Tag Archives: eltchat

Gramster and Vocabster now online and pay what you want

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  How often do you eat breakfast with a swiss army knife? I’m guessing that the answer is “never”, but I’d love to hear otherwise in the comments We most often use specific tools for specific functions. That’s one of the secrets behind Edulang’s greatest successes in materials developing. One of our most specific E-learning tools for grammar and vocabulary has been a huge hit, and when it came out, in less than a year, we had tens of thousands of learners throughout the world.  So cool! Gramster I and II and Vocabster have evolved quite a bit since their release and (…)

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What’s the “trick” for motivating more L2 in our #ELT classrooms?

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  The Great Debate:  to L1 or not to L1   Have you ever tried banning L1 in your classroom? I’ll be the first to admit it.  Yes, I’ve tried, and often these efforts were fruitless… ok, not even often… 90% of the time.  Sometimes with a very small group it can work, but as many of us teach in larger monolingual classrooms (One of the classic “Ten things I think I know” via Ken Wilson), the directive effort of only using L2 rarely works.   So… what’s the trick to getting them to speak more English?   I’m writing (…)

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Teacher spotlight: Shaune Peebles and TOEIC® prep

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  Today’s post will be another in the fine series of … I recently crossed paths with Shaune Peebles after he started using Test Simulator TOEIC® in class, and our expat discussions about teaching in China, living in Europe and Edulang’s apps have been quite enjoyable, so I asked Shaune if he’d like to share a bit more here. Hence, without further ado… One of the most important and time-consuming parts of my week is lesson prep. For me, it’s important to have quality, practical, and, if possible, unique materials to give to my students.  While I agree with the (…)

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Embracing global challenges in our local profession

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  Why do we do, what we do?   Very simple question, very difficult answer as it reaches back into our own personal histories, cultural histories and the events that have collided throughout to bring us to today.  And, everyday we make choices as teachers, parents, humans that take us down a new historical path…   How do you feel about your path today?  Settled, longing, confused, connected?   Most of us will agree that the 21st century is an exciting time to be alive, and also a confusing one as environmental, modern family issues and economic trials might ‘unsettle’ (…)

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What can you see in these clouds? And what do you see in your students?

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  Take 20 seconds and just look… What do you see in these clouds ?     How often do we do the same in the classroom? Both, to really look, but also to “read into” what we see? Do you see your students for who they are today… or are you perceiving them more through the memory of who they were the last class, or on the last exam? Do you have favorites?  Which ones and why? When tossing out a question in class, I’ve noticed that I can fall into a pattern of leaning on certain students when no (…)

Posted in ELT, Etymology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments