Games for large unruly classes
Should games always have a pedagogical value? No.
Some of these appear in different versions and with different names on Dave’s ESL Café, but most of those were designed for smaller classes in countries like South Korea and Japan and don’t work very well with larger groups in Southeast Asia.
Those damn textbooks
Why those textbooks were not designed for South east Asia
Conversation classes are popular in Southeast Asia but the staple for this course is “Let’s Talk”. Why? Because it is one of the few conversational books available. By the time you have stripped it down and localised the content, you may just as well have done it all by yourself, which of course you have.
A basic model for teaching kids
Try something that really works
This a very logical and easy-to-use starting point for teachers that are new to working with kids or want to improve their skills in this area.
The root of all evil
A return to the subject of student materials
I think choosing content that encourages students to think in scientific ways facilitates their English language acquisition.
Yes, it's official
Thais can be just as good at English as Khmers, Vietnamese and Laotians but
English is a compulsory subject in Thailand. But class sizes are normally large. This leaves little or no room for one-to-one dialogues.
First lesson memories
Do you remember the moment?
The ink is still wet on your brand new teacher training certificate and you're suddenly faced with the prospect of standing in front of your first ever class and dishing up hearty portions of education and entertainment. We asked for your first lesson in Thailand memories. Were you as cool as a cucumber....or absolutely bricking it?
Ruminations on curriculum development
advice in regards to developing your own curriculum
How can you develop a curriculum from scratch, with no materials to draw on whatsoever? Having been in this position myself, I might be able to help you out.
No magic bullets
Dave Patterson would most certainly like a word
Dave Patterson, who is a teacher at the Prince of Songkhla University in South Thailand, says it's about time Thai students took studying English seriously. And it's about time schools got serious about taking care of their students.
Making learners
How learners learn
Each learner and each learning experience is unique; yet educators can identify patterns in the learning process. Designing effective learning requirements requires a clear understanding of, and attention to, both commonalities and differences in the learners and the learning.
The basics of lesson planning
Something every teacher should know
The first step in planning a lesson is to have an overview of exactly what will be learned in that lesson (or group of lessons). For example, if you are teaching verb use, you need to determine what you want students to learn.
