2011年10月31日 星期一

Good Phonics Material

http://www.dorbooks.com/phonics.html

Good Phonics materials are hard to find. Most of the books out there are inconclusive and sometimes lack of explanations.Then I stumbled  upon "Phonics Pathway"
Phonics Pathways is one of the books that actually have many examples and practices for both  teachers and students. Phonics Pathways not only has the sample sounding/spelling words, also puts them into sentences or poem.


http://www.dorbooks.com/p115.html
As you can see, the format of the book starts with the phonetic sound. Then move onto how to form the sounds together. Last, practice vocabularies and sentences.

I have two classes of students who are the same age and they use the same materials. However, I am only given the freedom to use supplementary materials to one class.
The class which uses Phonics Pathway somehow reads better!
If I have to be really picky about the book, I'd say the book seems to designed more for the teachers than to students. The book is pretty heavy for kids to carry around and it needs to have some written exercises in it.

Teaching or Tutoring?

http://www.inhometutorsnashville.com/tutor-application.htm


Many people have asked me which one is better? Teaching or Tutoring?
It's only a matter of which setting you are more comfortable in.


From my Global TESOL Tutoring English Specialization Course Menu, I learned that the difference between teaching and tutoring is the individualized attention given to the students during tutorials.Therefore “tutoring” means the students will have teacher’s undivided, completed attention during the class whereas during normal classroom setting the students will share teachers’ attention altogether. 


From student's perspective, tutoring lessons are personalized and can concentrated on fulfilling student's needs. However, the cost of private tutoring sometimes might be too steep.


From teacher's perspective, tutoring sometimes means more preparations and works. On the other hand, the financial reward is often higher than teaching. Generally speaking, the English private tutoring rate in Taiwan starts at 800nt/hr (USD 26)and up to 2000nt/hr (USD60)

2011年10月24日 星期一

Website for puzzles and mazes


In my many years of teaching, I often want to help students who seem to struggle a lot but can't just leave the whole class gone wild. It's a classic one lost lamb and rest of herd dilemma.

Later, I learned that for those students who already comprehend the given materials, they just need some activities to do, to keep them occupy.

So I found this website where it is filled with puzzles, mazes. krazydad.com
This website has unbelievable amount of mazes and puzzles and the coolest part is that it had a great range of difficulties. So almost everyone could enjoy them. 

Teaching Resource



While I was surfing through the web, I stumbled on this site educationworld.com

Educationworld.com has many useful tools for teachers, such as assessment sheets, award sheets. It also has a great variety of lesson plans and worksheets in many different subjects. Most importantly, it's free. There are many teaching related websites out there but most of them require membership.

Stop scratching your head to find suitable materials for your classroom, visit the site for more ideas.

Halloween Lesson Plan : Reading


If you enjoy my Halloween lesson on vocabulary, then you can't miss out this week's reading lesson plan!

Halloween Lesson Plan: Reading

2011年10月15日 星期六

Word Search Generater


mombreaks.com

Have you ever troubled to find a suitable word search for your students to enjoy.....and it is just not there. Either the vocabulary is too hard or easy. Finding the right word search sheet could be challenging from time to time. Why spend time looking for one when you can just make one yourself ?

Come check out this website where it assists you to make your own word search sheet!
armoredpenguin.com

The good thing about this website is that it keeps all the worksheets ever made through it for up to 2 months. So you can tap into its database and see what others had made!

Halloween Lesson Plan :Vocabulary


Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year. I get to do many crazy and fun stuff with the students.
Why not pass the fun to your lovely students.
Come check out this week's Halloween Vocabulary Lesson Plan which includes the following words:
萬聖節是我最喜愛的節日,我可以和我的學生們一起盡情的打扮與遊戲!
快來下載這個禮拜萬聖節的單字教學計劃吧 =)
本教學計劃包括以下單字 :


Halloween 萬聖節
saint  聖人
evil 邪惡
spirit 靈魂
ghost 鬼魂
ancient 古老
lantern 燈籠
pumpkin 南瓜
trick-or-treat
costume 戲服
witch 女巫
goblin 地精

2011年10月12日 星期三

Four important tips for teaching grammar.



Last weekend I went to Global TESOL college Taipei for Grammar Specialization Course. It was an extremely rewarding experience. I have picked up a few tricks and tips teaching grammar. Teaching grammar is very different than teaching conversations. It is generally paper based and relies heavily on more reading and writing skills. However, there are few other teaching/practice way that would depend on speaking and listening skills. It is all came down to how to satisfy your student's need.
 In Taiwan, most of the grammar classes are paper based. As a teacher, I found it easier to teach and receive better results if I adopt my methods. Instead of repeating the same process of reading-writing-memorizing, why not spice it up with games and other fun activities?

According to the Grammar Specialization Workbook, there are four things one should consider when teaching Explicit Grammar:


1.      Moving knowledge from mechanically learned grammar lessons to everyday speech is an almost impossible task for language learners.
2.      Students learn syntax at their own pace and it differs from one to one.
3.      Teaching grammar through communicative approaches is by far the most effective way of learning a language.
4.      Each student learns differently.


Do you have any insights on how to teach grammar effectively? Please share with me!


ESL vs. EFL

http://www.singlish.com/vol2.html


Do you know what is ESL and what is EFL? Do you know what the differences are?

ESL   English as a Second Language
EFL   English as a Foreign Language

Many people often confused between the above two----even include me. The differences is that ESL is taught in English speaking countries---such as U.S, Canada etc. and the materials often will focus and related to English/American culture. EFL is taught in non-English speaking countries---such as Taiwan, Japan etc. and the materials might focus more in the local culture.

From learning perspective, EFL centers on the language itself where ESL centers on both language and culture. Take Taiwan for example, EFL materials will be about Taiwanese culture in English. Student will already understand the “culture” part and they only need to focus on the “language” part which is how to express it in English. ESL materials on the other hand will be about American/English culture---for example, Christmas. Students will have to learn both “language”---how to express it in English and “culture”----the origin and culture significance.

Both materials and teaching approaches are great. The only concern one should hold is how to make the materials more suitable to your students needs!

2011年10月9日 星期日

Where to get English teaching materials

http://www.collegetocareers.com

As an English teacher in Taiwan, finding the text book or materials you need might be difficult sometimes. There are few bookstores you can go in Taipei to find great resources.

1. Cave Books 敦煌書店
Cave Books is one of the first book stores that specialize in English textbooks and materials. You can find everything you need for teaching English includes flashcards and posters.
2. Costco 好事多
There are more than just groceries at Costco. Costco has a great variety of supply English materials for grade schools. I have found many textbooks, games and flashcards and reading materials there for my students.
3. Eslite Bookstore 誠品書店
Eslite Bookstore does not have many textbooks but it does have a great variety of reading materials. They have a wide range of English selection; it would make not only your students but also yourself very happy!

You can also find materials at Betterworldbooks.com where international shipping is free!

2011年10月5日 星期三

Double Tenth Day Art Project

Why not celebrate Taiwan's National Day with some home made craft with your students!

Materials:
A blank Taiwanese flag  download here
Red and Blue color paper, glue.

Tear color paper into little pieces and do a collage onto the paper.
and it will look like this!

2011年10月4日 星期二