Articles by August, 2008

Remember the rule of 25% TTT and 75% STT? In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, it means that a teacher should talk only 25% of the time during a good ESL lesson. TTT = Teacher Talk Time, and STT = Student Talk Time. In the early days of my ESL teaching career, I found this impossible to achieve, in fact I found it really difficult to get students to speak for 25% of the time! Have you found the same problem? Do you have a solution? Maybe this is one that will work for you.

Teaching English grammar can be hard going - for the teacher and the students. It doesn't have to be difficult or painful, however. You can teach English grammar using fun learning games and before you know it your students will be more than willing. How does it work, you ask. Well, there has been a movement away from the traditional methods of teaching English grammar through writing, rewriting and worksheets to using a more active approach through games. Researchers have also begun to look at how and why these new methods work.

One of the most important aspects of a teacher's job is to motivate students. In order for a student to be motivated, he or she must possess a desire to learn and be willing to aim this desire toward achieving academic goals. For successful student motivation to occur, a student must want to participate in the learning process.

A traveler studies the menu on a transatlantic liner or, indeed, in some American hotels a paralyzing sensation. There is so much to eat--for more than he can possibly digest. One sometimes has the same feeling about education, which also offers an enormous bill of fare. Almost any dish can be found in it, from Greek to stenography, from music to economics. How are we to choose from the bewildering profusion? What dishes ought we to order if we wish not merely to fill ourselves up, but to get the nourishment necessary to a healthy life, to become really educated people?

How can you best learn Spanish? It depends on your particular approach to learning. Take a look at the following approaches to learning Spanish. But if you already know where you are, you can skip the following reflections and go back to see what is available for your level ( beginning, intermediate, or advanced) in Spanish, to sort and search for your specific needs, as well as to read reviews and summaries of the books that strike your interest.

Holistic education is a hot topic these days. From holistic schools to holistic certification programs, there are seemingly endless opportunities for obtaining holistic training. But which one is right for you and how do you choose?

Students who are placed at risk due to poverty, race, ethnicity, language, or other factors are rarely well served by their schools (Hilliard, 1989; Letgers, McDill, & McPartland, 1993). They often attend schools where they are tracked into substandard courses and programs holding low expectations for learning (Oakes, 1985; Wheelock, 1992). If parents are to achieve the desired goal of success for all students, they must hold high expectations for all, especially this growing segment of learners. They must view these students as having strengths, not "deficits," and adopt programs and practices that help all students to achieve their true potential. At-risk students can be defined as students who are not meeting academic expectations.

It's often said that pupils learn the most from what their teachers do, rather than what they say. Here are eleven good practices you need to adopt if you want your kids to lean good habits rather than bad.

A week old baby wakes up in the middle of night, feeling the ache, want ready to eat. A toddler finally figuring out how to place that small piece of the puzzle back into the correct and fit able position. A child understands the process of actions and the consequences that follow the events when they do something they were told not to do. An adult thoughtfully placing a glass vase out of the reach of their jumping toddler. These are all examples of learning processes, we, as humans, have learned throughout our lives. Whether theses steps were built upon by learning in our different environments or conditions that were set forth before we were born, these patterns help create our ability to show the learning process and stages, or sequences, we eventually discover. There are so many theories about how we and why we develop certain behavior traits and whether these theories can solve our adult outcomes.

The methods employed by teachers in the modern second language (L2) classrooms are based on the various beliefs that an individual teacher has about language, language learning and language teaching. These beliefs are reflections of L2 theories about language acquisition and learning that, like the methods employed, have changed considerably over recent years. There has been a drift away from a teacher centered style of pedagogy towards a communicative approach to language learning. This is in order to prepare students for effective real word communication in the TL. To bridge the gap and examine the relationship between theoretical approaches and practical applications of modern L2 teaching methodology, some kind of framework is necessary.