbins Grammar for listenersTalks & interviews12 items Questions. Vocabulary in contextFilm & animation25 items Watch this moving animated story and fill the gaps with up to 6 'basic' (A1) words. The Bookmobile StoryCorps Grammar for listenersFilm & animation43 items Past verb forms: telling stories. The Amazing iPad Magician TheEllenShow Veritasium
What is science? The word "science" probably brings to mind many different pictures: a fat textbook, white lab coats and microscopes, an astronomer peering through a telescope, a naturalist in the rainforest, Einstein's equations scribbled on a chalkboard, the launch of the space shuttle, bubbling beakers …. All of those images reflect some aspect of science, but none of them provides a full picture because science has so many facets: Science is both a body of knowledge and a process. In school, science may sometimes seem like a collection of isolated and static facts listed in a textbook, but that's only a small part of the story. Just as importantly, science is also a process of discovery that allows us to link isolated facts into coherent and comprehensive understandings of the natural world. Science is exciting. This section describes what makes science science. Or just click the "Next" button to dive right in!
11 Drawings to Remember English Rules Forever | Clark and Miller Have you ever had a problem that you just couldn’t solve for ages? Then suddenly someone says one word, or just shows you one simple picture, and you get that “aha” moment — you suddenly understand everything? Well, over the many, many years I’ve been teaching English, I’ve found that some simple images can help explain rules in English that cause so many problems for people. Hopefully, they’ll help you, too. So here are some of my most effective little pictures to help you remember English rules. Forever! Maybe. In, on or at for place? I’ve actually talked about this in a previous post, but it’s good to see it in a different way. Usually (but not always), we use: “In” when it’s 3-dimensional I’m in this really dark room and I can’t get out. “On” when it’s a straight line I’ve been on this road for about 8 hours and I still can’t get off it. “At” when we feel like it’s a point on a map I’ll meet you at the station. That’s why we can have one person saying, “Are you at the station yet?” A or the? OK.
David Dodgson: Digitally speaking Instead, we assess students on the four skills at various points during the term. There are usually two speaking assessments – one in the style of a mini presentation, and the other as a pair or small group dialogue. These have the benefits of allowing the teacher to see and hear the students put their language to use in a relevant context. Some teachers respond to this by setting the class self-study tasks while they listen to individual students/groups outside the class. Over the last year, I have been experimenting with a different way of administering the speaking assessments – by using iPads. I usually introduce the iPads during the practice stage. This has the great benefit of encouraging self-assessment as the learners analyse their own output and think about how they could say something differently or more accurately. In this case, I again give the students a time limit to make their recording. Secondly, there are practical considerations. Finally, we have to consider time.
Practical tips By Opal Dunn, educational consultant and author Introduction Young children learn English differently from most adults. Most have an innate ability to pick up English while taking part in activities, by making sense of what they are doing and picking up the adult’s language that accompanies the activity. You can find out more in the British Council booklet ‘How young children learn English as another language’, also available on the parents pages of the LearnEnglish Kids website. Planned English sessions You can plan regular sessions which will usually take place: at home on regular days for about ten to twenty minutes adjusted to fit your child’s increasing English ability and ability to concentrate as a planned programme that reviews and builds on known activities and introduces new ones. Short English sessions These are more informal and can take place: any place – in the car, at bathtime, in a supermarket queue any time in response to a mood or special experience. Basic programme Crafts
Review: British Council apps for learning English | ELT planning Students often ask me if I know any good websites and apps for learning English. There are a fair few websites I recommend, and this list is always growing (note: the latest edition is TubeQuizard). Apps though? Er… Feeling ignorant, and especially ignorant when it comes to the British Council’s own products, I’ve spent this week downloading our apps and testing them out. Disclaimer: all views are my own. The young learner apps from the British Council are by far the most engaging, as you might expect! Learning Time with Timmy Cost: £2.99, or £6.99 for Timmy 1, 2 and 3 This is a really fun app for very young learners. This is the ‘put stuff in a box’ game. The app in a few words: Well worth the money LearnEnglish Kids: Playtime Cost: £2.99 for a month, £10.49 for six months Playtime offers instant access to many of the videos you can find on the LearnEnglish site. The best feature of the app are the parents section, allowing parents to view their child’s progress. LearnEnglish Podcasts