Job Discussion Forums

[pattyflipper no more]

I am starting this thread as a way of everyone sharing ideas about teaching. I would like to try to get everyone to suggest ideas, topics, and how to use these topics, so that we have an easy reference point. This way we don't need to wade through endless piles of *beep* in all the great esl sites out there.

Categories I can suggest are:
1) How to make lessons fun
2) Topic talk ideas
3) How to use these ideas
4) Games
5) misc suggestions

Please try to include age group and levels when you post for some. I think this would help everyone out.
Thanks
Cody

[baby predator]

Cody, maybe you could make your post a little more specific if you want a lot of helpful replies.

If you haven't already see this, there are a lot of helpful ideas here:

http://www.eslcafe.com/ideas/index.html

not trying to knock your idea, mate, but maybe you could narrow it down a bit...

[pattyflipper no more]

Baby Predator, I appreciate the reply. So I will try to narrow it down. My big concern is at my school we have an after school english corner. The teacher is supposed to have topics ready that interest the students. As we all know, the students will rarely tell you what they like or don't like and on the esl sites there is a lot of stuff you need to go through before you find usefull ideas.

I want to start this thread as a gathering place for ideas. What are good topics to hol discussions on with adults. Basically all levels. I would like this thread to help everyone and not just my situation. Thanks for the tips,
Cody

[Linda L.]

Cody I have a similar situation. After reading Krashen and his theory of comprehensible input I started using 21st Century newspaper articles. They are current, relevent, and appeal to a wide array of age groups.

Our English corner lectures, which were sparsley attended, are now standing room only discussions and sometimes heated debates. I think that was how English corner was meant to be, not just another lecture to hear a native English speaker talk.

But remember, I only have a GED and am no expert. What works for me may not work for you. Try it and see if it works out for you.

[baby predator]

When I started doing English corner, I was warned away from talking about politics, so I stuck to "safe" topics. In retrospect, I think that was probably why English corner sucked so much. Chinese people really do like to talk about politics, so if you can steer away from obvious flash points like Falun Gong etc, you can get some fierce debates going on.

Oddly enough, some ofthe best discussions I chaired in class were in the immediate wake of September 11. Everyone had an opinion and some surprisingly sophisticated dialogue emerged.

Like Linda, I suggest you use a magazine or newspaper article as a focus to start discussion, then let things develop organically.

Try:

http://www.economist.com/

for well written articles on everything under the sun. No need to re-print entire articles, just make a sheet or a slide you can pin on a whiteboard. Try and have a picture to illustrate the topic, then use some selected quotes or sentences to generate discussion. If it's a news story that is unfamiliar to the students, you can spend some time outlining it, but don't make it a lecture.