Inspiring teachers...

Today let me introduce a great personality and educator: Stephen Ritz :) More about this amazing teacher you can learn from his site: https://stephenritz.com/ 

Vocabulary games

Sometimes it's really hard to force your students to memorize words isn't ?   Why don't play with them word games ;)
http://m.busyteacher.org/13612-7-best-games-for-vocabulary-class.html

Halloween

Are you prepared to scare your students ?  ;) or to tell them about the origin of Halloween? If not you may find useful following sites: 
https://www.teachervision.com/halloween/teacher-resources/6626.html
http://www.educationworld.com/holidays/archives/halloween.shtml
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/hallowee
http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/halloween-lesson-activities-resources.html
ww.esolcourses.com/topics/halloween.html
https://seasonal.theteacherscorner.net/halloween/

https://creativeelt.wordpress.com/2016/10/19/halloween-lessons-with-authentic-material/

Livebinders( guide in Polish)

Have you got problems finding your resources  while preparing lessons? Not any longer, because there is friendly app on line to have easy access to different materials.  The application called Livebinders you can find here: http://www.livebinders.com/ and useful tutorial how to use the app in Polish here: 

Lesson with realia

Hi again Guys :) This time a lesson with Jamie :)http://lessonstream.org/2016/10/05/thing-do-ers/

Never ending story......

Hi again :)

Today a writing idea... To get your students more interested in the writing skill offer them 'A never ending story note book" and ask to start writing a story. Each student in the class can have this notebook for 4 days at home to write a few pages of story which needs to be a continuation of  previous pages....Enjoy!

Conversations ideas

Do you sometimes feel lack of the topics to talk about? Use some of the following links for help ;)
Conversation starters
​Pełny zestaw konwersacji

Video do konwersacji 
ELSdiscussions
Talking topics
eslconversationquestions
Wyrażenia - konwersacje
Jeszcze jedna lista pytań
Killer conversation questions
Conversation starters
Conversation starters that don't suck
Konwersacje dla dzieci 
Challenging conversations
Questions to make you think

Dot Day is coming... :)

Every year on the 15 th of September there is celebrated an international Dot Day. The day is named after Peter H. Reynolds story book:  The Dot. The book tells the story of a girl who begins to discover her talents after being encouraged by her teacher to paint. 
There are many different events going on this day in which you can involve your students and make them to discover their talents. Here are some pages with Dot Day ideas to use: http://www.thedotclub.org/dotday/get-inspired/making-a-mark

Big scrabble outside the classroom :)

Some of holiday teaching you can do using big scrabble tiles and play with your students outside :)

Here you can find the instruction how to prepare them http://somethingturquoise.com/2012/10/19/diy-giant-scrabble-tile-table-numbers/

Holiday photos

Ask your students to take pictures during holiday, then they need to describe them in English, in front of the class :)

Pokemon Go in the classroom?

Hi everyone :) 

Are you crazy about Pokemon Go ? No ? Your students probably are... To use that phenomena to educate- have a look at this article: http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/computing/ways-to-use-pokemon-go-in-the-classroom

Quizlet in action

If you are interested in programs helpful in learning English then you may find worthy watching Sandra introduction to Quizlet: 

Quizlet



t

Xero copies ideas

Hey :) How is your Summer break going ? I' ve just found a great post in Polish how to use xero copies for teaching: http://neuroteaching.blogspot.com/2016/07/mania-kserowania-ostateczne-starcie-z.html?m=1 Thank you Aniela! :)

Learning through games - easy :)

Are you bored of  using textbooks ?  The solution might be to play games : Check the link http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/learning-english/games-social/

Speak up

If your students want to find someone to talk to in English tell them to register to italki site : https://www.italki.com/teachers/tutoring and improve their speaking skills with natives :)

Augmented reality in education

That is something if you are a technology freak ;) although it is a new idea and not many schools or universities have got equipment to use it. Augmented reality technology connects real world with the one from the computer which provides you  3D picture.Some use AR to play or design better:

  or to learn :

European Language Label

If you are an innovative teacher and competitive one, willing to share your teaching ideas with others ,you can apply to and win an award of European Language Label( look here) http://ec.europa.eu/languages/policy/strategic-framework/language-label_en.htm

 Encourage and motivate your students by using new projects and teaching techniques !

Education in Europe

There are some programs worthy to know when dealing with education. One of them is Eurydice , which provides you data about different educational systems in Europe or possibilities of cooperation in a field of lifelong learning. For more info please visit their website: http://eurydice.org.pl/o-nas/ ( in Polish ) or  http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/index_en.php (in English)

New face of education

I was very happy to discover 'Social wolves' page. Please check their ideas (http://zwolnienizteorii.pl/en/)  and let me know what do you think : http://socialwolves.com/misja-en/?l=en 

Improve yourself - go PO WER !

It is never enough of learning, don't you think so ? ;)

http://power.frse.org.pl/

Adult learners

Here is something if you are teaching adults, you may find useful :) Epale:http://ec.europa.eu/epale/pl/home-page

Global Education project for teachers

 If you like to help people- here is something for you :) I' ve just found an interesting project for teachers to join. The project is about global education . More info you can find by visiting this page: http://kulczykfoundation.org.pl/eged

Conferences about education :)

Summer  gives you more time to improve yourself and go to different conferences and workshops where you can find even more ideas. One of the most popular educational conferences in Poland is Inspiracje . This year the topic of debate was: How to make Polish school even better.

You can find more info in Polish here http://www.edudoskonalenie.pl/  or some ideas for younger pupils here:

Holiday idea

Some of you are already enjoying holiday break . If you are still looking for a way to learn and enjoy summer time, maybe you should visit English village? Have a look here and check http://angloville.pl/

Do you mind if I ....

Use the  following prompts to make requests, e.g. Student A : I'm hot .; B: Shall I open the window?/
I'll open the window. ?/ Would you like a drink? / Do you  want me to open the window?

I'm thirsty. I'm hungry. I'm lonely. I'm fed up. I'm tired. I'm broke. I'm sleepy. I'm hurt. I'm sad. I feel sick. I don't understand.

In pairs use the same ideas to make offers. e.g. A: I'm cold.  ; B: Do you want me to close the window?

Cooking race

In small groups of students write a shopping list on a piece of paper. It must include the following things: 

something sweet , something salty, a tin of something, a  green vegetable, a jar of something, piece of meat or fish, a fruit, a dairy product, 2 herbs.

Swap lists with another group.You have 10 minutes to write a recipe for two- course meal using all the ingredients on the list plus salt, pepper and oil. Tell about your meal in front of the class and vote which meal is the most tasty and desirable to eat one.

Coding once again - App lab

If your students want to build applications and  some of them are ready to code without blocks this is site to use:  App Lab, Here students can switch between blocks and text to build and share their own simple applications Check it out: 

Khan Academy !

You can learn anything and improve your English using Khan Academy resources. That may give your student an opportunity to learn new vocabulary connected with a particular topic, which a student maybe interested in or practise English grammar or pronunciation. For more info please visit this site :https://pl.khanacademy.org/  and enjoy discovering new things! :)

School rules

In small groups, write some rules for the class and the school under these three headings:

We have to .... We mustn't .... We don't have to....

Empty classroom ?? DAY ! ;)

If your students are a little bit tired at the end of the school year that's an idea! Empty classroom day has finally arrived to Poland and now you can happily take your pupils out to the nature and run your lesson there . More information about the idea here : http://emptyclassroomday.eu/pl/  

Inspiring projects

If you are looking for a project idea , have a look here :https://tabletorium.wordpress.com/english/ This is a very interesting English teaching program, where students work on line by tablets . Congrtaulations ! - Łukasz Rumiński i Jacek Rakowski :)

Incredibox... la, la,la

Hi , this time something to improve your students' music skills :) have a look here: http://www.incredibox.com/

Getting around

In small groups discuss the differences in how people do some everyday things in your country and the UK. Use some of these ideas:

eating and drinking, travelling on public transport, having guests, reporting the police, planning, working in a team.

Favourite places

In pairs , describe these places to each other:

Your favourite room, your ideal house, your home town, your favourite place for holidays.

Shopping

Tell a partner about the last time you went to these places. Where was it? What did you buy? What else did you do there?

street market, flea market, supermarket, boutique.

Imagine you have got 100 Pounds to spend on shopping , and just fifteen minutes to spend it . Where would you go and what would you buy?

Definitions

Work in small groups . Write suitable endings for these definitions:

Love is...
A friend is...
Time is...
Art is....
Happiness is...
Life is...
Music is....
Being young is...

Now , read just your endings and see if the class can guess what they define.

Crime mystery

Here is an exercise to practise crime vocabulary :)

Onomatopoeia

In pairs, listen to these descriptions. Talk about how you write the sounds in your language and in English, e.g. sound a bee makes- buzz

the noise you hear when you stick a needle into a balloon( pop)
the noise a car horn makes ( beep)
the noise of a saucepan falling on the floor (clang)
the sound of frying meat( sizzle)
what a snake does( hiss)
what a cat does when is happy ( purr)

Now, you need to guess what makes each sound:

tinkle, squeak, growl, hum, rustle, crunch, thud, squelch, meow.

Narration about past events.

This is a very good exercise to practise speaking and using past tenses. Also because it is partly a guessing game it is attractive for students.

#eduescape - Escape Rooms in Education

 I found the escape room idea in school today and can't wait to practise it  :) Thank you  Shauna <3#eduescape - Escape Rooms in Education

Scratch Day is comming :)

Don't forget to have some fun with your students learning how to code . More info is here : scratch day

Inspiring teachers...

And again..... if you are looking for inspiration.....why not to follow a good practice of other teachers, like Hugh Dellar 

opposites

Work in pairs.Student 1: I am going to read some words. Shout out the opposites. When you finish, swap roles.

admit, awake, beautiful, big, black,cheer, down, dirty, dry, empty, fast, float, here, huge, melt,never, plural, sunny, sweet, tame, tender, warm, win.

My fridge

Work in pairs . Ask each other questions about contents of your fridge. e.g.: How much milk have you got? How many eggs are there in your fridge? ( wine, water, butter, fish, ham, lemons, cheese, cream, etc.)

Story cubes :)

Do you want your students to become  great story tellers? It is easy, you just need to encourage  the students who don't want to speak to play with story cubes. Students just simply need to roll the cubes and let the pictures - clues, spark their imagination. There are different topics of the story cubes sets to choose from, so you can easily find something which matches  your topic of the lesson.

Work,work,work!

 This is short exercise to revise work related vocabulary. Work in groups with one set of cards laid face down on the desk.

One student lifts up the card and asks the other students who discuss the answer together. The next student repeats the process with the next card. 

Reasons

 In groups, think of reasons for doing following things:

work, learn English, call, text, think, sleep, go to the gym, study, have children, play computer games.

Choose three activities and write a sentence or two, explaining why you do it.e.g
I do this to get a better job. 


I call my partner to tell him the latest news.

Minecraft - edu !

Today  we have something your students love - games. More precisely, lesson idea of the day is to use Mine craft; the iconic , one of the most popular games of all ages players. How many different ways you can use the game to educate your students- you can discover here: education.minecraft.

The first time

In pairs tell each other about your first:

mobile, car, bicycle,pet, friend,toy, holiday,memory , day at school, flight, job.

Senses

In two groups write three or four short sentences for each of these things to describe how they look, taste , smell, feel or sound. e.g. : It feels nice. It tastes sweet.

diamond, candy, lemon, concrete, brick, rose, chilli, cashmere, ice-cream, book, kitten, sandpaper, harp, mint.

You can write up some adjectives when necessary

sour, cold, silly, hard, bitter, tasty, spicy, smooth, sticky, fresh, cute, beautiful, hot, cute, etc.

Take turns to read out a description for the other group to guess what you are describing.

Tic- Tac -Toe

Draw a noughts and crosses grid on the board with these words. Work in two teams. Play noughts and crosses. Take turns to choose a square. To win it, you have to make a sentence with the words in the square. 
How much , a lot, plenty, some, not many, a little, a few, too much , any.

World affairs

In small groups, brainstorm some current world news stories and suggest improvements using the second conditional, e.g. If we all voted him out of office, the country would be a safer place.

Do me a favor

Someone has agreed to look after your home while you're on holiday for 10 days. In pairs ,write a note asking them to deal with these things:
cat, plants,messages, hole in the roof, ants, neighbors, rubbish, bills.

Swap your note with another pair. Now imagine you are the house- sitter. Write a note to the owner telling him about each of the things you had to take care of. Here is the beginning:
Dear ... This has been the worst week of my life....

Excuses, excuses

Fill the gaps in these sentences :

I (should )have gone to the dentist this morning , but I overslept.
I was (supposed) to call my sister last week, but I was too busy.

Make a list of five important things you have failed to do recently

Check your visa.
Clean your flat.

Work in pairs. Read your partner's and find out his/hers excuse for each.
E.g. A :-You should have checked your visa. B:-  I know , but I couldn't find my passport.

A: - You were supposed to clean your flat . B : -Yes , but I had too much homework.

QR Codes

Quick response( QR CODES) may have many uses in the classroom and are easy to create. By  posting the QR code to your students you can lead them to specific information by using their tablets or mobile cameras .
You can find many pages with the QR code creators and use them for various exercises. There are some interesting pages you may find useful:
QR teasure hunt generator http://www.classtools.net/QR/create.php
25 funny ways to use QR codes in education and teaching http://www.emergingedtech.com/2014/12/25-ways-to-use-qr-codes-for-teaching-learning/
Bar code generator reader https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sugree.barcodegen&hl=en

Movie Segments to Assess Grammar Goals: Blade Runner: 2nd Conditional

 My favourite blogger - Claudio Azevedo and his lesson:Movie Segments to Assess Grammar Goals: Blade Runner: 2nd Conditional Enjoy! :)

Kazuya Takahashi - Global Teacher Prize 2016 - Top 10 Finalist

Throw and catch

Stand in a circle. Throw a ball from one person to another in the circle. As you throw it, shout out an adverb. When you catch the ball you have got 5 seconds to build a sentence with the adverb you heard.The group decides if your sentence is correct to stay in the game. A: " nervously" ; B: " You' re using a computer nervously."

Transformations

In pairs listen to these sentences and write them down. For each one, write another sentence replacing the adjective + noun with a verb + adverb,  e.g. Sarah's a terrible cook- Sarah cooks terribly.

Jack's  a dangerous driver. 
Kate's a quick worker.
Danny's a bad cook.
Joe's a slow reader.
Jessica's a quiet speaker.
Tiara's a nice singer.
Jim's a heavy smoker.
Anna's a beautiful dancer.
Tanya's a noisy eater.
John's an excellent writer.

Inspirational teachers...

Joe Fatheree is an American teacher who believes in an individual approach to each student. Here are some of his thoughts about teaching :Creativity and innovation

High culture

What cultural activities do you take part in?

In pairs tell each other about what you do and the places you go, e.g. cinemas, theatres, galleries, museums, etc.( Ask student to specify films, plays and exhibitions.)

Mingle with the rest of the class and find out everyone's favourite painting, building and piece of music. Note down the name of anyone who shares your opinion. Did anyone find someone with the same three favourites?

Doctor, doctor!

In pairs agree the best advice for someone with these symptoms.

I feel tired all the time.  I've got bad cough.  I can't get to sleep.  I've got a high temperature. I've got a sore throat. My chest hurts.

In pairs,write a list of other symptoms, making sure you both have a copy. Swap partners with another pair. Tell each other your symptoms and give a diagnosis and some advice.

The most important thing

The most important thing while teaching is not difficult , no technique could be 100% effective without your right attitude to a student. Being a careful teacher is needed. Know your students, listen to them, you may learn a lot. Have a look here :) Teach the mind, touch the heart https://vimeo.com/83593270

Hotter and colder

Try to find the object in the classroom that I'm thinking of. Point and ask me questions e.g. Is it this book? Is  it that chair? As your guesses get closer to it, I'll say 'hotter' and as they get further away I'll say 'colder'.
Play the same game in pairs, taking turns to ask the questions.

Coding

If you want to generate excitement about the lesson try to expose your students to computer science by teaching them how to code.
Learning how to code can improve logical thinking, working in a team and communicating.
There are lots of different events in the internet to join e.g. Hour of Code https://code.org/mc and others sites to give your students fun and knowledge.

http://www.allcancode.com/
http://marco.allcancode.com/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/run-marco!/id919554969

http://twolivesleft.com/CargoBot/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cargo-bot/id519690804?ls=1&mt=8

http://kuatostudios.com/games/hakitzu/
https://itunes.apple.com/app/id599976903?mt=8

http://www.gethopscotch.com/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hopscotch-hd/id617098629?mt=8

Booking a room

Work in pairs. Student A you are a guest checking into a hotel. Student B you are the receptionist.Role -play a conversation using these words. When you have finished write the conversation down. Compare your conversation with another pair.

single/double, en suite, 1/2 nights, suitcases, alarm/call time,champagne, sauna/pool, internet

Perfect aliens

In small groups design an alien , the weirder the better. Get someone in the group to draw it. Describe it to the rest of the class and see if they can draw it. Compare your pictures with theirs.Which description / the picture does the class like the most?

Health and safety

In groups write a list of rules for one of these situations. Choose a secretary to keep a note of your ideas under four headings: must , mustn't , should, shouldn't ,don't have to.

managing a restaurant, kitchen , conducting a fireworks display,looking after a baby, going trekking in the mountains.

Swap lists with another group to see if they missed anything important.

Gadgets

Tell your students to bring a gadget to the next lesson.Work in pairs. Explain to your partner how it works. Here are some possible items:  camera,  mp3 player,  mobile,  game console, tablet, camcorder.