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TEYL – Effective Lesson Planning and Activities
Effective lesson planning is the core of a successful thematic unit or any lesson in general. As we mentioned in the essay/post which reflected on the contextualized language learning, the most effective lesson plans are the lesson plans which create a meaningful context, with a lot of interaction and content from subjects other than English. According to Shin and Crandall (2014), in order to develop an effective lesson plan, teachers must follow these steps: Select a theme or select a text and then identify the themes in the text; Identify the language focus (vocabulary and grammar); Identify content objectives (links to other content areas); Identify learning strategies or critical thinking…
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Christmas Materials Advent Calendar – Download 1 New Free Material Every Day Until Christmas
Hello, my dear colleagues! Christmas is the time of giving, so why not share some materials and make this holiday more easy for all of us?I will share 1 free Christmas-themed material (pdf, ppt, and interactives) every day until Christmas. Find the download button inside the interactive bellow, login, and download your freebie! Merry Christmas! Please write a review when you download the materials! If possible, describe the activity in which you used the materials! 🙂
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Workshop – Learning English through Music and Movement – Songs ARE NOT JUST A WARM-UP!
Why is music important? Is it useful just in the warm-up part of the lesson, or it can be the focus of our lesson? Keep reading to find out how I facilitated a workshop with this topic and what are the activities we managed to complete during the workshop. I’ve had the pleasure to facilitate a workshop on ELTA YL SIG Day: Game on! Engaging Young Learners conference. I will write a reflection about the conference and other workshops I attended in a separate post – this post is a reflection of my workshop focusing on the activities we did, what went wrong and what was good. Since the connection…
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Successful Differentiated Assessment Activities – Because One Size Does Not Fit All
Assessment represents a gray area for all teachers – we constantly fear that we haven’t fulfilled the learning objectives, and we ponder on the things we could have done differently. If we take a step back and think about it, we will conclude that we have to individualize the assessment and create a differentiated classroom. If we take a step back and think about it, we will conclude that we have to individualize the assessment and create a differentiated classroom. Many research proved that by differentiating our classroom, students learn more, and they can achieve a greater learner autonomy. However, this is easier said than done, because, to apply a differentiated assessment…
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How National Geographic Certified Educator Course Changed my Perspective on the World and Teaching + Course Overview
Every educator has her/his own teaching style, and there are hardly two same teachers in the world. We do follow the same teaching methodology, but in our profession, we also have a chance to develop our skills in other areas and pursue our ideals, while also presenting them in our classroom. For example – every school has that one teacher who loves music and who is great in these activities. Another teacher is a brilliant mathematician, and the third one runs a drama club. For me, that certain something is English and environmental education. I have this certain eco-anxiety and fear for the future, and that is why I try…
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A Thanksgiving Workshop With a Professor from the USA – Activities to Discover a New Holiday
Living in Europe, we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, and we have another holiday on that day – Day of the Republic. On the other hand, since I teach English, interculturalism is very important in my curriculum, so I was happy to attend a Thanksgiving workshop Beth Wendt, a guest professor from the USA, held at my university. This workshop actually took place last year for Thanksgiving, not this year. I completely forgot to write about it, so I remembered to write a reflection now to try to recycle some of the activities we had in my holiday lessons. I will focus on the activities that we did since they were pretty…
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30 DIY Low-Waste Montessori Activities for Your Preschool or Home
You’ve probably heard a lot of things about the Montessori method, and if you search it online, you will see a lot of pricey wooden toys and a variety of didactic material you need to purchase. However, you can apply this method with the things you already have at home. Keep reading to find out how can you incorporate Montessori-driven activities in your home or at the play corners in preschool. The basic idea of Montessori pedagogy is to encourage the children’s natural desire for exploring – let them do what they want and teach them practical life skills. These activities are developmentally appropriate for all children, and older children…
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Learn to be Intercultural – Erasmus+ Youth Exchange in Stockholm, Sweden – Reflection of the Activities
Hello, my dear colleagues! If you are still in your late twenties, you are, of course, not as young as you used to be (teachers grow old in this profession just as dogs do, 7 years in just 1 year haha), but you still have a chance to participate in youth exchanges if you are based in Europe. Since I love environmental education and nature, I decided to apply for this exchange in a spur of a moment, not even thinking that I may be selected to participate. I am happy I had a chance to go to Stockholm since it was an amazing experience! In this post, I will…
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What Children’s Perspectives Tell us About Inclusion
What children’s perspectives tell us about inclusion, is that we are all experts in different ways and that our different experiences and understandings are of value. Inclusive education is presented and discussed as under construction, both in educational settings and as a concept. The materials to be found in this course are largely rooted in the social model of disability and human/disability rights frameworks. The full course with this topic on Open University consists of the following chapters: What children’s perspectives tell us about inclusion Why do you come here? Children’s perceptions of play and learning How older pupils view school Gender bias in experiences of education Different classrooms, different…
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What Happens When a Teacher Has a Child With Development Difficulties
What happens when a teacher has a child with developmental difficulties? Honestly, when that happened, the only thought in my mind was: THIS IS NOT HAPPENING TO ME, THIS IS SOMEONE ELSE’S LIFE. As a teacher with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education, I was able to acquire a lot of knowledge when it comes to difficulties in learning and development, or as everyone calls it special needs. I will not use the term special needs since it’s outdated, and researches agree that every child has its own special needs, regardless of the difficulties or disabilities. Despite all that, I was completely unprepared for what was coming, because, for the first time, I…
