Monthly Archives: April 2020

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Perfect Attendance Pencil

Level: B1 and up

One of my personal favorite lessons on Teacher-Parent-Student roles and responsibilities.

Before the lesson: Send SS a link to this post:

https://www.instagram.com/tv/B79jz-iHDAq/?igshid=1d95kqebb5rgr

At the beginning of the lesson show your SS Attendance Award Pencil or a picture of one. Like this one here:

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Discuss with your SS:

What happened to the girl?

How does she feel about it?

How do you feel about the situation?

 

The video of Taylor went viral. As a result she was invited to The Ellen Show:

Watch the video and answer the questions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKn4naaLuqs

  • On the scale from one to ten, how mad was Taylor? Why?
  • Has Taylor ever used the eraser? Why?
  • Was this the first time Taylor got the perfect attendance pencil?
  • When did Taylor realize her pencil was missing?
  • What did Taylor get from Ellen?
  • What does Taylor want to do when she grows up? Why?
  • What does Taylor get at the end of the show?

 

Discussion: The situation rises several issues and involves lots of people. Taylor, her friend Lizzie, Taylor’s mom, teacher, school authorities.

Discuss the issues mentioned in the comments below the video:

  • To teacher: First, I want to give the teacher the biggest side-eye. Why would you bother to give a child a perfect attendance pencil if it was free for all to use? Do not give me that “sharing is caring” baloney. While I believe in teaching a child to share, boys and girls should have the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their work. Also, they should be given the opportunity to share or to refuse. Either enforce that this is Taylor’s pencil only, or just give everyone the same pencil. Rules and structures should not be malleable.

 

  • To Taylor’s mom: I know that you are raising a beautiful daughter. I love how articulate she is. It was such a joy listening to her story. It sounds like you are raising an outstanding child. Just know that I am only commenting here as you put this story out there, and it went viral. That said, I would love it if you would stand up for her in this situation. Yes, it is nice for children to learn to be the bigger person, but it is also good for them to learn to enforce proper boundaries with others. If something has gone awry, they need to be able to rely on us for support.

 

  • To school authorities: Why do you give kids rewards for attendance? It’s like giving awards for not being ill? Or for coming to school despite feeling down or being ill? It’s discrimination!!! My son skips a day at school every fortnight because of his medical condition. Guess how he’s feeling when the perfect attendance pencils are distributed?

 

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Tighter Dress Code for Teachers

Level: B1 and up (first part great for Young Learners too)

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During the Covid-19 quarantine I struggle every morning to get dressed. Why would I want to get changed? Pajamas seem absolutely fine for online classes.

Do other people, my students in particular, experience that too?

Start the class with a discussion:

Has the quarantine changed the way you dress? How?

Then let the fun begin. Imagine that the quarantine is over and you can go out tonight. Invite ss to run to their closets and get changed for:

  • Movie theater
  • Date
  • Party in a club
  • Wedding
  • Other occasion of their choice

It’s gonna work best if you get changed too. Then let everyone talk about their outfits. Clothes vocabulary and second conditional will come handy for this lesson.

Next step is a video. TYT show on Paris Monroe also known as #TeacherBae

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F291o8Wx-LE

Monroe is an American teacher who gained a lot of attention by posting classroom photos on Instagram. It was followed by lots of discussion on appropriate dress code for teachers at school.

Before watching the video present and practice vocab here:

https://quizlet.com/502633359/tighter-dress-code-flash-cards/

The hosts are Alonso Duralde, Kenny Hamilton and Grace Baldridge. What do they think about these issues?

  • (00.00-02.30) Paris Monroe’s attire is appropriate for school.
  • (02.30-03.40) Women know if their outfit attracts attention.
  • (03.40-06.25) Attractive men are treated differently than attractive women.

Obviously let the ss express their own opinions on the issues above.

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Where are these pillows from?

Level: B1 and up (you might want to use the questions even with Young Learners)

Since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic I was trying to think of a way to share how we do our online classes.

The thing is, they don’t look much different than our classroom lessons.

What you should keep in mind is that, it’s close to impossible to learn a language without another human being. You need someone to communicate with in order to learn a language.

Doing multiple-choice-gap-fill-odd-one-out-jumbled-sentence type of activities might be an easy way to run that online class. But don’t fool yourself. Nobody has ever learned a language by filling gaps.

That is why our lessons are all about communication.

This is an example of such a class.

Talk with SS about Corona Virus influence on their life.

There are some conditional clauses used in the video. Pre-teach them if needed.

The SS might also not know who OMKalen and Ellen DeGeneres are. As a pre-watch activity you might want to see their Instagram accounts or see some of their videos.

Enjoy.

24 questions Worksheetpdf icon

24 questions Answers pdf icon

 

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