Find useful resources and tips for teaching English with interactive apps and sites.

EdTech

<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;We do have a lot in common. The same air, the same Earth, the same sky. Maybe if we started looking at what&#39;s the same instead of always looking at what&#39;s different&hellip;well, who&nbsp;knows?&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Meowth</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Have you heard about the latest craze of people&nbsp;playing <a href="http://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-video-games/pokemon-go/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Pok&eacute;mon GO</a>&nbsp;on their <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pokemon-go/id1094591345?mt=8" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">iOS</a> and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nianticlabs.pokemongo&amp;hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Android</a> devices? Gamers pretend to be&nbsp;trainers who try to capture the Pok&eacute;mon that surround them. The game uses augmented reality to show Pok&eacute;mon at various locations around the physical world. The famous game is based on the popular Pok&eacute;mon game and animated series from the 1990s. The app is currently limited to only a few countries, but will be available soon in more countries. During the summer, your language learners can&nbsp;enjoy playing the game and practicing their English with the ideas and activities shared&nbsp;below.</p>

<h1>The Basics</h1>

<p>The app allows&nbsp;users&nbsp;to practice basic tasks in English. Learners&nbsp;can sign up with a Google account or join the Pok&eacute;mon Trainer Club for free. When they&nbsp;sign up as a trainer, they&nbsp;are asked to enter their&nbsp;date of birth, country, a username, password, and email address. When they&nbsp;verify their&nbsp;email, they&nbsp;receive tokens. If playing with young learners who don&#39;t have email accounts, adults can add children to their trainer account. Once a trainer account is verified, learners can edit their profiles, add a motto, and log on to the game via a mobile&nbsp;device.</p>

<h3>Related Lesson</h3>

<p>Try ESL Library&#39;s ready-made Discussion Starters lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/2252" target="_blank">The &quot;Pokemon GO&quot;&nbsp;Phenomenon</a>.&nbsp;</p>

<h1>Introducing the Game</h1>

<p>Some of your learners have played Pok&eacute;mon before and can help other language learners in your class understand the basics. Below are a list of resources to help you introduce the basic vocabulary, characters, and premise of the&nbsp;game:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="http://www.imore.com/pokemon-go" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The Beginner&rsquo;s Guide: How to Play Pok&eacute;mon GO</a>&nbsp;explains everything you need to know about the&nbsp;game</li>
	<li><a href="http://comicsalliance.com/pokemon-infographic/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Infographic</a> that explains the 17 different categories of Pok&eacute;mon and some interesting&nbsp;facts</li>
	<li>A <a href="http://pokemondb.net/pokedex/national" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">list of the Pok&eacute;mon</a> with an image and information about each&nbsp;character</li>
	<li><a href="http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/History_of_Pok%C3%A9mon" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The History of&nbsp;Pok&eacute;mon</a></li>
</ul>

<h1>Game Introduction as a&nbsp;Reading</h1>

<p>Gamers&nbsp;begin by reading a short introduction of the game&rsquo;s purpose. Take a screenshot of the introduction and make it a class reading where you have a list of vocabulary or phrases to&nbsp;learn.</p>

<h1>Create and Share Your Trainer&nbsp;Avatar</h1>

<p>Learners create the trainer&rsquo;s avatar. Have learners list or discuss with their peers the trainer&rsquo;s face shape, hair style and color, eye color, cap, top, bottoms, shoes, and backpack. They will practice vocabulary associated with parts of the body, clothing, and&nbsp;characteristics.</p>

<h1>Characteristics of a Good Pok&eacute;mon&nbsp;Trainer</h1>

<p>The game involves role-playing. Learners act as trainers who capture and train the Pok&eacute;mon to battle each other. Get learners to create a digital <a href="http://www.shellyterrell.com/poster.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">poster</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/14-free-web-tools-and-apps-for-students-to-present-their-knowledge/" target="_blank">presentation</a>. You should do this after they have played the game a few&nbsp;times.</p>

<h1>Share Your Favorite&nbsp;Pok&eacute;mon</h1>

<p>Give learners&nbsp;time to research the <a href="http://pokemondb.net/pokedex/national" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Pok&eacute;mon list</a>. Your&nbsp;students can then create presentations or digital posters&nbsp;about their top three&nbsp;favorite Pok&eacute;mon. The learners&nbsp;don&rsquo;t have to include everything they discover but should include an image, the type, some data, a few statistics, the types of defenses and the evolution of the Pok&eacute;mon. They want to include information that will help them be better players for the Pok&eacute;mon Go&nbsp;game.</p>

<h1>Guess the Pok&eacute;mon</h1>

<p>Once your learners share their favorite three Pok&eacute;mon, get them to play a guessing game in small groups where each guesses the Pok&eacute;mon based on a list of physical characteristics, traits, and facts. Learners write down on an index card the name of the Pok&eacute;mon with a list of five&nbsp;facts and a drawing. These index cards go in a stack. One learner draws a card and describes the Pok&eacute;mon based on appearance and also can share the five&nbsp;facts on the card. Allow learners to use the &#39;sounds like&#39; option if it is too difficult. The other group members try to guess the Pok&eacute;mon. Another option is to use a timer and divide the groups into two&nbsp;teams playing against each&nbsp;other.</p>

<h1>Pok&eacute;mon GO Player Good&nbsp;Practices</h1>

<p>The game starts with warnings for players to be alert and aware of their surroundings. Complaints have already been made about trainers playing at funerals or historical sites where playing a game is considered insensitive. Gamers have also been acting dangerously in the streets. Ask your&nbsp;learners to work in pairs or small groups and come up with a list of five&nbsp;to ten&nbsp;safety tips and good practices for players. Some ideas include having an non-playing adult present, not playing in the streets, practicing good judgment, and exhibiting&nbsp;good manners. Groups can create <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/14-free-web-tools-and-apps-for-students-to-present-their-knowledge/" target="_blank">presentations</a> featuring these&nbsp;tips.</p>

<h1>Digital Storytelling</h1>

<p>Once your learners play the game, have them write a digital story of their experiences battling or capturing a Pok&eacute;mon. Learners can describe the location, the obstacles, and other details. Have them read their stories aloud in pairs to add a speaking component. Recommended digital storytelling tools include <a href="https://www.littlebirdtales.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Little Bird Tales</a> (web/iOS app), <a href="http://www.toondoo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Toondoo</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/puppet-pals-2-school-edition/id557616416?mt=8" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Puppet Pals HD</a> (iOS app), <a href="http://www.redjumper.net/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Book Creator</a> (iOS/Android app), and <a href="https://www.edu.buncee.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">EduBuncee</a> (web/iOS&nbsp;app).</p>

<p>What other games do your language learners enjoy playing on their mobile&nbsp;devices?</p>


9 Fun Ways to Practice English with Pokémon GO!

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<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;If you can&rsquo;t explain it simply, you don&rsquo;t understand it well enough.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/1328" target="_blank">Albert Einstein</a></p>
</blockquote>

<p>This year, get your language learners to present their learning in a multimedia slideshow. If this is one of their first presentations, keep it simple by providing your students with a general topic to explore, such as careers. Then give your learners the freedom to narrow their topic for their presentations (e.g., <em>engineer</em> or&nbsp;<em>teacher</em>).</p>

<p>Make sure students choose two or three areas to explore to ensure no topic is repeated. Provide students with a checklist of information to gather about the topic. For careers, students would need to find out <em>salaries, duties, top hiring companies, needed skills, </em>and required certifications. When your students complete their research, students should deliver an oral presentation alongside their multimedia&nbsp;slideshow.</p>

<p>Try one of ESL Library&#39;s new ready-made project-based learning modules. Your students will do a presentation as part of their group research&nbsp;project.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/group-projects/resources/2198-public-health-project">Public Health Project</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/group-projects/resources/2214-earth-summit-project">Earth Summit Project</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/group-projects/resources/2233-canada-project">Canada Project</a></li>
</ul>

<h1>3 Presentation Forms for Language Learners</h1>

<p>Here are three recommended multimedia slideshows tools and apps that you can introduce to your language learners as they prepare their presentations. For more ideas on how to help students develop public speaking and presentation skills, check out this post, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/20-tips-and-resources-to-help-learners-with-their-presentation-skills/" target="_blank">20+ Tips and Resources to Help Learners with Their Presentation&nbsp;Skills</a>.</p>

<p>For language learners, shorter presentations are less intimidating. Have your learners deliver a <a href="http://ed.ted.com/clubs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">TED Talk</a>, <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teaching-presentation-skills-with-ignite-andrew-miller" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Ignite</a>, or <a href="http://www.pechakucha.org/faq" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Pecha Kucha</a> style&nbsp;presentation.</p>

<p><a href="http://ed.ted.com/clubs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">TED Talks</a> are anywhere from 3 to 23 minutes and are about innovation, passions, inventions, or incredible ideas. Get language learners to study TED Talks by presenters their age and analyze the content and delivery. After analyzing a few TED Talks, have students provide you a topic for their own TED Talk they will deliver in front of their peers. The following are links with tips, rubrics, and lesson plans to get your students&nbsp;started:</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="external-article"><a href="http://blog.ted.com/10-inspiring-talks-from-tedyouth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">10 Inspiring Talks From TED&nbsp;Youth</a></li>
	<li class="external-article"><a href="https://tedxproject.wordpress.com/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">The TEDx Classroom Project</a></li>
	<li class="external-article"><a href="http://www.educationworld.com/blog/ted-talk-unit" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Engaging Assignment: Have Students Create Their Own TED&nbsp;Talks</a></li>
	<li class="external-article"><a href="http://www.englishisapieceofcake.com/presentation-lesson-plan.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">How to Give a Good Presentation Lesson&nbsp;Plan</a></li>
	<li class="external-article"><a href="http://www.thetechclassroom.com/home/usingtedtodeveloppresentationskills" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Using TED to Develop Presentation&nbsp;Skills</a></li>
	<li class="external-article"><a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/11/25/what-students-can-learn-from-giving-tedx-talks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">What Students Can Learn from Giving TEDx&nbsp;Talks</a></li>
</ul>

<p>An <a href="http://igniteshow.com/howto" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Ignite</a> is a 5 minute presentation style in which students design 20 slides that auto advance every 15 seconds. The idea is for students to create well designed presentations with little text. Find a lesson plan and tips here, <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teaching-presentation-skills-with-ignite-andrew-miller" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Teaching Presentation Skills with&nbsp;Ignite</a>.</p>

<p>A <a href="http://www.pechakucha.org/faq" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Pecha Kucha</a> is a presentation style invented by architects Klein and Dytham in Japan. The presentation lasts 6 minutes and 40 seconds. Students design 20 slides with mostly visuals and very little text. Each slide auto advances every 20 seconds. Find lesson ideas here, <a href="https://remixhumanities.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/pecha-kucha-in-the-classroom-tips-and-strategies-for-better-presentations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Pecha Kucha in the Classroom: Tips and Strategies for Better&nbsp;Presentations</a>.</p>

<h1>Presentation Tools and Apps</h1>

<p>Create multimedia slideshows with templates, transitions, and animations with free web tools, such as <a href="https://flowvella.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Flowvella</a>, <a href="https://www.edu.buncee.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">EduBuncee</a> (iOS app), <a href="https://sway.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Sway</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/slides/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Google Slides</a> (iOS/Android apps), <a href="https://www.emaze.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Emaze</a>, and <a href="https://www.canva.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Canva</a> (iOS app). Recently, Google Slides integrated a <a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2016/05/how-to-use-new-q-and-laser-pointer.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">question and answer feature</a> to engage&nbsp;learners.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Slideshare</a>, <a href="https://www.haikudeck.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Haiku Deck</a> (iOS app), and <a href="http://slide.ly/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Slide.ly</a> are general slide creation tools with templates and resorces to help students create visually stunning&nbsp;presentations.</p>

<p><a href="https://present.me/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Present.me</a>, <a href="http://prezi.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Prezi</a> (iOS app), and <a href="http://voicethread.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Voicethread</a> (iOS app) allow students to add voice and video narration to their&nbsp;slides.</p>

<p><a href="http://photopeach.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Photopeach</a>, students create a slide presentation with quizzes, images and add&nbsp;music.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.livebinders.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Livebinders</a> is an online web tool and free mobile app that looks like a digital school binder. Students can choose presentation mode when delivering their oral presentations. It has various tabs, so students can embed websites, pdfs, images, video, and more. Students can also edit each tab&rsquo;s html to design the look of the tab. Livebinders works on multiple platforms and has an extension for students to easily collect their research from the&nbsp;web.</p>

<p>Who are your favorite presenters to motivate your language&nbsp;learners?</p>

14 Free Web Tools and Apps for Students to Present Their Knowledge

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<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s an entire universe in every single&nbsp;tweet&hellip;&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Jack Dorsey</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Twitter is a great place to discover articles and resources for teaching English as well as an engaging way to get your students to improve their reading and writing skills. Twitter also chunks language to 140 characters, which makes communicating and reading in English more manageable. Additionally, students learn to scan text for understanding and bookmark resources&nbsp;quickly.</p>

<p>The list of activities below will help you get started integrating Twitter for language learning. Public Twitter streams do not require an account to view them. Your students do not need a Twitter account for many of the activities suggested. However, you may want to create a free Twitter class or teacher&nbsp;account.</p>

<h1>Learn Vocabulary</h1>

<p>Your learners can follow many accounts to learn new vocabulary or phrases each day. Here are some Twitter accounts for learning English vocabulary and phrases:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/rollofftongue" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@RolloffTongue</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/grammargirl" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@GrammarGirl</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/wordswithlarry?lang=en" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@WordsWithLarry</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/OED" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@OED</a>.</p>

<h1>Teach Them How To&nbsp;Tweet</h1>

<p>Try the <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2053" target="_blank">How to Tweet</a> lesson from ESL&nbsp;Library&rsquo;s Writing in English&nbsp;section.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2053" target="_blank"><img alt="Screenshot of ESL Library's How to Tweet lesson" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/206/content_74_Tweet_US.png" /></a></p>

<p class="caption"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2053" target="_blank">How to Tweet</a> &ndash; Writing in&nbsp;English</p>

<h1>Learn Grammar</h1>

<p>Students can follow accounts like <a href="https://twitter.com/grammarly" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@Grammarly</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/EnglishClub" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@EnglishClub</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/grammarmonkeys" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@GrammarMonkeys</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/The_YUNiversity" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@The_YUNiversity</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/english247" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@English247</a> to discover quizzes, exercises, images and tips to improve their grammar. They can click the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/grammar" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">#grammar</a> to discover more free grammar&nbsp;resources.</p>

<h1>Correct Grammar</h1>

<p>Get your language learners to correct the grammar in celebrity tweets. Click <a href="http://go.sadlier.com/school/celebrity-tweets-editing-worksheets" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">here</a> to find a pdf of tweets to correct by famous people like Kanye&nbsp;West.</p>

<h1>Follow an Important Event</h1>

<p>Have your language learners follow hashtags about an important event, like a natural disaster, civil war, or election. Students scan the hashtag full of accounts from primary sources then write about their impressions or act as journalists and create an article quoting some of the sources. Students can use <a href="http://tweet2cite.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Tweet to Cite</a> to quickly cite the resource in MLA and APA&nbsp;style.</p>

<h1>Conduct a Twitter Interview</h1>

<p>Many experts, celebrities, authors, leaders, athletes, and professionals have Twitter accounts. Invite one to interview on Twitter. Decide on a unique hashtag for the event that isn&rsquo;t already used on Twitter. Get students to craft questions ahead of time and peer review and correct these questions ahead of time. Use one account to tweet the question with the student&rsquo;s handle or initials. Include the hashtag in the tweet. Create an archive of the Twitter conversation for free with&nbsp;<a href="https://storify.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Storify</a>.</p>

<h1>Connect with Another School</h1>

<p>Find other schools to connect with on Twitter and host discussions, debates, or share resources. Follow the tips above for conducting a Twitter interview. Find schools to connect with by connecting with other teachers online. Check out our previous article, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-ultimate-hashtag-guide-for-english-language-teachers/" target="_blank">The Ultimate Hashtag Guide for English Language Teachers</a>, for ways to connect with other English language&nbsp;teachers.</p>

<h1>Share a Gif</h1>

<p>Recently, Twitter added the feature to <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/2016/introducing-gif-search-on-twitter" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">share a gif</a> with your status update. Your students can accompany tweets with a gif and students can even search for a gif to share, which is a similar feature in Facebook. Gifs are a great way for students to visualize vocabulary and&nbsp;phrases.</p>

<h1>Backchannel</h1>

<p>If your students have Twitter accounts, create a class hashtag for them to use when you want them to share their thoughts, responses, and resources. When scheduling homework like viewing the Oscars, a presidential debate, a famous speech, or following another event, your students can share their impressions and read the impressions of other peers with the hashtag. Students can also use the hashtag to share their thoughts about a video they are watching in&nbsp;class.</p>

<h1>Share Resources</h1>

<p>Students can use the class hashtag to continually share links, videos, articles, podcasts, experiences, and examples of each unit. Before beginning a new topic, have students conduct research and share two to three resources for you to collect and add to a <a href="https://storify.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Storify</a>, <a href="http://www.scoop.it/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Scoop.It</a>, <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Pinterest board</a>, or&nbsp;<a href="http://www.pearltrees.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">PearlTrees</a>.</p>

<h1>Collaborative Debate &amp; Discussion</h1>

<p>Post a discussion or debate question for your students to post responses to with the class&nbsp;hashtag.</p>

<h1>Twitter Polls</h1>

<p>Twitter has a <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/2015/introducing-twitter-polls" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">polling feature</a> to quickly create polls on a class Twitter account. Post a question for your students to vote on with the class hashtag or on a Twitter class account. You can post a new interesting poll for each unit you cover to peak their interests. Poll them about favorites or preferences. Post a poll asking information about the new unit to get an idea on their knowledge of the topic. Discuss the results in&nbsp;class.</p>

<h1>For Self Study</h1>

<p>For self study, your adult language learners will find the following hashtags&nbsp;useful: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/twinglish" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">#Twinglish</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/engpls" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">#EngPls</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/learnalanguage" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">#LearnALanguage</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/studyenglish" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">#StudyEnglish</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/learnenglish?lang=en" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">#LearnEnglish</a>.</p>

<p>What Twitter accounts do you feel are useful for language&nbsp;learners?</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-ultimate-hashtag-guide-for-english-language-teachers/" target="_blank">The Ultimate Hashtag Guide for English Language Teachers</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/shorty-awards-singular-or-plural-and-should-twitter-be-capitalized/" target="_blank">Should Twitter Be Capitalized</a></li>
</ul>


12 Ways to Use Twitter with Language Learners

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<p><em>Editor&rsquo;s note: This post has been updated to include the 2017 conference&nbsp;hashtags.</em></p>

<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;Thanks to Twitter, the hashtag has become an important linguistic&nbsp;shortcut.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;<a href="http://pitchfork.com/features/ordinary-machines/9351-hashtags/" target="_blank">Lindsay Zoladz</a> (Pitchfork,&nbsp;2014)</p>
</blockquote>

<p>On the web, millions of teachers worldwide connect to share support and resources. If you are in search of activities, resources, or support for a lesson, then you&rsquo;ll want to know where these teachers share ideas&nbsp;online.</p>

<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashtag" target="_blank">Hashtags</a>, the words you see around the web with number (#) signs in front of them, are the key to finding and sharing resources online. You don&rsquo;t have to belong to social networks to benefit from hashtags. You can do a search for a hashtag on Google and find public streams of information on Twitter and other&nbsp;sites.</p>

<p>Below are a list of fantastic hashtags for English language teachers. Click and begin exploring and connecting&nbsp;today!</p>

<h1>General Hashtags</h1>

<p>According to <a href="http://hashtagify.me/hashtag/learning" target="_blank">Hashtagify</a>, the following are some of the most used hashtags among English language teachers. Discover free resources, bloggers, apps, activities and news about teaching your language learners. The hashtags to follow are <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/esl" target="_blank">#ESL</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TESOL" target="_blank">#TESOL</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/tefl" target="_blank">#TEFL</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/efl" target="_blank">#EFL</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/elt" target="_blank">#ELT</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/duallang" target="_blank">#duallang</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ells" target="_blank">#ELLs</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ell" target="_blank">#ELL</a>. Other great hashtags with useful resources include <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/clil" target="_blank">#CLIL</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/grammar" target="_blank">#Grammar</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/idioms" target="_blank">#Idioms</a>.</p>

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/twinglish" target="_blank">#Twinglish</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/engpls" target="_blank">#EngPls</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/learnalanguage">#LearnALanguage</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/studyenglish" target="_blank">#StudyEnglish</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/learnenglish?lang=en" target="_blank">#LearnEnglish</a> are hashtags used by English language learners around the world. Sometimes you will find tweets in other&nbsp;languages.</p>

<h2>Hashtags for Specific Areas of English Language&nbsp;Teaching</h2>

<p>Try any of the following hashtags for resources specific to a test or age&nbsp;group.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Use the hashtags <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/businessenglish" target="_blank">#BusinessEnglish</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/besig" target="_blank">#BESIG</a> to discover resources related to teaching Business&nbsp;English.</li>
	<li>Use the hashtags <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/younglearners" target="_blank">#YoungLearners</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/yltsig" target="_blank">#YLTSig</a> to discover resources related to teaching young&nbsp;learners.</li>
	<li>Use the hashtags <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/eap?lang=en">#EAP</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23tleap" target="_blank">#TLEAP</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/baleap" target="_blank">#BALEAP</a> to find resources related to teaching English for academic&nbsp;purposes.</li>
	<li>Supporting learners in their different tests or taking a test? Try <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ielts">#IELTS</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/toefl" target="_blank">#TOEFL</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/toeic" target="_blank">#TOEIC</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/celta" target="_blank">#CELTA</a>.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Hashtag Chats</h2>

<p>If you&rsquo;re looking to connect with other English language teachers and bloggers, then try joining a Twitter chat. We recommend these great Twitter&nbsp;chats:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="http://www.eltchat.org/" target="_blank">#ELTChat</a> takes place every Wednesday at 12&nbsp;pm and 9&nbsp;pm&nbsp;GMT.</li>
	<li><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ellchat" target="_blank">#ELLChat</a> takes place on Mondays at 9&nbsp;pm&nbsp;ET.</li>
	<li><a href="https://twitter.com/duallangchat" target="_blank">#Duallangchat</a> takes place the first Sunday of each month at 6&nbsp;pm&nbsp;PST / 8&nbsp;pm&nbsp;CST.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Conference Hashtags</h2>

<p>Get to know the teachers, authors, vendors, and events at the conferences you attend. Following the conference hashtag is a great way to keep up with what is happening at conferences, including any freebies or tips about navigating the city. You can also share your presentation time and materials to a much wider audience. If you are looking for tweet-ups (face-to-face meetings of Twitter users), then knowing the hashtag is a&nbsp;must!</p>

<p>Two of the most followed conference hashtags are for the <a href="http://www.tesol.org/convention2017" target="_blank">TESOL International Conference</a> and <a href="http://www.iatefl.org/" target="_blank">IATEFL</a>. The <a href="https://twitter.com/TESOL_Assn" target="_blank">TESOL International conference</a> takes place March 21&ndash;24 in Seattle, Washington. Attendees and the organization share information with the hashtags <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/tesol2016" target="_blank">#TESOL2017</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/tesol16" target="_blank">#TESOL17</a>. (The ESL&nbsp;Library team will be there, so be sure to visit the&nbsp;booth.)</p>

<p>The <a href="https://twitter.com/iatefl" target="_blank">IATEFL conference</a> takes place April 4&ndash;7 in Glasgow, Scotland. Use the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/iatefl" target="_blank">#IATEFL</a> to keep up with the latest news and&nbsp;events.</p>

<p>There are many other conferences with hashtags. To discover conferences and events in different countries try <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/asiaelt" target="_blank">#ASIAELT</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/auselt" target="_blank">#AUSELT</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23keltchat" target="_blank">#KELTChat</a> (Korean&nbsp;ELT), <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/jalt" target="_blank">#JALT</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/jaltcall">#JALTCALL</a>.</p>

<p>Canada has a few hashtags for English language teachers, which include <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23teslcanada" target="_blank">#TESLCanada</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/tesltoronto" target="_blank">#TESLToronto</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bcteal" target="_blank">#BCTEAL</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/lincchat">#LINCChat</a>.</p>

<p>What are your favorite hashtags?</p>
