Looking for clues on a teacher’s desk. Naomi’s Photos

Thank you all for finding time in your busy “literary lives” as world-renowned detectives to join us here today.

Since all of you are known to have extraordinary powers of deduction, I would like to give you a small challenge. Please look at this photo I took of a person’s desk. What can you learn about the person who uses this desk and his/her workplace from this photo?

Hercule Poirot: I don’t even need to use my little grey cells to see that this is a teacher’s desk. She is clearly grading papers!

Naomi: That is correct, but wait! You said “SHE” is grading papers. What makes you think that we’re talking about a female teacher?

Hercule Poirot: “Because I am Hercule Poirot! I do not need to be told.” *

Naomi: Haha! With all due respect, if you were my student I would ask for information from the text (in this case, the photo) that supports your claim.

The evidence is clear – The photo was taken on a hot, sunny day. Naomi’s Photos

Sherlock Holmes: I must agree with my colleague on this matter. “You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles.”**

Sherlock Holmes: Look carefully at the photo. Great thought and care have been invested in the exact placement of each object and decoration on this desk, indicating not only a woman’s touch but one who is pedantic and clearly interested in style or design. Even the apple, which is only there temporarily, is neatly cut and placed with care.

Naomi: Pardon me for saying so, but you are from another era – there are men today who are admired for their style. Aren’t you just guessing due to the fact that there are more female teachers in this country?

Sherlock Holmes: I’ll ignore that. Just look at the spectacles on the desk. Not only do they serve as an additional indication, but they are reading glasses. Clearly, this desk belongs to an experienced teacher.

Miss Marple: Gentlemen, do take a look at yourselves! You are so easily distracted by the irrelevant issue of gender, while completely ignoring the true significance of all you see on this desk.

Naomi, you must bear in mind that “Gentleman are frequently not as level-headed as they seem” ***

Naomi: Thank you, Miss Marple. What do you mean?

Miss Marple: This teacher, and the teachers seated near her (this desk is obviously one of many), are clearly required to spend a great many hours at school, well beyond those hours devoted to teaching. One would assume that such hours were allocated as “preparation time” though as someone who specializes in listening to what others say among themselves (certainly not to be confused with eavesdropping!!) I do wonder how much work can be efficiently done when surrounded by so many people…

The investment we see in making one’s workspace comfortable and aesthetically pleasing indicates someone who has decided to make the best of the situation.

Hercule Poirot: (Coughs loudly and pauses before speaking)

My dear Miss Marple, you neglected to mention the evidence that this teacher does not have an administrative role at school.

Naomi: Which evidence is that?

Hercule Poirot: I’m astonished you need to ask that, Naomi. Why even a child would know what being allocated a cubicle (as opposed to an office) signifies…

Lieutenant Columbo: Just one more thing…

(Collective sounds of surprise are heard, as he had not been sent an invitation)

Lieutenant Columbo: Why has no one mentioned that this teacher is not an elementary school teacher? Look at the length of those texts!

Sherlock Holmes: (sighs deeply)

Sherlock Holmes: Even though I did not actually say the following in any of my books, I cannot help myself – we didn’t mention it because it’s E-L-E-M-E-N-T-A-R-Y!

Mali Savir, EFL Teacher at Mekif Yehud High School (Naomi’s Photos)

Many thanks to Mali Savir, for “lending” me her desk for this post.

* “Death on the Nile”, by Agatha Christie
** “The Bascombe Valley Mystery” by C. Doyle
*** “The Body in the Library” by Agatha Christie

Day by Day in the Classroom, Visualising Vocabulary

Revisiting “A Quote Challenge” – A Refreshing Review of Vocabulary & Syntax

March 19, 2023 Naomi Epstein Leave a comment

When the pandemic began I forgot about this lesson. In fact, the thin binder of “puzzles” that it was placed in it fell out of a drawer and lodged itself behind the drawers.

I’m so glad I found it again.

The students enjoyed it and I was pleased with the vocabulary and syntax reviewed.

Here is the post as it was first posted on Jan. 6 , 2016

_ *_ *_* _

Full disclosure: I’ve never began a post this way before.

There’s no real reason to continue reading this post. Hana Ticha’s lesson “Everyone is a Genius” has everything you could want a lesson to include – vocabulary, grammar, syntax, discussions, general knowledge and FUN! The quote chosen has a such a nice educational message too. So why adapt it? What happened to “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it”? Just go on to Hana’s post!

I had to adapt the lesson because I wanted to use it in my learning center for Deaf and hard of hearing students. Each lesson is for a jumble of 10th, 11th and 12th graders, at all possible levels. This activity is not for all them.

In addition, due to my students’ hearing problems, I would have to write out each clue, as they woudn’t be able to follow the spoken language. That would be cumbersome and time consuming.

In short, I needed a version that students could work on fairly independantly, with me guiding and helping from time to time (and then hopping of to help someone else).

So I typed up the lines for each letter of each word of the quote, so the students would have that information as a hint. I also added the first letter of most of the words (not the grammatical ones). I also wrote clues for about two thirds of the words. Some are very simple clues, others demand more of the student.

Here is the word document (two pages):

A Quote Challenge

I’ve done it with a few students so far. One by one (not in the same lesson). They are all students who enjoy a challenge, students who are curious.

They loved it!

Filling it in led to them asking great questions. The students tried to use “he” instead of “it” for the fish, which led to a review of the difference between “it’s” and “its”. One very deaf student was puzzled by the word in the clue for tree “leaves” which he was positive was only an irregular verb in the past. The whole idea, naturally, of an “f” (leaf) changing to a “v” (leaves) is strange to him. Another student was sure that “everyone” should be plural but could tell that the number of letter spaces didn’t match the word “are” and figured out on her own that the following word must be “is”. The only word they all had trouble figuring out was “if”, even though they got the “will”. Perhaps I shouldn’t have a clue for it, and then it will draw more attention to the conditional form.

The students really enjoyed the detective work! However,they all needed my help in understanding what the point of the quote was. One thought it meant he shouldn’t go off on “wild goose chases” such as looking for fish on trees…

All the students who have done it so far are kind of “loners”, students who don’t always “fit in”, for different reasons. Once they got the point of the quote, they really approved!

Books I enjoy!

Wow! The Book “How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water” by Cruz Could be about My Grandmother!

February 25, 2023 Naomi Epstein Leave a comment

My grandmother always said that someone could (and should!) write a book about her.

In a way, I think Angie Cruz did!

It’s such a cleverly written, well-told book and I was so fortunate to have chosen it as an audiobook – if you can, that’s the way to go! Listening to the manner in which Cara Romero answered questions the way SHE wanted to answer them, getting to the point via 100 other stops along the way, stopping to emphasize that no one could do it /understand it the way she could – it felt so very familiar!

No, my grandmother wasn’t Dominican, though she did speak Spanish. She was from Brest – today’s Belarus, part of Poland and Russia in the past. Along with the Yiddish, Polish, and Russian of her childhood, she spoke Hebrew, and Spanish learned during her 7 years living in Cuba.

Both women immigrated to New York from a Spanish-speaking island.

But that’s just the beginning.

Where will this path lead us? Naomi’s Photos

Cara Romero always had to fend for herself and look after others, a resilient woman who had to struggle without the support of a husband. A woman who made some bad choices, managed to fall out with a lot of people, yet still retained a zest for life, and the energy to start over. Yet again. Then again.

Both women craved approval for their effort, for being who they were, and for the life they managed to create despite all odds, as both of them never got any such approval at home. Cara Romero of the book had a mother, who did not want to have children and was not interested in them. My grandmother was orphaned at the age of two and had the classic evil stepmother. Both Cara Romero and my grandmother stated repeatedly that they never had a childhood.

The desperate plea for approval shows up so clearly in those repeated statements (I’m not quoting verbatim, it was an audiobook!): Write this down. Everyone knows that Cara Romero does it better – if it is quieting the baby, being the one everyone turned to at work for advice, cooking, you name it…

I’m sure Cara Romero and my grandmother would have hated each other vehemently – two strong-willed women like them would have clashed within five minutes of being introduced…

Thank you, Angie Cruz! I loved the book!

Day by Day in the Classroom

When EFL Students Explore a “BIG” Question with OXPLORE

February 2, 2023 Naomi Epstein 4 Comments

There are times when I wish that instead of teaching in the format of a “mixed-level-learning-center”, all my advanced students would come at the same time for a more “traditional” kind of class.

I could then present a topic for discussion, and we could have discussions in small groups which would lead to the writing task.

In such a scenario I wouldn’t have had to create the worksheet I am sharing today.

Reading Maria Theologidou’s post “Rediscovering Bookmark Favourites, Part 1” introduced me to many sites I was not familiar with, and I truly appreciated the little explanatory blurb for each site. However, one site, in particular, blew me away “Oxplore – The Home of the BIG Questions”.

The deeper I delved into the site, the more excited I became.

Excited and frustrated.

ONE – Which one to choose? Naomi’s Photos

“‘Oxplore is an engaging digital resource from the University of Oxford. As the ‘Home of Big Questions’, it aims to challenge those from 11 to 18 years with debates and ideas that go beyond what is covered in the classroom” (from the “About” page on the website).

The material there really IS geared toward teenagers. There are short texts, interactive questionnaires, and videos. The graphics are friendly.

AND…

There are a great many “BIG QUESTIONS”‘ to choose from!

BUT…

My advanced Deaf and hard-of-hearing students do not come to class with others on their level, so peer discussions are not an option.

I had to have a written task for them to do, individually.

It took me several weeks to come up with a version I could use.

At first, it seemed logical for me to choose a topic and prepare a task for that specific topic. This way I could ensure that subtitles /captioning of the videos, which my students rely on, had correct English (the automatic captioning on YouTube is often riddled with errors and makes no sense). In addition, I could create specific questions for each section to ensure the students actually read information from different sections.

On second thought, me, the teacher, choosing the topic for the students was NOT a logical idea.

Not at all!

The site is geared toward choice, for students to go through the topics and choose the one to relate to.

Yes, but…

I ABSOLUTELY adore the video about the four ways books make us who we are. I really wanted all the students to watch it and write about it. The content is important, the vocabulary used is enriching for these advanced students, and the engaging graphics are a treat. For some inexplicable reason, many of my smartest students with amazing language skills, think books are a waste of time…

AAargh…

So I compromised.

The first part of the worksheet is open-ended, and the students choose their topic. Three of my students are currently working on it (more to begin soon) and each one has chosen an entirely different topic!

The second part is related to the video.

It will be interesting to see how they react to it and what they write about it…

Here is the downloadable worksheet.

An Oxplore Big Question

Would you use Oxplore in class? How? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Day by Day in the Classroom

Useless Unicorn Umbrellas before Final EFL Exams

January 4, 2023 Naomi Epstein Leave a comment

A unicorn is a mythical animal.

A unicorn is also something desirable that is difficult to obtain.

There is a persistent myth in the weeks preceding a national matriculation exam. Like a unicorn, this myth represents something the students desire but find it to be an elusive goal, because it doesn’t exist!

I’m sure you’ve heard the hooves of a unicorn passing through your classroom at this time of year as well.

This myth goes like this:

The students believe that during the very few lessons that we actually have after the winter holidays (those precious lessons that weren’t canceled due to extra math lessons) and before the National Winter Matriculations, I will impart MAGICAL information that will enable my students to ace their exams. Some secret knowledge which they seem to think I have withheld from them until now.

Sorry to disappoint you, students.

Now they are upside down… Naomi’s Photos

I tell my Deaf and hard -of -hearing 12th graders that they should be proud of themselves. This national exam is the final section of their overall grade and their previous achievements on the easier sections matter a great deal – they’ve come a long way.

I remind them to come on time and go to sleep early before the exam (I remind myself to bring pens, always needed!).

I point out that there are two dates for repeat exams.

There are plenty of things for us to review before an exam, but there are no golden rules or surefire tips hiding under this unicorn umbrella, waiting to be released at the very last second.

Sorry students.

Go away, unicorn, I know you’ll be back in May.

Have you also heard hoofbeats during the last lessons before a major exam?

Books I enjoy!

Time for a Book: “A Psalm for the Wild-Built” By Chambers

November 26, 2022 Naomi Epstein Leave a comment

Evening In the City / Naomi's Pictures

Timing is everything, right?

In light of all that has been going on recently, listening to the audiobook “A Psalm for the Wild-Built” by Becky Chambers was just what I needed.

I really enjoyed putting on my headphones and spending four hours (it’s a short book!) in a world where:

people and nature live in harmony. I don’t care if it’s a naive or unrealistic vision. It’s nice to “spend” some time in such a world. A world in which “going green” doesn’t mean living as people did in medieval times.
drinking tea is important. It’s a world in which it is acknowledged that people need to take some time out and drink tea.
a young person taking a journey into the wild to find themselves (plural is used in the book) is 29, not 18, which makes a lot of sense nowadays. In addition, it’s no spoiler to say that the young person in the wilderness does not die.
there is a super cute robot!

And…

I enjoyed the style of writing. In fact, I have placed a hold on the next book (it’s a duology, a two-part series) on Libby. I don’t mind waiting a while – I prefer not to read two books in a row by the same author.

Oh! One last thing:

Having a friend is always a good thing – that takeaway is absolutely true!

Day by Day in the Classroom

Blues in my High School EFL Class

November 2, 2022 Naomi Epstein Leave a comment

Reflecting on the color blue… Naomi’s Photos

Two Blue Checkmarks

If there is something I’m not using this year because I CHOSE not to do so, are WhatsApp Groups (or broadcast lists) for each of my classes. I spent too much energy, wasted energy, trying to get certain students to actually read the short messages I sent. I then had to keep track of who had read a message and who didn’t. To add to the confusion, in some cases, a student actually had read a message but I remained unaware of the fact because the two blue checkmarks failed to appear on my screen at all (he/she read the message without opening it). The students say they are inundated with WhatsApp groups and cannot keep track of their messages and frankly my colleagues with young children make the same complaint.

So….

* Simple announcements such as “There will be no lesson tomorrow at 09:00” – are sent to one of the students to pass on. That seems to work.

* My classes of Deaf and hard-of-hearing students are small. I copy a prewritten message, add a name and send it. Messages with a name elicit a slightly higher percentage of responses. I resorted to sending question marks ( “? ? ? “) to three nonresponding students this year, and two of them actually apologized for not answering. I had written words of praise and encouragement, I wanted them to see them! The third student didn’t see the question marks either…

* I’ve completely stopped sending reminders before tests – reminders such as “bring a pen”, “bring your dictionary”, etc. The ones who need the reminders aren’t the ones who read the messages anyway…

You wanted yellow? Plenty of yellow here! Naomi’s Photos

BLUE on YELLOW

Fact – Some struggling students who have trouble reading, find it easier to read dark blue letters on a pale yellow background. This particular contrast is helpful in certain cases.

Fact – There are many struggling students for whom the SIDE EFFECTS of the contrasting colors make a difference. It’s not that the contrast is directly addressing the source of their difficulties, rather it’s a helpful step in convincing new students that we are truly trying to help them. When the students see that you made a special worksheet just for them, used scissors to cut their reading passage into paragraphs so that it wouldn’t be overwhelming and even gave them a personal set of flashcards they begin, slowly, to trust you. Trust is crucial…

Here are two samples of such worksheets (the yellow color isn’t as pale as I would like)

All about YOU 2 All about YOU

*** The new reading glasses I wear around my neck are blue, and their case is too (Monet’s Water Lillies, lots of blue)! As I’ve worn multifocal glasses for many years, having reading glasses is a big change for me.

Feeling Blue

My multi-level, personalized learning center is still reeling from the surprise closure of the learning management system I had been using, Edmodo. Imagine Google Classroom, but free and very easy to use. It turned out that a small class, one teacher, cannot use Google Classroom. So, thanks to the support of my principal, I’ve begun using a combination of Wakelet (free) and TeacherMade (an inexpensive subscription). While this combination overlaps with a large percentage of the functions I used to have, and both are very user-friendly, the material needs to be organized and posted! I had TEN YEARS worth of organized material there! All the new 10th graders have heard of Edmodo, as I keep saying things like: “We have a digital version of this, you can sit at the computer… oh wait, we actually don’t… Not yet…

That makes me feel blue…

But…

Blue Skies and Blue Waters actually don’t make me feel blue at all – quite the opposite!

Who Were You Dora?

WHO Were You, DORA? A Writing Competition for Love Stories Gives a “Voice” to Three “Forgotten Women”

September 27, 2022 Naomi Epstein 2 Comments

Qוuirks in time – old letters turn into voices in the present… Naomi’s Photos

I received a surprising letter a few days ago.

I was informed that a writing competition of short love stories inspired by historic letters, had recently taken place. Someone was inspired by the historic letter I had posted and wrote a short love story, which won first place.

The entries are still not available to the public. I haven’t read the story yet. Nonetheless, I feel that this story has given a “forgotten woman” from the past, a voice in the present day.

To me, the fact that this short story came into existence actually highlights a line with TWO unhappy women at either end, in addition to an ornery woman in between.

It’s ironic that the historic letter inspired a love story, considering the lives of these two women, but that’s the beauty of art – a moment captured in time can create something that wasn’t there in real life.

Distorted shadows are all that remain… Naomi’s Photos

Dora

Back in 2016 I began writing a series of posts in which I, with crowdsourcing help, tried to unravel the mysteries hidden in previously unknown letters written by my mysterious step-great aunt Dvora /Dora before and during WWll (up to 1940) in what was then Poland. The goal was to discover what I could of the short LIFE she lived in Brest, Belarus (then Poland) before its violent end, most likely on October 15, 1942, aged 22, at nearby Bronnaya Gora. ( To see the first post of the series and follow the discoveries, click here: Who Were You, Dora, One.)

Dora’s life was short and unhappy, we’ll never know if she even experienced her first kiss. Her letters don’t mention anyone – in the period before the ghetto she cared for the house and her father, who perished along with her.

Dora’s letters were written to her much older step-sister Libby/Lillian, who had immigrated to New York when Dora was a child.

The guardian of “lost voices”… Naomi’s Photos

Libby/Lillan

The fact that Lillian kept Dora’s letters isn’t so surprising. At first, they must have been a connection to her past. Then, a memorial to those who perished.

Perhaps having created a physical space to keep letters, Lillian then kept additional letters, from other relatives, including one from a 16-year-old girl named Haya.

A girl living in a farm school, in the soon-to-become Israel.

What I find mind-boggling is the fact that despite the woman being someone who was, to put it politely, not known for being warm or “grandmotherly”, was fortunate enough not to have all her old papers chucked into a bin when her cousins’ children cleaned out her apartment after she passed away.

They kept the letters.

Letters that years later made a long journey all the way to me, thanks to them.

Absolutely amazing.

There was a time when her future seemed brighter… Naomi’s Photos

Haya

Haya’s letter is dated March 8, 1948.

A dramatic period of change – 3 years after WWII, two months before the Declaration of Independence.

It’s a lovely little letter from a girl describing life at an all-girls farm school in central Israel at that time.

The teenagers studied for about 3 hours every morning and then did farm work for another five hours. There were two groups of young people – new adolescent immigrants who needed a stable place in which to adjust to their new lives before moving on, and the “local” girls for whom this was their boarding school (though Haya herself immigrated when she was three years old).

They raised Eucalyptus trees at the school. Haya describes how everyone pitched in to fill an order and get SIX THOUSAND Eucalyptus trees destined for replanting in the arid Negev area out on time.

In the evenings they had gym classes and choir practice. They had a youth movement – sometimes they had fun activities, while other times they discussed current events.

An interesting letter from a historic point of view, though I never would have expected it to inspire a love story!

Letter writing was once “a thing” … (Naomi’s Photos)

I posted the letter on a site called Otzarot – a History in Letters. A national letter archive, in Hebrew. The founders want to show history through the eyes of “regular people”, the kind of people whose lives never made it into newspapers.

A direct link to Haya’s letter, in Hebrew

I posted the letter because I hoped it would somehow let her leave some mark that she was really here.

Haya’s life was a sad one. After a brief, disastrous marriage she became a recluse, working at night and barely interacting with the world.

I am grateful to the organizers of the story competition. Without having read the short story that the letter inspired, I’m moved that Haya’s letter, written all those years ago, was read and that her existence was remembered.

For me, that is enough.

Uncategorized

EFL Video Lessons for ALL Ages – One New Link to Bind Them All!

September 3, 2022 Naomi Epstein Leave a comment

Moving digital platforms is like moving to a new home – you have to sort your possessions, see what you would like to keep, what needs repairing, and what should be thrown out.

I’ve already sorted a large percentage of my EFL video lessons, so I’m sharing the link here today.

(There are still some videos waiting to be “unpacked”…)

The collection is literally for all ages.

The videos are not divided according to age or level, because there is no “right way” to divide them.

It all depends…

You have to stop for a while and choose what to take with you / Naomi’s Photos

The video “The Egghunt” is clearly meant for younger children, in fact, it is the only video lesson I made explicitly for that age. The content is too “young” to use with my Deaf and hard-of-hearing high school students, even if the task might be just right for some of them.

However, the “Simon’s Cat” videos work with both younger students and teens, so it all depends on the language aspects you think are suitable for your purpose.

*** The short video lesson “Simon’s Cat – Expectations”, highlighting the verb “to expect” is brand new!

In comparison, the crazy knitting video, which appears in the “Chunks in Context” lesson, uses vocabulary from the “Band 3 vocabulary list” so that does serve as some indication of level…

The only video that is long (10 minutes!!) is there for a reason. Teachers might choose to show their classes the film “A silent Melody” to students as a way to bring up the topic of inclusion. Regardless of the task that I added with the video.

All other videos are short ones!

So many rooms to go through and pack up, LOL! Naomi’s Photos

In short, many of the other videos can be used for a wide variety of ages.

You will just have to browse and see which ones are right for you!

Here is the link. I will be posting more!

***Important – In some cases, you will see a form for submitting the task. YOUR students cannot answer using the forms I have posted, their replies will get to me…

https://wakelet.com/wake/_x1zY7gQIuRlIY67BZx1e

Day by Day in the Classroom

New School Year? Seeking “Islands of Stability” Amid the Changes

August 20, 2022 Naomi Epstein 2 Comments

Which set of keys is the right one for this year? Naomi’s Photos

“Are you sure Teacher T. didn’t have a baby? I don’t know what to write for someone who moved to a new apartment”, asked one of my 10th-grade students near the end of the previous school year.

“Just write HAPPY BIRTHDAY! – that works for everything” advised another.

As I launched into my “greetings/best wishes lesson”, I hoped to recreate the lesson we had several years ago when the aforementioned Teacher T. actually did have a baby: “Students Writing for an Authentic Audience Affords a Peek into their Hearts”.

The students back in 2018 were motivated to write, we practiced vocabulary, grammar, and syntax in context. In addition, we focused on PRAGMATICS, which is something my Deaf and hard-of-hearing high school students certainly need to work on.

Well,…

It wasn’t a repeat performance.

For starters, moving to a new apartment clearly doesn’t tug at students’ heartstrings the same way that having a new baby does.

I understood that but nonetheless, I handed out whiteboard markers, wrote a suitable title on the board, and attempted to inspire the students by acting out how pleased the teacher would be when she arrived at class and found all these good wishes on the board.

One student actually started off on the right track – he wanted to write: HAVE A GOOD MOOD APARTMENT! So that led to the kind of educational discussion I was hoping to have.

But then a student literally stood with her hands on her hips, gave me a sort of “Are you kidding me” look, and said very emphatically:

“She knows Hebrew.

I know Hebrew.

And YOU want ME to write to her in ENGLISH?!”

She proceeded to shake her head sorrowfully…

The OLD teacher in me immediately began thinking:

“Which of our old “Writing for an Authentic Audience” projects was worth revisiting? Or should I look into new options? Perhaps we could…”

These thoughts were drowned out by the NEW teacher in me shouting:

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

This past year was really difficult, despite being back in class. It was a struggle to have a sense of continuity when we actually never had the allotted number of lessons a week. Even those students who didn’t feel the need to skip at least one day of school a week were often absent due to class excursions, lectures, exams in other subjects / getting tutoring hours for upcoming exams in other subjects.

And of course, some students were also absent due to illness. I was too, as a matter of fact. The pandemic hasn’t disappeared yet…

The NEW teacher in me says “focus on building “islands of stability before thinking about anything else. ”

It doesn’t matter that my summer tradition has always been to find/learn some new tweak, practice, routine, or different take to start a new school year with.

I need to figure out how to bring back what actually worked well before the pandemic hit and was lost or dramatically downsized.

Look back, not forward, before this school year begins.

How’s that for being open to change?

There are tunnels on the road ahead… Naomi’s Photos

Since I teach in a multi-level, mixed-grade learning center, some examples of what I would like to see once again in class:

… students coming to class, actually remembering what they are working on and independently pulling out the material they need.

… students practicing their vocabulary on Quizlet without asking what the icon for Quizlet looks like …

… getting the WORD STATION up and running again and ensuring the students use it regularly without asking me what to do …

You can read about that “work station” here: https://visualisingideas.edublogs.org/2010/12/25/y-a-l-p-10-minute-system-part-2/

… reviving the lessons involving the “look up and read” method adapted from John Fanselow’s book “Small Changes in Teaching, Big Results in Learning”.

You can read about that here: https://visualisingideas.edublogs.org/2018/04/22/one-tweak-at-a-time-reflecting-on-fanselows-textbook-for-efl-teachers-2-read-and-look-up/

And…

of course…

… seeing students continue to use the one thing that actually was an island of stability for both the students and I throughout the years of teaching alongside a pandemic (including the distance learning part!) , the tool that enabled each student to log on and only see his/her personal assignments, called…

AARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The wonderful off-the-school-grid Learning Management System I rely on, Edmodo, is shutting down.

For good.

It was just announced – in Mid August!

School begins Sept. 1st.

I’ve been using it for at least 10 years and have a vast amount of material organized into small units, for different groups, levels and individual students. I even have a small pedagogical library there!

The one thing that was not harmed by the pandemic (on the contrary!) is disappearing.

Writing for an authentic audience?

That will have to wait.

I’m going back to basics first.

Visualising Ideas

When Miss Marple, Sherlock Holmes & Hercule Poirot Examine a Teacher’s Desk

Revisiting “A Quote Challenge” – A Refreshing Review of Vocabulary & Syntax

Wow! The Book “How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water” by Cruz Could be about My Grandmother!

When EFL Students Explore a “BIG” Question with OXPLORE

Useless Unicorn Umbrellas before Final EFL Exams

Time for a Book: “A Psalm for the Wild-Built” By Chambers

Blues in my High School EFL Class

Two Blue Checkmarks

WHO Were You, DORA? A Writing Competition for Love Stories Gives a “Voice” to Three “Forgotten Women”

Dora

Libby/Lillan

Haya

EFL Video Lessons for ALL Ages – One New Link to Bind Them All!

New School Year? Seeking “Islands of Stability” Amid the Changes

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