We all get sick, have appointments that must be kept, an event that cannot be missed, or have SOMETHING that necessitates our absence. That’s why you need to know about this emergency sub activity! Besides, when you are sick, how much time do you really want to spend trying to develop a lesson that someone […]
“What’s your goal for this class?” “I want to learn English.” Cool. Super helpful. That’s like saying “I want to get healthy” and then wondering why nothing changes. I get it. Your adult ESL students are motivated. They showed up, didn’t they? They’re juggling work, family, maybe multiple jobs, and they’re still sitting in your
I once taught multiple classes at the same time with students at completely different levels in each class. It was a bit of a nightmare. How do you keep everyone engaged when one student needs help with basic present tense while another is ready for conditionals? How do you give individualized attention when every single
Afaf threw a pencil at me once during a pronunciation lesson. She missed on purpose (I think), but still. That’s what minimal pairs can do to your feistier students. They’re frustrating as heck, but that frustration? It means they’re working. So what are minimal pairs, and why should you care? The Basics: What are Minimal
Beginner-level adult ESL students LOVE to play games, but their low English proficiency can seem limiting when you’re trying to come up with something engaging but practical, fun but not a time-waster. (Don’t teach beginners? Keep reading because this game is easily adapted for all levels!) Playing the ESL speaking game I have…Who has…? is a
You know that moment when you assign a speaking activity and your students look at each other like “Again? With YOU?” Yeah. That moment. They’ve been paired up with the same classmates for weeks (months?), and the spark is gone. They know each other’s stories. They’ve heard each other’s opinions on everything from weekend plans
I’ll never forget my first attempt at a “free talking” session with my A1 class. I had twenty questions printed out. TWENTY. I’d spent the better part of an evening finding good conversation starters, organizing them by difficulty, and feeling pretty smug about my preparation. These were just backups, you know, in case there was
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 answer was RIGHT THERE. Third paragraph, second sentence. I could see it from where I stood. And every single student was re-reading the entire text from the beginning. For E-VE-RY
All right, picture this…you’ve carefully arranged your discussion groups ahead of time. You’ve balanced your chatty adult ESL students with the quiet ones, mixed high and low levels thoughtfully, and you’re feeling so good that you gave yourself a literal pat on the back. Overconfident much? (I was.) Class starts. You look around and realize
Omar would not shut up. I mean that literally. The guy came from a family of twelve siblings, and apparently the only way to get a word in edgewise at his dinner table (or anywhere else in the house) was to talk over everyone else at maximum volume. So that’s what he did in my
