In May, National Geographic Learning gave me the opportunity to share via webinar my experience of learning English and becoming a TED speaker. It’s heart-warming to “see” hundreds of language educators joining from around the world, hungry to become better teachers, hungry to help their students learn English, the de
‘CREATIVITY Is intelligence having fun’ (Einstein) Don’t you just love that quote? In previous blog posts we talked about the importance of developing creative teaching and the need to start with ourselves, becoming more creative as teachers. In the last blog post we explored a framework to use with existing
Here at National Geographic Learning, we’re excited to kick off another month of the Life Around the World Contest! In last month’s photo, a crowd throws petals during the Flower Holi Festival, Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh, India. The colorful Holi festival celebrates spring, love and the victory of good over evil.
A few days ago*, I visited Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. When I arrived, the wind was bitingly cold, and the lake shore was obscured by thick flurries of snowflakes. I was there to see the place where Henry David Thoreau, renowned writer and naturalist, had spent two years, two
One great thing about TED Talks is that they cover a huge variety of interesting topics – big ideas that will engage both you and your learners. But sometimes, they can be fairly technical. Some teachers hesitate to bring technical material into the classroom because they feel they don’t have
If you’re familiar with materials from National Geographic Learning you’ll know that they include a lot of images, texts and topics about people and places from different countries. For this reason, you can often exploit the cross-cultural aspects of the material and help your students build their intercultural awareness alongside
Thank you for those who participated in the first month of the Life around the World Contest! In last month’s photo, artists perform the fire dragon dance during a celebration for Spring Festival at Wuhan Happy Valley, Hubei, China. Dragons are a symbol of China and are believed to bring good
“Now is the time that we need to rethink what we mean by the word ‘literacy’.” – Professor Michael Wesch, Cultural Anthropologist and National Geographic Emerging Explorer What does “literacy” mean? Traditionally, it’s the ability to read and write, but in today’s interconnected and high-tech world that definition may no
Welcome to the second post in this series. In the previous post we looked at definitions of creativity and talked about the importance of developing creative skills in our classrooms, not only for our learners but also for teachers! In this post I’ll be looking at a framework you can
Bringing some creativity into the classroom is a great way to motivate teenagers. It allows them to express themselves; it encourages independent thought and it can often give you, the teacher, a little time off. It’s important to prepare students for any creative activity. As a writer, I know only