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“When you look at my pictures you are seeing my life.” ―Douglas Kirkland (1934-), American photographer Photographs capture moments, inform viewers, and start conversations. In last week’s blog post, we discussed how street photography documents moments and events without the...

  “No matter under what circumstances you leave it, home does not cease to be home. No matter how you lived there – well or poorly.” ~Joseph Brodsky (1940-1996), Russian-American poet & Nobel Prize winner   What’s the difference between a house and...

How do you create lively small group discussions in your English class? What homework do you find most likely to spark student-led conversations? Are you interested in flipping your ESL class so English language learners collect information outside of class and share the...

“America needs new immigrants to love and cherish it.” – Eric Hoffer (1902-1983), American writer and longshoreman Compelling American Conversations- Vietnam: Speaking Exercises for Vietnamese Learners of Englishand Quotations for intermediate American English...

How can you encourage your advanced ESL students to develop their speaking skills and tap their interest in our rapidly changing world? Create compelling classroom assignments that respect their intelligence, engage their curiosity, and model great speaking skills. Let your...

Sometimes a simple, flexible question can create compelling conversations. “What brings you here?” remains one of my personal favorites. Many job interview experts like this question because it allows applicants to explain their motives. In fact, the open-ended...

One simple method is to make change a topic in our classes. Cities, products, families, schools, and people change. This moment also allows us to ask some “big” questions. • What changes have you seen in your...

Further, several speakers - including keynote ESL guru Randall Davis – emphasized the need for appropriate technology and “less is more” when designing classroom lessons. As ever, we discussed ways that technology could help English classrooms become more student-centered and...

Several other CATESOL presenters also lead workshops and shared materials and techniques to incorporate the internet, radio, and other authentic materials into ESL classrooms. While few other presenters used the word “democratic”, many other ESL professionals noted the need to be...

The "This I Believe" website includes a tremendous amount of free resources for teachers and students. Naturally, I also have a simple reproducible worksheet that allows students to find, summarize, and share their own favorite podcasts....