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Texas ISD School Guide
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Articles for Teachers

A NEVER-CEASING PRODUCTIVITY -- The Arrogant One
Here I sit each day, before my giant-sized drip coffee, contemplating on what I should do to justify my existence on this planet. At age 67½, I have been forced into a state of quasi-retirement ...

To accept or not to accept retirement (defeat?) -- The Arrogant One
When you’ve reached past 65 and you have most of your marbles and physical health left, life can often be a terrible drag. Case in point: I’ve always lived a very active life – in the rôles of ...

Class Acts, Bimbos, & Arrogant Gaijin -- Kevin Burns
The How & How Not of Landing a Plum Teaching Position in Japan by Kevin Burns Japan:JL Never make the mistake of thinking that your Emails and phone calls to schools are not important, because they ...

Why No Working Holiday Visa for Americans? -- Kevin Burns
Why no working holiday visa for Americans?Home by Kevin Burns "U.S. citizens planning to work in Japan should never enter Japan using a tourist visa or the visa waiver, even if they have been advised ...

What do they want? -- Bam
Much has been said and debated about Asian schools, attitudes to, and goals in teaching esl. It can't be denied that many,particularly private schools primarily focus on profit,and making loads ...

I Will Never, Ever Touch The English Department Director Again! -- Kevin Burns
From Japan Living: http://www.eikaiwa1.com/jp.html Nagoya, Japan From almost the first day of working at St. Mary College I was warned, "Don't ever touch Craig." Even Craig himself had warned me. ...

To teach is also to learn ... of THYSELF! -- The Arrogant One
The job of imparting knowledge is not necessarily a one-sided proposition. Take, for example, ESL – a routine that, amongst other things, instructs the instructor in not only comprehensively ...

Quest for a Better Lifestyle -- Kevin Burns
Quest for a Better Lifestyle Originally published in the Vancouver Sun Minami Ashigara Shi, Kanagawa Ken, Japan I am lucky to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. At this moment, I ...

An English School Owner`s Experience -- Kevin Burns
Kanagawa - One of our teachers, I'll call him Dick to preserve his anonymity, gave us one week notice that he was quitting. To add insult to injury, he didn't even work his last Thursday,("I ...

How to Study English -- Kevin Burns
How to Study English "For toddlers, learning one language is no more difficult than learning another...Even if the child doesn't continue in the language, learning so young clearly stimulates ...

The Forums About Teaching English in Japan Need to Take A Reality Check! -- Kevin Burns
After reading what they had to say in the forums there, I almost decided to go to Korea, it is so negative. When I did ask, well what schools are good to work for?-no one answered."--A.P., USA-- ...

English from P to P -- Crystal, English Teacher
Since I found this page I couldn't let a day go by without visiting it even if I don't write anything. I found my peers here sharing teaching experience, sentiments, dreams, whatever. I am ...

A shy student -- Ali
While teaching, we, all ESL teachers face some problems. Of course problems are not very serious, they have solutions, and motivate us to work hard and be enthusiastic. Especially, in teaching large ...

MR. / MS. EMPLOYER: An appeal to reason -- The Arrogant One
GROWING OLD? I hate the thought of it! In fact, when I was younger, I used to kneel in prayer to a miniature Madonna in my bedroom to remain forever young. HA! A lot of #@!&*#+ good THAT did! ...

ESL teacher -- CrisCC, English my 1st language
You are right arrogant one. May I add also, Asian schools give emphasis only on North American accent. What? The North American accent is not all the time the proper English spoken. Some just mumbled ...

IS THERE A TEACHER IN THE HOUSE? -- The Arrogant One
We’ve often made mention of the fakers and the flakes in the international ESL scene, and how they’ve succeed in dodging close scrutiny while other, more legitimate personae have been forced to ...

More on Drawing Parameters -- The Arrogant One
Guess what, Folks? I actually had the effrontery to up and change my coffee clutch locale from Starbucks to Pete’s, just across the street! I assure you I didn’t do this merely to be my usual ...

Feel trapped, do you? -- The Arrogant One
I simply have had it! I can't take one more day ... NO! not one more hour in that damned pesthole of a school where I've been much too long employed. Believe me, I've tried so many times ...

A Touch of the Gypsy -- The Arrogant One
So far as I know, my ancestry sprang from Merry Olde England, but when considering my personal history, I wouldn't be too surprised to learn that my real roots originate from someplace in Eastern ...

DRASTIC ACTION -- The Arrogant One
You ugly black bugger! How dare you attempt to attack my two-by-four hovel! How dare you presume to share my abysmal, sleazy, parasitic paradise in the middle of nowhere! How dare you invade my ...

A Question of Attitude -- The Arrogant One
Attitude is a word I’ve had shoved down my throat practically all my days on this planet. First, there were my parents – I can see them now from my crib: “Attitude, young man, attitude! Eat all ...

Let's draw our parameters -- The Arrogant One
So, Bucko … now that you're once again relaxed at a table at your favorite Starbucks facing a tall Venti café, you can again begin to think. Ah, yes, I KNOW! Has it all been WORTH it … this ...

New Approaches to Learning English-as-a-Second-Language -- Daniel Robinson
Not so long ago you could take 5-10 years of English lessons and still not speak English. You could slave for hours learning English vocabulary and grammar rules and you still wouldn’t understand ...

AGE DISCRIMINATION -- The Arrogant One
Response to the following post on the Discussion Forum board: > I've been thinking about taking an ESL course and wading into the Dear Ben, The age problem DOES exist practically everywhere on ...

Why I use pop music in my junior high school EFL classes? -- Stefan Chiarantano
I love using music in my junior high school EFL classes. Besides providing me with another way to introduce the English language, I find it a great warm up activity. I love to sing and feel that ...

Suggestions and Tips on preparing a self-introductory lesson plan to new students -- Stefan Chiarantano
Perhaps, you won’t be battling jet lag, fatigue, general anxiety or a language barrier, when you’re struggling to prepare a lesson plan on introducing yourself and your native country to your ...

5 Ways to Help a Child's Self-Esteem -- Carol Hargreaves
One in five parents are now saying that their child is being bullied at school, and as professional help becomes harder and harder to get , many parents and teachers are asking, "What can we do to ...

What if enthusiasm were all it took ... ? -- The Arrogant One
Way back in 1952, when I was but 15 years of age, I paid a visit to the Philadelphia World Affairs Council and was struck by the multitude of projects they had going to promote universal harmony. Of ...

Bilingualism -- OnceWritten
(In response to a post in the forum called "Love + United Effort = The True Lingua of Progress" by The Arrogant One) Perhaps the degree that we develop the ability to speak in another language ...

The Stick to Your Own Kind Except During School Hours Syndrome -- The Arrogant One
You know ... just upstairs from my favorite Starbucks, where I sip and write for a few hours each day, a college extension ESL program is given to about 80-90 learners, mostly from Korea and Japan. ...

The ESL Instructor: Animal, Vegetable or B.S ARTIST? -- The Arrogant One
So ... is ESL merely the easiest way for any jackass -- you know, the "would-be's," the "has-been's," and the "never-wases" -- to enter the ESL game??? Not that I rank as God's gift to ...

Teaching English in Taiwan -- Canuck
From: Foreign Affairs Canada INTRODUCTION Teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL) are in great demand in Taiwan. With more than a thousand schools in the Taipei area alone, it is ...

Teaching English in Korea -- Canuck
From: Foreign Affairs Canada INTRODUCTION The key to happy and fruitful employment as a language instructor in Korea is to be employed by a reputable school. Some Canadian citizens have come ...

Teaching in the Middle East (about $4300/Month, but..) -- By gharwell1
Middle East Posted By: gharwell1, to our ESL discussion forum: http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi-bin/forum/index.pl?index=0 Been there Done that and Got the T-shirt In Response To: Yak! ...

Some self-evaluation and a little Hollywood ... THAT'S THE TICKET! -- The Arrogant One
As I sit here at my favorite Starbucks coffee haunt in Westwood Village (near UCLA) faking complacency, I am taking the opportunity to ponder over many facets of my (nearly) 14-year association with ...

SOME KIND OF *&%#! FUTURE! -- The Arrogant One
Yes, yes ... believe me, Folks, I am quite pleased to note all the surprising (and apparently successful) esprit de corps spread about this board of late in an attempt to bring ESL instructors ...

Vintage Piaget – A fine old drop that gets better with time -- Jason D. Renshaw
Theories About Young Learners and Language Learning (Part 1): Vintage Piaget – A fine old drop that gets better with time Jason D. Renshaw [Note: This article originally published September 2004 on ...

Top Ten List of Common Grammatical Errors -- Sue - teacher
Top Ten List of Common Grammatical Errors 10. The use of sexist language. Gibaldi states in the MLA Handbook, "Because good scholarship requires objectivity, careful writers . . . avoid language ...

Crazy Kind Of Love - Dating and relationships not only in China but perhaps S. Korea and Japan... -- AJL
Dating and relationships not only in China but perhaps S. Korea and Japan... First off, these countries haven't much diversity in their long cultures. Basically, one people nations with one ...

The Dragonfly Incident - (A Teacher's Nightmare!) -- Dave
This article was first posted about three weeks ago but has been slightly modified to make one or two points more clear and to enable a different e-mail address to be substituted for the original one ...

5 Steps to Developing a Dynamic Resume -- SL - Teacher
RESUMES, COVER LETTERS, REFERENCES and THANK YOU LETTERS The Career Center Westminster College http://www.westminster.edu/student/career/student/resumes.doc. 5 Steps to Developing a Dynamic Resume ...

Teaching in Korea. U.S. Embassy, Seoul, information -- AL
- A Guide - Complied by American Citizen Services, U.S. Embassy, Seoul http://usembassy.state.gov/seoul/wwwh3550.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...

Over-dosing on Grammar? -- Brenda Townsend Hall
When second languages were taught by the grammar/translation method, everyone seemed fairly clear about what should be taught and in what order. Verbs in all their complexity dominated the scene and ...

Why greedy teachers who gamble and take a chance with high risk schools complain -- From our discussion forum
Most English teachers come to Korea to be able to pay their debts as far as we know. You have probably never been in S. Korea. English Teachers salaries with lower taxes here offer better conditions ...

Dealing with Difficult Students -- Brenda Townsend Hall
Dealing with Difficult Students When teachers have to confront a difficult student, they often have more of a problem with their own feelings than with the student whose behaviour is disruptive. This ...

Culture Shock -- Proper Expectations/Realizations -- Eddie Mills
My name is Eddie Mills, and I've been teaching in Hainan Province since 1993. My wife and I have enjoyed teaching in Hainan and we highly recommend any school in Hainan. At the invitation of the ...

Are you an extraordinary teacher? -- Clement
Be An Extraordinary Teacher! “Good teachers are those who know how little they know. Bad teachers are those who think they know more than they don't know." R. Verdi Teaching profession is not ...

Communicate or Complicate (Public Speech) -- Clement
Carl Rogers says, "Once you achieve good communication with yourself, you can communicate more freely and effectively with others" All Great leaders are effective speakers. If a leader cannot speak ...

Graded Materials - A Perspective -- Miriam Lavi
Not long ago, a (non ESL) teacher/friend noticed the term 'graded material' in an article and commented: What? Are ESL teachers expected to grade (assess) their material as well as their ...

Creative Movement for Children -- Kids on the Move!
"Scientists are confirming what teachers have long suspected: Music not only touches people's souls, it also shapes growing minds. When children sing or play music they become better readers, ...

THE EROSION PROCESS IN ESL? -- Ellis E. Seamone - Veteran ESL teacher of 13+ years
Much like any field of endeavor, ESL can eventually show signs of wear and tear on a teacher's powers of concentration, enthusiasm, and delivery. The major problem, from what I have observed, is ...

Role of grammar in ELT - Arab learners -- A. Clement
Many people say that grammar is not at all important for learning English. It may be partially true but not exactly. The Arab students struggle to cope with the language because their foundation of ...

Cooking Up SAC Materials - A Recipe -- James McNamara
Brief Intro to St. John’s Learning Centre At present over seven hundred Mathayom students (Junior High & High School )have timetabled access to the Centre once every two weeks, which means that ...

Creativity in teaching English to Arab students -- A. Clement
Teaching English in the Gulf region is challenging as well as exciting. All institutions pay a lot of attention in improving the knowledge of English. Any ESL teacher faces the tough problem of ...

Too old to compete in a waning marketplace? -- Ellis E. Seamone
SIXTY-SEVEN? That's not so old ... especially for an ESL instructor who positively adores teaching those not even half his age. In fact, speaking from a purely personal point of view, this ...

Using questionnaires in the classroom -- Brenda Townsend Hall
Using Questionnaires in Language Training The communicative and humanistic approaches to language training have shown us the importance of setting up genuine dialogue between learner and trainer and ...

Issues in Teaching Vocabulary -- Brenda Townsend Hall
Over the past decade or so, the focus in English language teaching has been on the 'lexical approach'. There were three issues that led to this concentration on the lexical element in ...

How do students want to learn? -- Brenda Townsend Hall
Current theories on effective learning stress the participation of the student in all aspects of the process; far from being passive receptacles into which information is poured and stored, students ...

Questions to Ask in a Job Interview -- Nancy M., MA. English Prof. /recommends this article
By Kevin Donlin No doubt about it -- job interviews can be intimidating. Especially when it comes time to ask your own questions of the interviewer. Do it right and you'll set yourself apart from ...

Teachers: Who Need Them? -- Andrew Finch
TEACHERS – WHO NEEDS THEM?: ROLES AND EXPECTATIONS IN THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM Dr. Andrew E. Finch Kyungpook National University, Republic of Korea May 2002 Abstract This purpose of this paper is to ...

My I.T. (Intrinsic Treasures) that would be left behind to all my chinese students -- MA.LOURDES EUFROCINA M. PALCUTO Ph.D
My I.T. (Intrinsic Treasures) that would be left behind to all my students. A legacy of the unsung heroine: Each paragraph is my day to -day- encounter with life...... dedicated to all my students: ...

ESL Students Aren't Cute -- Chris D. Gray
The peculiarities of American baseball provide a springboard from which an ESL teacher can dive into numerous pools of useful English vocabulary. We take ranking words from the bases (first, second, ...

20 Tips To Achieve Your Career Goals -- Thomas, exp English teacher
Article: 20 Tips To Achieve Your Career Goals By Craig Nathanson Do you ever wish you had a few more options when trying to figure out how to move towards more of what you want in your work related ...

The Resume -- Scott Sommers
I've seen a lot of resumes from people looking for work in Taiwan, and there's a big problem with most of them. They're well-written, but they fail to show how excellent a teacher the ...

Getting a Job at a Taiwan University -- Scott Sommers
In Asia and Taiwan, there is a large pool of highly qualified, very experienced EFL teachers. There are also a large number of positions available, and any determined person with minimum ...

Teaching English as a Career -- Scott Sommers
Teaching English overseas is different from almost any other career that you're likely to become involved in. The complexities of life overseas make it an exciting choice, but they also create ...

Selecting Appropriate ELT Material -- Miriam Lavi
When I first started teaching ESL in the 60's, the Israli Board of Education was using short story books ('This Wide World', 'New Horizons') as high school textbooks. Since these ...

Action Research: Empowering the Teachers -- Andrew Finch
Action Research: Empowering the Teachers Dr. Andrew E. Finch Kyungpook National University Abstract Action research (AR) is a term used to describe the process of identifying a puzzle in the ...

Learning to trust: Trusting to learn -- Andrew Finch
Learning to trust - trusting to learn: Promotion of positive affect through language-learning materials. Andrew Finch, Ph.D. Kyungpook National University December 2002 Based on the author’s Ph.D. ...

Health Knowledge in the ESL Classroom -- Angela and DoS
There are many influences on a student, such as the media and peer pressure, that may be detrimental. ESLTeachers teaching about health topics should be positive role models because they are an ...

Teachers Respond to ESL/EFL Survey on Reading Comprehenson Tests and Anxiety: An Online Survey -- Nellie Deutsch
Survey Results I am finding out that it isn't enough to set up a survey. It is also necessary to have a good knowledge of descriptive statistics to be able to understand and describe the results ...

Some Aspects of Language Teaching -- The English Specialist
Beginners It is often said there are no absolute beginners if such a widespread language as English is concerned, but the knowledge of a couple of words and short expressions does not mean a level of ...

Survival Hungarian for ESL Teachers -- The English Specialist
Please wait to be redirected to http://www.eslteachersboard.com/s/ClassroomCommandsHungarian.htm

Schools in Hungary -- Vadász György
Children in Hungary start school at the age of six and everybody must go to school until the age of sixteen. The first type of school is primary school, where children may stay until they are ...

More Bird and Dog English Expressions -- Wilma and Jennygaorui
Complement to Robin Day's Bird and Dog English Expressions of May 18 (see link below), as posted in the Discussion Forum of this site on May 19 and 20 by Wilma and Jennygaorui: BIRDS: From Wilma ...

Excellent information and tips from a recruiter in Korea on how to find a good ESL job -- ESL Teachers Board
[Note: The writer of this article is a recruiter for Korea called Recruiter 45 who posted in our Discussion forum. Recruiter 45 was answering a reply of someone by the name of Hangul who was replying ...

A Systems View of the EFL Class: Mapping Complexity -- Dr. Andrew Finch
A Systems View of the EFL Class: Mapping Complexity Dr. Andrew Finch Kyungpook National University Abstract Teachers have always known that the language classroom is a system; that every factor ...

Teaching English in Peace Corps -- Dennis McMahon
Teaching English in Peace Corps "I always wanted to do that," is the response Peace Corps Volunteers most often hear when they tell someone about their Peace Corps experiences. People often say this ...

Distance Learning Literature Review -- Nellie Deutsch
Distance Learning Literature Review Nellie Deutsch This paper will summarize two articles on distance learning and give the author's views on the benefits and obstacles of implementing ...

Technology Facade Checklist and Analysis -- Nellie Deutsch
Technology Facade Checklist and Analysis April 21, 2004 Technology is having an impact on the education system, at least technically speaking. Most learning institutions have purchased a tremendous ...

DIstance Education -- TIENDREBEOGO RENEE ANASTASIE ELIANE
Distance education is teaching and learning offered to students in remote locations, including their homes. Courses may be delivered synchronously (on a set schedule similar to on-campus courses) or ...

Keep Your Overseas Apt. Cool. -- Robin Day B.Sc. M.Sc. B.Ed.
Most ESL/EFL teachers don't want to buy bulky appliances like an airconditioner on their 1-year contract. Here are some ideas I have used to cool my apartment as the hot weather approaches. 1. ...

How to learn English -- Torsten Daerr
There are so many books that offer English language courses containing grammar rule explanations, vocabulary exercises, reading comprehension texts, pair work tasks and many other useful materials. ...

Bird and Dog English Expressions -- Robin Day B.Sc. M.Sc. B.Ed.
I thought this would be a fun topic and hope people will help me grow the list. Write me or post additions in the Discussion section. BIRDS 1. Grouse, grousing. Stop your grousing (grumbling). This ...

Brain-Based Learning and Emotions -- Nellie Deutsch
Neuroscience has disclosed important information about the brain and how it learns. It has uncovered "unprecedented revolution of knowledge about the human brain, including how it processes, ...

Survival Spanish for ESL Teachers -- Maria del Carmen Alle's Perez
1. Sientate (singular) / Sientense (plural), por favor – Sit down, please 2. Ven aqui (sing.) / Vengan aqui (pl.) – Come here 3. Despacio – Slowly 4. Basta ya! (sing.) / Dejarlo ya! (pl.) - ...

Survival Indonesian for ESL Teachers -- Ryan Pickard, with notes from Iman Wicaksono
(Ryan's email: nafasterakhir@hotmail.com) Here is my list of words and cultural notes for Bahasa Indonesia: c = ch as in cheese a = a as in car, far u = oo as in book, or sometimes as in food r ...

ESL teacher in Korea pictures -- Pat

How using pencils can reduce wasted time -- Nick Upton
How using pencils can reduce wasted time Most teachers probably don’t give much thought to what their students are using to write with. Pencils and pens come in many disguises these days, and usage ...

Survival French for ESL Teachers -- ESL Teachers Board
1. Assieds-toi (singular informal) / Asseyez-vous (plural or singular formal) - Sit down 2. Viens ici (singular informal) / Venez ici (plural or singular formal) - Come here 3. Ne fais pas cela, ...

ESL learners feel anxious when doing reading comprehension tests - Part 1 -- Nellie Deutsch
ESL learners feel anxious when doing reading comprehension tests "Anxiety is a basic human emotion consisting of fear and uncertainty" (Sarason, 1988). Anxiety has its good and bad sides. On the one ...

BUYING A CAR IN JAPAN -- JAY
Buying a car in Japan is possibly more complicated than anywhere else in the world, however once you understand the process, purchasing a car can be relatively straight forward and hassle free. ...

Teaching kids in Japan is easy with the right tools. -- Craig Desorcy
Kids have the attention span of an ant! Why wouldn’t they? They have everything they could ever want given to them in a New York second. Your biggest competition in keeping their attention is their ...

Foreign language teaching utilizing images -- Vincent Vandersluis, EFL teacher, Switzerland
An EFL case study in a Swiss French Vocational Training Centre for people suffering from various physical and/or psychological impairments Vincent Vandersluis EFL teacher, Switzerland 2003 ...

More on Survival Chinese -- Chunping Alex Wu
Survival Chinese for ESL Teachers Posted By: Alex Wu, B.A. B.Ed. chunpingwu2001@yahoo.com > Date: 16 April 2004 The following Essential Classroom Commands/Words for ESL Teachers in China are modified ...

Memorial to a Murdered ESL Teacher (moved to Discussions page May 3rd) -- Robin Day
Click on the link below to be re-directed.

ESL students feel very anxious when doing reading comprehension tests - Part 2 -- Nellie Deutsch
A Journal Article Critique My action research problem statement is that many of my ESL students feel very anxious when doing reading comprehension tests. As part of my literature review, I chose to ...

EFL Teacher: Roaches and a Bad Smell in my Apt. -- Robin Tim Day
These are common problems for travelling teachers, even in new apts. The causes and solutions are really simple. The bad smell is usually sewer gas. In newly developed countries sinks often drain ...

Groovy Chow in Korea -- Robin Tim Day B.Sc., M.Sc. B.Ed.
Dear ESL Teacher in Korea Here are some strange and (sometimes) wonderful foods you might want to try. 1. Turtles, cats, bunnies, eels ...You can buy many live animals in the traditional markets. ...

Survival Japanese for ESL Teachers -- Loreto O. Bagio, BS Electronics/Comm Engineer. Addendum by Marty Mette of Marty Eikaiwa
By: Loreto O. Bagio, BS Electronics and Communications Engineer, bagoven20@yahoo.com.hk Essential Classroom Commands in Japanese: 1. Kekko (desu) - (It is) Good. 2. Dame (desu) - No (don't do ...

Survival Italian for ESL Teachers -- Laura Trevisan, English Translator
Essential Classroom Commands/Words for ESL Teachers in Italy I must first explain that in the Italian language the words change when commands are directed to one person or to more than one. 1. ...

Survival Arabic for ESL Teachers -- Loreto O. Bagio, BS Electronics and Communications Engineer/Notes added by Robin Day
There are many differences in vocabulary, dialect and accent in the Arabic speaking countries. Egyptian Arabic evolved after conquest and still retains many many words dating back to pre-Islamic ...

Survival Farsi (Persian) for ESL Teachers -- Aria
Essential Classroom Commands in Farsi: 1. Beshin - Sit down! 2. Biya - Come here. 3. Be aaraami - Slowly. 4. Nakon - Don't do that! 5. Ba ajaleh - Hurry! 6. Saket baash - Be quiet! 7. Movaazeb ...

Questions and Answers about ESL Teaching in Thailand -- Teachers Worldwide
1. Q: Who can teach in Thailand? A: Actually anyone who has a teaching degree. But let’s break it down into different educational sectors: i) International schools: Most International schools do ...

Survival Korean for ESL Teachers -- Robin Tim Day, B.Sc. M.Sc. B.Ed.
Essential Classroom Commands/Words for ESL Teachers in Korea Students are motivated by fun and it is the most important ingredient in a successful class. These expressions will help a new teacher a ...
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