Idioms

NPR's Morning Edition had a great story about idioms in English. They interviewed the editor of the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms... a true lover of words. The interview was loaded with great expressions that we use (and often take for granted) every day.

Elephant in the Room via NPR.org and iStockphoto.com

What a great way to share expressions with students who are interested in expanding their idiomatic vocabulary!  I like that so many of our expessions come from Shakespeare, such as "cold fish." We're in the middle of mid-terms now and the one that seems most apropos is "the straw that broke the camel's back." What are some of your favorite expressions?

Check it out here: http://www.npr.org/2013/02/28/173060110/dictionary-of-idioms-gets-everybody-on-the-same-page

Game Night

                                                      As some of you may know, I am the CMU ELI's Conversation 

Partner Program coordinator. For the past two months, we have joined with the ESL Association on campus and held two game nights. During these evenings, students have come to practice speaking English while playing games. Some bring their (American) conversation partner, some just come with their ELI friends. We eat pizza, play games, chat, and have a good time. 



Usually I bring games with the president of the ESL Association, but during the most recent evening, one student brought a game... he even told me that afternoon that he was going to buy the game so that he could share it with the other students! Have you ever played Sequence? It's very fun and not language-based, which is good for lower-level students. Of course. I don't really have many games that aren't language-based... do other English teachers have this same "problem"?

Some of the other games we've played are Scrabble, Scattergories, Pictionary (large group), Uno, Bingo, Euchre, and Apples to Apples. 

These game nights have been a pretty big hit with the international students at the ELI. Last semester I tried holding these events; however, they weren't well attended. But this semester, a lot more students have been attending. I think providing pizza is a pretty big incentive! We plan to continue these meetings, maybe even going bowling next time!



If anybody  has ever held an event like this before, I would love to hear your suggestions. If you're looking to hold an after-school event, I suggest good advertising and free food for maximum attendance. 

Lesson Idea: Fortune Cookies

For the past (and next) couple of weeks, I have been teaching "future time" to my level 3 grammar students (Intermediate level). We have been taking about be going to and will, which are used for making predictions in English. 

As a fun exit ticket* activity before the break, I instructed students to make fortunes for their classmates, just like they'd get from a Chinese restaurant. I gave each student a little slip of paper to write a fortune on (i.e. "You will be lucky next week"). When they were finished, they gave me the fortune and took a short break. After the break, the students each got a fortune different from the one that they wrote. They each read their fortune out loud to the class, but they had to change the subject from you to I (i.e. "I will be lucky next week"). 

This was a low prep activity (the only materials needed are little slips of scrap paper), which didn't take much time in class. The best part was that the students really enjoyed writing and receiving fortunes.

Here's a sample of what they wrote:

• You will get $9999999 next week.
• You will get a girlfriend if you take a shower every day.
• You will change an English book.
• You will pass this class.
• You will get a good grade on the test
• You are going to have fun during spring break.

I really got a kick out of what they wrote for each other, and I think they did too. We had a lot of laughs for the quick 5-minute activity!



Image via theadventuresofaspacemonkey.blogspot.com

*Exit ticket activities are usually done at the end of class (or before a break). The students are required to finish something (usually proving what they've learned from the class period) and give it to the teacher before the exit the class. They're a great tool to ensure students have learned what you've taught. And in this case, a way tie in the first half of class to the second half when starting class back up after a short break.



 

English Mania

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I haven't had much time to post during the beginning of the semester. I would love to share with you a great (and short) video that one of my colleagues found. It's about English mania and English as the world's second language. It is originally from TED.com, and the speaker is Jay Walker.

 

I love the focus on China, as well as his perspective on English NOT taking over the world. As an English teacher, I am all too aware of the issues of language and power. I don't want to dwell on it now (maybe in a different post); however, I think it's important to add to the conversation that English should be used as a supplement*, rather than a replacement* for one's native language.

Thanks for the link, Natalie!

P.S. I love TED.com

*supplement and replacement were vocabulary words in my ELI 082 class, and this was a "conclusion" we drew as a class while discussing English as the lingua franca.

Vocabulary Quick Tips

Vocabulary teaching quick tips from James Dunn on TESOL Connections.

Because who can't use quick tips?

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?

End of Semester Reflection

As the end of the semester draws to an end, I would like to reflect on what I've learned this year:

Planning makes life easier.

(Disclaimer: I am a planner and an organizer. It makes me feel comfortable, and if you aren't a planner, what follows may sound like madness you! )

The classes for which I did most of the planning before the semester started ended up being less and better work in the long run. Moments of genius 5 minutes before class sometimes happen, which result in an amazing lesson; however, those are few and far between. When I know what I need to accomplish for the day, week, month, I find that I am better able to hone my lesson plan to meet my students' needs and the course's objectives. I like having a long-term plan, and even though it always changes after the first week of class, I think it's important to have a goal for the course's timing and schedule. This makes life easier and the lessons better.

It's important to listen to the students.

Sometimes it's just whining, but sometimes it's valuable advice and commentary. They're the audience... it's important to listen and respond to them.

Grading will still be there tomorrow.

After some wonderful conversations with my colleagues, Danielle and Natalie, I have realized that all grading doesn't necessarily need to be finished that night. It's not always (or usually?) necessary to get two hours of sleep when I have to teach the next morning. Because, of course, it will be there tomorrow!

It's important to have a sense of humor.

While I love laughing, I am naturally inclined to seriousness. Sometimes I have to remember to lighten up a bit. There's a running joke in one of my classes that I always keep them late and that they never get out early. I always look at the clock, astonished that we only have 10 more minutes! I've embraced it and have learned to laugh about it, too.

Lower level ESL students often don't understand jokes (due to language and cultural differences), but I've been trying to make more jokes (OK friends, I know how you feel about my jokes...) and laugh. It's also fun to see which students laugh and when they start to "get it."

Speaking of jokes, here' s a good one I saw on Facebook (Thanks, Gracielle!): What are Santa's elves called?

Answer: Subordinate clauses

Here's another, of my own: What do you call Mrs. Claus after she decides to leave Santa?

Answer: Independent Clause

OK, so maybe my sense of humor is why students don't laugh at my jokes...

Reflection is important

I never really had students reflect much after the courses are over. I am usually too worried about getting through everything to provide an opportunity to reflect. However, I highly value reflection, so I decided to incorporate it into the last day of my writing course. They wrote a letter to future students explaining what they learned, what they would have done differently, what they are glad they did, and any advice they had. The results were thoughtful, funny, and well-organized (the importance of this cannot be understated). I was amazed at their self-evaluation and insight into their actions. They actually advised future students to do all of the homework (they didn't always), to trust that what the teacher has them do will make them better writers,  to go to the Writing Center, and to participate in class. I was thrilled with the results and so very proud of their accomplishments. 


Sometimes I feel as though I learn more than my students in a given day or semester, which is making me into a better teacher (I think). I hope to be able to post more during winter break, as I won't have lesson planning, teaching, and grading to fill my time!