What is self-reflection in learning?
It is a cognitive awareness that occurs when students are aware of and can articulate what they know and what they need to learn. Thus, it examines the ways an individual learns.
Self-reflection is a huge and often overlooked part of education. While students are often asked to reflect on their own learning, their teachers typically do not coach them in how to do it most effectively. We already know that teacher reflection is a very important part of our professional development. TESL training usually offers great opportunities to learn how to do that. But students have similar needs. Neither teachers nor students can maximally improve their performance without self-reflection.
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Hello everyone! my name is interlanguage and I’m here to share my transformational journey with you! A journey which was supposed to take me to my dreamland of Second Language! Instead, this journey made me an excellent version of myself!
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In 2014, I posted on the TESL Ontario blog “Encourage Extensive Reading with MReader.” Since then, I have been integrating extensive reading with language learners in different contexts. I have learned a great deal using extensive reading in face-to-face situations. However, as COVID has forced us all online, the new challenge is facilitating extensive reading in a fully online mode.
In late 2021, Sepideh Alavi, a member of the Extensive Reading Foundation Board of Directors and Avenue mentor, and I started an extensive reading research project on the Avenue system. A critical part of this study is a pilot test of extensive reading with literacy-level classes.
Continue readingIn Part 1 of this 2-part series, I discussed how people can get their foot on the Ontario English for Academic Purposes (EAP) ladder.
In this post, I discuss ways to climb the EAP ladder. As I stated in Part 1, much of what I say will likely be pertinent to other TESL environments.
In general, ESL work in Canada is precarious, and this situation also applies to the EAP sector. Recent research by Corcoran and Williams (2021) found that Ontario EAP programs offered more part-time and temporary contracts than any other province/territory. One consequence of this situation is that there are many highly educated and experienced EAP instructors competing for very few full-time opportunities. So, to make your mark, you have to bring your A-game.
Below are my four suggestions for situating yourself effectively for advancement.
H5P has become a buzzword since we adapted to online learning. It has been touted as a way to integrate interactive, self-assessing, and media-rich learning objects into an online course. This is true, but many instructors quickly learned that even though H5P presents a relatively intuitive authoring method, the number of tools and associated options make this process overwhelming.
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Motivation is one of the key challenges for successful language learning, but sometimes instructors don’t sufficiently utilize motivation. Some teachers even think they cannot play a major role in student motivation, but I believe we can motivate our students in many ways. For example, motivational quotes are a great device to inspire our students. While teaching last summer at Niagara College, I shared biweekly motivational quotes to boost my students’ ambition. They truly enjoyed them! Below are the seven motivational quotes that my students voted as their favourites.
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According to IELTS Cambridge books, an expert user of English is someone who has fully operational command of the language: appropriate, accurate, and fluent with complete understanding. This user gets the score of 9 in the IELTS speaking test which is the highest score in this English proficiency exam.
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Why a Community of Thinkers?
In the classroom, one of my favourite goals is to encourage my students (and often colleagues!) to become a community of thinkers. I try to create a safe environment in which everyone’s opinion is valued. Below, I share a few simple strategies to boost your students’ thinking skills.
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Are you feeling lethargic? Do you have more headaches than usual? Do your eyes hurt? Are you struggling with self-esteem issues, anxiety, or depression? If so, you could be experiencing “online fatigue,” sometimes called “Zoom fatigue.”
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