Category Archives: Life inside the classroom

Dealing with the physical aspects of the classroom: Part 2 – Is G045 a teaching paradise?

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Adam

Tweet My favourite classroom out of all those I’m using at the moment is the functionally named G045. Please take a look at the video clips below (there are four and one should play immediately after the previous one finishes) … Continue reading →

Posted in Life inside the classroom, The student perspective, The teacher perspective | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Dealing with the physical aspects of the classroom: Part 1 – The curious case of G062

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Adam

Tweet How much does the physical environment of the classroom affect what we teach and how we teach? Probably, I’d say, it has a bigger effect than it is given credit for. This is a shame really, when you think … Continue reading →

Posted in Life inside the classroom, The life of an english teacher, The teacher perspective | 2 Comments

Dealing with the physical aspects of the classroom: prologue

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Adam

Deciding how to plan activities is both incredibly easy and horribly difficult. We might have a good idea of how we want our classes to unfurl over the course of a series of lessons, but we perhaps don’t always give enough consideration to the physical size and shape of the classroom as we should. While we might recognize that the shape and size of our classrooms dictates how our classrooms are arranged, we also need to understand that these factors should influence our choice of activities. Continue reading →

Posted in Life inside the classroom, The teacher perspective | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Zeitguest: 4 tips for incorporating technology into the classroom

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Adam

Technology has become a common presence in classrooms around the world. From learning to type to having their own assigned iPads, modern students are equipped with more technology on a daily basis than they have ever been before. But, with this surge of technology can also come distraction and, in some cases, overload. That’s why it’s important for all teachers to use technology in class in the most productive ways. Here are a few tips for incorporating technology into a classroom… Continue reading →

Posted in Life inside the classroom | Tagged , | 10 Comments

A new year begins: part 3

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Adam

In addition to working with my students on classroom research and developing my content knowledge with online courses, another area that I’ll be considering greatly over the coming academic year is the notion of Generation Y. Continue reading →

Posted in Life inside the classroom, The student perspective, The teacher perspective | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

A new year begins: part 2

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Adam

Tweet These are the rooms I’ll be teaching in for the next four months: wish me luck!

Posted in Life inside the classroom, The life of an english teacher | Tagged , | 4 Comments

A new year begins: part 1

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Adam

So, a new academic year is upon me and I’m getting the same feeling I always get. Walking around the corridors of school over the last couple of days has been an interesting experience. Some people look excited, others look downtrodden. Most exhibit a kind of overriding aura of stepping into the unknown. Continue reading →

Posted in Life inside the classroom, The life of an english teacher, The student perspective, The teacher perspective | 4 Comments

Those other ‘most important’ trends in ELT

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Adam

Tweet Here are your thoughts on my previous post, in which I gave opinions about the factors that will help shape our profession in the coming years. Thanks for the great comments and suggestions. Please feel free to join in … Continue reading →

Posted in Life inside the classroom, Opinion | Tagged | Leave a comment

#EAPChat: The pros and cons of the five-paragraph essay

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Adam

For at least a couple of years at the start of my career teaching academic English, the five-paragraph essay was the cornerstone around which all writing classes were built. You’d look at paragraph structure, how to craft a topic sentence and then how to back it up with examples. You’d look at introducing your topic, narrowing down from a general reference to the topic of discussion to a thesis that clearly indicated the three main points you would discuss in the body paragraphs. Finally, you’d, er, repeat what you’d written in a concluding paragraph. Continue reading →

Posted in Classic posts, Life inside the classroom, The teacher perspective | Tagged | 5 Comments

Have you ever wondered why your group activities fail to inspire students?

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Adam

Tweet This post is deliberately intended to act as a continuation of an issue raised in Willy Cardoso’s guest post on Cecilia Lemos’ blog. I recommend reading that post first before continuing with my effort. Consider the following two quotes … Continue reading →

Posted in Life inside the classroom, The student perspective, The teacher perspective, Theory | Tagged | 14 Comments