As we open our new calendars (for those of us who love paper calendars) to start 2019, we begin to think about what the new year has in store and maybe some of us dabble in making New Year’s Resolutions. But what if there was a way to not only reach some of our own goals, but also build a stronger community? This year, that’s an achievable endeavor. TESL Ontario has many ways for us to get involved with our community, connect with peers, and check off some professional goals. Continue reading
Boost your instruction with Free TESOL courses
Since 2001, the Electronic Village Online (EVO) has offered free, online courses starting in mid-January and finishing in mid-February. Facilitators and organizers volunteer their time and expertise to contribute to our profession. Participants learn through lecture, activities and peer discussions on relevant TESOL topics. Course facilitators and participants share fresh perspectives from their diverse experience and expertise. Continue reading
I find the term best practice troubling; and I say this as I wear my language instructor hat and my consultant hat. Full disclosure: I am working on TESL Ontario’s Directory of Best Practice Resources. The Directory is a compendium of online (and hard copy) high quality resources for adult ESL and FSL instructors and administrators. Please check it out: http://bestpractices.teslontario.org/ . In putting together our Directory, Continue reading
Have you ever thought about how you could use your skills as a teaching professional in the online world to earn additional income?
When I left classroom teaching in December 2015, after a 20-year teaching career, I certainly did. During the next eighteen months, I had the time and energy to discover how I could use my skills and expertise as a teaching professional to earn income outside of the traditional ESL classroom.
November is Diabetes Awareness Month so it’s timely to talk about this serious chronic disease that occurs when the body loses its ability to produce or properly use insulin, a hormone that controls sugar levels in the blood. High blood sugar levels can damage blood vessels and nerves and over time, can cause serious health complications.
Let’s begin with an interesting piece of trivia – did you know that November 14th was World Diabetes Day? Do you know why? November 14th is the Continue reading
Using visuals is an integral part of our daily teaching practice; however, often, our visual aids are rather mundane. For example, one of the primary and most popular visual aid has been PowerPoint. Despite the benefits of using this tool, it can easily turn a classroom into a passive learning environment.
Having said this, there are other tools available through which knowledge and information can be transferred to students. One of the alternatives available is Kahoot. Now, many of us might have heard of or used this tool in our classrooms. Kahoot is a game-based teaching tool that teachers usually use to test student knowledge after their teaching is completed. However, Kahoot can be used for purposes other than testing. This post introduces Kahoot as a tool that can replace PowerPoint presentations Continue reading
If you’re a Twitter user, join the next #CdnELTchat on Tuesday, November 27th. Below is a recap of the November 4th chat from the #CdnELTchat moderators.
What does it mean for learners to be autonomous and accountable? How do you teach students to take responsibility of their own learning? What roles does metacognition play in learner autonomy? These are some of the questions that a group of educators tackled on November 6th. Bonnie Jean Nicholas (@EALStories) and Jennifer Chow (@jennifermchow) moderated a #CdnELTchat to explore this topic.
Thank-you so much to the enthusiastic participants Continue reading
In Six Tools To Enhance Video Learning, I posted about using online video in the classroom more efficiently and possibly creatively. Since then a new education technology development tool, H5P, has emerged. I have been working on a variety of projects with H5P and feel that it is important for educational developers to consider adopting it as a means for enhancing online video learning events.
HTML 5 Packager, better known as H5P, is a free tool that allows you to create custom learning objects with online video. H5P’s Interactive Video feature allows developers to overlay resources and interactive features over a video itself. This optimizes the learners’ video viewing area. Until now, interactivity with the video occurred under the video, on the play back bar, or as a fly out menu to the left or the right of the video. Overlain interactivity on a video makes the end-user’s experience intuitive. Items such as comments, true/false questions or links to further information can be strategically positioned over the video and timed to focus attention to specific parts of the video screen. Continue reading
If you’re a Twitter user, read on to learn how you can join the next #CdnELTchat. Below is a recap of the October 23rd chat from the #CdnELTchat moderators.
Being able to use learning strategies and study skills can empower students to become independent learners. What learning strategies and study skills do English language learners need to support their language learning journey? Bonnie Jean Nicholas (@EALStories) and Jennifer Chow (@jennifermchow) moderated a #CdnELTchat to explore this topic. Continue reading
I tend to write my conference reflections as soon as possible after the conference for obvious reasons. (Obvious = getting old and forgetting stuff quickly) I promised myself that this conference I would self-indulge, go only to the workshops that light my fire. Since the time I had to actually attend workshops was minimal (I was doing other things for the conference), I wanted to make that time count.
I attended no PBLA workshops. Continue reading