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Teaching with Ellii

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

Articles

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!

Meet Rachel. Rachel became an ESL teacher because she wanted to empower people.

&ldquo;For better or worse, language has power. In the US, knowing English provides people with more opportunities. More opportunities give individuals the power to make their own choices.&rdquo;

Rachel teaches at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chinesemutualaid.org/" target="_blank">Chinese Mutual Aid Association</a> in Chicago&nbsp;and has been a teacher for four years. Her students are all adults and read between a grade two and&nbsp;a grade 12 reading level.

<img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1790/content_Melissa_Teacher-Feature_Rachel_Greenwood.jpg" />

For Rachel, a typical day of teaching in the virtual world involves two hours of teaching on Zoom, grading homework, and planning lessons.

&ldquo;Before COVID-19, I was teaching about 20 hours a week in-person so the synchronous teaching time has shrunk dramatically. We do much more asynchronous work now, so I spend more time grading homework assignments. The asynchronous work has created more opportunity for students to improve their reading and writing skills, but less time for speaking.&rdquo;

Check out Rachel&rsquo;s text response below to learn why she loves ESL Library and how she uses it with her students. 
 
<iframe allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *; fullscreen *;" height="300px" src="https://www.videoask.com/af7z3s6zd9ck35kwi7aj3i17s5jaszeqbkpl1ce8" style="border: none; border-radius: 24px" width="100%"></iframe>

For Rachel, &ldquo;The most rewarding part of being a teacher is seeing a learner reach a goal they were working toward. It&rsquo;s really special when you get to be part of their journey.&rdquo;

She also loves that she gets the chance to learn too.

&ldquo;My favorite part of teaching is the mutual learning that happens between everyone in the classroom, including the teacher. I think ESL provides a unique opportunity to share cultures.&rdquo;

Her advice for aspiring teachers?

&ldquo;I am learning that you can rarely break things down too much. When you spend the time to scaffold and break the material down to smaller pieces, the lesson usually goes better.&rdquo;

Want to share why you love ESL Library and how you use it in your classroom? <a href="https://www.videoask.com/fw0f8td5x" target="_blank">Tell us here.</a>

Teacher Feature: Rachel

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

Conferences

On September 17&ndash;18, 2021, we will be hosting a <a href="https://ellii.com/conference/2021" target="_blank">free two-day virtual conference</a> to explore current teaching trends and the future of education technology. At this conference, you&rsquo;ll connect with organizations and teachers, share your experiences and expertise, and help shape the future of English language education. This article is part of a series of posts introducing some of the conference speakers.

Meet Russell Stannard, an educational technology consultant and the Founder of <a href="https://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/" target="_blank">TeacherTrainingVideos.com</a>. Russell is a multi-award-winning educational technologist known for his work in using technology to enhance feedback, online teaching, and blended or flipped learning.

The idea for <a href="https://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/" target="_blank">TeacherTrainingVideos.com</a> began when Russell was writing about technology and feedback for an English language teaching magazine. People wanted to see what Russell was talking about so he started creating videos. Today, the website is still popular but Russell has expanded the initiative to a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/teachertrainingvideo" target="_blank">YouTube channel</a> with over 60,000 subscribers.

Russell also gets excited about student creativity and independence, as well as technology that helps teachers in a positive way.

<blockquote>
&ldquo;Anything that encourages students to be creative and encourages students to be more independent. Anything that helps teachers be able to do their jobs quicker, easier, and more effectively. Some technologies I really like because they do that but others I don&rsquo;t like because they actually make our job harder.&rdquo;
</blockquote>

Russell is also interested in digital literacy.

&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a big shift towards these competencies that will allow students to be able to study more effectively and allow citizens to survive in the 21st century.&rdquo;

Russell&rsquo;s work mainly focuses on how technology can enhance feedback. When giving feedback, Russell is a big believer in using screen capture technology to record his computer screen and voice as he marks, and then sending the video with this feedback to students.

&ldquo;They can see their work on the screen, see me going through their work and hear me as I mark.&rdquo;

On September 17, Russell will be joining us to discuss blended learning and how to make lessons more connected. He will explore how to make lessons more interactive, how to get students to engage more with the material, and how to encourage learning outside of the classroom.

To hear Russell speak, be sure to <a href="https://ellii.com/conference/2021" target="_blank">register for our virtual conference</a>. 
&nbsp;

Meet the ESL Library Virtual Conference Speakers: Russell Stannard

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On September 17&ndash;18, 2021, we will be hosting a <a href="https://ellii.com/conference/2021" target="_blank">free two-day virtual conference</a> to explore current teaching trends and the future of education technology. At this conference, you&rsquo;ll connect with organizations and teachers, share your experiences and expertise, and help shape the future of English language education. This article is part of a series of posts introducing some of the conference speakers.

Meet Dr. Margaret E. Malone, the Director of Assessment and Research at ACTFL. Margaret holds a PhD from Georgetown University and has more than three decades of experience in language education. Her expertise includes the development of language tests and materials, teacher training, data collection, and program evaluation. Her current research focuses on language assessment literacy, the influence of the Seal of Biliteracy on language teaching and learning, and the development of shortcut proficiency measures.

Margaret entered the English teaching world in university. When Margaret was an undergraduate student, she took a class on language teaching methods and volunteered at a middle school where she provided support for English learners.

These days, Margaret gets excited about assessment and research.

&ldquo;I love seeing how assessment and research can be used to improve education and make language education available to more students. Reading about ways that language programs serve learners from pre-k to adults reminds me that we are all lifelong learners and language is necessary to learning.&rdquo;

Margaret is also passionate about equity.

<blockquote>
&ldquo;We need to consider what tools our learners need and have and how we can best support them where they are. We also need to remember that people learn differently, and that we need to help all our learners.&rdquo;
</blockquote>

On September 17, Margaret will be joining us to discuss assessment in the digital age and maximizing technology to improve relationships.&nbsp;

&ldquo;During the pandemic, I focused a great deal on relationships and how to strengthen such relationships through online teaching and assessment. I think of assessment as a communication tool, and we need to use our tech tools to foster these relationships.&rdquo;

To hear Margaret speak, be sure to <a href="https://ellii.com/conference/2021" target="_blank">register for our virtual conference</a>.

Meet the ESL Library Virtual Conference Speakers: Dr. Margaret E. Malone

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On September 17 &ndash;18, 2021, we will be hosting a <a href="https://ellii.com/conference/2021" target="_blank">free two-day virtual conference</a> to explore current teaching trends and the future of education technology. At this conference, you&rsquo;ll connect with organizations and teachers, share your experiences and expertise, and help shape the future of English language education. This article is part of a series of posts introducing some of the conference speakers.

Meet Fely Garc&iacute;a L&oacute;pez, an Educator Innovation Lead at <a href="https://info.flipgrid.com/" target="_blank">Flipgrid</a>. Fely will be joining us on September 17 to talk more about Flipgrid and the four language domains.

Fely has always wanted to be a teacher. She grew up in Mexico and learned some English in high school. After her high school graduation, she moved to the United States with her parents.

&ldquo;I went straight to the university to ask what I needed to be a teacher in this country. I was met with countless obstacles. I was told&mdash;by an English teacher&mdash;that I was never going to make it in college, much less be a teacher. I struggled with the language and with the culture. Because of that, I decided to help others who were &ldquo;labeled&rdquo; as limited English proficient and empower them to overcome their obstacles. I was going to be the voice of the oppressed, the voice of those who couldn&rsquo;t speak&mdash;yet.&rdquo;

Before her current role, Fely taught ELAR and ESL for 15 years. For her first teaching job, she was a 6th grade ELA teacher.

&ldquo;More than half of my students were English learners, some recent immigrants. I was supposed to be teaching reading comprehension and inference skills, but the curriculum wasn&rsquo;t tailored to my students&rsquo; needs; my students couldn&rsquo;t connect to the literature. So, I did what any other teacher does: improvise, adapt, and overcome. I began to find local stories and texts that appealed to my students, and still targeted the state&rsquo;s student expectations. I found literature and photographs with characters and people that my students could connect with and had great success. I taught 6th grade for a couple of more years and then I went to teach 8th grade language arts,&nbsp;reading, and ESL to recent immigrants. I found ways to connect with my students and found ways for my students to connect to texts using real life experiences. I was always my students&rsquo; loudest cheerleader and biggest supporter.&rdquo;

Fely gets excited about technology integration in bilingual education, English as a second language, and dual language classrooms.

<blockquote>
&ldquo;I feel that technology, when made part of daily learning practices, can knock down many barriers and obstacles as it helps lower the affective filter. I am excited about being bilingual and about promoting bilingualism! I am a fan of Spanglish, for I feel it&rsquo;s part of my identity as a Mexico-Americana! Being bilingual vale por dos!&rdquo;
</blockquote>

Fely is also incredibly passionate about equity and inclusion.

&ldquo;Sadly, there are many students who do not have access to the resources to help pave their way into higher education. There is not only a learning gap between the different socio-economic groups, but also an opportunity gap. For this reason, I feel that it is imperative that we find means and resources to level the playing field for all students, regardless of skin colour, culture, ethnic background, or social status.&rdquo;

In 2015 and 2017, Fely went to a few different conferences. At all of these conferences, Fely saw a pattern.

&ldquo;Educators would highlight amazing things that their students would do with all the technology they had. In all these fantastic presentations, there was not a single student of colour, not a single student who looked like or talked like the ones that sat in my classroom. My students could do the same things and create similar projects with similar impacts, but with much less resources. Since then, I&rsquo;ve worked to highlight my students, their creativity, their veracity, and most importantly, their resilience as they fight battles that many can only dream of&mdash;well actually, nightmares! If my students can accomplish great things with limited resources, imagine their impact on the world if we provide them with the same opportunities!&rdquo;

Fely also believes in &ldquo;relationships before curriculum.&rdquo;

&ldquo;I always made it a point to learn about my students before they learned the content. Every child has a story to tell and to me it was, and still is, very important to listen to those stories. Students do academically and socially better when they know that their teacher cares about them and values them. That&rsquo;s why I always spent time at the beginning of the school year building relationships before language acquisition started.&rdquo;

To hear Fely speak, be sure to <a href="https://ellii.com/conference/2021" target="_blank">register for our virtual conference</a>.

To learn more about Fely, you can connect with her on Twitter at @FelyTeachnology and on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/349304680156539" target="_blank">Facebook</a>. 
&nbsp;

Meet the ESL Library Virtual Conference Speakers: Fely García López

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On September 17&ndash;18, 2021, we will be hosting a <a href="https://ellii.com/conference/2021" target="_blank">free two-day virtual conference</a> to explore current teaching trends and the future of education technology. At this conference, you&rsquo;ll connect with organizations and teachers, share your experiences and expertise, and help shape the future of English language education. This article is part of a series of posts introducing some of the conference speakers.

Meet Dr. Katie Welch, an Educational Consultant for Welch Education. In this role, she provides professional development to language educators through partnerships with institutions like the US Department of State and Cambridge University Press.

Katie originally enrolled in a master&rsquo;s program in counselling, but after teaching ESL in Chile and providing ESL support to newcomers, she decided to pursue a Ph.D. in linguistics instead. Second language acquisition was the focus of her dissertation.

These days, Katie is interested in and passionate about multilingualism.

&ldquo;There is a significant shift happening in the field in how students&rsquo; home languages are viewed and used in the English language classroom. Significant theoretical conversations about translanguaging are beginning to trickle down into English classrooms, and we are seeing teachers more fully embrace students&#39;&nbsp;full linguistic repertoires.&rdquo;

Katie also gets excited about differentiation, technology in language teaching, and social-emotional learning.

&ldquo;I tend to be a very reflective practitioner and am constantly thinking about how to be a better teacher to my students. I particularly enjoy making theory-practice connections so that teachers can feel confident that their instruction is grounded in solid research.&rdquo;

<img alt="A woman speaking in front of a powerpoint presentation" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1719/content_Melissa_Meet-Our-Speakers_Katie.jpg" />

Here, Katie is pictured presenting at a TexTESOL conference.

On September 18, Katie will be joining us to discuss how to incorporate social-emotional learning into adult ESL classrooms.

&ldquo;Social-emotional learning, or SEL, seeks to engage learners as whole beings with not just academic needs but with social and emotional needs as well. This is a topic that is especially timely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as teachers have grappled with how to meaningfully connect with learners in online and/or socially distanced environments. In the session, we will identify three signature SEL practices that can be used in classrooms with adult learners. While practices can be used with any curriculum, I will specifically highlight some ESL Library tools and lessons that utilize a social-emotional framework.&rdquo;

To hear Katie speak, be sure to <a href="https://ellii.com/conference/2021" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">register for our virtual conference</a>.

To learn more about Katie, you can visit her website at <a href="http://www.welcheducation.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.welcheducation.com</a>. You can also connect with her on Twitter at @drkatiewelch.

Meet the ESL Library Virtual Conference Speakers: Dr. Katie Welch

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On September 17&ndash;18, 2021, we will be hosting a <a href="https://ellii.com/conference/2021" target="_blank">free two-day virtual conference</a> to explore current teaching trends and the future of education technology. At this conference, you&rsquo;ll connect with organizations and teachers, share your experiences and expertise, and help shape the future of English language education. This article is part of a series of posts introducing some of the conference speakers.

Meet Robyn Brinks Lockwood. Robyn is a Lecturer in English for the Foreign Students Program at Stanford University. She teaches academic listening, speaking, and writing courses to graduate students. Robyn will be joining our panel discussion on September 18 about elevating teachers&#39; voices and the future of English language education technology.

<img alt="A woman smiling and standing next to a column" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1717/content_Melissa_Meet-Our-Speakers_Robyn.jpg" />

Robyn got into the world of ESL by accident. Back when she was in graduate school, she was originally supposed to work as a Teaching Assistant for a Comp 101 class when the department asked her to work with second-language learners instead.

<blockquote>
&ldquo;My start in ESL was accidental&mdash;what I now call serendipity. From the first moment, I loved it. I haven&rsquo;t looked back since.&rdquo;
</blockquote>

Robyn loves researching and teaching speaking. In social situations, she likes to observe and let others talk in order to find patterns.&nbsp;

&ldquo;For example, introducing yourself, asking for and giving advice or compliments, and even greeting others, follows a certain pattern. We often even say the same phrases when we perform those functions. My students often fear speaking with native speakers because they can&#39;t control it. They feel they don&#39;t know what the other person will say. While that is true to some degree, these patterns in structure and common phrasing actually make my students feel they have some level of control when you can somewhat predict what someone is going to say. These observations led to some of my course content and eventually to a textbook called <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Speaking-Social-Contexts-Communication-Study/dp/0472037161/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=robyn+brinks+lockwood+speaking+in+social+contexts&amp;qid=1630080601&amp;sr=8-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Speaking in Social Contexts</a>.&rdquo;

Robyn also likes to research, discuss, and use the flipped learning approach.

The flipped learning approach gives more power and responsibility to the students. In it, homework is assigned before the class. This homework activity allows students to learn at their own pace beforehand and prepare questions ahead of time. During class, students can then practice what they&rsquo;ve learned and get more timely&nbsp;feedback.

&ldquo;There are many benefits to flipping. My main reasons are for the interactive nature of the classroom, the student-centered nature, and the relationship I build with students. The pandemic has made online teaching even more important, which means interactivity, student-centered rooms, and relationship-building is even more important since we can&#39;t be in a physical classroom. Flipped learning is a fantastic way to not lose these things despite teaching online. I&#39;m not sure what the &#39;new normal&#39; will hold for education in the post-pandemic world, but I don&#39;t think online, blended, and flipped learning will disappear.&rdquo;

While there are many benefits associated with flipped learning, there are many myths too. Robyn wrote about some of those myths in an e-book called <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Flipping-Classroom-Every-Teacher-Should-ebook/dp/B07B6QVS9N/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&amp;keywords=robyn+brinks+lockwood&amp;qid=1630080332&amp;sr=8-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Flipping the Classroom: What Every ESL Teacher Needs to Know</a>. She has also recorded a <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Podcast/B08K55KGNC" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">blog about flipped learning</a> as well and is in the midst of recording another blog too.

To hear Robyn speak, be sure to <a href="https://ellii.com/conference/2021" target="_blank">register for our virtual conference</a>.

To learn more about Robyn, you can visit her <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/robyn-brinks-lockwood-35639a2" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> and her <a href="https://profiles.stanford.edu/robyn-lockwood" target="_blank">Stanford Profile</a>. You can also check out more of her books at the following links:

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="external-link"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Leading-Academic-Discussions-University-Student/dp/0472037951/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&amp;keywords=robyn+brinks+lockwood&amp;qid=1630080367&amp;sr=8-7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Leading Academic Discussions</a></li>
	<li class="external-link"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Office-Hours-Every-University-Student/dp/0472037609/ref=sr_1_16?dchild=1&amp;keywords=robyn+brinks+lockwood&amp;qid=1630080400&amp;sr=8-16" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Office Hours</a></li>
	<li class="external-link"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Point-Speaking-Academic-Purposes-Introduction/dp/047203670X/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?dchild=1&amp;keywords=robyn+brinks+lockwood+speaking+in+social+contexts&amp;qid=1630080725&amp;sr=8-2-fkmr0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Speaking for Academic Purposes</a></li>
	<li class="external-link"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/THE6PRINCIPLESFOREXEMPLARYTEACHINGOFENGLISHLEARNERS-14139/dp/1945351683/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&amp;keywords=robyn+brinks+lockwood&amp;qid=1630080400&amp;sr=8-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The 6 Principles of Exemplary Teaching</a></li>
</ul>

Meet the ESL Library Virtual Conference Speakers: Robyn Brinks Lockwood

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On August 15, the world watched in horror as the Taliban entered Kabul and took governmental control. Since then, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/133/lessons/3770">thousands have tried&mdash;and are still trying&mdash;to flee the country</a>. Civilians fear that interpreters will be killed and that women&rsquo;s rights will be restricted. Under the previous Taliban rule, women were forced to wear burqas, could not travel by themselves, and were not allowed to work or go to school.&nbsp;

<h2>An Update from AIWR</h2>

<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/building-an-alliance-for-international-women-s-rights" target="_blank">Back in April</a>, we wrote about the&nbsp;<a href="https://aiwr.org/" target="_blank">Alliance for International Women&rsquo;s Rights</a> (AIWR), a volunteer-run organization that provides an online English language learning program and a mentorship program for women and girls in Afghanistan. Due to the heartbreaking situation in Afghanistan, AIWR has had to pause their programs.

Lisa and the AIWR team wrote about the crisis in their <a href="https://mailchi.mp/78db5275cf57/crisis-in-afghanistan?e=f438d22c72" target="_blank">recent newsletter</a>.

<blockquote>&ldquo;The women and girls in AIWR&rsquo;s programs are terrified and panicked and fear for their lives. Many of the women&rsquo;s rights advocates and women professionals in AIWR&rsquo;s mentor programs were already targets of the Taliban and are in imminent danger.&rdquo;</blockquote>

<h2>How You Can Help</h2>

Afghan women and girls&rsquo; lives are at risk. Here are some ways that you can help:

<ul>
	<li>Write to your political leaders asking that Afghan women&rsquo;s rights advocates and professionals be evacuated. You can send <a href="http://aiwr.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/AIWR-Petition-to-US-government-081421.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">AIWR&#39;s letter</a> or write your own, using their letter as an example.</li>
	<li>Send the link to <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/refugees/afghanistan/how.html#family" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Canada&rsquo;s visa program</a> to women you know in Afghanistan.</li>
	<li>Donate to the following organizations:
	<ul>
		<li><a href="https://www.vitalvoices.org/2021/08/vital-voices-statement-on-the-women-of-afghanistan/?mc=afghanistan" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vital Voices</a></li>
		<li><a href="https://secure.unicef.ca/page/88400/donate/1?ea.tracking.id=21DIEM11GSE&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwyIKJBhBPEiwAu7zll_laGUy0lx3QDdv2O_OXtha_zp8lw23OGd_Nynmd-_PDM8uUfvIzlRoCKrAQAvD_BwE" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Unicef</a></li>
		<li><a href="https://give.unhcr.ca/page/86611/donate/1?ea.tracking.id=SEM21_AFG&amp;utm_campaign=CA_PS_EN_AFS&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwyIKJBhBPEiwAu7zll83VnvIkDQNXOJ3T4VO-3PeO5djrpbGbyrLpnpG9xbsejgpQMcHraBoC2-AQAvD_BwE&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">UNHCR</a></li>
		<li><a href="https://www.islamicreliefcanada.org/emergencies/afghanistan-emergency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Islamic Relief Canada</a></li>
		<li><a href="https://tooyoungtowed.salsalabs.org/afghanistan-donations/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Too Young to Wed</a></li>
	</ul>
	</li>
</ul>

If you have other ideas for how to help Afghanistan, please let us know in the comments below.

How to Help Afghanistan + An Update from AIWR

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This past weekend, Haiti was struck by an earthquake. Over 1,900 deaths have been reported so far and thousands more are injured. Tropical Storm Grace hit Monday night, adding to the devastation, delaying search and rescue efforts, and overwhelming hospitals that were already crowded. Sadly, as search and rescue operations resume, the death toll is expected to rise.

<h3>How You Can Help</h3>

On top of the struggles that already existed in Haiti including the COVID-19 pandemic, violence from gangs, increasing poverty levels, and the recent assassination of President Jovenel Mo&iuml;se, Haitians are now also grappling with injuries, homelessness, flash floods, mudslides, and the loss of loved ones as a result of the earthquake and storm. Haitians need our help. Here are some organizations providing aid in Haiti:

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="external-link"><a href="https://donate.redcross.ca/page/88246/donate/1?locale=en-CA&amp;_gl=1*o4v50c*_ga*MTY5Nzc3ODkyNS4xNjI4NTI0MTUz*_ga_376D8LHM0R*MTYyODk4NTQwNy40Ni4xLjE2Mjg5ODU0MzYuMA..&amp;_ga=2.166761662.147769486.1628985408-1697778925.1628524153&amp;_gac=1.20588874.1628985408.CjwKCAjw092IBhAwEiwAxR1lRg7aATOZdgaxY7JGXB9RBjVgqyjAcA31dOzUPkN7uNkKxa6u6h7M9xoCPSgQAvD_BwE " rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Canadian Red Cross</a></li>
	<li class="external-link"><a href="https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/massive-earthquake-devastation-haiti" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">UNICEF</a></li>
	<li class="external-link"><a href="https://www.worldvision.org/disaster-relief-news-stories/2010-haiti-earthquake-facts " rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">World Vision</a></li>
	<li class="external-link"><a href="https://donate.mcccanada.ca/cause/haiti-earthquake" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MCC</a></li>
</ul>

<h3>How to Approach the Topic of Haiti in the Classroom</h3>

Seeing, hearing, and reading about natural disasters can be distressing. Here are a few tips for discussing what&rsquo;s happening in Haiti with your students:

<ul>
	<li>Give students the opportunity to express their concerns and encourage them to ask questions.</li>
	<li>Be a good listener and acknowledge how they feel.</li>
	<li>Take action and do something positive together like making a donation, organizing a fundraiser, or writing an article that will raise awareness and that can be shared with students&rsquo; family and friends.</li>
	<li>Take some time together to learn about Haiti&rsquo;s history and culture.</li>
</ul>

Teachers, do you have other ways that we can help Haiti or other ideas for discussing Haiti in the classroom? Please let us know in the comments below.

How to Support and Discuss Haiti

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Learn tips on how to teach grammar and usage from our editors and grammar experts. 

Grammar & Usage

Perhaps the most commonly asked question in English is this: &quot;How are you?&quot;

In North America, this question is often used as a greeting. As such, the person who asks the question does not always wait for or expect an answer. In fact, they may not even blink an eye&nbsp;if you give a classic answer like &quot;I&#39;m fine, thank you&quot; or &quot;I&#39;ve been better.&quot;

However, when you&#39;re in a&nbsp;conversation with a friend, classmate, teacher, neighbor, or coworker, your interlocutor may be genuinely interested in your state of being at the time. Yet many people struggle with their answer because they want to be grammatically correct&mdash;they don&#39;t know whether they should use &quot;good&quot; or &quot;well&quot; if things are going okay, or &quot;bad&quot; or &quot;badly&quot; if&nbsp;things have taken a downward turn.&nbsp;

When thinking about your answer, you may first want&nbsp;to consider&nbsp;these points:

<ul>
	<li>&quot;Good&quot; and &quot;bad&quot; are adjectives and can&nbsp;modify nouns or pronouns. When you&#39;re describing people or things, use &quot;good&quot; or &quot;bad.&quot;</li>
	<li>&quot;Well&quot; and &quot;badly&quot; are adverbs and can modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. When you&#39;re describing the quality of how something is done, use the adverbs &quot;well&quot; and &quot;badly.&quot;</li>
	<li>However, as&nbsp;with so many areas of&nbsp;English grammar, there&#39;s an exception. When talking about health, &quot;well&quot; can be used as an adjective.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h2>So&hellip;is it &quot;I feel good&quot; or &quot;I feel well&quot;? 
&quot;I am good&quot; or &quot;I am well&quot;?</h2>

Actually, both words are correct in each sentence, though their meanings differ&nbsp;somewhat. We use &quot;well&quot; to describe our physical well-being, whereas we use &quot;good&quot; to describe our mood or disposition.

Since &quot;badly,&quot; unlike &quot;well,&quot; can only be used as an adverb, the correct word to use in these two sentences is &quot;bad&quot;: &quot;I feel bad.&quot; &quot;I am bad.&quot; But, at this point, you may be asking why we can&#39;t use an adverb, especially in the &quot;feel&quot; sentence. The answer has to do with linking verbs.

<h2>What are linking verbs?</h2>

Linking verbs are verbs that do not show any action. Many grammarians call them &quot;states of being&quot; verbs. Rather than showing action, they connect the subject to&nbsp;information&nbsp;that further identifies, describes, or renames it. In other words, they connect the subject to its complement. A linking verb tells you what the subject is, not what it does.

<h3>Common Linking Verbs:</h3>

<ul>
	<li>all forms of the Be verb (when used as the main verb, not as an auxiliary)</li>
	<li>5&nbsp;verbs&nbsp;related to the senses (taste, feel, sound, look, smell)</li>
	<li>verbs such as seem, grow, become, turn, etc.</li>
</ul>

Linking verbs are followed by adjectives, not adverbs. Here are some examples:

<ul>
	<li>The pie smells delicious.</li>
	<li>The coffee tastes bitter.</li>
	<li>The band&nbsp;sounded good.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>The teacher became angry when the students laughed at him.</li>
	<li>Marcos seems sad today.</li>
	<li>Amir feels bad about his mistake.</li>
	<li>Suyin has been absent for three days. She must feel sick.</li>
</ul>

Notice in the last example that &quot;feel&quot; is followed by the adjective &quot;sick&quot; because it is describing how Suyin is. However, feel, along with taste and smell, is not always considered a linking verb.&nbsp;If you have a cold and a stuffy nose, you may say &quot;I smell badly.&quot; However, if you say &quot;I smell bad,&quot; you should probably take a shower. Likewise, if you feel bad, you are either sick or you have regret or remorse. If you feel badly, on the other hand, you have lost the ability to feel. Unless you are numb, you don&#39;t feel badly.

So, back to our original question: How are you? As previously noted, &quot;I am good&quot; is not only an acceptable answer, but also a correct one. But, as soon as you change the verb to a non-linking verb in your response, you must choose well: &quot;I am doing well.&quot; (The main verb is do in this sentence, which is not a linking verb.) If you say &quot;I am doing good,&quot; you are commenting on your philanthropy.

One final note: Don&rsquo;t use an&nbsp;adjective when you need an adverb to describe how something happened or the manner of it.

<ul>
	<li>The plane landed safely. (not safe)</li>
	<li>People drove more carefully (not more careful) during the rainstorm than they normally do.</li>
	<li>She plays the piano really well. (not good)</li>
</ul>

Hopefully, you can now answer the question &quot;How are you?&quot; with confidence. We welcome your comments below.

Good Vs. Well 

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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!

Keke never planned on becoming a teacher. She first worked as an actress and pursued a career in broadcasting; however,&nbsp;her plans changed in 2005&nbsp;when she got the chance to teach in Japan. She&rsquo;s now been a teacher for 14 years.

&ldquo;I have really enjoyed teaching. It is wonderful to teach students from all nationalities, backgrounds, and different age groups.&rdquo;

<img alt="A woman in a classroom writing on a whiteboard while students sit at their desks." src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1669/content_Picture_for_ESLlibrary_8.jpg" />

Here, Keke is pictured teaching pre-pandemic.

Currently, she&rsquo;s situated&nbsp;in Guadalajara, Mexico and is teaching online. In addition to teaching English as a Second Language, she also teaches Spanish, American Sign Language, and Mexican Sign Language. Her students vary in level and age, ranging from elementary school age to adults.

Keke enjoys the flexibility that comes with teaching online. She loves being able to teach multiple languages to students all over the world. Most days, she teaches classes from morning until night.

&ldquo;The nice thing about teaching online is that I get to take breaks in between my classes which helps to keep my mind refreshed and active.&rdquo;

<img alt="A laptop showing a Zoom call with several students." src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1670/content_Picture_for_ESL_library_6.jpeg" />

In this picture, Keke is teaching one of her online classes.

Keke is a big fan of ESL Library. Check out Keke&rsquo;s text response below to learn more about why she loves ESL Library and how she uses it with her students.

<blockquote>
💬 Hello!!!

My name is Kennyetta &quot;Keke&quot; Morales and I teach ESL and other languages online. I really enjoy using ESL library because it is so organized. Whether I am teaching a beginner&nbsp;or advanced ESL student, ESL Library has all the tools that I need to prepare my lessons in advance. Also, I think that it is great that I can give my students an <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-our-new-grammar-tests">assessment exam</a> to confirm what their level is before I actually start to teach my students. The assessment exam also gives me an opportunity to think about the needs of students and which materials will be appropiate for their level. ESL Library is one of the best online digital tools for teaching and I am so excited about using it.

Thank you ESL Library!

Language teacher, 
Keke Morales
</blockquote>

For Keke, the most challenging part about being a teacher is convincing her students that they are capable of learning English and that doing so will open doors for them.

&ldquo;I do my best to remind them that they can reach their goals but that it will not happen overnight. If they are determined to succeed, they can reach their goal of learning ESL.&rdquo;

The most rewarding part is seeing her students progress.

&ldquo;It brings joy to my heart and it makes me want to continue to teach as many people as I can&nbsp;and inspire them to never give up on their hopes and dreams. Being a teacher is a rewarding field even though at times it can be very challenging, but once you see the impact that you can have on the lives of others,&nbsp;you will never regret becoming a teacher.&rdquo;

Want to share why you love ESL Library and how you use it in your classroom? <a href="https://www.videoask.com/fw0f8td5x" target="_blank">Tell us here.</a>

Teacher Feature: Keke

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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!

For as long as she can remember, Sidney has always&nbsp;wanted to be a teacher. She&rsquo;s been teaching for 18 years now. Two years ago, Sidney&rsquo;s passion for teaching led her to make the switch to ESL. Currently, she teaches adults ranging from literacy to the beginner level in Virginia, United States.

Sidney teaches her adult students in the evenings. Prior to the pandemic, she taught in a classroom and created lessons that were as interactive and multisensory as possible. When COVID-19 hit, Sidney had to pivot and figure out how to teach in an online environment.

<blockquote>
&ldquo;ESL Library was a real godsend to me. Prior to discovering it, I had to scan lessons into my computer each day. This was not so bad in itself, but I could not interact or write on the scanned document during teaching. Most of my students are working mothers, so I particularly enjoyed sharing videos and more diverting types of learning that kept them engaged even though they were very tired.&rdquo;
</blockquote>

Check out Sidney&rsquo;s text response below to learn more about why she loves ESL Library and how she uses it with her students.

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="camera *; microphone *; autoplay *; encrypted-media *; fullscreen *; display-capture *;" height="600px" src="https://www.videoask.com/ai6nwjj7lyn3ehgek3vxg8hzh6vhyhcczb0cmh04" style="border: none; border-radius: 24px" width="100%"></iframe></div>

For Sidney, the most challenging parts about being an ESL teacher are communicating concepts and serving students&rsquo; needs on different levels.

<blockquote>
&ldquo;I may have students who can hold rudimentary conversations but who are not sufficiently proficient for the intermediate class alongside students who cannot read in any language.&rdquo;
</blockquote>

Despite these challenges, she finds being a teacher rewarding.

<blockquote>
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the relationships I form with my students.&rdquo;
</blockquote>

Her advice for aspiring teachers?

<blockquote>
&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t be afraid to trust your instincts or implement new vehicles to learning.&rdquo;
</blockquote>

Want to share why you love ESL Library and how you use it in your classroom? <a href="https://www.videoask.com/fw0f8td5x" target="_blank">Tell us here.</a>

Teacher Feature: Sidney

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The <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/grammar/sentence-constructions/parts-of-speech">parts of speech</a> can be a tricky concept to grasp for ESL learners. In fact, there are even native English speakers who have trouble remembering the difference between a <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/grammar/prepositions">preposition</a> and a <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/grammar/sentence-constructions/conjunctions">conjunction</a> or an <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/grammar/adjectives-adverbs">adverb and an adjective</a>! But as confusing as they can be, the parts of speech are fundamentally important to understanding how English grammar works. Here&#39;s a suggestion for a fun activity to practice this vital concept.

<h1>What is a gap-fill story?</h1>

A gap-fill story (also known as &ldquo;Mad Libs,&rdquo; the popular game created by Leonard Stern and Roger Price) is essentially a fill-in-the-blanks game that often produces wonderfully silly results. The name of Stern and Price&#39;s game itself is actually a play on words. It comes from ad lib, which means to improvise or spontaneously make something up. Ad lib itself is a shortened form of the Latin expression ad libitum, which roughly translates to &quot;as you desire&quot; or &quot;at one&#39;s pleasure.&quot;

<h1>How does it work?</h1>

The concept of the activity is not complicated. You simply take a short story or text (maybe about the length of a paragraph), remove some words, and replace them with new words. The result? A very silly and sometimes nonsensical new text that has little or nothing in common with the original version. It is possible to buy pre-made Mad Libs booklets to fill in, but I&#39;ve found that having students make their own can serve as a wonderful opportunity to practice composition skills.

<h2>For example&hellip;</h2>

Here&#39;s a very basic piece of text to use as a starting point:

<blockquote>
One rainy Thursday night, Michelle was sitting in the living room with her pet rabbit, Mortimer. She was reading her favorite book, The History of Cheesemaking, and snacking on some carrots. Suddenly, there was a loud noise. Michelle jumped off the couch where she was sitting and ran out of the room to find the source of the noise. She did not find anything. When she returned, the door was locked. She could hear Mortimer laughing. &quot;More carrots for me,&quot; he said.
</blockquote>

Now, let&#39;s take this story and make it silly. Remove some of the words and make a separate list that includes each word&#39;s part of speech. Be sure to number each blank space so it corresponds with the correct item on your list to avoid confusion. The result should look something like this:


One (blank #1)1. Thursday night, (blank #2)2. was sitting in the (blank #3)3. with her pet (blank #4)4. , (blank #5)5. . She was reading her favorite book, The History of (blank #6)6. , and snacking on some (blank #7)7. . (blank #8)8. , there was a (blank #9)9. noise. (blank #10)10. (blank #11)11. the (blank #12)12. where she was sitting and ran out of the room to find the source of the noise. She did not find anything. When she returned, the door was locked. She could hear (blank #13)13. (blank #14)14. . &quot;More (blank #15)15. for me,&quot; he&nbsp;said.

<div class="whiteBox">
<h3>List:</h3>

<ol>
	<li>adjective</li>
	<li>proper noun (female name*)</li>
	<li>noun (the name of a room in a house)</li>
	<li>noun (animal)</li>
	<li>proper noun (male name*)</li>
	<li>verb ending in -ing</li>
	<li>noun (food &ndash; plural)</li>
	<li>adverb</li>
	<li>adjective</li>
	<li>proper noun (same name as #2)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>verb (past)</li>
	<li>noun</li>
	<li>proper noun (same name as #5)</li>
	<li>verb ending in -ing</li>
	<li>noun (same food as #7)</li>
</ol>
</div>

*If you prefer not to worry about pronouns, you can just put &quot;name.&quot;

Now, the fun part! Give&nbsp;the list to a partner and have them write down an appropriate word for each item. Make sure you don&#39;t show them the story. If you do, they might try to find words that make logical sense, which would make the result more predictable. Here&#39;s an example of some of the words they might come up with:

<div class="whiteBox">
<ol>
	<li>adjective: cheap</li>
	<li>proper noun (female name): Belinda</li>
	<li>noun (the name of a room in a house): closet</li>
	<li>noun (animal): cobra</li>
	<li>proper noun (male&nbsp;name): Archibald</li>
	<li>verb ending in -ing: snorkeling</li>
	<li>noun (food &ndash; plural): tempura vegetables</li>
	<li>adverb: unfortunately</li>
	<li>adjective: public</li>
	<li>proper noun (same name as #2): Belinda</li>
	<li>verb (past): vacuumed</li>
	<li>noun: rock</li>
	<li>proper noun (same name as #5): Archibald</li>
	<li>verb ending in -ing: painting</li>
	<li>noun (same food as #7): tempura vegetables</li>
</ol>
</div>

And now, the final step. It&#39;s time to take this new list of words and plug them back into the original story. Still keeping with the same example, here&#39;s the result:

<blockquote>
One cheap Thursday night, Belinda was sitting in the closet with her pet cobra, Archibald. She was reading her favorite book, The History of Snorkeling, and snacking on some tempura vegetables. Unfortunately, there was a public noise. Belinda vacuumed off the rock where she was sitting and ran out of the room to find the source of the noise. She did not find anything. When she returned, the door was locked. She could hear Archibald painting.&nbsp;&quot;More tempura vegetables for me,&quot; he said.
</blockquote>

Well, I warned you that it would be silly.

<h1>Resources</h1>

If you&#39;d like to try a simpler form of this activity with your class, perhaps as a warm-up, you can skip the part where each student&nbsp;writes their own original text. There are plenty of blank gap-fill stories that can be downloaded and printed from the internet. Just type &quot;ad lib game&quot; into any search engine, and you&#39;ll see thousands of results. And, if you&#39;re teaching digitally, there are also online versions of the game!

<h1>Hot Tip</h1>

I recommend putting students in pairs and giving each student a different story to have their partner fill out. Students can practice their speaking by taking turns asking each other for words. (&quot;Give me a plural noun.&quot; &quot;Give me an adverb.&quot;) Afterwards, you can ask for volunteers to read the results out loud!