Any mode of teaching comes with its advantages and disadvantages, and this is certainly true of online teaching. One advantage of teaching synchronous classes online is that there is normally the option of using the chatbox. The chatbox enables more students to participate at once, it can get shy students to communicate more, and it can be used to develop aspects of writing. Below are five simple activities
which language teachers can use in their synchronous online classes. Continue reading
Tag Archives: lesson plans
How To Teach Students About Responsibility | Eco In The ELT Classroom
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to discussions in society around the right to personal freedoms and the responsibility towards others when it comes to wearing a mask in public places or confined spaces. Should we have the right to choose or do as we are told by the people who lead our countries?
Whatever your opinions on wearing masks and other measures to reduce the number of Covid-19 cases, when people are responsible in a society it functions more smoothly. Continue reading
How To Teach Students About The Environment | Eco In The ELT Classroom
The chances are high that you experienced a period of lockdown, of one form or another, in 2020. If so, did you value your surroundings more, perhaps you re-evaluated your surroundings? Did getting fresh air and walking outdoors bring you a new pleasure that you had never really appreciated before? The individual stress and difficulties of the pandemic have taught us to value our environment and it is this recognition of how important nature is to our mental health and wellbeing that we can build on during some of our English language classes. Continue reading
How To Teach Students About Energy | Eco In The ELT Classroom
We use energy in everything we do, from the automatic things we do such as breathing to the more conscious things such as doing exercise. If the energy we eat equals the energy we use in our daily activities, we do not gain weight. The energy we consume is used to grow new cells, replace old cells, fight off illnesses, move, focus and concentrate. When we are young, much of our energy goes into growth, if there is any extra we store the unused energy as fat and muscle to use later. Continue reading
Online Teaching Part 2: Practical Tips For English Language Lessons
Getting started
When it comes to planning your first lesson remember ‘less is more.’ Since it’s likely to be the first online lesson for you and your students, things will probably take longer than you think. As good as online teaching is at bringing people together, there are often little niggly issues, but don’t panic as this is quite normal. For example, some can’t easily connect to the room; students can’t hear you and so on. If it is the very first lesson, then dedicate most of it to getting to grips with the platform. In future lessons always plan an activity at the start of the lesson that isn’t crucial to the lesson as a whole – this activity can ‘buy’ the time needed to make sure everyone has connected and issues with audio etc. are ironed out. Continue reading