Tales from the Trenches: 30 Things about Teaching that I Learned the Hard Way
Education majors and newer teachers spend a great deal of time studying a variety of teaching methods, the best ways to prepare a lesson plan, and how to design a course. Then they enter the classroom and find out how truly unprepared they are to deal with the diverse needs of their students. This talk will share practical lessons gathered from over 15 years in EFL classrooms by the presenter and other top tips shared by experienced educators about what they wished someone had told them about teaching before they stepped foot in a foreign language classroom.
Twenty Presentation Mistakes that Too Many Teachers Make
Public speakers must juggle preparation, delivery, and content-related elements in order to give a successful presentation but many people have trouble doing this. Unfortunately, most of the errors that presenters make on stage are mirrored by teachers in classrooms and lecture halls around the world. This talk will draw attention to some of the most common presentation mistakes made by both presenters and educators. Luckily, increasing teachers’ awareness of what to do and what not to do can give them more confidence standing in front of their class and help them be more prepared to deliver their content.
Close Your Books: Students Need Hands-On Experiences
Getting students involved outside the classroom is a formidable task for any language teacher. While homework can be assigned, most assignments do not involve communication with others. In this presentation, Tim Thompson will first describe his Apprentice English class which focuses on outside-of classroom projects that are reported on and discussed during actual classes. Through these experiences, the students can gain practical skills in addition to the opportunity to practice using the target language. The pros of cons of having students work outside of class will be discussed and suggestions on how to create unique classes for university level students will be shared.
Ideas for reducing dependence on textbooks will also be given. Tim will outline his English Communication class which is a required course for university freshmen. He wanted to build the course around 3 Ps: practical, portfolios, and perpetual. Practicality was important because students would be studying and interacting through English in their courses for the next three and half years at KAIST. Portfolios allow students to feel pride in their accomplishments at the end of the semester. They can look back on the things they created and remember what they did to complete them successfully and be aware of the pitfalls that can cause a project to end in an unsatisfactory way. Perpetual refers to the idea that media projects can create institutional memory as well as help the next group of students taking the course. It is important that the students taking mandatory English courses accumulate life lessons in addition to skills.
This presentation will include schedules and rubrics for creating textbook-free courses which will have students active and engaged outside the classroom. Time in the classroom can then be spent planning and reviewing with classmates and the instructor, giving everyone involved time to reflect on what they experienced and learned.
Creating Practical and Original English-based Lessons for Multi-level Classes
This presentation begins with a discussion of lesson objectives and expected outcomes. Sample lesson plans which meld general knowledge topics and English topics are then introduced. A workshop on new lesson plans for after-school programs and camps is conducted, followed by an overview of how to design creative and practical lessons with a focus on adapting these lessons across a range of ability levels. There is usually time for Q&A after this two or three hour presentation.
So You Got Accepted to Present at a Conference: How to Deliver the Content You Prepared
An often-heard complaint at conferences is that presenters, from plenary to first-time speakers, were "not very good". A common misconception regarding audience expectations is that presenters need to be perfect and that simply isn't true. Attendees are cheering for you to simply be good enough. By being prepared to deliver your content, you can leave a lasting, professional impression and be someone that attendees speak of glowingly afterward. This presentation will highlight common errors and how to avoid making them during your next public speaking opportunity.
Creating a Student-Centered Course Based on Current Events
Students learn best when working on practical projects that interest them. This presentation will explain how a course based on current events was designed from scratch and implemented at the university level. Projects, expectations, outcomes, rubrics, and observations following the completion of the course will all be shared.
Don't Get Mad, Get Creative
It’s easy to become frustrated when student don’t perform the way we want them to. When setbacks occur, we need to find ways to keep the class motivated and challenged without allowing them to give up. Examples of challenging teaching situations and the successful solutions that make the classes work will be presented. A brainstorming session will follow to address issues from audience members.
Motivating Korean Students in English Classes
Motivating Korean students to become active, engaged, and eventually successful in their English classes can be a tall order. Problems can and will occur when students are not level tested and multi-level classes are common, teachers are not always properly trained, and materials are not always up to date or properly edited. This article will describe three things to consider when attempting to keep students from becoming discouraged and create lifelong language learners.
Getting Students Involved Outside of the Classroom
Getting students involved outside the classroom is a formidable task for any language teacher. While homework can be assigned, most assignments do not involve communication with others. In this presentation, Tim Thompson will describe his Apprentice English class which focused on outside-of-class projects that were then reported on during actual classes. Through these experiences, the students understood that they could gain practical skills in addition to the opportunity to practice using the target language. The pros of cons of having students work outside of class will be discussed and suggestions on how to create unique classes for university level students will be given.
Change and Flexibility in the EFL Classroom
One of the most valuable traits shared by successful people in any aspect of life is flexibility. The ability to change and adapt quickly to challenges gives an advantage to those who possess it. Therefore, the flexibility required to respond to changes that occur in EFL classrooms is vital. Changes occur in the books we are required to teach, the times we are allotted to teach, and the number of students we are given to teach. This presentation will detail three classes that have been taught over multiple semesters and the administrative decisions that facilitated the need to make significant changes in order to be conducted smoothly. It will describe changes that happen between semesters and from week to week as well as how to deal with these challenges effectively.
Controlling Your Nerves and Persuading Your Audience
You can't persuade and audience if you can't persuade yourself first. This presentation provides tips on controlling your nerves so you can deliver effective and efficient presentations. Get what you want and learn how to win when you make a persuasive presentation.
Reverse Engineering: Walking Back and English Writing Curriculum from University Expectations
This presentation was given to a large group of primary and secondary school teachers in the Gangwon province of Korea. It discussed the skills needed to successfully begin the Intermediate Reading and Writing course which was taught in English to second-semester freshmen at KAIST. From there we discussed the writing skills that needed to be practiced in high school, middle school, and elementary school as well as activities to make it possible.
Publishing and Presenting Classroom Experiences
This presentation will highlight several avenues for professional development and give advice on how to get started. First, the speaker will introduce a list of publications which are not research-based. There are many educational magazines, smaller journals, and other media outlets which prefer to publish good ideas from classrooms around the world. Teachers can take experiences from their schools and share them with other educators while at the same time begin to establish themselves as education experts. Second, places to present and the benefits of sharing your experiences with others will be addressed. From holding small workshops at your school to becoming a teacher trainer and speaking to hundreds of people at a time, the possibilities for presenting your classroom successes and failures is endless. Finally, the presenter will describe how opportunities virtually to fall into place once you have started down the professional development route and how building an academic portfolio can improve your career prospects.
Leveraging Technology: Helping Students Become More Receptive to Production
I learn best when I can see a practical application for what I am learning and I believe that my students do too. This presentation will introduce technology-assisted projects that help students take control of their language learning by using their second language to create and share information on topics of interest to them. Projects to be discussed and demonstrated include student-created videos, podcasts, and student-run websites that can be viewed and commented on by millions of people on the Internet. Examples of free software and web resources will be given to show how you can help your students produce fun and interesting projects. Finally, I will explain how to implement these projects across a broad range of learner levels and the pedagogy behind why they help students in the classroom and beyond.
Classroom Management and Discipline in Korean Secondary Schools
This presentation discusses the importance of classroom management in order to avoid having to resort to disciplinary measures. Specific examples of how to make rules and enforce them are given and tips on how to keep students interested and on task are also provided. This presentation has received excellent feedback is invaluable to new teachers who need help controlling their classes.
Smiles Per Class: The REAL Sign of Success
The presentation introduces the concept of Smiles Per Class (SPC) and suggests practicals ways to make classes more "edutaining" for students. It includes ways to make classes more student-centered, more practical, and more useful than before. You will look at your classes in a whole new way after attending.
Examining Korean University Students' Expectations of Native-Speaker English Teachers
This presentation discusses findings on Korean university student's expectations for their English teachers. The answers might surprise you. The presenter will explain the research, summarize the results and discuss the implications for teachers as well as entire programs. Bring your boss!
Education majors and newer teachers spend a great deal of time studying a variety of teaching methods, the best ways to prepare a lesson plan, and how to design a course. Then they enter the classroom and find out how truly unprepared they are to deal with the diverse needs of their students. This talk will share practical lessons gathered from over 15 years in EFL classrooms by the presenter and other top tips shared by experienced educators about what they wished someone had told them about teaching before they stepped foot in a foreign language classroom.
Twenty Presentation Mistakes that Too Many Teachers Make
Public speakers must juggle preparation, delivery, and content-related elements in order to give a successful presentation but many people have trouble doing this. Unfortunately, most of the errors that presenters make on stage are mirrored by teachers in classrooms and lecture halls around the world. This talk will draw attention to some of the most common presentation mistakes made by both presenters and educators. Luckily, increasing teachers’ awareness of what to do and what not to do can give them more confidence standing in front of their class and help them be more prepared to deliver their content.
Close Your Books: Students Need Hands-On Experiences
Getting students involved outside the classroom is a formidable task for any language teacher. While homework can be assigned, most assignments do not involve communication with others. In this presentation, Tim Thompson will first describe his Apprentice English class which focuses on outside-of classroom projects that are reported on and discussed during actual classes. Through these experiences, the students can gain practical skills in addition to the opportunity to practice using the target language. The pros of cons of having students work outside of class will be discussed and suggestions on how to create unique classes for university level students will be shared.
Ideas for reducing dependence on textbooks will also be given. Tim will outline his English Communication class which is a required course for university freshmen. He wanted to build the course around 3 Ps: practical, portfolios, and perpetual. Practicality was important because students would be studying and interacting through English in their courses for the next three and half years at KAIST. Portfolios allow students to feel pride in their accomplishments at the end of the semester. They can look back on the things they created and remember what they did to complete them successfully and be aware of the pitfalls that can cause a project to end in an unsatisfactory way. Perpetual refers to the idea that media projects can create institutional memory as well as help the next group of students taking the course. It is important that the students taking mandatory English courses accumulate life lessons in addition to skills.
This presentation will include schedules and rubrics for creating textbook-free courses which will have students active and engaged outside the classroom. Time in the classroom can then be spent planning and reviewing with classmates and the instructor, giving everyone involved time to reflect on what they experienced and learned.
Creating Practical and Original English-based Lessons for Multi-level Classes
This presentation begins with a discussion of lesson objectives and expected outcomes. Sample lesson plans which meld general knowledge topics and English topics are then introduced. A workshop on new lesson plans for after-school programs and camps is conducted, followed by an overview of how to design creative and practical lessons with a focus on adapting these lessons across a range of ability levels. There is usually time for Q&A after this two or three hour presentation.
So You Got Accepted to Present at a Conference: How to Deliver the Content You Prepared
An often-heard complaint at conferences is that presenters, from plenary to first-time speakers, were "not very good". A common misconception regarding audience expectations is that presenters need to be perfect and that simply isn't true. Attendees are cheering for you to simply be good enough. By being prepared to deliver your content, you can leave a lasting, professional impression and be someone that attendees speak of glowingly afterward. This presentation will highlight common errors and how to avoid making them during your next public speaking opportunity.
Creating a Student-Centered Course Based on Current Events
Students learn best when working on practical projects that interest them. This presentation will explain how a course based on current events was designed from scratch and implemented at the university level. Projects, expectations, outcomes, rubrics, and observations following the completion of the course will all be shared.
Don't Get Mad, Get Creative
It’s easy to become frustrated when student don’t perform the way we want them to. When setbacks occur, we need to find ways to keep the class motivated and challenged without allowing them to give up. Examples of challenging teaching situations and the successful solutions that make the classes work will be presented. A brainstorming session will follow to address issues from audience members.
Motivating Korean Students in English Classes
Motivating Korean students to become active, engaged, and eventually successful in their English classes can be a tall order. Problems can and will occur when students are not level tested and multi-level classes are common, teachers are not always properly trained, and materials are not always up to date or properly edited. This article will describe three things to consider when attempting to keep students from becoming discouraged and create lifelong language learners.
Getting Students Involved Outside of the Classroom
Getting students involved outside the classroom is a formidable task for any language teacher. While homework can be assigned, most assignments do not involve communication with others. In this presentation, Tim Thompson will describe his Apprentice English class which focused on outside-of-class projects that were then reported on during actual classes. Through these experiences, the students understood that they could gain practical skills in addition to the opportunity to practice using the target language. The pros of cons of having students work outside of class will be discussed and suggestions on how to create unique classes for university level students will be given.
Change and Flexibility in the EFL Classroom
One of the most valuable traits shared by successful people in any aspect of life is flexibility. The ability to change and adapt quickly to challenges gives an advantage to those who possess it. Therefore, the flexibility required to respond to changes that occur in EFL classrooms is vital. Changes occur in the books we are required to teach, the times we are allotted to teach, and the number of students we are given to teach. This presentation will detail three classes that have been taught over multiple semesters and the administrative decisions that facilitated the need to make significant changes in order to be conducted smoothly. It will describe changes that happen between semesters and from week to week as well as how to deal with these challenges effectively.
Controlling Your Nerves and Persuading Your Audience
You can't persuade and audience if you can't persuade yourself first. This presentation provides tips on controlling your nerves so you can deliver effective and efficient presentations. Get what you want and learn how to win when you make a persuasive presentation.
Reverse Engineering: Walking Back and English Writing Curriculum from University Expectations
This presentation was given to a large group of primary and secondary school teachers in the Gangwon province of Korea. It discussed the skills needed to successfully begin the Intermediate Reading and Writing course which was taught in English to second-semester freshmen at KAIST. From there we discussed the writing skills that needed to be practiced in high school, middle school, and elementary school as well as activities to make it possible.
Publishing and Presenting Classroom Experiences
This presentation will highlight several avenues for professional development and give advice on how to get started. First, the speaker will introduce a list of publications which are not research-based. There are many educational magazines, smaller journals, and other media outlets which prefer to publish good ideas from classrooms around the world. Teachers can take experiences from their schools and share them with other educators while at the same time begin to establish themselves as education experts. Second, places to present and the benefits of sharing your experiences with others will be addressed. From holding small workshops at your school to becoming a teacher trainer and speaking to hundreds of people at a time, the possibilities for presenting your classroom successes and failures is endless. Finally, the presenter will describe how opportunities virtually to fall into place once you have started down the professional development route and how building an academic portfolio can improve your career prospects.
Leveraging Technology: Helping Students Become More Receptive to Production
I learn best when I can see a practical application for what I am learning and I believe that my students do too. This presentation will introduce technology-assisted projects that help students take control of their language learning by using their second language to create and share information on topics of interest to them. Projects to be discussed and demonstrated include student-created videos, podcasts, and student-run websites that can be viewed and commented on by millions of people on the Internet. Examples of free software and web resources will be given to show how you can help your students produce fun and interesting projects. Finally, I will explain how to implement these projects across a broad range of learner levels and the pedagogy behind why they help students in the classroom and beyond.
Classroom Management and Discipline in Korean Secondary Schools
This presentation discusses the importance of classroom management in order to avoid having to resort to disciplinary measures. Specific examples of how to make rules and enforce them are given and tips on how to keep students interested and on task are also provided. This presentation has received excellent feedback is invaluable to new teachers who need help controlling their classes.
Smiles Per Class: The REAL Sign of Success
The presentation introduces the concept of Smiles Per Class (SPC) and suggests practicals ways to make classes more "edutaining" for students. It includes ways to make classes more student-centered, more practical, and more useful than before. You will look at your classes in a whole new way after attending.
Examining Korean University Students' Expectations of Native-Speaker English Teachers
This presentation discusses findings on Korean university student's expectations for their English teachers. The answers might surprise you. The presenter will explain the research, summarize the results and discuss the implications for teachers as well as entire programs. Bring your boss!