CATESOL Accepts Presentation on Informational Interviews
How can English teachers help adult, college, and university students expand their network of professional contacts while improving their interview skills? What practical speaking exercise includes both off-campus interviews and classroom presentations? How can ESL teachers add informational interviews to their oral skills curriculum? What are informational interviews, anyway? What makes them...
Read MoreFinding more practical materials at CATESOL
Time flies. Or, as the Romans used to say, “tempus fugit.” Two weeks after the CATESOL 2009 convention in Pasadena ended, I’m finally having a chance to sort through the numerous books, doublecheck website leads, and evaluate materials that I picked up. Sometimes “the eyes are too hungry”, and I went a bit overboard in collecting ESL materials and resources for advanced English language...
Read MoreTeaching Themes Emerge at CATESOL: Use Technology To Meet Student Needs
Do ESL teachers want a more democratic classroom? Perhaps the workshop description discouraged English teachers, the title seemed too bold, or the other two dozen workshops held at the same time appeared more practical. Techniques and Methods for a More Democratic Classroom A more democratic classroom encourages student speech, features student created content, allows student choice of...
Read MoreHow democratic is your ESL classroom?
Who gets to speak in class? Whose ideas count? Who chooses the assignments? How do students receive feedback? Do students have a chance to conference with their instructors? Can YouTube be a valuable source for homework assignment? Do you want your students to become self-directed – or autotelic – in their studies? Here’s a quick checklist that ESL teachers that I created for a...
Read MoreSmall blessings during a stressful work week
Keeping perspective remains a challenge, especially during stressful times.It’s easy to feel discouraged as we disappoint ourselves. Yet sometimes we reap benefits from our prior work that can remind us of small successes. This week, a very awkard and difficult work week, could overwhelm. But an old project, Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics, provided...
Read MoreCATESOL Conference Highlights Practical ESL Teaching Techniques
Are you looking to share practical techniques with your fellow English teachers? What works in your ESL classroom? What tends to work in other ESL classrooms? Why? The Los Angeles Regional CATESOL conference, titled “WWW. What Works and Why” at Biola University on October 25 features over 60 workshops and panel discussions. The annual event is expected to attract over 500 ESL professions from...
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