Background of the CLL
As the Chomskyan linguistic revolution turned linguists and language teachers away from the audiolingual method which focused on surface structure and on rote practice of scientifically produced patterns to a new era where the deep structure is paramount, psychologists began to see the fundamental importance of the affectvie domain. So innovative methods of language teaching were developed during the 70s to redress the shortcomings of the audiolingual method. One of these methods came to be known as Community Language Learning. Read more…
Respect
Angela Maiers has raised in her post “Can We Please Get Some RESPECT?” a problem that has become so pressing lately in many schools around the world. In fact a lot of teachers complain about the disrespect they get from their students and nothing seem to help. Punishing or suspending them doesn’t work. Parents don’t care. So for some teachers “hell is the classroom.” Some blame it on television. Others contend that the youth are just trying to adapt to a new era where violence is part of their every day lives. What is sure is that teachers are suffering and feel they are helpless. Read more…
Introduction
Homework must be part and parcel of any learning process. The classroom is just an artificial setting and classroom
tasks are only starting points. They provide guidance, assistance and purpose. However, more tasks should be dealt with in the outside world. These tasks should meet some criteria in order to be effective. These critera may be linked to the teacher and learners, to the tasks assigned, or to the parents roles. Read more…
Teachers and teaching quotes
Sometimes success and self actualisation lie in sensible words that we hear. Words that function as a stimulant, the air that we breath, the fuel that keeps our lives on the right track. I want to share with you some of these inspirational words. So here are some of the finest quotes about teachers and teaching. I hope the content encourages you and inspires ideas and thoughts of success. Read more…
We assign homework day-in-day-out. We tend to think that it is part and parcel of our job and our students’ duty. We
never question or discuss homework policies and practices. However, there is clear evidence of the importance of raising our attention to an insghitful reflection on homework especially nowadays that technology has entred majestically into every home, making so many more resources available to learners outside the classroom.
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GCompris is an educational software for kids from 2 to 10 years old. It is a suite that suggests activities which are game orientated, but nonetheless still educational. Here are some of the activities it proposes.
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In this post I will present a sample of a lesson plan that I personally use. But before you proceed reading, you might be interested to know why teachers need lesson plans.
Although a lesson plan doesn’t necessarily equate a successful lesson, it will undoubtedly ensure a coherent view of 
the teaching procedure in the teacher’s mind. A well organized lesson plan serves as a guideline for managing the learning process and outlines beforehand the decisions he must make about the methods, techniques strategies and procedures he otpted for. Read more…
A lesson plan is a lesson “project” written down on paper. It is only a “project” because a lot of unpredictabe events occur in the classroom. It is also a dreaded part of instruction that most teachers detest. It nevertheless provides a 
guide for managing the learning environment. As one of the teacher’s roles is that of designer and implementor of instruction, the preparation of lesson plan will ensure the organization of the English lesson according to some criteria. Regardless of the format, all teachers need to make wise decisions about the strategies and methods they will employ to help students move systematically toward learner goals. The more organized a teacher is, the more effective the teaching, and thus the learning, is. Writing daily lesson plans is a large part of being organized. Read more…
Although tests are the dreaded learning part for our students, they are considered an important teaching tool. They create competition within the classroom, provide feedback and give a sense of success to the learners. Read more…
