Teaching Matters: Discussing Stress in the Classroom

“People who want to do everything all at once generally don’t get anything done.” —Jerry Brown, Governor of California This Teacher Edition Tuesday post, a weekly series based on ten teaching tips from the recently released Compelling American Conversations – Teacher Edition, deals with the concept of stress and how to talk about it – in English.   When was the last time you were...

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Teaching Matters: Preparing Student-Centered Materials for the Classroom

  “If it is language that makes us human, one half of language is to listen.” – Jacob Trapp (1899-1992), American religious leader   Part 3 of Teacher Edition Tuesday, a weekly series based on ten teaching tips from the recently released Compelling American Conversations – Teacher Edition! We previously discussed the importance of classroom design in fostering a communicative learning...

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What makes a conversation-friendly English, ESL or EFL classroom?

  “There is a role and function for beauty in our time.” – Tadao Ando (1941–), Japanese architect Introducing Teacher Edition Tuesday, a new weekly series based on ten teaching tips from the recently released Compelling American Conversations – Teacher Edition! What makes a conversation-friendly English, ESL or EFL classroom? Sometimes it’s the little things that matter. Creating a...

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What will I learn today?

Consider me psyched. I’m going to a huge conference of ELT, EFL, and ESL professionals today in Vietnam’s White Palace. The 4th-annual VUS-TESOL conference program is full, and I expect to hear many more teaching tips for working with Vietnamese students who want to learn English, but are often reluctant to speak. I’m particularly interested in hearing about successful...

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