Find That Perfect Worksheet

On the first day of class, the halls buzz with excitement. Teachers get ready to greet their students, anxious to get started, and our young, or not-so-young, learners are nervous, wondering what their teacher’s like. Of course, first impressions count, and it’s essential to have a first day of class that will set the tone for what the rest of the school year or course will be like. And it w ...

Amused by the misplaced modifiers in your students’ writing? Frustrated that your students omit commas in direct address? Tired of explaining the difference between your and you’re to your students? Try explaining these often-confused rules of grammar, punctuation, and word usage through pictorial representations. In this article I have shown how five tricky concepts can be explained pictori ...

In many schools, phonics instruction is limited to flash cards and circling pictures on worksheets. While this type of phonics instruction can be beneficial to students, it can also be boring. Instead of keeping students in their seats while learning phonics, make it more fun by incorporating phonics activities that get them up out of their seats and moving, perhaps even dancing, around the classroom. S ...

If you teach a student over 10, chances are they have a cell phone. At the very least. Some may show up to class with an assortment of gadgets, including iPods, PSPs, or iPhones just to name a few. So, how should you handle this? Issue a complete ban on any gadget or use them to your advantage? First comes acceptance. Like it or not, iPhones, iPods, iPads and the like, are here to stay. And if they don& ...

Online EFL teachers love their jobs and the flexibility it allows them. For a short period of time, they get to talk to people from all around the world. Yet, the limited timeframe and distance learning are obstacles when teaching challenging English concepts. Fortunately, there are a variety of free resources to choose from in order to augment and enhance the online experience for our students. Add ...

I walked into an empty classroom. A teacher desk sat at the front of the room with twelve student desks before it. The walls were blank, intimidating white canvases, the bulletin boards brown ones. As a first year teacher, I wasn’t quite sure where to start. I looked through Mailbox Magazines, desperate for inspiration or at least direction. I agonized over writing a welcome letter to parents who ...

Whether you have a class full of antsy five-year-olds, shy teens, or busy adult learners, they all have one thing in common: they will be together for the duration of the ESL course, and they will work together to achieve their English-learning goals. What better way to start classes than to help them get to know each other? Here are some games and activities that are more than simple icebreakers; they ...