3 Activities to Try with your English Language Learners

This post was originally published on Edutopia.  Back-to-school is upon many of us, I say many of us because in Canada we don’t start school until September. However, many of my US colleagues are preparing to be back next week or are already back in the classroom! The first week of school is often so … Continue reading 3 Activities to Try with your English Language Learners

Challenges Faced By Women Teachers & Ways To Respond To Them

Being a woman teacher has had its many challenges for me, but the great thing about these challenges is that I always had a strategy to deal with them. That is not to say that women should learn to deal with these challenges as a normal part of teaching. In fact, I hope by discussing … Continue reading Challenges Faced By Women Teachers & Ways To Respond To Them

Strategies for Reading Non-Fiction with ELL

Being an English Language Learner in a mainstream classroom can be a very overwhelming experience for the student. Often, my English Language Learners need extra help when it comes to reading non-fiction articles in the class. Modifying the reading assignment is the first step, but there are times when it’s hard to modify an assignment … Continue reading Strategies for Reading Non-Fiction with ELL

What Do Teachers Do After Saying Goodbye to the Classroom?

This interview was originally published on Medium's Bright: Rusul Alrubail, The Writing Project, Toronto The art of the essay Not all exits from the classroom are expected, or desired. Rusul Alrubail, 29, was an English composition and literature teacher at Toronto’s Seneca College for five years when she and her contract faculty colleagues were abruptly … Continue reading What Do Teachers Do After Saying Goodbye to the Classroom?

Ways To Build ‘Authentic Engagement’ & Not ‘Strategic Compliance’

Originally posted on Larry Ferlazzo's Education Week Teacher Column: Student participation is a very important aspect in classroom learning for teachers and students. There are several strategies that teachers can implement and practice in their classroom to support student participation. These strategies are long term pedagogical goals for teachers. It is the hope that if they … Continue reading Ways To Build ‘Authentic Engagement’ & Not ‘Strategic Compliance’

Ways To Help Students Develop Digital Portfolios

This post was originally published on Education Week for Larry Ferlazzo's EdWeek Teacher blog: Digital portfolios can be a very useful tool to enhance students' social and cultural learning in an English Language classroom. Teachers can use digital portfolios as a platform for students to show their work. More importantly, students can use them as … Continue reading Ways To Help Students Develop Digital Portfolios