Teaching adult ESL with no materials or time?
Here’s what works when nothing else does.
Most recent posts:
- Hey TpT Buyers, Are You Leaving Perks on the Table?
Teaching adult ESL and getting great resources from TpT? Here are some TpT tips for buyers that you might not know but really should. - 6 Reasons to Switch Off the Slideshow and Pick Up the Flashcards.
I know…I know. You went through all that trouble learning the new apps. You’ve got your Canva templates, your carefully curated Google Slides, those PDF presentations you purchased from your favorite adult ESL seller↗ on TpT. And here I am, telling you to go back to…gussied-up index cards. Made of paper. Don’t click away. Hear… Read more: 6 Reasons to Switch Off the Slideshow and Pick Up the Flashcards.
Older Posts:
Linguistic Investigations: Teaching Students to Teach Themselves
I’ll never forget watching “Layla” lean over a pile of sentence cards, using her finger to separate them and making that little clicking noise in…
Winter Activities for Adult ESL Students: Why You Need In-Class Snow Days
Winter happens whether we acknowledge it in our classrooms or not. And sure, we could pretend it doesn’t exist because we’ve got Chapter 7 of…
The 4 Best TH-Pronunciation Activities for Adult ESL
The TH sounds are brutal for so many of our students. You’ve drilled the mouth position a hundred times, modeled it until your tongue has…
Two Fun Activities to Review Prepositions of Time with Adult ESL
Look, I get it. You need to review prepositions of time. Again. Your students keep saying “on the morning” and “at Monday,” and you’re wondering…
4 Strategies for R/L Pronunciation That Don’t Involve Parroting
“And then,” my professor paused dramatically, “the Muslims were playing in the streets! Everywhere! They were playing in the streets all over the country!” Everyone…
2 Ways to Get Adult ESL Students to Try New Strategies
I used to stand at the front of the classroom, waiting. Just…waiting. I’d asked a simple comprehension question about the text we’d just read. The…
When Your Best Student Is Also Your Most Incomprehensible
I’ll never forget the day I realized I was having a real conversation with Shimin. No paper, no pencil, no charades. Just two people talking,…
How to Teach Coordinating Conjunctions to Adult ESL Students (Discovery Lesson Method)
Adult ESL students love “and.” They use it to connect everything. Every. Single. Thing. And while they’re technically communicating, reading what they write (or listening…
How to Stop Homework from Devouring Your Time
Stacks of homework papers used to sit on my table, glaring at me. Menacing little goblins. A good teacher would have graded all that already,…
Fall Activities for Adult ESL: When Reality Doesn’t Match the Hollywood Version
“Teacher, when do the trees turn colors?” My Saudi students were sooo ready for fall. They’d seen the pictures online. The Instagram-worthy leaf tunnels. The…
How to Support Your IEP Students When Everything Feels Like Too Much
Your student walks into class late again. She’s got her toddler with her because childcare fell through. Another student is checking his phone constantly because…
2 Fun Superlative Adjective Games That Don’t Feel Like Grammar Class
Looking for superlative adjective games that actually engage adult ESL students? I’ve got two for you – one that feels like a game show, and…
Three Grammar Games Guaranteed to Get Them Speaking
I’m standing outside my classroom door, pretending to check my phone while I eavesdrop on my adult ESL students, and I hear Subin telling Ahmed,…
How I Got Students Excited About Grammar Worksheets
“Worksheet time!” I call out, waving a small stack of freshly-copied papers. Students begin smiling as they put away their phones and sit up, talking…
Stop Teaching English Like It’s Only For Exams
Somehow, in every Intensive English Program I’ve taught in, practical English gets shoved aside. We rush through it, almost dismissively, trying to hurry students into…
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