Wisdom from 20 Years in the TESL Trenches. Letter to my daughter: what is it like to be a girl in 2016? | Global Development Professionals Network. My dearest Feyrus, I hope my words find you kicking ass as always. As you are now 13 I thought I’d write you a letter to explain how I see the world in 2016, and my fears for you and other girls. Most of all I want to celebrate the young women you are becoming. In 2016, my saga of the angry feminist continues. I don’t expect you to take up the mantle, but I’m impressed by the way you challenge sexism. I see the world through your eyes, my London-born African Muslim girl. You are now experimenting with your own voice and I’ve noticed you are extremely aware of your self-worth. Every year, 3 million girls are at risk from FGM (the partial or total removal of the female genitalia for non-medical reasons) in Africa alone.
Many of the girls subjected to FGM are being cut in preparation for child marriage. As a psychotherapist I once worked with a woman who, as a girl had been subjected to both FGM and breast ironing. Globally, girls are faced with many challenges. Lots of love, Mummy xx. Art works: how art in the office boosts staff productivity | Guardian Careers. Contrary to what your boss might say, being distracted at work is not always a bad thing. If the object of your distraction is a work of art, it can actually boost productivity, lower stress and increase wellbeing. This is according to Dr Craig Knight, who has studied the psychology of working environments for 12 years at the University of Exeter, where he heads a research group called Identity Realisation (IDR). “There is a real tendency to opt for sanitised, lean workspaces, designed to encourage staff to just get on with their work and avoid distraction,” he explains.
But there isn’t a branch of science in the world which believes this approach boosts productivity or makes for happier workers, according to Knight. “If you enrich a space people feel much happier and work better; a very good way of doing this is by using art.” It is certainly a philosophy that Deutsche Bank is on board with. “Some companies consciously use art as part of their retention strategy,” he says.
Teaching About Audience Through Public Service Announcements. As I mentioned in some of my previous posts, the concept of audience is not always easy to comprehend for second language writers. And even when students seem to have an idea what this term means conceptually, they may still struggle applying it to their writing. In my post today, I would like to share a few activities built around video Public Service Announcements (PSAs) which, as we know, are freely available online and thus are easily accessible to most students and teachers.
I found these videos to be an excellent tool in helping second language writers better understand the concept of audience. A PSA is a short video (15 – 60 seconds) thats purpose is to bring to attention a social issue and motivate the audience to action. PSAs are different from commercials because they are not selling anything, but instead, they raise awareness of a problem or give people advice. You can find a numerous PSAs on a variety of topics and social issues. Here are a few activities: Activity 1 Activity 2. The Best Holiday Movies to Watch With the Family. Eight Lessons About Leading Kids From Derek Jeter’s Dad. The sports world was consumed this summer with Derek Jeter’s farewell to the New York Yankees (and baseball fans everywhere). He got applause from every ballpark because Jeter played the game with class. He ended his career at Yankee stadium with a walk-off single that won the game.
He worked hard, kept a great attitude, was a great teammate, and was very competitive—but never once, in 2,903 games of major league baseball, did he get ejected from a game. Yep, he is different. When asked how and where he learned to play the game—he refers to his father. From his own lips, here are eight lessons we learn about leading kids from Derek Jeter’s dad: Never let anyone outwork you.
Derek said he watched his dad work relentlessly as a substance abuse counselor. Inspire your followers by doing what you want done. Derek’s dad modeled the way in everything from optimism to passion to fun around the house. Don’t project on kids, but push them when it’s time. Be tough, but fair. P.S. The Best Websites For Intermediate Readers. This list of The Best Sites For Intermediate Readers is a follow-up to my two most recent lists — The Best Websites To Help Beginning Readers and The Best Websites For Beginning Older Readers.
This list highlights what I think are the fourteen best sites for readers who have advanced their reading (in English) beyond the beginning stage. The sites here are accessible to a wide range of readers — from Early Intermediate to Advanced. They are also appropriate for English Language Learners and native-English speakers alike. Except for one site on this list (number eleven, which is obviously more appropriate for kids) all these sites should be engaging to younger, older, and adult students. You can also access all of my other lists of Websites of the Year in one of two places. If you find this list useful, and would like to continue receiving updated resources, you can subscribe to this blog for free here. And, now, here are The Best Websites For Intermediate Readers: Related December 22, 2008.
Are you a fashionista? Some fashion vocabulary in English. I don’t know about you but I am not one to follow fashion slavishly (also known as fashion slaves). I am no fashionista. However, I do like to dress well. When I worked in finance I had to dress in business suits whether it was a tailored jacket and trousers or tailored jacket and skirt. I preferred trouser suits as I felt more comfortable wearing them. I spent a lot of money buying my suits and blouses or shirts that would match my suits. I also had to think of all the accessories that would go with the clothes – like what shoes to wear, handbags to carry and sometimes, the right belt that would match the trousers. As far as shoes were concerned, when I was younger I chose some high-heeled or stiletto heels that were really uncomfortable to wear especially after a day standing in them. As an English teacher who works predominantly from home, I have become extremely lazy with my clothes.
So no surprise then that I don’t follow the latest trends in the fashion world. Ciao for now Shanthi. 50 Timeless Quotes To Inspire Teachers. “Like your body, your mind also gets tired so refresh it by wise sayings.” ~Hazrat Ali I think many of us get inspiration from sharp quotes that strike like a bolt of thunder and get us seeing things anew, with fresh insight. I’m an avid collector of quotes, especially those related to education and teaching. A well said thought, aphorism or quote is like a gum drop I chew upon and whose sweetness is sustaining, invigorating. For me the teacher, quotes help me hone in on my own beliefs and they clear out a lot of the dust and distraction.
So here are my own favorite all time classic quotes about learning, teaching and education. Find my previous list of my own quotes HERE. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. If you enjoyed this - check out these other photo slideshows of inspirational quotes on education. September is for City Breaks – let’s explore some vocabulary | English with a Twist. I must, first of all, apologise for my silence last week. I had a particularly heavy teaching schedule that left me with hardly any time to think let alone write a post.
Unlike many people, August is always a very busy teaching month for me. I always get fully booked with my full immersion intensive courses as many dedicated people use their holiday to attend an English Language course in London. I take my hat off to them for their commitment. Although August is busy, I find it very enjoyable and rewarding. When September arrives and most people are preparing themselves for the return to work and the start of a new academic year, I go on holiday. This year my husband and I have booked to go on a 5-day city break to Rome. We arrive in Rome at 10:20am. I’m really looking forward to showing my husband around city. I am not terribly fond of visiting museums, especially if I am on a short city break. We’ve downloaded a map of Rome. It gives you some super tips and it’s so easy to use. Let’s talk fitness – the vocabulary of health and fitness. As many of you will know, I went to Rome last week for 5 days.
During those five days we must have walked for miles and miles (well, it certainly seemed like it). I wish I’d brought my pedometer so that I could have calculated the number of steps I’d taken and the calories burned. Alas, I didn’t so I could only guess. The guessing game was great as I could delude myself that I had burned more calories than I probably had while sinking my teeth into yet another delicious slice of pizza! Now that I’m back and autumn beckons I have decided that I would like to work on and improve my fitness levels. As an adult I got into fitness through aerobics in my early 20s and ever since then, I have been fairly consistent with getting and staying fit.
Nearly thirty years on (I can’t believe I just wrote that!) I remember, a few years ago, I had a personal trainer who told me that if I wanted to lose weight I would have to halve my food portions. However, he was right. I hope you enjoyed this post. 12 English Idioms with the word “Head” that you can use everyday. It’s time for some more idioms and I’d like to dedicate this post to some common expressions we use with the word “head”. They are, in fact, idioms that are used very often in both spoken and written English. I. I always keep my head.Meaning: I never lose control of my emotions. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
There are plenty more expressions with ‘head’. I hope you enjoyed this post. Ciao for now Shanthi Like this: Like Loading... I forgot my phone. This EFL lesson is designed around a beautiful short film by Miles Crawford titled I lost my phone and the theme of mobile phones. Students listen to a film and speculate about what is happening, watch the film to check their answers and talk about mobile phone use.
Language level: Intermediate (B1) – Upper Intermediate (B2) Learner type:Teens and adults Time: 90 minutes Activity: Watching a short film, speculating and speaking Topic: Mobile phones Language: Present continuous tense; modal verbs of speculation and vocabulary related to mobile phones. Materials: Short film Downloadable materials: I forgot my phone lesson instructions The School for Training is a small specialist teacher training institute in Barcelona, providing innovative courses of the highest quality for teachers from around the world.
Find out more about the courses and how to enrol here. Step 1 Tell the learners they are going to hear, but not see a short film in which a young woman she in a variety of different situations. Presentation Skills: 25 Useful Expressions you can use to make your Presentations in English flow. In the last two weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of hosting and teaching a most delightful Swiss German client who is here on a two-week intensive Business English course. Andrea’s main objective during these two weeks has been to work on her presentation skills as her job now requires her to give more and more presentations in English. So we’ve spent the last two weeks working on such things as signposting language (for example, “to move on”; “to recap”; “to summarise”; “to turn to” and so on); presentation structure; using visuals and using the voice to make an impact (for example, pauses, sentence stress and intonation).
One of the other things we’ve also worked on is creating a bank of common expressions that Andrea can learn in advance and use in any of her presentations. You can reduce the amount of thinking you have to do in a presentation by learning these expressions. In this post I’d like to share 25 common expressions. MAKE1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. TAKE10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.
English Grammar Pill: How to use “unless”? A fellow teacher asked me a few weeks ago if I had written anything about the use of the conjunction “unless”, and if I hadn’t, would I be prepared to write something about it? Not one to refuse a challenge, I thought to myself: “Why not?” Well, it took me longer than I thought to get round to researching this pesky grammar word and when I finally got down to working on it, I realised why I had delayed the process.
There are certain grammar rules and parts of speech that are used naturally and without thinking by native speakers all their lives until that moment when someone asks them how a certain word or expression is used and everything falls apart! You begin to wonder whether you have grasped your native language at all. That moment came last night when I was trying to think of how I could explain the use of “unless” in a way that sounded clear to me let alone to anyone else. I decided to give it a go and I sincerely hope that my explanation makes sense. So, here goes. From Dr Seuss. Off on a weekend bike ride? Let’s talk cycling vocabulary. My husband goes cycling every weekend. Sometimes he goes with a friend and sometimes he goes on his own. I have noticed more and more people cycling on our roads in the last few years.
Many people cycle to work and others cycle competitively or for leisure. There has also been an increase in the number of cycling clubs in our area. This weekend London has hosted a RideLondon bike race that has seen thousands of people taking part in the bike race. Inspired by this event, I decided to interview my husband about his journey into cycling and what it is he especially loves about the sport.
I’d like to share this interview with you here. When did you start cycling? Cycling in London So what made the difference? For me it was wonderful as it took the pressure off my knees and I was able to cycle again. The electric bike has a battery at the back which is very heavy. Wow! Could you tell me what are the different bikes on the road? RideLondon Protective gloves are important as well. Photo: Roughguides. Efl material. Are you “all ears”? Then let’s take a look at these 8 body idioms in English.
It’s been over a month since I last posted anything on idioms and I was beginning to get withdrawal symptoms! Did you have the same feeling? So to prevent any anxiety issues on this bright, sunny Friday morning, I have real pleasure in sharing this colourful infographic on 8 body idioms creatively prepared by Kaplan International. You can find this infographic on the Kaplan website. Kaplan International English The English language has many idioms connected to the body, for example, to cost an arm and a leg; on the tip of the tongue; to stick one’s neck out and so on. I plan to dedicate a future post on these idioms. In the meantime, let’s take a look at how the above idioms are used in a sentence. 1.
“Ok, Jack. 2. “I don’t know what I’ve done. 3. It’s always the same with Angela. 4. “Tony was eventually caught. 5. James is an old hand in making air fix models. 6. I simply cannot resist desserts. 7. “I have absolutely NO elbow room in this kitchen!” 8. Ciao for now. Shanthi Like this: Live Better. English Skills: 11 Ways of offering something to someone. How much English vocabulary have you learned this week? Episodes | GoEnglish.tv. Off to the beach this summer? Then you’ll need some beach vocabulary. Using Civilization IV for Learning | Our experiences using the Civilization IV computer game to teach English, Norwegian and Social Science. English Grammar Pill: Modal Verbs (Part 3) – How to use Modals of Probability (Deduction) Barcelona. Listening and movies.
How to transform sentences of english from positive to negative or in… English Grammar Pill: Modal Verbs (Part One) – How to use Modal Verbs of Ability and Habits. 13 Stunning Places to Publish Student Art and Writing | Cult of Pedagogy. ESL Games: Name 5. Vegetable Growing Cheat Sheet. Why You Are Still Alive - The Immune System Explained. What’s on your mind? Lessons Worth Sharing | TED-Ed. Ajit Narayanan: A word game to communicate in any language. English Writing Skills (Punctuation) – How to use the dash, semicolon and colon in sentences. Past Continuous Tense. Look Up. Richard's games. Flexible games for any situation. Richard's games. Flexible games for any situation.
The World's Tallest, Deepest, Longest, Largest Volume and Most Expensive... Man-Made Structures. Benefits of Learning Languages Infographic | Kaplan Blog. Louie Schwartzberg: Hidden miracles of the natural world. Bernie Krause: The voice of the natural world. How Much Water Do You Eat? Adverbs-of-frequency.jpg (800×2604) 10 quotes by Maya Angelou – an American literary light. Louie Schwartzberg: The hidden beauty of pollination. Resources & Activities for National Poetry Month. Theo’s Story. Love British Slang? Then you’ll love these 12 expressions. English Skills: 14 Ways of Giving Your Opinion. Flying Off on Holiday Soon? You Might Find this Preparation Vocabulary Useful. A new perspective for moms. Money, Money, Money – 8 English Idioms to talk about Money.