http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/?utm_source=rss A column about teaching Copyright 2013, Thinkmap Inc. All Rights Reserved. en Mon, 17 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/images/common/logo_on_white.gif http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/?utm_source=rss Teachers at Work http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/turning-the-page-short-fiction-for-english-language-learners?utm_source=rss Getting to grips with stories in the EFL environment is more than simply dealing with problematic vocabulary. It's all to do with context, and how words work together to form a greater whole. Finding the right trigger means students being able to exceed the "normal" lexical load. Mon, 17 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/turning-the-page-short-fiction-for-english-language-learners Teachers at Work http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/writing-prompts-for-students-how-to-strike-the-right-balance?utm_source=rss How much is too much? Currently a commercial for AT&T is asking if more is better, and, of course, the little kids sitting in the circle clamor that more is definitely better. In the world of writing prompts, though, more or less becomes one of those debatable things. Be too specific, and a teacher may actually be limiting student creativity. Yet, being too vague might frazzle kids completely. Tue, 04 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/writing-prompts-for-students-how-to-strike-the-right-balance Teachers at Work http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/always-never-something-eliminating-five-overused-words?utm_source=rss Having logged many years teaching English and theatre at New York City high schools, Shannon Reed now teaches freshman English Composition at the University of Pittsburgh. Here Shannon shows how teachers can work with students to improve their writing by focusing on five overused words. Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/always-never-something-eliminating-five-overused-words Teachers at Work http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/signs-of-possessiveness-the-revenge-of-the-apostrophe?utm_source=rss Worthies from the County of Devon in southwest England caused a bit of a ruckus recently when the local government announced that they were abandoning the use of the apostrophe on all street signs in the county. This, they claimed, was to avoid "the confusion" that they thought its retention would bring. What's more — or more inaccurately "whats more" — they said that this was merely a clarifiction of what had been common practice for a long time. Thu, 04 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/signs-of-possessiveness-the-revenge-of-the-apostrophe Teachers at Work http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/lori-wilfong-on-the-dos-and-donts-of-vocabulary-instruction?utm_source=rss In this interview, Lori Wilfong, author of Vocabulary Strategies That Work — Do This, Not That!, describes some of her pet peeves about traditional vocabulary instruction and gives us some fresh ideas about how teachers can enliven their practice with student-generated definitions, word walls, and word jars. Thu, 07 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/lori-wilfong-on-the-dos-and-donts-of-vocabulary-instruction Teachers at Work http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/of-stuff-and-things?utm_source=rss Over the years of teaching English as a foreign language, I've noticed how some of my students adopt some of the throwaway words and phrases that I use unthinkingly. The two words that are adopted most are stuff and thing (though I just as easily say thingy while waving a hand to indicate that I don't know or can't remember the correct word). Tue, 29 Jan 2013 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/of-stuff-and-things Teachers at Work http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/schools-are-more-than-a-test?utm_source=rss After a trying few weeks, English teacher Michele Dunaway has arrived at some insights about what kids learn in school: "Here are the things schools teach, the things schools and teachers do that can never be addressed or assessed by fill-in-the-bubbles." Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/schools-are-more-than-a-test Teachers at Work http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/no-laptops-classroom-bans-on-digital-devices-are-spreading?utm_source=rss The new semester is starting, and a colleague proudly announced on Facebook that he is banning laptops, tablets, and cell phones in his classes because students are using them to go on Facebook. Other colleagues, who seem always to be trumpeting their support for the digital revolution on their own Facebooks, promptly "commented" their own plans to institute classroom bans on these attention-sapping devices. Tue, 15 Jan 2013 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/no-laptops-classroom-bans-on-digital-devices-are-spreading Teachers at Work http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/one-teachers-new-years-resolutions?utm_source=rss Michele Dunaway teaches English and journalism at Francis Howell High School in St. Charles, Missouri (when she's not writing best-selling romance novels). As 2012 begins, she's been thinking about some New Year's resolutions for the classroom. Here she shares seven of them. Wed, 09 Jan 2013 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/one-teachers-new-years-resolutions Teachers at Work http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/class-discussions-that-work?utm_source=rss Okay, I'll commit educational blasphemy. I'm not a fan of whole-class/large-group discussions. I don't care what you name them (one of the most common monikers is Socratic seminars), but get more than 10 people in a group and it becomes a license to zone out. Tue, 18 Dec 2012 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/class-discussions-that-work