Let’s Talk About the American Elections, Voting, and Democratic Values in English Class
Who makes the rules? Who chooses the rulers? Can citizens peacefully replace ineffective, unpopular leaders? Yes, we can! In the United States of America, voters enjoyed their opportunity to hire and fire their President. People voted, machines counted the votes, and millions of people around the nation smiled, laughed, and felt hopeful again. Senator Obama, as so often, captured the power and...
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 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...
Read MoreCompelling Conversations Moves Up Amazon Ratings
Amazon lists over 5 million books on its website – and continues to overlook many fine self-published books. Naturally, as a self-publisher, Amazon represents an important outlet for my ESL conversation textbook, Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics. Besides, numbers add precision and ratings can become addictive. Today Amazon has Compelling Conversations listed...
Read MorePlaying and Watching Sports
Have you been watching the Olympics? What has surprised you the most? Why? Who has inspired you? How? The Olympics reminds us of heroism, sacrifice, excellence, and beauty. It can also spark many conversations. Although I have not had the pleasure of teaching a conversation class recently, talking about sports always sparked many enjoyable exchanges – even among non-sports fans. This...
Read MoreWhat is the electoral college? Why does it matter?
How did George W. Bush actually become President of the United States? After all, he received fewer popular votes for President than Al Gore, didn’t he? How could Al Gore win the popular vote and still lose the 2000 U.S. Presidential election? The short, unpleasant answer is that the popular vote doesn’t count – and the only vote that matters in electing presidents in the United States is...
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