With a couple of minutes left until the end of the lesson, your class might descend into chaos: L1 flying, frantic packing, texting, or worse, students actually queuing in front of the door waiting for you to let them out. I am talking about both younger and older students here. In this post, I am presenting 6 quick games that will help you finish on a good note and keep your students engaged until the very end. Continue Reading …
Teacher’s Toolbox
FCE key word transformation
The aim of this activity is to take a little break from the routine of Cambridge English: First (formerly known as FCE) exam preparation. It focuses on Part 4 of Reading and Use of English exam paper where students are supposed to paraphrase sentences using the word given.
My day in four skills: #4skills1day
The idea for this post came from Joanna’s wonderful blog and I’ve been meaning to write it for a couple of weeks now. Once I sat down to it and looked at these first couple of days after coming to Berlin from my Christmas break in Warsaw, I realized that each day I’ve been juggling as many languages as skills. Yesterday was no exception.
Learning new skills
I’ve recently realized it’s been a while since the last time I tried to learn something completely new. Something that involved rules, a sequence to follow, and some logical thinking. It hit me when my dad tried to teach me how to play Hearts. Going through this painful experience made me think of teaching grammar.
Changes, challenges, and lessons learned: 2015 in review
I feel my first year of blogging would be incomplete without a little “as this year draws to a close” post. Here it goes, my 2015 in review. Quite a few changes, many challenges, and some lessons learned.
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6 steps to teaching phrasal verbs
My students often ask me how to learn phrasal verbs and confess they genuinely hate these little monsters. At first I wasn’t sure what kind of advice I could offer. Still, I knew that suggesting learning by heart would inevitably put my learners off. I have finally come up with 6 steps that can help students learn phrasal verbs more effectively. I would like to share them with other English teachers and learners.
Classes with young learners
I’ve always considered myself a flexible person, able to adapt and roll with the punches. Still, when my school asked me to teach weekly 90-minute classes to a 12-year-old (whose level of English was unspecified before our first lesson) I got a bit nervous. Actually, I got very nervous. Preparing and teaching my first class made me re-examine everything I thought I knew about dealing with so-called young learners. Continue Reading …
Effective FCE Use of English: word formation
The aim of this activity is to let students use the words in context before they apply the familiar principles of word formation. This activity fosters the understanding of both the meaning and the form of words students are required to use in the exam and prevents mindless guessing and relying on false friends. I use it to help students with Use of English, Part 3. Continue Reading …
Overcoming my teaching rut
Finding some teaching methods, approaches or activities which we can refer to as tried and tested gives a great sense of comfort. It lowers the preparation time and boosts our confidence. Isn’t it convenient to have a nice, little routine that guarantees a successful lesson? Isn’t it also dangerously easy to miss the difference between our positive teaching habits and being stuck in a rut? Continue Reading …
Online games for advanced students
The Internet is full of fun and eye-catching games for younger learners or even low-level adults. What I have been struggling with, was finding suitable online activities for more advanced students that would not be more of the same exam practice or grammar fill-in exercises. Feeling my students would appreciate (and deserved!) some language fun, I started looking for online games and activities I could use in the classroom. Continue Reading …
