Stay up-to-date with ELT trends and ideas with articles from experts and teachers in the field.

Articles

<p>As we approach the end of the year, now is a good time to ponder English language teaching (ELT) trends for 2023.</p>

<p>When Ellii asked me to write this post, I started noting some of my own ideas. However, ELT is a huge industry. I wanted to make sure that my post truly reflected trends across the industry.</p>

<p>It would be all too easy to be blinkered by my own echo chamber, so I posted my question on social media.</p>

<p>The responses were both reassuringly similar to my own, but also rich in diverse and innovative teaching and learning methodologies.</p>

<p>Here are six English language teaching&nbsp;trends you can expect to see more of in 2023.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>1. Green ELT</h2>

<p>As the climate crisis accelerates, so&nbsp;does the interest in environmental topics in the ELT classroom.</p>

<p>In 2019, Dan Barber declared a climate emergency at the closing plenary of the Innovate ELT conference. Following that, Barber, Ceri Jones, Katherine Bilsborough, and Christopher Graham founded <a href="https://eltfootprint.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">ELT Footprint</a>, an ELTon-winning collaboration focused on making ELT more sustainable.</p>

<p>Since then, there&rsquo;s been a growing number of green ELT organizations and industry leaders getting involved:&nbsp;<a href="https://renewableenglish.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Renewable English</a>, <a href="https://green-action-elt.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Green Action&nbsp;ELT</a>, and Colm Downes who published <a href="https://twitter.com/ColminIndonesia/status/1598033099161419776?s=20&amp;t=A9Da9kDC_CONPwzX-Vf2cw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">this informative Twitter thread</a>.</p>

<p>The appetite for green discussions, carbon-neutral conferences, and more environmentally focused resources in ELT is growing. I&rsquo;m also noticing more integration and reference to the <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">UN&rsquo;s Sustainable Development Goals</a>.</p>

<p>Harry Waters, founder of&nbsp;Renewable English, had this to say:</p>

<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-7b5402a0-7fff-d423-48ba-8e1d35a6cb19"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2968/content_1-Ellii-ELT-Trends-2023-Climate.jpg" /></b></p>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">Collection</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/search?query=environment"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2955/content_The-Environment.jpg" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/global-issues/the-environment" target="_blank">The Environment</a></h2>

<p>From heat waves to ecotherapy, Ellii&#39;s&nbsp;Environment collection is an excellent way to teach green in 2023.&nbsp;</p>
</div>

<h2>2. DEIB: Diversity, equity,&nbsp;inclusion &amp; belonging</h2>

<p>Diversity, equity,&nbsp;inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) will continue to play an important part in the ELT industry in&nbsp;2023. English language teaching, by its very nature, is beautifully multicultural and diverse. Our learners represent all ages, races, genders, (dis)abilities, religions, sexual orientations, marital statuses, family backgrounds, etc.</p>

<p>The pursuit of equity for all is not new,&nbsp;but it will continue into 2023 and beyond. There are ever-growing discussions, webinars, and resources on making the world a fairer place.</p>

<p>This includes&nbsp;topics like:</p>

<ul>
	<li>creating accessible learning materials</li>
	<li>supporting learners with special educational needs</li>
	<li>multicultural inclusion</li>
	<li>LGBTQ+ rights</li>
	<li>native-speakerism (an ideology characterized by the belief that&nbsp;people whose first language is English are best-suited to teach ELT)</li>
</ul>

<p>Meri Maroutian set up her business, <a href="https://thenonnativespeaker.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The Non-Native Speaker</a>, to advocate against native-speakerism in the ELT industry. English is a global language used internationally as a <em>lingua-franca</em> (i.e., common language). 80% of its users speak English&nbsp;as a second language. The pursuit of equity for teachers whose first language is not English and for learners to embrace their accents and own style of English usage continues.</p>

<p>Lottie Galpin, a DEIB&nbsp;specialist who helps editors, writers, and publishers&nbsp;create outstanding, inclusive materials, had this to say:</p>

<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-37b25092-7fff-7cf2-8eae-5b4cd655f0a1"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2969/content_2-Ellii-ELT-Trends-2023-Accessibility.jpg" /></b></p>

<p>To join the discussion and learn more about diversity and inclusion, the <a href="https://m.facebook.com/groups/321378049189535/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Reflecting Reality: Diverse and Inclusive ELT Materials Facebook group</a> is a great place to start.</p>

<h3>Related articles on inclusive English language teaching</h3>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/accessibility-supporting-english-learners-with-dyslexia" target="_blank">Accessibility: Supporting English Learners with Dyslexia</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/support-english-learners-from-refugee-backgrounds" target="_blank">6 Ways to Support English Learners from Refugee Backgrounds</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-promote-mental-health-in-the-classroom" target="_blank">5 Ways to Promote Mental Health in the English Language Classroom</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tips-for-developing-students-digital-literacy" target="_blank">8 Tips for Developing Students&#39; Digital Literacy</a></li>
</ul>

<h2>3. Virtual reality</h2>

<p>Talking about virtual reality (VR) feels like a moment when you realize you&rsquo;re living in the future! VR wasn&rsquo;t something I identified as an ELT trend for 2023, but it was suggested twice in the comments and has made me realize just how much I&rsquo;ve been noticing it more and more on my social feeds.</p>

<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-ccca9ebc-7fff-9748-837b-445cc0caad62"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2970/content_3-Ellii-ELT-Trends-2023-VR.jpg" /></b></p>

<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-ac9edfa3-7fff-b430-28fd-176edd2fa9cc"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2971/content_4-Ellii-ELT-Trends-2023-Digital.jpg" /></b></p>

<p><a href="http://www.immerse.online/blog/spain-research-reveals-benefits-of-vr-language-learning" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Research</a> has found the following benefits of VR:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Students spoke at a higher level after using VR (B1 instead of A2).</li>
	<li>Vocabulary retention is higher with VR.</li>
	<li>VR supports the use of positional language (e.g., &quot;up there&quot;).</li>
	<li>Students retained emergent language while using VR.</li>
	<li>Anxious students were more confident when using VR rather than in class.</li>
</ul>

<h3>VR-related materials for the classroom:</h3>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/photo-prompts/4161-virtual-reality" target="_blank">Virtual Reality</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/discussion-starters/3969-the-metaverse" target="_blank">The Metaverse</a></li>
</ul>

<h2>4. Mediation</h2>

<p>In an ELT context, mediation refers to the ability to convey meaning. Essentially, it&rsquo;s explaining concepts, knowledge, or understanding to others&nbsp;in a way that supports learning.</p>

<p>For example:</p>

<ul>
	<li>relaying the information from a text</li>
	<li>describing a visual, graph, or chart</li>
	<li>summarizing a source of information (e.g., an infographic/video)</li>
	<li>translating and sharing key points</li>
</ul>

<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-0127ac7d-7fff-6de5-5553-1532a15c6e1c"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2972/content_5-Ellii-ELT-Trends-2023-Mediation.jpg" /></b></p>

<p>Including mediation activities in the classroom supports learners&#39; development of real-world skills, such as communication and note-taking.</p>

<p><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2952/content_Ellii-ELT-Trends-2023-Mediation.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">Mediation activities and strategies&nbsp;from the <a href="https://rm.coe.int/common-european-framework-of-reference-for-languages-learning-teaching/16809ea0d4%20target=" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><em>Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment</em></a>.</p>

<h2>5. Life skills</h2>

<p>As language teachers, we want our learners to succeed in the real world as well as in the classroom. This involves incorporating life skills<strong> </strong>into our classes.</p>

<p>Life skills are often referred to as &quot;soft skills,&quot; &quot;21st-century skills,&quot; or &quot;transferable skills.&quot; They include skills such as communication, social, academic, critical thinking, problem-solving, digital, and work.</p>

<p>Their importance to student success is what will keep&nbsp;them trending in the ELT industry throughout 2023.</p>

<p><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2973/content_6-Ellii-ELT-Trends-2023-List.jpg" /></p>

<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-010465b9-7fff-0eb3-847b-38fd51c8722d"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2974/content_7-Ellii-ELT-Trends-2023-analytical-critical-thinking.jpg" /></b></p>

<h3>Boost your students&#39; life skills with these lessons</h3>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/role-plays/1320-socializing" target="_blank">Socializing</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/functional-business/3852-resolving-work-conflicts" target="_blank">Resolving Work Conflicts</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/writing-in-english/3968-how-to-write-an-opinion" target="_blank">How to Write an Opinion</a></li>
</ul>

<h2>6. Task-based teaching, learning &amp; assessment</h2>

<p>Task-based learning (TBL) has been around for years and will continue its popularity in 2023.</p>

<p>The approach is based on giving students a task to complete and allowing the language to emerge naturally throughout the course of the lesson.</p>

<p>A favorite task-based activity of mine is giving students a pile of scrap materials and asking them to work together to build a bridge. Students then collaborate in groups to construct something that&nbsp;is stable and can hold the weight of a toy car. Throughout the lesson, language such as &quot;I think we should fold this paper,&quot;&nbsp;&quot;Pass the sticky tape&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;Wouldn&rsquo;t it be stronger if we&hellip;&quot;&nbsp;emerges.</p>

<p>Task-based learning offers a natural way for students to use and develop their language skills. It&rsquo;s also a great way to incorporate life skills and real-world tasks into the classroom.</p>

<p>From an assessment perspective, it&#39;s beneficial in ensuring that assessments become part of the learning process.</p>

<p>Project-based learning is similar to TBL in that it gives learners a task to complete over a period of time.</p>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">Lesson Category</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/group-projects"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2956/content_group-projects.jpg" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/group-projects" target="_blank">Group Projects</a></h2>

<p>These project-based learning modules&nbsp;are intended as group projects that can be completed within a two- to four-week time period along with other coursework.&nbsp;The projects include research tasks and presentations that are useful for individual, peer, and group assessment.</p>
</div>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Share your thoughts</h5>

<p>What English language teaching trends do you expect to see in 2023? Share your ideas in the comments!</p>
</div>


6 English Language Teaching Trends to Watch in 2023

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<p>Did you know that December 22, 2022, is Ellii&rsquo;s official 20th birthday?</p>

<p>Earlier this year, we celebrated 20 years of providing great content for great teachers by <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-our-new-name-ellii" target="_blank">changing our name</a> to better reflect who we are and what we do to empower educators.</p>

<p>As we wrap up our 20th year in business, we can&rsquo;t help but reflect on how far we&rsquo;ve come.</p>

<h2>A little bit of backstory</h2>

<p>In 2002, our CEO, Ben Buckwold, founded Ellii (formerly known as ESL Library). The idea for Ellii came out of Ben&rsquo;s own teaching experience. As a former English language teacher himself, he was no stranger to late nights of lesson planning. He knew how hard teachers had to work and how many extra hours they had to put in outside of class time.</p>

<p>Ben hoped that Ellii would save teachers time by taking the most time-consuming tasks off&nbsp;their plates. It&rsquo;s safe to say the platform has done just that and more.</p>

<p>Over the past 20 years, Ellii has grown from a small supplemental resource site to one of the world&#39;s most commonly used language teaching platforms. Today, Ellii is used in more than 10,000 schools across&nbsp;the globe.</p>

<p>Whether you&rsquo;re new to the platform or have been with us since the very beginning, we thank you for choosing Ellii and are&nbsp;thrilled to have you as&nbsp;part of our global community of teachers.</p>

<p>We&#39;re&nbsp;proud of what we&rsquo;ve built, and we can&rsquo;t wait to see how Ellii grows over the next 20 years. In the meantime, here&rsquo;s an in-depth look at Ellii&#39;s evolution over the years.</p>

<blockquote>
<h2>Ellii over the years</h2>

<p><strong>1997</strong>&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;Ben started working as an English language teacher.</p>

<p><strong>2002</strong>&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;On December 22, 2002, Ben founded Ellii! Back then, it was known as ESL Images and had 2,000 images and 40 lessons. The subsciption-based resource site primarily focused on visual learning content. On that same day, we launched our first GoogleAds campaign and got our very first customer as a result. That customer&rsquo;s name was Adam.</p>

<p><strong>2004</strong>&nbsp;&ndash; With&nbsp;more than 200 lessons on the site, we changed our name to ESL Library, a name we kept for 18 years!</p>

<p><strong>2006</strong>&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;We launched EnglishAvenue, a companion site that solely focused on children&rsquo;s content.</p>

<p><strong>2008</strong>&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;One month after Apple launched the App Store, we released Conversation English, the first English learning app in the world. It ranked number 1 in education apps and made the list of top 50 overall apps in several countries.</p>

<p><strong>2010</strong>&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;One month after the iPad was released, we released a series of iPad language learning apps.</p>

<p><strong>2013</strong>&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;We renamed EnglishAvenue to SproutEnglish.</p>

<p><strong>2018</strong>&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;We merged ESL Library and SproutEnglish into one platform under the ESL Library brand,&nbsp;gearing our content to learners of all ages. We also hit 1,000 lessons! We began offering digital interactive versions of our content and launched student accounts too.</p>

<p><strong>2021</strong>&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;We hosted our <a href="https://ellii.com/conference/2021" target="_blank">first virtual conference</a> to explore current teaching trends and the future of education technology.</p>

<p><strong>2022</strong>&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;We <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-our-new-name-ellii" target="_blank">changed our name to Ellii</a> to better reflect who we are, what we do, and how we&rsquo;ve changed. We also published our 2,000th lesson, hit 10 million views on<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@Ellii" target="_blank"> our YouTube channel</a>,&nbsp;and hosted <a href="https://ellii.com/conference/2022" target="_blank">ElliiCon2022</a>, our second virtual conference&nbsp;where we explored strategies for building stronger relationships with students.</p>
</blockquote>


Celebrating & Looking Back on 20 Years of Ellii

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<p>In many countries, December is a month of festivities. There&rsquo;s <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/holidays-events/1854-christmas" target="_blank">Christmas</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/holidays-events/1857-chanukah" target="_blank">Chanukah</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/holidays-events/1873-new-year-s" target="_blank">New Year&#39;s</a>, and <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/holidays-events/1856-kwanzaa" target="_blank">Kwanzaa</a> to be celebrated, and undoubtedly some I&rsquo;ve missed.</p>

<p>I teach multicultural classes in the largest college in Scotland. My learners get two weeks off for their winter break, which is traditionally based around Christmas and New Year&#39;s. Their spring holidays are also scheduled around Easter.</p>

<p>However, many of my learners do not celebrate these events, so it&rsquo;s important to <strong>make the holidays as inclusive as possible</strong>. Here are a few different ways I like to promote inclusivity in the classroom during the festive season.</p>

<h2>Use holiday-inclusive language</h2>

<p>Using the terms &quot;winter&quot; and &quot;spring&quot;&nbsp;is one way to help everyone feel ownership towards the holidays. Ask your students which winter&nbsp;holidays or spring holidays they like to celebrate at home.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Introduce students to different holidays and celebrations</h2>

<p>Most of my learners are new(ish) to Scotland and are curious about the celebrations. They often ask for <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/holidays-events" target="_blank">themed lessons</a> when it comes to Christmas, Valentine&rsquo;s, Easter, and Halloween. Introducing and exploring one festival can be a great way to start discussions on special events that&nbsp;are important to them.</p>

<p>For example, in this&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/holidays-events/1946-christmas" target="_blank">Christmas lesson</a>, you could ask learners to consider what vocabulary or items they associate with their own celebrations.</p>

<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-da343e53-7fff-f574-ca45-166bee271fa0"><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/holidays-events/1946-christmas" target="_blank"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2911/content_Christmas-Lesson_Ellii.jpg" /></a></b></p>

<p>You could refer to other Ellii <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/holidays-events" target="_blank">Holidays &amp; Events&nbsp;lessons</a>&nbsp;or <a href="https://ellii.com/search/flashcards?query=holidays&amp;button=" target="_blank">flashcards</a> when you do this. They&nbsp;have a comprehensive bank for almost every holiday imaginable&mdash;Holi, Nauruz, Diwali, Bastille Day, Waitangi, Cinco de Mayo, Lunar New Year, etc.</p>

<p>Here&rsquo;s some vocabulary practice from the <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/holidays-events/3552-ramadan" target="_blank">Ramadan lesson</a>:</p>

<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-a1de9ae8-7fff-1aa7-5cb4-d9f658126645"><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/holidays-events/3552-ramadan" target="_blank"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2912/content_Ramadan-Lesson_Ellii.jpg" /></a></b></p>

<h2>Encourage students to share&nbsp;how they celebrate different events</h2>

<p>As with any &quot;cultural&quot; lessons, I always add the caveat that <strong>everyone celebrates in their own personal way</strong>.</p>

<p>For example, at Christmas, the menu doesn&rsquo;t always include turkey, nor does every household decorate a tree. I do neither of those things, though I do visit my family and give small gifts.</p>

<p>I love asking my learners to discuss how they celebrate different events in their own unique ways. This gives them an opportunity to consider individual differences. It also provides an opportunity for them to share their own holidays with the rest of the class.</p>

<p>Of course, some of my learners have lived in Scotland for so long that they have adopted some of the traditions.</p>

<p>I know many people of different religions who receive gifts from Santa, find the biggest tree possible, and couldn&rsquo;t possibly celebrate December 25 without a turkey. This all makes for delightfully rich class discussions.</p>

<h2>Ideas for teaching about holiday inclusivity year round&nbsp;</h2>

<p>You don&#39;t need to wait for December to start sharing holidays and celebrations in class. Creating an atmosphere of cross-cultural curiosity allows students to learn about the world&nbsp;whenever it naturally comes up in discussions.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here are a few&nbsp;ideas to help you&nbsp;support&nbsp;learners to share their own celebrations, no matter the time of year:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Ask them to bring in an item that&#39;s important for one of their holidays. Give them time to talk about it and encourage the other learners to ask questions.</li>
	<li>Host a food event!&nbsp;Ask learners to bring food they eat on special days. Facilitate discussion.</li>
	<li>Create a class calendar of events. Ask students to add their special days.</li>
	<li>Watch a film, video, or documentary about their special events. Facilitate discussions.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h2>Related resources&nbsp;</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="collection"><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/holidays-events/december-holidays" target="_blank">December Holidays</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/everyday-idioms-2/1781-12-home-for-the-holidays" target="_blank">Home for the Holidays</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/holidays-events" target="_blank">Holidays &amp; Events</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-write-holiday-greetings-cards-in-english" target="_blank">How to Write Holiday Greeting Cards in English</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/christmas-in-argentina" target="_blank">Christmas in Argentina</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/merry-christmas-or-happy-holidays" target="_blank">&quot;Merry Christmas&quot; or &quot;Happy Holidays&quot;? Let&#39;s Debate!</a></li>
</ul>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Share your thoughts</h5>

<p>How do you make teaching about holidays and special events inclusive? Share your comments below! We&rsquo;d love to hear from you.</p>
</div>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Inclusive Festivities: How to Value Every Learner's Holidays

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Tour around the ELT conference circuit as our team shares conference highlights and session reviews.

Conferences

<p>Have you heard about the&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/esl-talk/id1548652844" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><em>ESL Talk</em>&nbsp;podcast</a>?</p>

<p>As described on their Apple Podcast page,&nbsp;<em>ESL Talk</em>&nbsp;is &ldquo;a podcast for English teachers by English teachers.&rdquo; In each episode, the hosts and their guests discuss various teaching topics, methods, and approaches pertaining to ESL teachers. It&#39;s a fantastic way to&nbsp;hone your English teaching skills&nbsp;and stay current in the field.</p>

<p>Here are three&nbsp;key takeaways from&nbsp;<em>ESL Talk</em>&#39;s episode on&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/fostering-independent-learning/id1548652844?i=1000540594466" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">fostering independent learning</a>&nbsp;that you can incorporate into your teaching.</p>

<h2>1. Encourage your students to practice English outside of class time</h2>

<p>If you see your students on a regular basis, ask them at the end of each class what they&rsquo;re going to do over the following week or weekend to practice English. When you ask your students this, you&rsquo;re not just telling them that they need to study the language on their own time. You&rsquo;re taking it one step further and asking them to tell you exactly <em>how</em> they&rsquo;re going to work on improving their skills.</p>

<p>If your English learners aren&rsquo;t sure what activity they want&nbsp;to do, this&nbsp;gives you an opportunity to brainstorm some ideas with them. For example, students&nbsp;can...</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/Esl-library/playlists" target="_blank">watch one of our videos on YouTube</a> to increase their fluency</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/improve-your-listening-with-true-stories" target="_blank">listen to a podcast</a> to improve their listening skills</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/what-makes-you-cozy" target="_blank">try an activity from our blog</a> to practice their writing</li>
	<li>read a book to improve their reading skills</li>
</ul>

<p>If your students are interested in doing some extra reading, have them check out our reading recommendations:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reading-recommendations-for-your-low-int-students" target="_blank">Reading Recommendations for Your Low-Intermediate Students</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reading-recommendations-high-intermediate-students" target="_blank">Reading Recommendations for Your High-Intermediate Students</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reading-recommendations-for-advanced-students" target="_blank">Reading Recommendations for Your Advanced Students</a></li>
</ul>

<h2>2. Help your students create a practice schedule</h2>

<p>Work with each student individually to craft a schedule that works for them and that gets them into the habit of practicing English on their own time. Outlining the exact days and times your students are expected to devote to additional language learning will give them a clear and focused plan to follow.</p>

<p>To hold them accountable, have them keep a log of what they do during this time. You can also ask them to share the activities they did in&nbsp;class.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;Those who took control of their own learning were much more engaged.&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Fiona, guest speaker on <em>ESL Talk</em> podcast</p>
</blockquote>

<h2>3. Get your students to keep a reflection journal</h2>

<p>In life, we learn when we reflect. This is also true when it comes to our students&rsquo; language learning journeys.</p>

<p>When students learn something new, it&rsquo;s incredibly beneficial to have them take some time to reflect on what they&rsquo;ve learned.</p>

<p>If you&rsquo;re in a physical classroom, students can keep a physical journal. If you&rsquo;re teaching online, students can use a document in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.google.ca/docs/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Google Docs</a>. They can also use a regular piece of paper to jot down their thoughts.</p>

<p>At the end of class or at the end of a week, guide your students in a few minutes of reflection time by asking them questions like:</p>

<ul>
	<li>What did you learn?</li>
	<li>How did you feel when you were learning it?</li>
	<li>What were you proud of?</li>
	<li>What worked?</li>
	<li>What didn&rsquo;t work?</li>
	<li>What would you do differently?</li>
</ul>

<p>Here are some ready-made assessment&nbsp;tools&nbsp;you may also find useful:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2370-weekly-reflection" target="_blank">Weekly Reflection</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2225-monthly-reflection" target="_blank">Monthly Reflection</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/2557-3-2-1-reflection" target="_blank">3-2-1 Reflection</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resources/assessment-tools/3196-weekly-check-in-literacy" target="_blank">Weekly Check-In (Literacy)</a></li>
</ul>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Share your thoughts</h5>

<p>Teachers, how do you foster independent learning? Let us know in the comments below.</p>
</div>


3 Key Takeaways from ESL Talk Podcast on Fostering Independent Learning

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Learn how to make the most of your Ellii subscription with tips from our publishing team.

Teaching with Ellii

<div class="white-box">
<p>This article is part of a series of posts highlighting our community of teachers around the world. We hope you find their stories interesting and inspiring!</p>
</div>

<p>Fernando Varaschin has been teaching English on and off since 2012.</p>

<p>Currently, he&rsquo;s a full-time educator at <a href="https://www.philyoung.com/en/" tagret="_blank" target="_blank">Phil Young&rsquo;s English School</a> in Curitiba, Brazil, where he teaches pre-teens at the&nbsp;intermediate level as well as high school students and adults at the&nbsp;advanced level.</p>

<p>Fernando mostly teaches classes in person, but he also has two online classes as well as a private student.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I was never a great student,&rdquo; admitted Fernando. &ldquo;I had learning difficulties, and&nbsp;I had always thought that most of my teachers were not patient enough and that they assumed everyone learned the same way. I wanted to change that.&quot;<br />
<br />
Fernando explained that he&nbsp;wanted to be a teacher who respected students&rsquo; limitations and who taught&nbsp;different subjects using a step-by-step process&mdash;beginning&nbsp;with the simplest concepts before slowly building&nbsp;up to larger ones.</p>

<p>For Fernando, a typical day of teaching can start anywhere from 5:00 am to 7:00 am and can end as late as 10:00 pm.</p>

<p>He begins each day by checking his schedule to make sure he&rsquo;s prepared for each class, and he always arrives 15&ndash;30 minutes early to set up his classroom. In between class time, he plans upcoming lessons, marks tests and assignments, talks to parents, and attends meetings.</p>

<p>His day also involves driving between the four Curitiba branches of Phil Young&rsquo;s English School&nbsp;since he teaches at all of them.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2828/content_Fernando-Varaschin.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">Fernando Varaschin is pictured here at the front desk of one of the school branches where he teaches.</p>

<h2>How Fernando uses Ellii with his English learners</h2>

<p>Fernando uses Ellii to complement the school&rsquo;s required material.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Ellii fits in like a glove,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I have the lessons printed out for my in-person students. Sometimes, I blow [the lesson] up on the digital board so that we can work hands-free. I try to vary as much as I can so that I have a more dynamic class. But [Ellii]&rsquo;s always there and it works perfectly . . . &nbsp;we need reliable material so that we can provide our students with nothing but the best.&rdquo;</p>

<p>With Fernando&rsquo;s private students, he has them pick the Ellii lessons they&rsquo;re interested in.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I browse through the site mirroring it on Google Meet so that they can choose the topics they&#39;re interested in,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;The only thing I do is&nbsp;pick the grammar topics.&rdquo;</p>

<h2>Overcoming the challenges of teaching</h2>

<p>For Fernando, the most challenging part about teaching a big class&nbsp;is giving each student&nbsp;enough attention.</p>

<p>&ldquo;As a teacher, I try my best to encompass everyone and make sure that everybody gets the same amount of attention,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;Although, that&#39;s a hard thing to do given that sometimes students are not exactly at the level that they&#39;re supposed to be. . . . as a teacher trainer at our school once said, &#39;How can I bring that one student out from the shadows?&#39;&nbsp;In other words, how can I get him or her to participate more?&rdquo;</p>

<p>Despite the challenges, Fernando loves being a teacher.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I love what I do and I intend to continue to do it for as long as I can. I&rsquo;m always looking to get better and better at it.&rdquo;</p>

<p>His advice for aspiring teachers?</p>

<p>&quot;Be patient with your students and keep in mind that different people learn in different ways.&rdquo;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Want the chance to be featured in our Teacher Feature series? Visit our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/20th-anniversary-giveaway" target="_blank">20th Anniversary Giveaway</a>&nbsp;blog post&nbsp;to tell us why you love Ellii and how you use it in your classroom.</p>
</blockquote>


Teacher Feature: Fernando Varaschin

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<p><strong>Attention Deficit Hyperactivity&nbsp;Disorder (ADHD)</strong> is a neurodiversity that affects people&rsquo;s ability to concentrate.</p>

<p>Students with ADHD may have <strong>difficulty focusing</strong> when there are many things happening at once. For example, background noises or movements while completing an assignment or quiz&nbsp;may be overwhelming and distracting.</p>

<p>Alternatively, students with ADHD may have difficulty focusing when there is&nbsp;too much silence. In this case, <a href="https://chadd.org/adhd-weekly/white-noise-for-staying-on-task/#:~:text=For%20adults%20with%20ADHD%2C%20those,from%20an%20overhead%20air%20vent." target="_blank">white noise can be helpful for them</a>. For example, having a fan on, playing quiet music, or providing the student with headphones that play white noise.</p>

<p>Some learners with ADHD may also <strong>appear hyperactive</strong>. They might have lots of energy, be very talkative,&nbsp;or act impulsively.</p>

<p>Whether you&#39;re teaching English to children, teenagers, or adults, students with&nbsp;ADHD often find it more difficult to do well in school. So how can we&nbsp;as teachers&nbsp;better support them&nbsp;in their language learning journey?</p>

<p>From understanding your student&#39;s&nbsp;daily challenges to implementing accessible classroom strategies, here&#39;s what you need&nbsp;to know about supporting students with&nbsp;ADHD.</p>

<h2>Understand what students with ADHD struggle with</h2>

<p>Students with ADHD may have difficulty with...</p>

<ul>
	<li>timekeeping</li>
	<li>organization</li>
	<li>listening to and following instructions</li>
	<li>sitting still for long periods of time</li>
	<li>task completion</li>
	<li>focus</li>
	<li>stress management</li>
	<li>assessing risky situations</li>
	<li>forgetfulness and misplacing items</li>
</ul>

<h2>8 strategies&nbsp;for teaching learners with ADHD</h2>

<p>Use these eight accessible classroom strategies to help you overcome common challenges and help your students with ADHD reach language learning success.</p>

<h3>1. Teach the individual</h3>

<p>Every learner is different, so it&rsquo;s important to talk to them (and their parents) to find out what works for them. Learn what they find challenging and how you can help.</p>

<h3>2. Give clear instructions</h3>

<p>Try to keep instructions as short as possible. Breaking large tasks into <strong>smaller tasks</strong> and&nbsp;then <strong>giving each instruction one at a time</strong>&nbsp;can make learning more accessible to all learners.</p>

<p>You may wish to give your instructions in a variety of ways:&nbsp;orally, written, as a diagram, or with a drawing. You could also ask students to repeat or rephrase the instruction to check they have understood.</p>

<h3>3. Build confidence</h3>

<p>As with many learners, students with ADHD can often have low confidence or self-esteem. <strong>Praise their achievements</strong> and support them to look back on&nbsp;their learning journey. Reward them as they develop new skills.</p>

<h3>4. Minimize distractions</h3>

<p>Students with ADHD may find noises such as phone notifications, background chatter, or music distracting. They may be able to focus better in quiet places. <strong>Allow them to choose a seat somewhere that has fewer distractions</strong> or let them wear noise-canceling headphones for tasks that require concentration. For added focus, you can set the noise-canceling headphones to play white noise or soft&nbsp;instrumental music.</p>

<p>Visual distractions such as what&rsquo;s happening in the corridor, out the window, on a screen, or even in other group discussions may also reduce focus. Discuss with them the best place to sit in these situations.</p>

<h3>5. Allow movement and fidgets</h3>

<p>Sitting for long periods of time can be challenging and demotivating. Getting students up and moving around the class is a good way to energize the whole class.</p>

<p>Activities such as <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/4-fun-ways-to-warm-up-a-new-class" target="_blank">Find Someone Who&hellip;</a>, running dictations, <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/role-plays" target="_blank">role-plays</a>, Pictionary, or Charades are great ways to do this.</p>

<p>You may also wish to let students <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/graphic-facilitation-101" target="_blank">make sketchnotes</a> as they listen or play with a fidget toy. These can reduce anxiety and aid focus.</p>

<h3>6. Train students to take their time</h3>

<p>Students with ADHD may complete tasks quickly and need support to check their work for errors.</p>

<p>Encourage learners to read instructions carefully or multiple times. Proofread their work and <strong>aim for quality over speed</strong>.</p>

<h3>7. Practice mindfulness</h3>

<p>Some learners may also benefit from <a href="https://chadd.org/attention-article/from-my-classroom-to-yours-supporting-adhd-with-mindfulness-techniques/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">practicing mindfulness</a>. This has been found to help people with ADHD focus on the present task and identify their emotions. However, it can be challenging for some to do this for extended periods of time, so short meditations or impromptu breathing&nbsp;exercises may be a good starting point.</p>

<h3>8. Use study planners</h3>

<p>To support students to develop their timekeeping and organization skills, try creating study timetables together and practice writing &quot;to-do&quot;&nbsp;lists.</p>

<p>You could also support them by helping them identify which daily tasks to prioritize and how to minimize distractions from their study schedules.</p>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Share your thoughts</h5>

<p>What experience do you have with ADHD?&nbsp;What has worked for you or your learners? Every situation is different so we&rsquo;d really love to know. Share your thoughts in the comments!</p>
</div>

<h2>Related resources</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/accessibility-supporting-english-learners-with-dyslexia" target="_blank">Accessibility: Supporting English Learners with Dyslexia</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/accessibility-supporting-blind-low-vision-learners" target="_blank">Accessibility: Supporting Blind &amp; Low-Vision Learners</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/activity-to-boost-confidence-and-well-being" target="_blank">A Quick Activity to Boost Confidence &amp; Well-Being: Inner Troll Vs. Inner Angel</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/5-ways-to-make-students-feel-comfortable-in-your-class" target="_blank">5 Ways to Make Students Feel Comfortable in Your Class</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/practicing-mindfulness-in-the-classroom" target="_blank">Practicing Mindfulness in the Classroom</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/functional-english/2119-following-instructions" target="_blank">Following Instructions</a></li>
</ul>


Accessibility: Supporting Students with ADHD

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<p>I stumbled upon a treasure trove of inspiration while writing my last blog post on <a href="http://ellii.com/blog/how-to-use-videos-in-class">using video in class</a>.</p>

<p>I hadn&rsquo;t realized&nbsp;that Ellii has more than&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/silent-clips" target="_blank">60 silent video clips</a>&nbsp;spanning across categories like <a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/silent-clips/body-language" target="_blank">Body Language</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/silent-clips/holidays-celebrations" target="_blank">Holidays &amp; Celebrations</a>.&nbsp;Each clip is about 10 seconds long and shows different&nbsp;gestures and&nbsp;facial expressions as well as&nbsp;holiday-themed&nbsp;traditions, like blowing out birthday candles, attending a wedding reception, and more!</p>

<p>I was immediately bursting with teaching ideas.</p>

<p>Here are four creative and beneficial ways you can use&nbsp;silent video clips with your students to help improve their English fluency.</p>

<h2>1. Activate schemata</h2>

<p>Whenever I hear the term &quot;activate schemata,&quot; it takes me back to my <a href="https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/teaching-english/teaching-qualifications/celta/" rel="noopner noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)</a> course.&nbsp;Only teachers would use such an odd-sounding technical term for such a simple&nbsp;concept!</p>

<p>To make things simple, people learn better when they <strong>connect prior knowledge to new information</strong>.</p>

<p>The process of schema activation is a key element of the English language&nbsp;classroom. It&rsquo;s an opportunity to <strong>make the lesson relatable</strong> and <strong>get students thinking</strong> about what they already know about a&nbsp;topic.</p>

<p>Silent video clips are perfect for this.</p>

<blockquote>
<p class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/746917435" width="640"></iframe></p>

<p class="caption">Video not playing? Your school might be blocking Vimeo, our video hosting platform. Please ask your administrator to whitelist <a href="https://vimeo.com/" nofollow="" noreferrer="" rel="&quot;noopener" target="&quot;_blank&quot;">vimeo.com</a>.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Many of Ellii&#39;s silent video clips are related to body language and emotions, including some of their holiday-themed videos.&nbsp;An easy way to <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teach-body-language" target="_blank">start teaching about body language</a> is to choose a clip and ask students to consider how that person feels and a&nbsp;possible reason for&nbsp;this.</p>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Example</h5>

<p>You could play the <a href="https://ellii.com/video/pleased" target="_blank">Pleased clip</a>&nbsp;as a lead-in to the&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/everyday-idioms-1/1769-9-amy-passes-her-test" target="_blank">Amy Passes Her Test lesson</a>, and then&nbsp;ask students to consider other gestures or responses to someone telling you good news. This could then lead to a role-play activity.</p>
</div>

<h2>2. Teach emotions</h2>

<p>Silent clips are the perfect way to have a bit of fun teaching&nbsp;emotions.</p>

<p>Here are three simple steps on how to teach emotions&nbsp;using silent&nbsp;videos:</p>

<ol>
	<li>Open a selection of videos in different tabs, being careful not to show the text at the bottom of the video.</li>
	<li>Play each clip and ask students to think of different emotions it may portray. Encourage students to think of synonyms (e.g., the <a href="https://ellii.com/video/happy" target="_blank">Happy&nbsp;clip</a>&nbsp;could mean&nbsp;&quot;delighted,&quot; &quot;cheerful,&quot; &quot;good,&quot; or &quot;content&quot;).</li>
	<li>Take it&nbsp;one step further by facilitating&nbsp;discussions around what makes your students have certain emotions (e.g.,&nbsp;&quot;I feel <em>happy</em> when I listen to music&quot; or &quot;I&rsquo;m <em>delighted</em> when I see my cousins.&quot;)</li>
</ol>

<h2>3. Improve intercultural communication</h2>

<p>Ellii&#39;s silent&nbsp;video clips show various gestures and ways of expressing emotions. Their usage may vary in different cultures and parts of the world. For instance, what may be an innocent thumbs up to mean &quot;good&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;happy&quot;&nbsp;may be insulting in certain countries.</p>

<p>This can be a particularly interesting discussion in a multicultural class. Show students silent&nbsp;video clips and ask them to discuss what each gesture means in countries they know well. In a monocultural class, ask them to search online for information.</p>

<p>You could then ask students to also consider how they may respond to someone from another culture making a seemingly inappropriate gesture. This is a great way to <strong>raise awareness of global communication differences</strong> and <strong>encourage understanding</strong>. You could&nbsp;also practice friendly ways of explaining these differences to others.</p>

<p>Example:</p>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Teacher:</td>
			<td>&quot;What does this gesture mean to you?&quot;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Student:</td>
			<td>&quot;It is rude where I&rsquo;m from, but maybe it means something different here?&quot;</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>4. Have fun!</h2>

<p>When I first saw these silent video clips, I was amused at just how fun they are. You could have a few clips open and ready to play at different points throughout the class.</p>

<p>Here are a few examples of how to do just that:</p>

<ul>
	<li>When a student does something well, play the <a href="https://ellii.com/video/celebrating-happy-dance" target="_blank">Happy Dance clip</a>. You could ask other students to add their own sounds to accompany it!</li>
	<li>You could add a bit of humor to encourage&nbsp;students to do something you really need them to do by using the <a href="https://ellii.com/video/pleading" target="_blank">Pleading clip</a>.</li>
	<li>If you&rsquo;d like students to be quiet or you need them to keep certain information secret for an activity, you could show the <a href="https://ellii.com/video/secretive-child" target="_blank">Secretive clip</a>.</li>
</ul>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Now it&#39;s your turn!</h5>

<p>These are just a few of my ideas. I&rsquo;d really love to know yours. How do you use slient video clips in your English class? Share your ideas in the comments below!</p>
</div>


4 Creative Ways to Use Silent Video Clips in English Class

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<p>As well as an English language teacher and author, I am also a graphic facilitator.</p>

<p>In this post, I&rsquo;d like to share with you the basics of graphic facilitation and why it&rsquo;s such a fabulous teaching technique.</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="#graphic">What is graphic facilitation?</a></li>
	<li><a href="#benefits">The benefits of graphic facilitation in the language classroom</a></li>
	<li><a href="#start">How to get started in graphic facilitation</a></li>
	<li><a href="#tools">Use graphic facilitation tools to create fun activities</a></li>
</ul>

<h2><a id="graphic"></a>What is graphic facilitation?</h2>

<p><strong>Graphic facilitation</strong>&nbsp;or visual facilitation is the use of simple, hand-drawn&nbsp;visuals to support groups and individuals toward a shared goal. The drawings are based around international iconography and are considered a form of visual communication rather than art.</p>

<p>The process is guided by a <strong>graphic facilitator</strong>&nbsp;who will create <strong>visual templates</strong> and tools to inspire and focus thinking. They may also add information and support the participants by drawing simple graphics throughout the session.</p>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Visual templates</h5>

<p>The visual template is the mother of all graphic facilitation tools. It&rsquo;s most similar to a graphic organizer&nbsp;in that it provides a visual&nbsp;with space to add thoughts and ideas. Visual templates are often based on metaphors. For example, a road map can convey a journey or movement toward a goal.</p>
</div>

<p>In a business context, graphic facilitation&nbsp;is widely used in meetings, idea-generation sessions, and strategic planning. It has its roots in design industries, such as engineering and architecture.</p>

<h2><a id="benefits"></a>The benefits of graphic facilitation in the language classroom</h2>

<p>Graphic facilitation is a visual methodology which benefits English language learners in many ways. I&rsquo;ve been using it for a number of years now and can confidently say it&rsquo;s my teaching superpower.</p>

<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-bf984f9f-7fff-fe6d-3315-98c5ea172abf"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2773/content_Emily-Bryson-ELT-benefits-of-graphic-facilitation.jpg" /></b></p>

<p class="caption">Emily Bryson&#39;s ELT benefits of graphic facilitation sketchnote.</p>

<p>Here are a few ways that&nbsp;graphic facilitation benefits language learners and teachers:</p>

<h3>Develops many different skills</h3>

<p>Images and diagrams have been used for centuries when it comes to communication and language learning. A simple visual can <strong>convey meaning</strong>, <strong>start a discussion</strong>, and <strong>spark ideas</strong>. The ability to draw these visuals quickly can add a hint of magic to the classroom. It also helps learners (and teachers) <strong>get creative</strong>, <strong>develop critical thinking skills</strong>, and <strong>relax</strong>.</p>

<h3>Supports students&#39; memory and vocabulary recall</h3>

<p>Moreover, pictures support memory. Learners are more likely to remember new vocabulary and concepts if they have a visual marker, and even more so if they draw it too.&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://hsredesign.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Impact-of-drawing-on-memory.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">A study by Wammes and Meade</a> found that <strong>drawing a list of vocabulary was more effective</strong> as a mnemonic strategy than simply writing it.</p>

<h3>Better for neurodiverse learners</h3>

<p>Using visual facilitation strategies is beneficial to neurodiverse learners.</p>

<p>Learners with ADHD may appreciate the opportunity to interact with content in a multisensory way&nbsp;and to take visual notes during class. Likewise, learners with dyslexia may benefit from the <strong>reduction in processing load</strong> that a visual template or sketchnote provides.</p>

<h1><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2778/content_Emily-Bryson_Ellii_sketchnote.jpg" /></h1>

<p class="caption">Emily Bryson&#39;s sketchnote from CEO Ben Buckwold&#39;s Welcome Session at #ElliiCon2022: Simplicity in ELT.</p>

<h3>Saves teachers prep time</h3>

<p>From a teacher&rsquo;s perspective, learning a selection of graphic facilitation activities can <strong>reduce preparation time</strong> and save the day if technology fails. Creating your own visuals removes the need to trawl the internet for copyright-free images and allows each template to be tailored exactly to learners&rsquo; needs.</p>

<p>If you&rsquo;re feeling a slump in your teaching spark, graphic facilitation can put the spring back in your step. It certainly did for mine!</p>

<h2><a id="start"></a>How to get started with graphic facilitation</h2>

<p>Graphic facilitation is versatile. There are many ways you can use it in class or online.</p>

<h3>Whiteboards</h3>

<p>The mighty whiteboard wins the teaching resource prize again! Use it to draw a visual template (e.g., <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/3-end-of-term-activities-for-students" target="_blank">a road map</a>) and ask students to add their ideas with whiteboard markers or sticky notes. You could ask students to copy the visual into their notebooks and add their ideas there&nbsp;too.</p>

<h3>Flipcharts</h3>

<p>You can use a flipchart in a similar way to a whiteboard. The bonus is that you can keep and reuse any visuals that you create. You can also hang them up around the room&nbsp;or pass them around different groups or tables.</p>

<h3>Visualizers</h3>

<p>A visualizer is a document camera which can be used both face-to-face and online. You can connect it to your computer and use it to project your notebook or a piece of paper onto the wall or via video conferencing software.</p>

<h3>Scanning apps</h3>

<p>Scanning apps are great if you want to prepare your visuals before class. You can draw your visual template or icons and&nbsp;then scan them using your phone.</p>

<p>Use interactive whiteboard software such as <a href="https://support.google.com/jamboard/answer/7424836?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Jamboard</a>, <a href="https://miro.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Miro</a>, or <a href="https://www.mural.co/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Mural</a> to display the images during an online session. Students can add their own text, icons, or virtual sticky notes.</p>

<h3>Drawing tablet</h3>

<p>If you have a tablet or laptop with drawing software (e.g., <a href="https://www.adobe.com/ca/products/fresco.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Adobe Fresco</a> or <a href="https://procreate.art/ipad" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Procreate</a>), you can have a lot of fun. Connect it to your&nbsp;computer to share the visuals. You can draw live and use it as a whiteboard in an online class.</p>

<h2><a id="tools"></a>Use these graphic facilitation tools to create fun activities</h2>

<p>These graphic facilitation tools are a great way to create engaging activities that will help&nbsp;learners improve their vocabulary, grammar, and critical thinking skills.</p>

<h3>Visual templates</h3>

<p>The visual template is one of the most popular&nbsp;graphic facilitation tools out there. It&rsquo;s most similar to a graphic organizer, in that it provides a visual&nbsp;with space to add thoughts and ideas.</p>

<p>Visual templates&nbsp;can&nbsp;offer structure, framework, and support in leading language learners toward&nbsp;a specific goal. They&#39;re&nbsp;also&nbsp;often based on metaphors (e.g.,&nbsp;a road map can convey a journey or movement toward a goal).</p>

<p>Here are&nbsp;two activity examples to try:</p>

<h4>1. <a href="http://ellii.com/blog/activity-to-boost-confidence-and-well-being" target="_blank">Inner Troll Vs. Inner Angel&nbsp;</a></h4>

<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-b6ad6561-7fff-8506-aefc-c6380c30ff07"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2774/content_Emily-Bryson_Ellii_inner-troll-vs-inner-angel.jpg" /></b></p>

<p class="caption">Emily Bryson&#39;s Inner Troll Vs. Inner Angel graphic facilitation activity.</p>

<h4>2. <a href="http://ellii.com/blog/3-end-of-term-activities-for-students" target="_blank">Road Map Reflection</a>&nbsp;</h4>

<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-890f0f3d-7fff-b569-2966-6e17462a0d9d"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2775/content_Emily-Bryson_Ellii_roadmap.jpg" /></b></p>

<p class="caption">Emily Bryson&#39;s visual template for her Road Map Reflection activity.</p>

<h3>Visual prompts and&nbsp;support</h3>

<p>Graphic facilitation is based around drawing simple icons. Ellii has loads of digital versions of these all over their website.</p>

<p>Here are two&nbsp;examples of ways you can add a graphic facilitation spin to Ellii content:</p>

<h4>1. <a href="http://ellii.com/blog/3-tips-for-using-flashcards-no-prep-required" target="_blank">3 Tips for Using Flashcards with Zero Prep Work</a></h4>

<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-7244210e-7fff-d0b8-66ac-d8d090d99d09"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2776/content_Emily-Bryson_Ellii_Using-Flashcards-No-Prep-Required.jpg" /></b></p>

<p class="caption">Emily Bryson shows how simple drawings and icons can help build student vocabulary.</p>

<h4>2.&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-use-pictures-as-grammar-prompts" target="_blank">How to Use Pictures as Grammar Prompts</a></h4>

<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-77e00e67-7fff-f0a6-8443-fa41d8db5bad"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2777/content_Emily-Bryson_Ellii_picture-prompt.jpg" /></b></p>

<p class="caption">How Emily Bryson uses simple drawings as grammar prompts.</p>

<p>If you&rsquo;d like to know more about Graphic Facilitation for ELT professionals, make sure to check out my&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PMwYXdlx_s" target="_blank">Elliicon2022 conference session recording</a>.</p>

<p>You can also find more ideas, online courses, and a free e-book on my&nbsp;<a href="http://www.emilybrysonelt.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">website</a>.</p>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Share your thoughts!</h5>

<p>Have you ever experienced or used graphic facilitation before? What are some graphic facilitation tools or visual communication techniques you&#39;d like to learn more about? We&rsquo;d love to hear your thoughts.</p>
</div>


Graphic Facilitation 101: Teaching English through Visual Communication

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<p>At Ellii, our mission is to connect the world through language. We strive to meet our mission through our vision: by building a teaching platform that&rsquo;s used and loved in every language classroom around the world.</p>

<p>That&rsquo;s why we publish content with all types of teachers, students, and classes in mind.</p>

<p><strong>Ellii is a library of resources for everyone</strong>. We take pride in creating a wide variety of lessons that are engaging and that boost reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills for learners of all ages, levels, and needs.</p>

<p>Some teachers prefer to keep topics light in the classroom. From <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/discussion-starters/1231-extreme-sports" target="_blank">Extreme Sports</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/discussion-starters/1228-fashion-trends" target="_blank">Fashion Trends</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons/discussion-starters/4303-culture-shock" target="_blank">Culture Shock</a>, and more, we have plenty of lessons on fun and practical topics that you can choose from.</p>

<p>Some students, however, are really interested in social and political issues, and their instructors want to teach lessons on those topics to engage them. That&rsquo;s why we also create lessons that textbooks and other publications tend to avoid or may not want to produce educational content about.</p>

<p>For 20 years, Ellii has been a leader in the language teaching industry, publishing timely lessons based on current events that foster discussion and spark meaningful conversations while simultaneously meeting language targets. From lessons on <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/global-issues/social-justice" target="_blank">Social Justice</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/global-issues/the-environment" target="_blank">The Environment</a> to <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/global-issues/politics-government" target="_blank">Politics &amp; Government</a> and more, our thought-provoking teaching materials reflect real-world issues, get your students talking, and most importantly, teach learners how to express their own opinions in English.</p>

<p>As a content and language learning company, we value the power of words and believe it&rsquo;s important to empower our language learners to develop the skills to be able to have discussions and express their opinions. That&rsquo;s why we&rsquo;ll continue to create lessons on sensitive topics.</p>

<p>Our library of teaching materials constantly gets updated with brand-new content every day. There are <a href="https://ellii.com/tour/lessons" target="_blank">more than 2,000 ready-made lessons</a> currently available on our platform. <strong>We encourage you to choose whatever content is right for your students and your classroom.</strong></p>

<p>Whatever lessons you decide to teach, we thank you for choosing Ellii and are thrilled that you&rsquo;re a part of our global community of educators.</p>


Ellii Lesson Topics: There’s Something for Everyone

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<div class="white-box">
<p>This article is part of a series of posts highlighting education systems around the world. With this article, we hope to&nbsp;raise awareness of both the needs of the students and the challenges of running an English language program for refugees and asylum seekers who&#39;ve experienced persecution or violence.</p>

<p>We also hope to share heartwarming and inspiring success stories with our community of teachers around the world.</p>
</div>

<p><a href="https://jubileepartners.org/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Jubilee Partners</a> was founded in 1979 when three families bought 260 acres of land in rural northeast Georgia.<br />
<br />
They hoped&nbsp;to use the land for welcoming refugees.</p>

<p>For the first year, the three families lived in tents while&nbsp;the school and welcome center&nbsp;were being built. The construction&nbsp;finished in 1981, just in time to welcome the first refugee group from Cuba.</p>

<p>&ldquo;We are a wide network of people around the country who seek to respond compassionately to the realities that refugees and immigrants face,&rdquo; explained Rachel Bjork, the ESOL (English to Speakers&nbsp;of Other Languages) coordinator and leader of Jubilee Partners&#39;s hospitality program.</p>

<p>Since its founding, Jubilee Partners has hosted more than 4,000 refugees and asylum seekers from 38 different countries.</p>

<p>They host up to five families at a time and&nbsp;provide them with housing, English language classes, social services, legal resources, and medical and mental health care. Families typically stay anywhere from two to 12 months.</p>

<p><img alt="Two wooden houses with porches surrounded by trees." src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2652/content_How-Jubilee-Partners-Supports-Refugees_01.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">Some of Jubilee Partners&#39;s housing is pictured here.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Everyone we receive has experienced some type of persecution or violence,&rdquo; said Rachel.</p>

<p>Seventeen&nbsp;long-term staff members currently live and work at Jubilee Partners.</p>

<p>At any given time, 5&ndash;8 resident volunteers also live and work on-site for three months to a year. Long-term staff are not paid a traditional salary for their work. Instead, long-term staff and volunteers receive food, housing, and a small living allowance. Staff also get additional financial support for medical and travel expenses.</p>

<p>All activities at Jubilee Partners take place in an intergenerational community context. The families, staff, and volunteers eat meals together and if individuals are interested, they can also attend worship services and Bible studies&nbsp;too.</p>

<p>The families that stay there are also invited to contribute their skills, expertise, and experience in whatever way they can. For example, working in the gardens and in the pastures gives residents the chance to share their agricultural knowledge and skills.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Our 260 acres is a gift and plays a significant part in our work,&rdquo; said Rachel. &ldquo;The land offers natural beauty, a sense of safety and space for children to play, and opportunities for therapeutic activities, such as helping out in the garden or working with the animals.&rdquo;</p>

<p><img alt="A garden with flowers, vegetables, and other plants." src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2653/content_How-Jubilee-Partners-Supports-Refugees_02.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">Some of Jubilee Partners&#39;s gardens are pictured here.</p>

<h2>English classes at Jubilee Partners</h2>

<p>Refugees and asylum seekers&nbsp;arrive at Jubilee Partners with a wide range of language abilities.</p>

<p>Some people have studied English before in their home countries, other residents are familiar with conversational English but have never received any formal education, and some people aren&rsquo;t familiar with the English language at all.</p>

<p>After assessing their English language skills,&nbsp;residents&nbsp;are grouped by speaking and listening levels. Both beginner and intermediate-level classes are usually offered. Language learners attend eight language classes per week and each class is about two hours long.</p>

<p>Beginner classes focus on simple conversational English. Students learn how to relay basic information such as their name, phone number, and date of birth.</p>

<p>They also learn the important terminology required when visiting the doctor&#39;s office&nbsp;as well as useful vocabulary when shopping for food. More advanced learners have the option of studying for the GED (General Educational Development tests).</p>

<p>&ldquo;Students need survival English for doctor&rsquo;s appointments, interacting with the school system, answering questions of legal and social service providers, and participating in everyday life in the United States,&quot; said Rachel. &quot;Our job is to adapt to their specific needs and learning styles.&quot;</p>

<p><img alt="A teacher showing a map to a group of five English language students who are sitting around a table" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2654/content_How-Jubilee-Partners-Supports-Refugees_03.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">A group&nbsp;English class is pictured here.</p>

<p>At Jubilee Partners, resident volunteers teach English.</p>

<p>Each volunteer is assigned one class level at a time, and they share the teaching load with at least one other teacher.</p>

<p>Teachers are given one hour of prep time for each scheduled lesson as well as 30 minutes of time after class for journaling.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Class notebooks are essential for communicating amongst the teacher teams,&rdquo; said Rachel. &ldquo;They are kept up to date each day, recording practices and outcomes for each lesson to support continuity. Once a week, all of the ESOL teachers meet with the program coordinator for an hour to share challenges and successes.&rdquo;</p>

<h2>Responding to challenges</h2>

<p>One of the biggest challenges volunteer teachers face in the classroom is responding appropriately to the unique needs of students who have recently gone through a stressful situation and are worried about the unknowns of their future.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Our students have often experienced significant trauma in their lives before arriving at Jubilee, so our main goal is to present ESOL lessons that are engaging and a classroom atmosphere that is compassionate and low-stress,&rdquo; said Rachel.</p>

<p><img alt="A girl is helping a young refugee student with their schoolwork." src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2655/content_How-Jubilee-Partners-Supports-Refugees_04.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">A volunteer teacher is pictured helping a student here.</p>

<h2>How you can help</h2>

<p>Despite the challenges, Jubilee Partners continues to have an incredible&nbsp;impact. Here&rsquo;s just one touching story that Rachel shared with us:</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;Tina* came to Jubilee after four years of labor trafficking under extreme conditions and almost a full year in immigration detention.</p>

<p>After arriving, she began to tend to health and legal issues while also jumping into English classes and trying to establish a sense of peace through a consistent daily routine. In classes, she particularly enjoyed reading interesting true stories and discussing ideas and opinions. She grew in her vocabulary, control over grammar, and ability to express detailed information.</p>

<p>Outside of the classroom, she spent hours exploring the surrounding fields and forests and enjoyed planting and tending to a small potato and cucumber crop.</p>

<p>Tina moved on from Jubilee after having gotten her work authorization, a driver&rsquo;s license, a car, and a job. There are still many hurdles for Tina in rebuilding her life after her difficult experiences, but she made important strides in her time at Jubilee.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Rachel Bjork, ESOL coordinator and director of Jubilee Partners&#39;s hospitality program</p>

<p class="attribution">&nbsp;</p>

<p class="attribution"><em>*Name has been changed to protect&nbsp;privacy</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>As a nonprofit that receives no government funding or large grants, Jubilee Partners relies&nbsp;on donations from individuals, churches, and other community organizations to provide support to people like Tina.</p>

<p>&ldquo;The average person can help by volunteering, contributing financially, or providing support to refugee and immigrant populations in their local area. The need is great,&rdquo; said Rachel.</p>

<p>To volunteer with Jubilee Partners, check out their <a href="https://jubileepartners.org/volunteer/resident-volunteer-program/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Resident Volunteer Program</a>.</p>

<p>To help financially, <a href="https://jubileepartners.org/donate/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">make an online donation</a>.</p>

<h2>More inspiring organizations</h2>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/taking-action-for-education" target="_blank">Taking Action for Education</a></p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/building-an-alliance-for-international-women-s-rights" target="_blank">Building an Alliance for International Women&rsquo;s Rights</a></p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-isans-creates-possibility" target="_blank">How ISANS Creates Possibility</a></p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-outreach360-empowers-students" target="_blank">How Outreach360 Empowers Students</a></p>


How Jubilee Partners Supports Refugees

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<div class="white-box">
<p>This September 15 and 16, 2022, we&rsquo;ll be hosting&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/conference/2022" target="_blank">ElliiCon</a>, a free, two-day virtual conference to explore simple, effective, and practical strategies that will help you build stronger relationships with your students and engage them in a more meaningful way. This article is part of a series of posts introducing some of the conference&nbsp;speakers.</p>
</div>

<p>Kieshia Thorpe is a US English teacher, licensed principal, and the winner of the <a href="https://www.globalteacherprize.org/person?id=15192" rel="noopener, noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">2021 Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize</a>&nbsp;in partnership with UNESCO. She&#39;ll be joining us at ElliiCon on September&nbsp;15.</p>

<p>Over the past few years, Keishia has dedicated herself to helping her grade 12 English language learners&mdash;95% of whom identify as low-income&mdash;level up their skills and prepare for&nbsp;college.</p>

<p>In addition to assisting her senior students with applying for college and scholarships, she also revamped the grade 12 English curriculum to make it more engaging and culturally relevant to her first-generation American, immigrant, and refugee students. Consequently, her English learners&rsquo; <strong>reading skills have</strong> <strong>improved by&nbsp;40%</strong>.</p>

<p>&quot;Every child needs a champion, an adult who will never, ever give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists they become the very best they can possibly be,&quot; said Keishia via video conference after winning the 2021 Global Teacher Prize.&nbsp;&quot;This is exactly why teachers will always&nbsp;matter.&quot;</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/W0h4cJHgIpo" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>

<p class="caption">YouTube</p>

<p>Keishia is also the cofounder of <a href="https://www.uselite.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">US Elite International</a>, a non-profit organization that helps at-risk student-athletes around the world obtain fully funded scholarships to colleges and universities across the&nbsp;US.</p>

<p>So far, 500 students have received full&nbsp;scholarships.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;Education is a human right and all students should have access to it at all&nbsp;levels.&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Keisha Thorpe</p>
</blockquote>

<h2>Learn about developing global citizens through culturally responsive practices with Keishia at ElliiCon2022</h2>

<p>On September 15, Keishia will be joining us at ElliiCon2022 to talk about how you can engage your students and make learning relevant to the real&nbsp;world.</p>

<p>You&rsquo;ll discover how to integrate culturally responsive practices that promote equity and inclusivity in the classroom and how you can support students in becoming global&nbsp;citizens.</p>

<blockquote>
<p><strong>Join us at ElliiCon2022!</strong></p>

<p>Want to attend Keishia&rsquo;s presentation?&nbsp;<a href="https://www.airmeet.com/e/0ee877b0-e369-11ec-b1b2-394b94cc9521" target="_blank">Register for ElliiCon2022</a>&nbsp;(it&#39;s&nbsp;free!).</p>
</blockquote>


ElliiCon2022 Speaker Spotlight: Keishia Thorpe

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<p>Vacations are a glorious, much-needed, brain reset. But sometimes it can be tricky getting back into the work zone after the holidays.</p>

<p>Here are five&nbsp;of my top tips for easing yourself back into teaching mode after vacation:&nbsp;</p>

<h2>1. Check your emails</h2>

<p>Checking your inbox and combing through your emails is&nbsp;a great place to start. It&rsquo;s a chance to get organized and familiarize yourself with current tasks, sort out your calendar, delete old emails, and get started on a &quot;to-do&quot;&nbsp;list.</p>

<h2>2. Chat with&nbsp;colleagues</h2>

<p>Whether your colleagues have been working throughout summer or your team has been sharing the same vacation schedule, reconnecting over a warm beverage&nbsp;always feels&nbsp;good.</p>

<p>Exchanging&nbsp;vacation tales and workplace news also helps build relationships and strengthens workplace&nbsp;connections.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The conversation will inevitably lead to chatting about upcoming deadlines, agendas, and meetings. This allows your&nbsp;brain to naturally get back into work mode.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>3. Tidy your desktop</h2>

<p>Returning from vacation can be the perfect time to clean up your overcrowded desktop.</p>

<p>Sorting out piles of papers&nbsp;in your workspace&nbsp;or folders on your computer often unveils <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/3971" target="_blank">hidden treasures</a>.&nbsp;You may find that long forgotten <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/categories/activities" target="_blank">activities</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources" target="_blank">worksheets</a> re-emerge, serendipitously, effortlessly preparing your classes for you&mdash;all with the added bonus of a tidy&nbsp;desk!</p>

<h2>4. Sign up for continuous professional development</h2>

<p><strong>Continuous professional development (CPD)</strong> can help get your brain back into teaching&nbsp;mode.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Search online or check&nbsp;social media for interesting courses. Another easy way to keep learning and to stay on top of teaching trends and best practices&nbsp;is to&nbsp;read blog posts, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WClGk9Q8Owc&amp;list=PL0MvnNQjMzmbCk_AEw6JNaf8EoD5ATs5L" target="_blank">watch videos</a>, or sign up for a webinar or event. You could also watch videos from past events, such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@elliiteachers" target="_blank">Ellii Con</a>!</p>

<h2>5. Search for ideas</h2>

<p>Preparing for your classes&nbsp;will probably be one of your top priorities.</p>

<p>If you&rsquo;re not sure where to start, try browsing the Ellii website for ideas. Explore their&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/discover" target="_blank">Discover page</a>&nbsp;(found under&nbsp;<strong>Materials</strong>&nbsp;in the navigation bar) to view a wide assortment of trending lessons and teaching ideas.&nbsp;</p>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Share your thoughts!</h5>

<p>What helps you get back into the teaching groove? Do you have a process? We&rsquo;d love to know. Share your ideas in the&nbsp;comments!</p>
</div>
