Teacher Discussion Forums

I remember now. I figured out why it was bleeped too. I always suggest the same thing for ESL, but I didn't understand why it got bleeped until I thought about it: "Emily Di<kinson."

Hmm, probably it's a word that got censored. I don't remember what I wrote though.

Saw this one recently: what is the acceptable plural for "Walkman"?

Walkmans
Walkmen
Walkmens

I am amazed how overvalued the TEFL certificate is, generally. But, what is true is that TEFL certification and teaching ability aren't guaranteed to occur together. MA's don't guarantee good teaching either. Imho, trust your eyes. If bad teacher after bad teacher has the TEFL certificate, stop hiri...

There are two main shaping forces for a teacher's teaching style. The first is how they were taught in the past and advice from their co-workers.

Almost all teachers have little or no theory or training before their first lesson.

I tried the negotiation thing. It doesn't work well for me. In the beginning, it's better, because the students are getting what they want. But, after a week or two, they realize that they aren't learning that much after all. I recently had a writing class where they wanted more "hard" grammar expla...

Let me restate: the best possible option is to have the best possible materials with the best possible teacher rather than the most expert person in the field. If you have a decent teacher with decent materials, I think that will always outperform a great expert who is a bad teacher with any materia...

1. Find something he likes to do and use that as a reward for good behavior. I base this type of treatment on motivation theory. 2. Take him on the side and let him know that the reason he has these outbursts is that studying is hard and frustrates him, and he would rather be punished than embarasse...

Try proofreading freshmen essays. It will make you feel better. I (a native speaker) do the same thing all the time with certain words, and my spelling is considered pretty darn good. I always screw up: accommodation (forget the 2nd "m") perfect (mix the r and e) etc. What I found, to improve my spe...

Just one? I usually use activities that achieve the "flow effect" and then when I have the student in the zone, I snap them out of it so they can see how well they were doing.

I don't know about others, but I certainly jumped in. Thrown in was more like it. Generally, certification is for the teacher's confidence rather than the school's needs. And, since it's such a money-maker, courses get shorter and shorter and worse and worse. Last I heard, a TESL certificate had aro...

I think, in your situation, that's as good as it will get.

How are Chinese french fries, btw?

Yes, there is a whole sub-field devoted to reading for pleasure as the main approach to teaching ESL. Krashen was the first with his Natural Approach, but a more modern approach is Extensive Reading by Day. I believe in it, but as a teaching method, it's a tough sell. Students invariably wonder why ...

There are two ways I know of. Register at the ETS website and register for a "toefl service." Several business are offering (probably subcontracted by ETS) "official" TOEFL training. Another way is to work for the PrincetonReview. They have a very good training program and method for the TOEFL, alth...

A needs analysis is a good tool, but not a very fine one. It can tell you about groups, but not individuals. The best a needs analysis (or any study for that matter) can do for individuals is to say that there is a chance that the person will use it, not that they definitely will. Social science is ...