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1. Practical Activities for Balanced Listening Instruction

   In: American English Webinars Format(s): Text, Video

   This webinar will introduce activities to develop students' listening skills in all of these areas; these activities can make your listening instruction both easier and more effective.

2. Keep it Moving: Ideas for Fun, Active Classroom Activities

   In: American English Webinars Format(s): Text, Video

   During this session, Regional English Language Officer Kevin McCaughey shares his approach to a dynamic classroom space: The Movable Class. Kevin explains how this approach will help you to use more group work, design student-centered activities, and become a more confident classroom manager, all while you and your students have more fun!

3. Morning Discussion as a Communicative Activity

   In: English Teaching Forum 2004, Volume 42, Issue 4 Format(s): Text

   This article describes freshman university students in China. They started their day with Morning Discussion, a student-hosted discussion of relevant topics. BBC and VOA reports were useful sources. The discussions offered opportunities for negotiation, clarification, and building communicative competence. As students took responsibility for the topics, classroom set up, and participation, their confidence grew. This was very successful, as shown by comments in students’ weekly diaries. Instructors stayed out of debates and did not interrupt to offer corrections.

4. Understanding Culturally Responsive Social and Emotional Learning in Language Classrooms

   In: American English Webinars Format(s): Text, Video

   This session, "Understanding Culturally Responsive Social and Emotional Learning in Language Classrooms," explores the importance of leveraging our students' cultural backgrounds in the ELT classroom as well as the value that social and emotional learning (SEL) has on students’ academic and lifelong success.

5. Process Writing and the Internet: Blogs and Ning Networks in the Classroom

   In: English Teaching Forum 2011, Volume 49, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This article presents a student-centered technique for teaching writing to ESL and EFL students who are familiar with Internet-based technology. There are two classroom lessons which use blogs (an Internet-based diary tool accessible by many) and Ning networks (an Internet-based network created for small groups for a small fee). A process-writing concept focuses on students’ social relationships and interests. Step-by-step directions are included for teachers and students who may be less familiar with these two technologies.

6. Mind Mirror Projects: A Tool for Integrating Critical Thinking into the English Language Classroom

   In: English Teaching Forum 2009, Volume 47, Number 1 Format(s): Text

   Students often have difficulty 'reading between the lines.' This article suggests the use of mind mirror activities as a tool to improve students' critical thinking and learning skills (e.g., analysis, categorization, clarification, inferencing). The author describes a successful five-day group project from his own classroom that ended in students sharing their work through poster presentations.

7. Livening Up College English Classes with Games

   In: English Teaching Forum 2009, Volume 47, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   This article discusses the use of games in teaching college-level English as a second language (ESL) classes. It describes how teachers can use games such as Taboo to change the direction of teaching from being teacher-centered to student-centered. The article addresses problems such as classroom management and the time spent adapting or creating games and presents useful tips for teachers to consider related to the use of games as a teaching tool.

8. Integrating Language Skills through a Dictogloss Procedure

   In: English Teaching Forum 2014, Volume 52, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   The co-authors of this article present interactive and student-centered dictogloss activities as alternatives to dictation exercises.

9. Sing Out Loud Word Play: Music Resources for English Language Teachers

   In: American English Webinars Format(s): Text, Video

   This session, "Sing Out Loud! Wordplay: Music Resources for English Language Teachers," shares a new resource you can find on the American English website—diverse, music-based instructional materials that include free, downloadable audio tracks, videos, and classroom-ready activities. These low-prep activities are student-centered and fun for both teachers and learners!

10. Understanding and Teaching Generation Y

    In: English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 1 Format(s): Text

    This article responds to the challenges of teaching Generation Y students, who are tech-savvy and feedback-dependent visual learners. Because "Gen Y" students are less likely to engage with traditional classroom teaching methods, this article is helpful in identifying specific activities teachers can employ to utilize students' attraction to digital media, multi-tasking, and a sense of global purpose.

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