Skloog.com - Visual bookmarking made easy The 101 Best Websites for ESL Students in 2016 The Internet is full of resources for English language learners at the university level. However, the problem lies in which material is valuable and which isn’t. Like with any topic, the internet’s a mix bag. There’s amazing materials for ESL students and also material that could prove detrimental to your learning. If you’re heading off to university or already studying, you don’t have time to surf the net in the hope of finding valuable websites. This is why we’ve created this helpful list of the 101 best websites for ESL students. The list is divided into logical sections, including: Grammar and UsageGrammar CheckWritingReadingSpeakingPronunciationVocabularyListeningAcademic SkillsDictionariesGeneral Academic ResearchIELTS This compilation of websites will blow your mind, and of course improve your English at the same time. Grammar and Usage Learning grammar is probably one of the most frustrating things for any language learner. (1) a4esl (2) English Club (3) Using English (4) Grammar Quizzes
HOW TEACHERS CAN ACCOMMODATE THE DYSLEXIC STUDENT "There are many strategies a teacher can implement in the classroom to help a Dyslexic student do well and understand the different skill sets such as spelling, reading, writing, arithmetic and understanding time. Most of these suggestions are beneficial for any student but especially important for Dyslexics." * If one or both of a child's parents are Dyslexic the odds are 50% their children will be too. * Help right-brain learners (Dyslexics) understand their thinking and the learning differences from left brain thinkers (big picture and concrete images versus abstracts such numbers, letters and words). * Help Dyslexic students discover their personal learning style (auditory, visual or kinesthetic) and teach them how to use their strongest sense to process information and perform new skills with greater understanding. * These students think in wholes: spelling whole words, thinking in whole words, whole chapters and stories, whole lessons, whole assignments and whole concepts.
Start Here: How to Get Your Book Published If you want to get your book published, you have more choices than ever to accomplish your goal. This post lays out the process in the simplest terms possible. It is regularly revised and updated. There are three primary paths to getting published: Find a traditional publisher who will offer you a book contract. This post focuses on finding a traditional publisher. In a traditional publishing arrangement, publishers assume all costs and pay you an advance and royalties. Not sure if you should traditionally publish or self-publish? 4 steps to getting a book published Getting your book traditionally published is a step-by-step process of: Determining your genre or category of work. Step 1. Publishers and agents often focus or specialize on certain types of work. Novels and memoirs: Most first-time authors must finish their manuscript before approaching editors/agents. Books that are suitable for Big Five publishing Works that can be difficult to sell: Deciding If You Need an Agent Step 2.
Willy Cardoso: Classroom based teacher development About the webinar Recorded in 2013, this webinar with Willy Cardoso looked at several aspects of classroom-based teacher development: Approaches to teacher development that start from inside the classroom How to involve learners in our development Self- and peer-observation tools How to increase the validity (and currency) of our classroom-based knowledge Critical teacher development (or ‘beware of TEFL slogans’) About the speaker Willy Cardoso has taught English for 12 years in Brazil, UK and Spain, written hundreds of articles on language education in his blog Authentic Teaching, and recently co-authored Real Communication: Culture Reading (Macmillan China). Watch a recording of the webinar below
Motivating speaking activities At this age, the learners aren't motivated by new language, they're motivated by an activity. It can be very difficult to get them to speak if they really don't see the point. You can approach this by focussing on the following. The function of the language and using an authentic or near authentic task (e.g. get them to sit back-to-back to practise speaking on the telephone).A motivating task, which uses the language you want them to practise (e.g. students write questions on small squares of paper using the target language, then form the papers into a board game to be played using dice and counters). Here are some possible examples, which apply to one or a combination of the above. A popular, well-known type of activity is the information gap. Making an arrangement: Each group has a diary, with appointments already filled in. Here are some examples of other activities I use with my younger learners:
Motivating teenagers I will link three practical classroom activities to the ideas of American Psychologist Carl Rogers. The ideas of Carl Rogers Types of motivation and teenagers Ways to improve motivation:Journals - empathy Using photos - authenticity Music - acceptance The ideas of Carl Rogers Rogers (1957) outlined 3 attitudinal qualities that a teacher, or in his words, a facilitator, should have to assist the learning process. They are empathy (seeing things from the students' viewpoint), authenticity (being yourself) and acceptance (of students' ideas and opinions). Types of motivation and teenagers It is widely agreed that motivation has a great effect on a student's capacity to learn. Ways to improve motivation Journals - Empathy Journal writing can create wonderful opportunities to find out more about your students' lives. Joanna Budden, British Council, Spain
5 TED-Ed Lessons to use in your American History classroom Carla Staffa, Burnsville Senior High School American history teacher (and all-around rockstar), uses TED-Ed Lessons in her classroom to supplement her curriculum, start conversation and spark curiosity. We caught up with Carla to find out which lessons she uses the most and what she hopes her students take away from each one. 1.) The fight for the right to vote in the United States - Nicki Beaman Griffin “The fight for the acquisition of voting rights is one that has been fought by numerous groups, yet not all eligible voters take advantage of this right. 2.) “This lesson sets the stage of a meeting that transforms our country forever — an unlikey result for a meeting that originally intended to amend the Articles of Confederation. 3.) “In this lesson, students learn how the Kansas-Nebraska Act divided the country and contributed to the start of the American Civil War. 4.) 5.) “Minnesota is home to many American Indians – the Dakota being one of our larger tribes. Want more?