strategy
Involving Every Student – Classroom hacks
An easy way to make sure that every student contributes to class. This video shows an easy way to mentally track who has spoken in class. Basic, but useful!
19 – Reflective Practice – Thomas Farrell
The self-styled ‘bad boy’ of language teaching, Thomas Farrell, dropped by my office to take about self reflection. What do we do in the classroom and, importantly, WHY do we do it? Who are YOU as a teacher and what do YOU bring into the classroom?
Start adding this reflective practice regularly to your professional life and you’ll be surprised at the difference it can make to your personal and professional development.
Also a good lesson about having a safety net. I recorded this with my fancy MICs but the recordings failed for some reason, so this is based on my phone back-up recording. Phew….
06 – The ESL / EFL student brain and how we learn – Stephen van Vlack
As teachers, we need to be aware of how students are learning. Different brain systems need to work together in order to retain information and, most importantly, integrate it into existing systems. So, what is the best approach for teachers to give the best chance for students to improve? Stephen van Vlack slices open the brain (metaphorically) to show us how the different brain systems interact and the most effective ways for students to improve.
This is one of the more difficult subjects we’ve tackled on MOT, but Stephen breaks it down into an understandable view of how information and perception affects language learning and retention. Read the rest of this entry »
06a – Extra Interview on How ESL / EFL students learn – Stephen van Vlack
Here’s another 8 minutes from Stephen van Vlack on how the brain works when we learn – or perceive – new things, including how learning a second language affects the native language.
03 – Effective Feedback on Writing – Ahmar Mahboob
Hands up if you’ve been properly trained on giving feedback on students’ writing… Yep, not many of us.
Ahmar Mahboob gives a valuable insight into the most effective approach. Below are some links where you can get a more in depth look at his approaches. Is peer assessment any good? How and when should we focus on grammar?
02 – Gestures and Embodied Cognition – Scott Thornbury
In class, we point behind us to represent the past. Forward for the future. But, other than Total Physical Response, how else can we use gestures?
01 – Visual Thinking Strategies – Gabriel Diaz Maggioli
Here is the first episode of the MOT podcast. If you like it, please SUBSCRIBE!
Follow the podcast on @MOTcast
Masters of TESOL 