For many English language instructors, teaching academic writing can be a struggle. Perhaps that’s because we usually approach writing internally, and often without any kind of structure or process. Students might start with the first sentence and see where that takes them. But think of it this way: Unless you’re
Category: Academic Skills
Nurturing Academic Competence in the ELL Classroom
Competence, in its general sense, reflects the ability to perform a task successfully, and it is typically comprised of a blend of both innate abilities and learned skills. For English-language learners to show that they are prepared to navigate the complexities of higher education, they must not only demonstrate linguistic
Implementing Formative Assessment in 5 Simple Steps
All teachers face the same question every day: How do I know if (and what) my students learned? Formative assessment—informal monitoring of students’ progress in a class—can help answer this question. It’s a way for teachers to check in on their students’ learning and inform teaching. Ok, that all sounds
Engage, Educate, Empower: Maximizing Learning with Infographics
When was the last time you read a long article online from start to finish, without seeing any images? Most information today is communicated online via web articles and blogs—like this one—using a combination of text and images or graphics. Why is this? One reason is that infographics are liked
Tips for Communication and Collaboration in the 21st Century Classroom
The ability to communicate clearly and collaborate with others are two of the most important skills for today’s learners. These skills need to be developed through consistent practice, so it’s important to provide plenty of opportunities for learners to speak and work with others in class. Below are some ideas
Self-Directed Professional Development with National Geographic Learning Webinars
More and more is being written about self-directed professional development (SDPD) as teachers (and indeed all professionals) start taking their professional development into their own hands. SDPD garnered more interest during the pandemic, as teachers began turning to resources outside their institutes to help them rethink how they taught and
3 Tips to Improve Visual Literacy in the ELT Classroom
We deal with an increasing amount of information daily, whether we are scrolling social media or catching up on the news. How can we avoid information overload and retain what we read? We need to be active consumers of information, constantly improving our ability to understand and present information visually.
Teaching Social Issues with the SDGs
I’d like to start this final post in this Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) blog series with an explanation. Despite the distinction we’re making between environmental SDGs, such as number 13 – Climate action – and social SDGs, like number 1 – No poverty – you will have realized that the
Assessment for Real-World Success
We each chart our own path forward in this incredible world—with help from family, friends, and teachers who inspire and guide us. At National Geographic Learning, our goal is to motivate students to experience the world through the visually rich stories of National Geographic photographers and explorers. But inspiration is
Reflecting and building background knowledge
This blog post is a follow-up to a webinar I gave a few weeks ago. The webinar addressed this question: How do we avoid overwhelming our learners when we present them with new topics and information-rich texts and then ask them to discuss and analyze them in a meaningful way?