As teachers around the world have moved from face to face teaching to online teaching, we’ve decided to change the focus of this series of blog posts too. For the next few months Look author Katherine Bilsborough will be sharing ideas of how to use an image as a springboard
Tips for Making Grammar Engaging and Memorable
Teaching that Sticks One of the main goals for teachers is to make learning memorable. In their article Teaching that Sticks, Chip Heath and Dan Heath suggest there are six characteristics that make ideas ‘stick’. A sticky idea is: Simple Delivers a core message Unexpected Gets and holds attention Concrete
Five practical ideas for starting English lessons with Zoom
Like so many teachers, I recently started delivering my English lessons on Zoom. On reflection, I’ve been pleasantly surprised that so many of the things I do in a normal face-to-face lesson are easily transferable to a platform like Zoom. I can present language by screensharing or using the whiteboard,
The Story Within A Teacher’s Voice
Every teacher uses their voice to teach. The tone and delivery of what you say to your students will become a familiar and comforting sound especially if you teach young learners. When you tell stories, you are using a powerful tool not only for teaching language, but also as a
Bridging the Gap Between Home and School
This is the blog post to read if you are a school manager, coordinator, or freelance teacher looking to build stronger relationships with parents and caregivers. Read on to learn practical ways to build trust, confidence, and establish a genuine partnership between home and school. Introduction We have long known
Exploiting video for authentic English
So far in this series of articles on using video in the classroom, I’ve focused on ways to plan a video lesson and how to make the activities more collaborative. In this post, I’d like to look at the impact authentic video can have on a lesson when we teach
A 7-Step Framework for Vocabulary Study while Reading
Research suggests that reading can be one of the best tools to boost a language learner’s vocabulary. The following 7-step guide provides some tips to help students maximize their vocabulary gains while reading independently. 1. Read something interesting and at the right level. The first step is to make sure
Connecting your Online Classroom to the Real World
In this blog post, Caroline McKinnon, a teacher in the United States, describes how she connects her online classroom to the real world. Let us know how you are connecting your online classroom to the real world in the comments section below. — Last week, I took my class on
Vox Pops Videos
The term ‘Vox Pops’ comes from the Latin meaning ‘voice of the people’ but in modern day English we use it to refer to videos made from short clips of everyday people being interviewed. It’s one of my favorite type of videos to include with course books because I like
Teaching Very Young Learners: the more you know, the more you can help!
You walk into class and your students are already there waiting for you. There are happy yells of “Teacher!” when you walk in, but Jo is crying because someone moved her school bag and Rae and Kim are pushing each other to be at the front of the line you