Teaching adult ESL with no materials or time?
Here’s what works when nothing else does.
Most recent posts:
- 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. - The Vocabulary Game that Flopped and How I Fixed It
You know that game where someone shouts out a letter and a category, and you race to think of a word that fits? My family used to play a version of it, and we loved it. Competitive, fast-paced, lots of laughing when someone blanked on an obvious answer. So naturally, I tried it with my… Read more: The Vocabulary Game that Flopped and How I Fixed It
Older Posts:
3 FUN Vocabulary Games for Adult ESL
“GAME.” When I say “game” in my adult ESL vocabulary classroom, the air crackles. Spines extend, eyes brighten, pulses increase. “GAME” they repeat to each…
Teaching Adult ESL in Intensive English Programs: The Real Pros and Cons Nobody Tells You About
It’s 10 am on a Monday. Your intermediate reading class has 15 students from 9 different countries. They’ve already been at the language school since…
How to Assess Adult ESL Students in Intensive English Programs (IEPs)
I’ll be honest: when I first started teaching in an IEP (Intensive English Program), I had no idea how to assess my students effectively. I…
7 Great Ideas for Teaching Weather Vocabulary in Adult ESL
“Teacher, what is ice storm? Like hail, no?” Reem held up her phone, showing me a weather alert that had just lit up her screen….
How to Teach Academic Vocabulary: A Helpful Guide for New Adult ESL Teachers
You’re staring at a list of academic vocabulary words you’re supposed to teach, and you have no idea where to start. No curriculum. No materials….
Task Cards: Why Aren’t More Adult ESL Teachers Using These?
7 Fun Activities for Opposite Adjectives
Years ago, I had this quirky Korean student who assigned friendship and enemy status to words when he couldn’t remember the English term he wanted….
5 Steps to Make Causative Verbs Relevant to Your Adult ESL Students
Ever walked into your classroom after getting your hair done and had a student greet you with “You cut your hair!”? You smile because you…
Teaching the Months of the Year: Yes, It Matters. No, You Don’t Just Sing a Song.
Let me guess. You’re staring at your lesson plan thinking, Really? Months of the year? These are adults. And yet…here we are. Because someone put…
Check Out These Fun Summer Vocabulary Ideas for Your Adult ESL Classes
When schoooooool’s NOT out for summer…Well, across the country, students and teachers look forward to the school-free summer months, but for many adult ESL courses/classes,…
Teaching Future Progressive…Because Simple Future Isn’t Enough
You’re probably teaching future progressive because it’s in the curriculum, and you need to cover it before the next unit test. Maybe you’re teaching it…
Why Your Adult ESL Students Need Idioms…Even If You Think They Don’t
I was sitting in my graduate program class, getting my M.Ed. in TESL while teaching full-time, when one of my international student classmates got visibly…
Teaching Body Vocabulary: Why It’s Not as Basic as You Think
So there I was, day three in a hospital in a foreign country where I didn’t speak the language. Nurses kept asking me questions I…
How to Create Everyday Role Plays Your Adult ESL Students Truly Need
Let me tell you about my (first) year of disasters in South Korea. There was the time I insisted on buying a fish at the…
How to Sneak Test-Taking Strategies into Beginning Adult ESL Lessons
When we started working on color vocabulary, Ama’s face went dark. I didn’t know her well because she had just started in my class that…
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