This is a great lesson that never fails to get students’ creative juices flowing. The activity usually takes at least 2 (40-50 minute) periods to complete. You may need to stretch it into 3 periods.
Whether you’ve made the decision of coming to China to teach or are in the “just considering” stage the question of whether or not to get a TESOL certification will inevitably come up. Let me help you answer this question.
OK, so the Olympics are over and “expat life” in China is starting to calm back down to normal. The next question is, “Were the recent visa restrictions just for the Olympics or are they here to stay?” Many of us have been having visa problems recently, especially when it comes to the “used to [...]
One of the great things about teaching in China (especially at the university level) is the range of perspectives you can get from your students on any range of topics. I have generally found my students to be well informed and intellectually curious in ways that fuel genuinely interesting (if often chaotic) discussions. For the [...]
Highly adaptable to any level and/or material, How’s Your Reception is my personal creation. Students need to use their cell phones for this activity so tell them a class ahead of time to bring their cell phones. This idea alone will get middle school students stirring in the seats.
ESL teaching job listings in China? Below are a few of my favorite websites along with introductions in order to help you find the perfect TEFL job for you. All of these sites have employers seeking teachers throughout the year. Don’t worry if you missed the beginning of the semester. There is always an unfilled [...]
The basic idea of the activity is to get students to read something, remember it, and then verbally relay that information to a classmate. It’s easily adaptable to any level and/or material. I use this about once every two weeks.
Managing the flow of classroom activity and student interaction is, in my mind, even more important than the material you’re teaching. Managing a university classroom is vastly different than managing a middle school classroom, which is quite different from a primary school classroom, which is different from a small group of adults in a training [...]
When I first came to China to teach in 2003, I made plans for all manner of problems I would encounter. I bucked up on independent clauses, dangling modifiers, and the subjunctive (If I were to be a good teacher, I knew I would need it). Upon arrival, however, I found the largest dilemma in [...]
A true story… Teacher X (Tom) had his Z, foreign expert visa revoked without knowing about it. Tom was working as an ESL teacher for a school in China. His school provided him with a Z, foreign teaching expert visa as many schools do for their foreign teachers. His Z visa was valid for one [...]