One of the elements that is highly frustrating in MMORPGS is the grind. It can be summarized as the (seemingly) pointless activities that the players undertake to acquire the points to progress and engage in the game proper. Typically these are activities that the player can accomplish with relative ease and have become thoughtless and […]
5 holiday gifts for the EFL/ESL teacher
With the holidays fast approaching I wanted to share some gift Ideas for the EFL ESL teacher in your life. (Remember that you can always buy some of these things for yourself). So without further ado, here are 5 holiday gift ideas for EFL/ESL teachers 1) Technology for the classroom The Beklin Rockstar One of […]
Talking to someone new
We have all been there; doing an activity in class that’s going really well. The students are engaged and talking—until we ask them to change partners, that is. There are many reasons why an activity can fall apart at this stage. The students might be unsure of how they are supposed to change and are […]
Idioms and classroom managment in Asia
You can learn a lot about cultures by how they chose to express themselves through idioms. The metaphors captured by the idiom often can give a greater insight into the cultural values of the language user. Let’s compare two idioms—one from America and the other from Asia. From America “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” […]
The Importance Of Randomness
Teachers work very hard to remove randomness from classrooms, either through organization of time, activity or the direct assignment of groups to undertake the activity. A classroom is often only seen as effective when the random elements are minimized. But is that always the best option?
Everyone Needs An Imaginary Friend
Most beginner level books in English language teaching start with some form of basic introductions and then move on to everyday concrete expressions. This is in line with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) levels A1 and A2.
Gamifying Grammar Drills
Perhaps it’s the word ‘drill’ that fuels my dislike of grammar drills, as it conjures up in my mind visits to the dentist. Often painful, repetitive and while good for us, definitely not fun. In many regards, this also describes grammar drills in language acquisition. In psychological terms it is using a brute force method […]
How Seating Arrangements Affect Learning
How do seating arrangements affect learning? What is the best seating arrangement? The seating arrangements of a classroom have an effect on where students focus their attention. To use a non-teaching example, imagine you are out on a date—the traditional dinner and a movie. Which part of the date do you expect to interact with […]