Teacher Discussion Forums

Wouldn't "skinny as a stick" be nothing more than a simile ? A popular simile, but not an idiom because the meaning is straightforward. Also "lemon" referring to a bad product would simply be a slang definition, and by now I'm sure it's a legitimate definition in most dictionaries. I've always heard...

Wow those classes seem too big for conversation for one teacher. About punishment I can tell you this: you must have a system. You cannot punish a student because you are mad, or let an infraction go because you are in a good mood. My class dicipline improved dramatically when I adopted a three-stri...

My average class size is 36 students, and I have a bilingual local teacher to assist me in nearly every class. So far I have used the teaching assistants mainly to explain complicated activities to the children, or to keep a watchful eye from the back of the class to help with dicipline. I would lik...

I teach in Guangdong province in China, and I just hope I can soon talk the headmaster into buying handsoap for all the school's bathrooms. They have decided to fight SARS with preventative Chinese medicine, but are unwilling to provide soap for the kids to wash thier hands. Is anyone else noticing ...

noonlite wrote: In general, the United States, when compared to other countries is linguistically arrogant and ignorant as most Americans are (Americans typically don't speak another language and many are often offended by others who don't speak English well and even go so far as to assume some leve...

I am american and teach out of a british textbook. I find it's best to adopt british pronunciation or spelling many times. To do otherwise will confuse the students and take away from the current lesson. For example, the difference between soccer, european football, and american football is enough t...

wow! i think celeste and dduck's poem point squarely to something being long and boring. Hope peeps from a cloud on our squad, Whose beams have been long in deep mourning: `Tis a lane, let me tell you, my lad, Very long that has never a turning.” "long in deep mourning".. i'll tell you what. i...