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Professional Development  // Browsing posts in Professional Development

Designing a More Effective Approach to Teaching Business English?

Designing a More Effective Approach to Teaching Business English?

So I read this interesting article today: “How Action Mapping Can Change Your Design Process.” (Go ahead, take a few minutes to read – I think you’ll agree that Cathy Moore has something important to say to teachers, even though she is talking to instructional designers.) What I took from it: 1. Become better at ...

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What Teachers Should Learn from a Coach

What Teachers Should Learn from a Coach

I read an interesting definition of coaching today that I thought I’d share with you:”Coaching requires direct observation.” “Coaching requires direct observation and, based on that, developing  two or three specific suggestions regarding what the other person could do better.  It is skill- and task-focused.  It requires preparation and thought on the part of the ...

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What Do You Think about Online Education?

What Do You Think about Online Education?

“…remediation—going over and over something that you really ought to already know—is less embarrassing when you can do it privately, with no one watching. ” -How Khan Academy is Changing the Rules of Education. Clive Thompson. Now that’s something to think about. I wonder how it applies to an ESL classroom. Any thoughts? What would ...

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Engage! Use Laughter

Engage! Use Laughter

Tomorrow I’m helping my students to get ready for a test. The theme? 1st and 2nd conditional sentences, and expressing and defending their opinion. There are two ways to teach grammar. The mind numbing way, where you shut your student’s brian off with borring rule after rule, and then there’s the fun way, where you ...

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How Teachers Plan.

How Teachers Plan.

A few questions from one teacher to another… How do you go about planning for your lessons? Do you plan out into the future, or do you keep your lesson planning down to a ‘day at a time’ format? What are your planning tools? Do you have a favorite planning routine or format that you ...

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Challenge Yourself: What are you reading?

Challenge Yourself: What are you reading?

So maybe you don’t have access to professional development school. Maybe you can’t afford the tuition, or maybe you can’t afford the time right now for ‘professional’ professional development. But let’s not allow that to be a game breaker in our quest to improve ourselves as teachers. In my last post, I invited you to ...

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An Invitation to Challenge Yourself

An Invitation to Challenge Yourself

Just wondering: How well do you go about challenging yourself to be a better teacher? And when I ask you that question, I’m also asking myself it too. One of my favorite teaching quotes is: “He who dares to teach, must never cease to learn.” – Richard Henry Dann. So what are you doing to ...

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One way to Differentiate Yourself as a Teacher

One way to Differentiate Yourself as a Teacher

Are you looking for ways to make your teaching stand out? Maybe you’re hunting for more classes. Maybe you’re trying to get students to refer you to other potential students. Or maybe you’re just trying to do your job really well for yourself and someone else. Today I read an article that I’d like to ...

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Spark: What’s Your Sweet Spot?

Spark: What’s Your Sweet Spot?

Are you really meant to teach? Have you thought about what your ‘vocation’ is? (Vocation:  ’a job you do because you feel it is your purpose in life…’ ) P.T. Barnum said: “Unless a man enters upon the vocation intended for him by nature, and best suited to his particular genius, he cannot succeed.” (Art ...

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What Could You Do with Free Course Content?

What Could You Do with Free Course Content?

Materials are one of the most expensive parts of learning English. Course books + cds + dvds+ workbooks = well over $1000 pesos. When I first started Epicenter, one of the things I tried doing was propose that we go bookless with students to help them avoid all the excess costs mentioned above. It didn’t ...

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