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
“Ming” finished his paragraph before I could finish writing the instructions on the board. He looked up, grinned, and pulled out his phone. Across the room, “Kawther” had written exactly one sentence. A beautiful sentence with perfect punctuation and zero errors obviously by someone with calligraphy skills, but still. One sentence. She wasn’t goofing off.
Half defiant and half remorseful, Faisal handed me a mostly blank paper with seemingly random words shoved into something vaguely resembling sentences. This was an EASY assignment, and frankly, I expected a heck of a lot more from him. But, without a thought, I opened my mouth and asked all the wrong questions. Here’s what
“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 excitedly to each other. Yes, that really happens! Now, I know what you’re thinking. Worksheets?! But here’s the thing…sometimes you just plain need them. You’re exhausted, you didn’t have time
