2,124 FREE ESL Essentials - What Every English Teacher Needs To Know!
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ESL Essentials – Important Teaching Tips

In this section there are 2,124 articles that cover essential ESL topics such as how to teach grammar, use realia, and teach young learners. There are also a lot of lesson ideas and fun activities included in the articles. This ESL article, for example, is about teaching grammar and describes five great activities. It has been given five stars by other busy teachers so it obviously has useful content. Check it out for yourself or take a look at other articles that relate better to your questions or teaching situation.

There are a lot of dos and don’ts and tips and tricks that many teachers learn through teaching.

Our ESL Essentials section will help you master the basics of teaching English and will help you start teaching like a 'pro'. Every ESL Essentials article provides clear, to-the-point instructions that can be used with the students right away.
At the moment we have 2,124 ESL Essentials.
Sometimes that is the best way to learn but the experiences of others can also help you develop your teaching skills without having to make the same mistakes. If you have a great story or activity, feel free to submit your own article so that you can share your knowledge with others. We would love to hear from you!

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ESL Articles
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Self-care for Teachers: 5 Simple Ways to Help You Avoid Burnout

Self-care for Teachers: 5 Simple Ways to Help You Avoid Burnout

ESL Essentials
We all get tired. I’m not talking about the stayed-up-too-late-binge-watching-the-Walking-Dead kind of tired. I’m talking the I-love-my-job-but-I-just-really-need-some-time-away-from- ...
Views 46,566 All
Just “Yes” or “No” Is Not Allowed: Rules of Discussion to Promote Higher-Level Thinking

Just “Yes” or “No” Is Not Allowed: Rules of Discussion to Promote Higher-Level Thinking

ESL Essentials
Class discussions can be rewarding, lively, resulting in changed perspectives. This, however, takes planning. Too often, however, class discussions fizzle into boredom and students chatting on no ...
Views 15,165 All
Shut the Door behind You: 5 Benefits of Getting Your Class Outside and How to Do It Right

Shut the Door behind You: 5 Benefits of Getting Your Class Outside and How to Do It Right

ESL Essentials
The sun is shining. The sky is blue. You hear birds outside your window calling you…come outside. Come outside. But you’re the teacher. You can’t just blow off your responsibil ...
Views 11,509 All
When it’s Time to Ditch ESL: How to Teach Advanced ESL Students in their Last Days in Class

When it’s Time to Ditch ESL: How to Teach Advanced ESL Students in their Last Days in Class

ESL Essentials
Advanced students aren’t your typical ESL students. They have been studying the language long enough that they are probably quite proficient at it by now. That presents a special challenge ...
Views 11,181 All
Traditional Teaching with Nontraditional Students: 7 Tips to Make Learning Easier for Your EAL Students

Traditional Teaching with Nontraditional Students: 7 Tips to Make Learning Easier for Your EAL Students

ESL Essentials
Not all classrooms are created equal. Every teacher has challenges and advantages particular to their situation. One such challenge is integrating nonnative English speakers into a standard class ...
Views 10,183 All
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Teaching without Teaching: How a Flipped Classroom Might be Just What Your Students Need

Teaching without Teaching: How a Flipped Classroom Might be Just What Your Students Need

ESL Essentials
Have you heard of the relatively new concept of flipped classrooms? They are a break from the traditional instructional model, and they can be quite effective for students in the postmodern era. ...
Views 48,333 All
Getting Ready for the TOEFL: 6 Steps to Preparing for the Written Essay Portion

Getting Ready for the TOEFL: 6 Steps to Preparing for the Written Essay Portion

ESL Essentials
If your students are planning on taking an English proficiency test such as the TOEFL, they will want to do everything they can to get ready for test day. Your students can spend lots of time stu ...
Views 16,723 All
Avoiding Heads-on-Desk: How to Enliven the Writing Class

Avoiding Heads-on-Desk: How to Enliven the Writing Class

ESL Essentials
A perennial problem of writing—and writers—is its solitariness. It is an interaction of a writer’s thoughts and the paper. Many people don’t enjoy it—indeed even pro ...
Views 9,988 All
Getting Ready for Your Best Year Ever: Start Now to Make a Difference Once School Starts

Getting Ready for Your Best Year Ever: Start Now to Make a Difference Once School Starts

ESL Essentials
The sooner you get behind, the more time you have to catch up. While it may make logical sense, there’s still something not quite right about that way of thinking. And while I have done my ...
Views 10,198 All
Better than Group Work: One Simple Strategy that can Boost Language Success for Your EAL Students

Better than Group Work: One Simple Strategy that can Boost Language Success for Your EAL Students

ESL Essentials
When you hear the words cooperative learning, you might be excited to implement it for your EAL students. After all, working in groups requires communication and language use. It also builds rela ...
Views 14,047 All
8 Simple Ways to Encourage Your Students

8 Simple Ways to Encourage Your Students

ESL Essentials
They say they will never be able to get it right. They may put so much pressure on themselves that they become paralyzed in the English classroom. They may be so frustrated they may be on the verg ...
Views 219,734 All
Lesson Planning 101: 6 Easy Steps for Effective Lesson Planning

Lesson Planning 101: 6 Easy Steps for Effective Lesson Planning

ESL Essentials
Planning lessons for my ESL class has not always been an easy one. Although formal training provided me with the basic tools of teaching, I have found that understanding the needs of my students ...
Views 243,008 All
ESL Teachers Ask: How Do I Make Grammar Lessons More FUN?

ESL Teachers Ask: How Do I Make Grammar Lessons More FUN?

ESL Essentials
"I am a new teacher, and I need advice on how to teach Grade 1 grammar in a fun way like other teachers". Let’s clarify one big important point. No ESL teacher should aim to teach like oth ...
Views 51,998 All
R-E-S-P-E-C-T: How to Build an Effective Classroom Environment in a Multilingual Classroom

R-E-S-P-E-C-T: How to Build an Effective Classroom Environment in a Multilingual Classroom

ESL Essentials
Rapport between the teacher and students is important, but equally important is rapport between students. In a classroom with students from many cultures, this can often be a difficult feat. Many ...
Views 125,775 All
No More Waiting for Most of the Class to Show Up: 6 Classroom Filler Activities for Adult Education

No More Waiting for Most of the Class to Show Up: 6 Classroom Filler Activities for Adult Education

ESL Essentials
It’s happened again. You are in the middle of a class discussion, and students are engaged, raising their hands, and volunteering ideas. Or you have the lights dimmed, a film clip showing, ...
Views 15,106 All
The Easy Way To Get Them Chatting: 13 Classroom Discussion Prompts and Strategies for Multilevel ESL

The Easy Way To Get Them Chatting: 13 Classroom Discussion Prompts and Strategies for Multilevel ESL

ESL Essentials
Classroom discussions can be difficult in general: getting the students’ attention, engaging them in the topic, getting them to work together… the problems are multiple. These proble ...
Views 42,906 All
Everyone Can Participate: 10 Computer Activities for the Multi-level ESL Classroom

Everyone Can Participate: 10 Computer Activities for the Multi-level ESL Classroom

ESL Essentials
One of the perennial problems of an ESL class is their multilevel nature. ESL classes are diverse in every sense of the word—not only in the students’ cultural and language background ...
Views 23,609 All
Avoiding the Culture Conundrum: 6 Tips to Get You Ready to Teach Overseas

Avoiding the Culture Conundrum: 6 Tips to Get You Ready to Teach Overseas

ESL Essentials
Are you considering teaching English overseas? Here are six things to think about before boarding the plane. Six Tips to Make Your Overseas Teaching Experience a Success 1 Learn How to Tea ...
Views 7,557 All
Walk Personality, Teach Personality: 7 Ways You Can Reach Your Students' Individual Learning Personalities

Walk Personality, Teach Personality: 7 Ways You Can Reach Your Students' Individual Learning Personalities

ESL Essentials
I’m not the teacher that I used to be. I used to think that if I pushed my students really hard, if I was tough on them, they would learn better, faster, and more. I used to think that if ...
Views 18,752 All

"Yes" and "No" Questions Are Not Allowed: Probing Questions to Extend Discussion

ESL Essentials
It can be surprisingly difficult to get students even at a relatively advanced level to engage in a discussion. First there is the problem of getting their attention, then directing them to the t ...
Views 31,585 All
15 Little Tricks to Get Your Class’ Attention (and Hold It)

15 Little Tricks to Get Your Class’ Attention (and Hold It)

ESL Essentials
Beginnings are always the hardest. Ask any teacher who walks in at the beginning of the class session and finds Casy text-messaging someone, Katie and Sam chatting, and Tom snoozing. This behavio ...
Views 435,622 All
5 Sure-Fire Ways to Bond with Your Class

5 Sure-Fire Ways to Bond with Your Class

ESL Essentials
Bonding with your students is essential not only to the success of your class, but also to your students’ learning. When you effectively bond with them, you create a unique connection betwe ...
Views 62,603 All
Getting to Know You: Every Level Ice Breakers for the First Day

Getting to Know You: Every Level Ice Breakers for the First Day

ESL Essentials
Icebreakers are important in any classroom, and even more so in your ESL classroom. Your students will be working together for the rest of the semester, and the sooner they get to know each other ...
Views 126,520 All
I Got the Job, Now What: the Critical First Weeks as an ESL Teacher

I Got the Job, Now What: the Critical First Weeks as an ESL Teacher

ESL Essentials
So you got the job, the ESL teaching job you’ve wanted for so long! That’s the good news. The bad news is that class begins on Monday. In addition, you aren’t really prepared, a ...
Views 18,808 All
Get to Know Your Students: 11 Essential Questions To Ask

Get to Know Your Students: 11 Essential Questions To Ask

ESL Essentials
You can quickly learn more about your ESL students by asking them the right questions. Unsurprisingly, your vocabulary matters more than theirs, so paying attention to what you ask and how you fo ...
Views 186,677 All

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