Category Archives: ESL

Escape Room: Adult Ed

Escape Room Concept: The players work at an adult-ed program and need to print something in 1 hour before students arrive, but the toner, paper, and printer access code are stored in different locked-away, hidden cupboards, so teachers aren’t wasting … Continue reading

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Sad Zoom Graduation

My year teaching of ESOL 3 at my new job, back in adult ed, ended today, with Sad Zoom Graduation. I was kind of dreading this morning because I’m so completely burned out on Sad Zoom versions of all our … Continue reading

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So I Read “The Bride Test” and Quit My Job

  Last June, while I was teaching at the university, I read The Bride Test. This is a sweet romance full of misunderstandings and loads of chemistry. Khai’s mother is afraid her son will never get a girlfriend, never fall … Continue reading

Posted in Boston, ESL, milestones, Teaching | 1 Comment

Tales From The Garbage Fire

Today I discovered that my sweet Level 3 students have a WhatsApp group together, where they chat in English outside of class. On purpose. Continue reading

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Star Meg

WorkBro made this and set it at the background on my classroom computer, and I almost died laughing.

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Dual-Classing, or Why I Am Not Good At Casual Chats

Teaching Coworker: How long do you think my bowling activity should be? Two hours? Me: First, you need to define the game’s parameters. How many students are coming? Are you planning to reserve lanes? With 10 students and two lanes, … Continue reading

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The Time Of A Song

All our classes were asked to come up with a skit for an end-of-class performance, so my ESL students the first week were came up with two really hilarious skits, both using quite limited English and ending with clever bicultural puns. … Continue reading

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Experience

Me, as a first-year teacher: Teaching is a noble calling, and I will change lives in the classroom. I will share my love of language and literature, and I’ll encourage my students to be their best. Decades later, my students … Continue reading

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Travians on SeeJaneGame

I have a review of the addictive little browser game Travians up over on SeeJaneGame: The game opens with a message from your Travian’s uncle Horatio, asking you to come and help him with the ancestral estate. As he sends … Continue reading

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Who Do You Love?

I played a round of Who Do You Love? with my students on Friday. You put the chairs in a circle so almost everyone can sit down, and one person is left standing in the middle. The person in the … Continue reading

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