Radio Silence

I apologize for my silence over the last year... I have been busy with life: I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and I am in the process of apply to a Ph.D. program. However, I have a few new posts that I will publish soon; I promise!

image via cartoonstock.com

A sneak peak at what I'll be posting about: using StoryCorps in the ESL classroom and a follow-up on an old post on corrective feedback. 

Thanks for sticking with me! You guys are awesome!

Do you love English?

If you love English, vote in the Macmillan Dictionary Love English Awards for the best websites and blogs about English. You can also check out last year's winners, and those from 2011. 

A few highlights from the past few years: printables, wordsmith, worldwidewords, filmenglish, and closeyourtextbooks. I can't wait to try some of these ideas out in my classroom next semester. 

And of course, my all time favorite: Free Rice, which helps people learn vocabulary and gives rice to people who are hungry. 

Secrets for Adults ELLs, Part 2

I recently posted about secrets for adult ELLs, and the difficulty some students can have with immersing themselves in English when they have young families or spouses who don't speak English. I won't go into detail in this post; you can read the original post here. My original post was a reaction post to Alexandra Lowe's TESOL blog post, which discussed "secrets" adult language learners provided for other language learners. 

Image via TESOL.org

Alexandra recently posted a follow-up which provided some clarification about her original post about how students can increase their English exposure and use, even if they can't "run away" from their native languages. She wrote, "the advice was certainly not intended to discourage students from  speaking their L1 at home with their family. Rather, it is designed to encourage adult ESL students in the United States to resolve to speak English whenever they have an opportunity to interact with the English-speaking world around them." Because this is really what we ask our students to do, isn't it? We encourage them to speak English whenever they can because they already have enough exposure to their L1 (native language). They speak it with their spouse, parents, children and/or friends. Teachers should be encouraging them to use English in every other situation when they aren't communicating with loved ones. 

Alexandra elaborated on different ways adult learners can improve their language skills. These include: speaking to English customer-service representatives (rather than those who are Spanish-speaking); declining translators at their children's school meetings; inviting English speaking children (and their parents) over for play dates, which result in English practice for both children and parents; establishing ESL meet-ups for informal conversation practice with people who speak languages other than their L1. You can see her whole post and read all of the suggestions here. 

Image via http://union.unimelb.edu.au/clubs/let-s-talk-conversation-group

The last suggestion (group conversation meet-ups) reminds me of CMU's Conversation Partner Program. We set up students with native English speakers, but I like the idea of groups of students getting together to chat. I think it would be even more effective if the students set up the groups so that learners who have children can discuss with other parents. They could even bring their children if they cannot find babysitters. This option may be more effective and practical for students with families and spouses, especially if their spouses also want to practice speaking English. 

There are, of course, other ways for students to increase their exposure to English. They can join student clubs and volunteer. I think the lesson to take away is that it's essential for students to try to use the target language as much as possible, and it is essential for teachers to help students figure out ways to increase their English language use. Other suggestions for how students can increase their exposure to the target language?

Student Blogging

Does anybody have any advice for good sites to hold student blogs? I'd like to use them in one of my courses this summer, but I am unsure of what to use. I've heard of edmondo.com, edublogs.org; and of course we could use the blogs on Blackboard or even Blogger. I'd really like something easy, user-friendly and share-able (with people outside of the class). Thoughts? Suggestions?

Image via blog.echoenduring.com

Have you ever used blogs in your class? Do you have any recommendations? Dos and Don'ts of classroom blogging? I would love to hear your advice. I will be doing some research on this soon, so I will also share what I find. And of course, I will be blogging this summer, so you can read about my successes and (hopefully few and far between) failures in implementing this medium in my class. 

Self-Directed Learning

I just read a great article about self-directed learning from the TESOL blog. It's Self-Directed Learning: Personal Speaking Plans for Adult ELLs, by Alexandra Dylan Lowe. There are some great ideas about helping students become more self-directed. I think I will start to implement some of these ideas into my grammar classes because oral communication isn't just for speaking and listening classes! 

I especially like the Pemex Parable and Personal Speaking Plan, which could be adapted into a personal reading plan, too! Thoughts? Has anybody ever done anything like this before?

Peace Corps in Ukraine

My dear friend, Sandra Russell, is a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine. She has just begun her adventure, and she has been documenting it  on her blog, Official Circular: 27 Months in Україна. 

Her reflections are honest, thoughtful, and extremely well written. If you are interested in Peace Corps, travel, culture (shock and exchange), Ukraine, or teaching, I highly recommend this blog. 

The Choice

Have any of you been following the NYTimes blog, The Choice? It discusses college admissions in the US. For The Envelope, Please , eight high school students from around the world blog about their college search process. Students hail from the United States, South Africa, and India. How fascinating to read about their thought processes and what goes into their decision making! If you haven't taken a look at this yet, I highly suggest it, especially for those in higher education. 

How cool would it be for students to read these and compare/contrast their college search? I think reading about the process for American students would add an interesting cultural aspect to any class.  ESL high school teachers could assign students to create their own blogs about their own experiences and processes. Teachers of higher education may ask students to blog first about what they went through and then what they are going through in their first years in college (or graduate school or the current university). Has anybody used blogs in the classroom? I have tried, unsuccessfully; however, this has inspired me to give it another go next semester!

So funny!

This is one of the funniest posts I've read on an ELT blog.