Socially distanced discussions – an oxymoron?
First-week reflections The first week is over. It was tough, tougher than I anticipated. I thought I was relatively well prepared for what’s coming, but nothing could have prepared me… Read more »
Back to school speaking lesson ideas
I’m so excited to be going back to school! Like most of you I haven’t seen my students face-to-face for over 5 months. Thankfully, virtual learning worked out well for… Read more »
Visual storytelling with EAL students
I work in an international school in Malaysia, but my context is unconventional in that the majority of students in the school are EAL or Second Language students. Many learners… Read more »
The QFT at play: how I use it to support reading comprehension
In a previous post, I wrote about how I use the Question Formulation Technique with my EAL learners. Now I would like to show you some sample materials and a… Read more »
Show-and-tell: 5 ways to make it work with EAL students
Covid-19 has undeniably changed the educational landscape. Whether that change is short- or long-term is to be seen, but being stuck at home and teaching online has been difficult in… Read more »
How I use the Zoom chat to support reading
I’ve recently been back to my physical classroom and it was a strange experience. My board still had the date on – March 17. My desk still had photocopies that… Read more »
Using the Question Formulation Technique with EAL students
Through my work I often see EAL students ‘in action’, meaning I see them trying to keep up in mainstream lessons. Unfortunately, I also often see them fail to do… Read more »
How to avoid blank stares when giving instructions
You are in class setting up for an activity. You have just given careful, step-by-step instructions to a task. You ask your students if they have any questions, as any… Read more »