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How do we avoid avoidance? How do we find the inner resources to confront situations and move forward? “[F]eeling is what tells you you’re alive,” Bregman explains. By riding out our emotions like waves, we become less intimidated by them – and maybe even enjoy them. It’s like...

Class bookends, both beginnings and endings, deserve special attention. Here's a look at how I've concluded many satisfying summer English classes.

“The true spirit of conversation consists in building on another man’s observation, not overturning it.” —Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton (1803–1873), British novelist/politician What do you do while students are having conversations or talking in pairs? Do you have a “formula” for...

‘Chandos’ Portrait of Shakespeare in the National Portrait Gallery, London “There’s not a man I meet but doth salute me As if I were their well-acquainted friend.” Shakespeare’s A Comedy of Errors, Act IV, Scene 3: William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British playwright...

“Don’t sweat the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff.” – Dr. Richard Carlson (1956-), bestselling American author and psychologist Creating a classroom atmosphere of tolerance, understanding, and constructive criticism remains a constant challenge. How do you help your ESL...

“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?” – Hillel the Elder (110 BC-10 AD), Jewish religious leader Why do we procrastinate? Whether the tasks be large or small, it’s all too easy to put off unpleasant tasks – and even...

“Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.” —Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990), American entrepreneur and publisher How can you encourage your advanced ESL students to develop their speaking skills and tap into their interest in our rapidly changing world? By...

“Technology is a word that describes something that doesn’t work yet.”  –Douglas Adams (1952-2001), English author and satirist   Is the cult of oversharing online preventing us from establishing genuine connections? Do we expect more from our phones than our...

  “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.” -Socrates (c. 470-399 BCE), Ancient Greek philosopher   What are “good mistakes?” How can we – as teachers of English – encourage students to make more of them? When can we use error as an...

“Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud.”  —Hermann Hesse (1877-1962), German novelist and 1946 Nobel Prize winner   What’s the difference between speaking English fluently and speaking accurately? Which one takes priority in the classroom?...