I recently responded to a blog challenge by a video recording of myself - you can see it by clicking here. Most EFL teachers are probably aware of the activity where students are asked to say some things about themselves, and the others are to guess if they're true or false. I suggested taking this a step further and have the students bring video ...

Summer has finally arrived here in Maine.  I hope many of you, like me, have finished up the school year and can now take some time to recuperate.  Looking forward to a productive summer, I am planning a series of blog posts focusing on the Common Core State Standards Initiative.  My plan is to post regular articles with a simple goal: each blog ...

I've always loved this song (written by Jagger/Richards, and released on the Stones' Let It Bleed album towards the end of 1969), and, as you probably already know, I'm very fond of Playing for Change, too. They are good enough reasons for me to link it here in this blog.But how can we use it in our lessons, you might ask. Well, think about it and ...

With so much literature, grammar, writing, and vocabulary to cover in our curriculum these days, it’s easy to overlook the importance of oral language in our classrooms.  Consider also how reluctant many students already are about “getting up in front of the class,” and it’s easy to put off teaching about speeches and oral presentations.   But ...

This, along with the PechaKucha night, must have been the highlights of the IATEFL 2011 Brighton conference. The motion for the ELT Debate was 'Tweeting is for the birds, not for language learning', with Alan Waters speaking for the motion, and Nicky Hockly, against. Here is an opportunity for those who haven't had the chance of watching a live ...

Are you seeking to integrate technology and media into lesson plans, but don't want to spend hours at the computer or reinvent the wheel? Teachers' Domain offers you incredibly complete, well-paced lessons that incorporate the best of what is freely available from public broadcasting. From the Teachers' Domain site: Teachers' Domain is a free ...

If you are looking for engaging, easy-to-adopt (or adapt) Shakespeare lesson plans, one of the best resources online for anything Shakespeare is the Folger library.  I’m deep in the first act of Romeo and Juliet with my students right now, so I’ve been spending a lot of time browsing the net for new stuff.  One of the problems with Shakespeare ...

When recently looking for electronic resources to add to my short story unit, I came across LearnOutLoud.com where hundreds of recorded works are available free for download.  Learn Out Loud doesn’t just have audio recordings of books and stories (though there are plenty of those); they also have podcasts and videos. Some of the resources cost ...

I bumped into Reel American History some time ago, thought it was pretty cool and promptly forgot about it.  During a recent NetVibes RSS purge, I ran across another mention of the site that jogged my memory. (Of course, I can’t remember now who mentioned so if it was you . . . um, thanks.) Reel American History suggests that Film writes history ...

The Have Fun Teaching Web Site Presents: The Noun Video. This Noun Video will teach the basic definition of a common noun. A noun is a part of speech that names a person, place, or thing. The song will go over how a noun is a word that can be a person, place, thing or an idea. The noun movie will give examples of common nouns for people, ...