Vera Said:

I have to teach ESL students. ?

We Answered:

Resources and lesson plans: http://www.eslflow.com/

Info About: teachingenglish/Teaching_English_Techniques_Resources_Certificates_Employment.htm" rel="nofollow">http://esl.about.com/od/teachingenglish/…

Community: http://www.eslgo.com/

Aren't you supposed to be certified to teach it? Where i live you must be certified first, its something that you need to be trained to do well?

good luck.

Maureen Said:

Crying Kids in the Classroom?

We Answered:

The idea of a reward sounds good but in the long run may hurt you because then they will start crying in anticipation of getting a reward when they stop... in general getting on a rewards system is not developing children's ability to be self motivated, in your case to be motivated to comfort themselves without a prize or a treat. You want them to have independence and be proud of themselves for self soothing. I teach two year olds currently in daycare/preschool and have also taught older ages 3-5 for over three years now.

One thing I have found to be successful is to have children bring an item from home that in comforting to them such as a small stuffed animal or blankie until they have made a smooth transition. In most cases I have found the child will cling to that item for the first one or two weeks and slowly they start to put that personal item down more often to join in group acitivities or play with classroom toys or activities you have set up. It will be a slow process but will eventually turn into the child not needing that comfort item because they feel safe at school in the nurturing and caring environment you provided for them. By having that piece of home with them they will have comfort and peace of mind when they go to school and not feel like they are surround by 100% strange things. Having that familiar item is a great help to many children!

Hope this suggestion works! Sometimes though, some children just aren't able to be comforted : ( sorry!

Also: don't forget to reinforce positive behaviors... when they are NOT crying make sure you tell them how wonderful it is they are participating in the class and you are glad they are having fun and are happy! Do not focus on telling them to stop crying - instead focus on the positive behavior you wish them to do instead of the negative behavior you don't want them to do!

Carole Said:

Best resource guide for teaching english to chinese speaker?

We Answered:

I teach English writing to adults in Taiwan. We read well-written feature articles from newspapers such as the Washington Post and International Herald Tribune. These texts are sufficient for a 1-2 hour class. I then explain the meaning, usage and punctuation sentence by sentence. Students find this very helpful. Taiwanese students also enjoyed watching "Friends" as they couldn't understand the jokes on their own. This helps them learn more about informal English conversation.
I recommend to use materials that interest her such as reading a novel together.

Jerome Said:

ESL teachers, what is your best strategy or teaching tip for intermediate and advanced students?

We Answered:

Here are some ideas I use in my own classroom:

Praise-Question-Polish (PQP)-PQP is a framework used to assess understanding and evaluate learning. It has three columns for student responses to specific lessons, texts, topics, or focus studies. The praise column is for positive comments, the question column is for recording ideas that are not clear, and the polish column is for suggested changes to improve understanding.

Literature Study-Literature discussion groups give students a chance to talk about their perceptions and interpretations of a selected text. After reading the selection and responding in a literature log, they meet to discuss ideas and insights. After discussion, group members decide how far they will read and what they will consider for the next discussion time. Different students serve as discussion leaders.

Text Sets- The text sets used in literature study circles are usually multiple copies of the same text to provide a focus for shared meaning. However, text sets may be a collection of different books on a related topic. Using sets of different texts encourages students to compare, contrast, and make connections in a reading discussion group. Related poetry may be included as text sets as well as different versions of particular fairy tales or collections of books by the same author.

Say Something-this a reading activity that invites conversation and discussion by partners or small groups of students. Each person receives a text for reading and responding. The participants decide cooperatively how far to read before stopping to talk about the author’s ideas. Someone is designated to speak first, or to say something related to the text. Each person listens and responds with comments, reactions, or questions. They may reread the text to clarify understanding or answer questions.

Partner Reading-Partner reading encourages the sharing of ideas. Sometimes partners take turns talking about their perceptions, questions, and insights. Partners of different ages and abilities work well together. The teacher may be a student’s partner to assess individual needs and strengths.

Reciprocal Teaching-Reciprocal teaching is an instructional activity that takes place in the form of a dialogue between teachers and students regarding segments of text. The dialogue is structured by the use of four strategies: summarizing, question generating, clarifying and predicting. The teacher and students take turns assuming the role of teacher in leading this dialogue.

Additionally, you might find some ideas at this link:

http://bilingual.dadeschools.net/BEWL/pd…

Brandon Said:

Teaching positions in Saudi!?

We Answered:

Without any offense, which resumee of yours is the faked one? The one you want to apply for a teaching job in KSA or the one you want to land a job in a HR department with over 20 years of experience in this field in the UAE?
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;…

Did you fool the Canadians with forged docs also?

Arnold Said:

How to improve cognitive reading strategies used by Hispanic?

We Answered:

9 times out of 10, no they do not help because the people making them are not specialists in ESL, but are usually from the field of Education. I don't want to give the impression that ESL has all the answers, but it is plain to see that the field of Education is totally lost. Last I heard, they still study BF Skinner and Behaviorism that have been proven repeatedly to be useless and even detrimental in education.

Wilma Said:

Hey guys. Can you reflect on the following case study #2?

We Answered:

Here are the bare bones as I see it:
1. I think this is not an unfamiliar situation in many countries these days with the internationalisation of work.
2. Mrs Chan is being overloaded somewhat in that a/ she hasn't any experience with TEFL and b/ she would need to bring her students up to scratch with the language before even attempting to raise their academic performance to the same level as the other students. c/ the new students would not find it easy to fit in if they don't have the language skills of their peers.
3. Mrs C should go on a TEFL course; as a teacher already she would not find it too arduous, except that, presumably she would have to do this in the holidays. I's sure she'd be delighted...