What I’m Reading Today . . . 5/16

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May 16, 2011 by k. liz

Okay, here’s my daily five!

1. ELT News.com’s Teachers Should Know How to Teach: This was fun – fun to read someone who also believes in the importance of having teaching training if you want to be a teacher! I have very strong views on the fact that just because you know your subject matter (and I’m not talking just about ESL teachers here!) you can teach it. I’ve had teachers all throughout my life who may have been brilliant, but did not have a talent for teaching!

2. Oxford University Press’s 4 Ways to Help Hesitant Students to Speak in the Classroom: This were four good rules to keep in mind while teaching to help students build their confidence in their speaking.

3. Joey Goes Global’s How Joey Got his Groove Back: Joey just began teaching in Sumatra and gives a candid account of his first week of teaching. It sounds like a challenging load and position, but he also sounds as though he’s enjoying it and ready to take it on full force. I’m sure his students will love his enthusiasm!

4. The Henry Brothers’ “Are Teachers Magic?”: Interesting correlation between magicians and teachers! I think I need to evaluate my act!

5. boston.com’s Study: It’s not teacher, but method that matters: I don’t really believe that we are ever going to settle on a tried-and-true method of education, and I don’t think that we will ever exclusively decide that it is the method that does the trick. Nevertheless, this was a very interesting article about a new method that seems to be producing results in one arena of education. I think that rather than looking for the ideal method or the ideal teacher personality or the ideal coursebook, we should focus on finding what produces the best results where we are, and then go after that with gusto!