Discover what's new or coming soon, including upcoming lessons and resources and product feature updates. 

Announcements

<h1>Introducing Individual Student Assignments</h1>

<p>Great news, teachers!</p>

<p>As of today, you can now select which individual students receive specific assignments within any class.&nbsp;</p>

<h3><strong>Here&#39;s how it works:</strong></h3>

<ul>
	<li>Click on a lesson, video, or flashcard set in your Prepping or Teaching lane within any of your classes</li>
	<li>A modal will open with your assignment preferences for that lesson&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Click the &quot;Students&quot; tab in the top navigation of the modal</li>
	<li>Switch the setting from &quot;All students&quot; to &quot;Some students&quot;</li>
	<li>Select the students you want to assign the lesson to&nbsp;and remember to hit &quot;Save&quot; inside the modal before closing it</li>
</ul>

<p>Only the selected students will see the assignment inside their class dashboard.</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C5BgjG7wtaI?si=I4waw7z14JkLaeer" width="640"></iframe></div>

<p>We know that a lot of you have been asking for this feature for a while now. So thanks for your patience, and we hope it&#39;s a big help!</p>

<p>All the best,<br />
Ben :)</p>

<p>Founder, CEO at Ellii</p>


Introducing Individual Student Assignments

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<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;Are there plans to update the &lsquo;Conjunctions&rsquo; lesson from the old 2012 format? It&rsquo;s an ugly incongruity, being the only sheet in the Grammar Worksheets not to have been updated.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Jason Bond</p>
</blockquote>

<h1>ESL Library 1.0&ndash;4.0</h1>

<p>Today, we are celebrating a major milestone at ESL&nbsp;Library, and we wanted to share it with all of you! Back in 2013, when Robyn (creative director) joined our team, the publishing team began a major reconstruction project that involved rewriting, redesigning, and reediting our full content library. Tara (head writer) and Tanya (head editor) knew it was going to be a massive undertaking to revisit every lesson, resource, and flashcard in our library in addition to adding new materials every month. What we didn&rsquo;t realize is that it would take 7+ years to achieve our&nbsp;goal!</p>

<p>This week, we uploaded that final ugly, incongruent <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1615">lesson</a>. And now, it&#39;s time to celebrate this milestone and share a bit about the journey.</p>

<p><img alt="The Lingos" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/558/content_Basic-Grammar-Sentences_2017.png" /></p>

<p class="caption">Del Lingos, 2002</p>

<h2>Rewriting &amp; Editing 1,000+&nbsp;Lessons</h2>

<p>Before sending our existing ESL&nbsp;Library lessons (1.0) to design, our writers and editors worked through each lesson that needed a makeover to ensure that the content was in good shape. This&nbsp;included:</p>

<ul>
	<li>rewriting or updating the lesson content for accuracy, validity, and&nbsp;relevance</li>
	<li>adding assessment tasks, quizzes, grammar notes, and more speaking and listening tasks</li>
	<li>rewriting answer keys and teachers&rsquo;&nbsp;notes</li>
	<li>editing with our very own style&nbsp;guide</li>
	<li>creating versions with Canadian spelling and usage (and editor&rsquo;s notes for US&nbsp;versions)</li>
	<li>aligning our content with common standards&nbsp;such as CLB, WIDA, and CEFR</li>
	<li>merging our Young Learner&nbsp;site with ESL Library and adapting the content</li>
	<li>updating publication dates and version&nbsp;numbers</li>
	<li>rerecording audio to match the new&nbsp;content</li>
</ul>

<h2>Redesigning 1,000+ Lessons</h2>

<p><img alt="Comparing some old lessons to new lessons" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/595/content_ESL-Library_Creating-an-ESL-Library-Milestone_Lessons.gif" /></p>

<p>After the rewrites and edits were done, our lessons went off to our designers for more TLC. This&nbsp;included:</p>

<ul>
	<li>improving the layout</li>
	<li>improving or redrawing the&nbsp;illustrations</li>
	<li>updating the font</li>
	<li>ensuring consistency within each&nbsp;section</li>
	<li>adding student versions</li>
</ul>

<h2>Redrawing 2,000+ Flashcards</h2>

<p><img alt="Comparison of old flashcards to new ones" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/594/content_ESL-Library_Creating-an-ESL-Library-Milestone_Flashcards.gif" /></p>

<p>Along with revamping&nbsp;all of our existing lessons, we redrew and added to the&nbsp;3,000+ images in our Flashcard Library&nbsp;during this timeframe. This&nbsp;included:</p>

<ul>
	<li>developing a new, simple flashcard style suitable for language&nbsp;learning</li>
	<li>ensuring consistency across all genres and&nbsp;categories</li>
	<li>filling gaps in many flashcard&nbsp;sets</li>
	<li>making our images much more inclusive</li>
</ul>

<h2>Then Came Digital&hellip;</h2>

<p>In addition to remastering our entire print library (and merging our young learner site with ESL&nbsp;Library), we&#39;ve been digitizing our content for the past three&nbsp;years. This meant that as updates continued with our printable versions, we&#39;ve had to add or update the digital versions as well.</p>

<p>We currently have 1,000+ digital lessons and resources as well as&nbsp;a digital Flashcard Player, and we look forward to celebrating another milestone when our full library has been digitized.</p>

<h1>Next Steps</h1>

<p>Since 2013, many of our lessons have gone through several minor and major updates, with version numbers now sitting at 4.0 or higher! In addition to expanding our library with new printable and digital content every week, here are some other things the publishing team is working on behind the&nbsp;scenes:</p>

<ul>
	<li>digitizing remaining lessons and&nbsp;resources</li>
	<li>adding UK versions for our most popular&nbsp;lessons</li>
	<li>adding video content</li>
	<li>adding more assessments</li>
	<li>developing teacher-requested content</li>
	<li>tagging content with additional standards and&nbsp;competencies</li>
	<li>making plans for US/CAN/UK digital&nbsp;versions</li>
	<li>developing ready-made courses</li>
</ul>

<p>Though our small but mighty publishing team can&rsquo;t all get together for the real celebration that this milestone deserves, this post will forever remind us that everything is possible when you have a hardworking team working together on a project they&nbsp;love. A big shout-out&nbsp;to everyone who helped out on various parts of this restoration project over the years. And to our&nbsp;heavy lifters (Tanya, Robyn, Saori, Jessica, Ann, and Tara), we did it!&nbsp;</p>

<p>This post is dedicated to all of the teachers who encouraged us to stay the course. Thank&nbsp;you!</p>


Celebrating an ESL Library Milestone

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

Articles

<p>Recently, I went back to my ESL classroom to collect my teaching materials and close out the spring semester. This was the first time I had been to the physical classroom after more than three months of online teaching. I was a bit taken&nbsp;by surprise by how many emotions and thoughts arose during this brief visit. As we begin summer and ultimately look toward classes in the fall, I&#39;d like to take a moment to share a few reflections about English teaching during this time.</p>

<p>Entering the classroom, what struck me the most was how the chairs and tables were arranged. It was if we had all just left class. And I realized how much I missed being with my students. The classroom is such a part of our lives during the semester. As members of a class, we share both a learning and a social experience, and we count on the encouraging regularity of class and one another&#39;s presence. Let&#39;s start by acknowledging this: Online learning cannot double as the physical classroom. Although we can offer <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/virtual-icebreakers">virtual icebreakers</a> and have <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-keep-students-motivated-during-distance-learning">strategies to keep students engaged</a>, there are always going to be limitations&nbsp;to what can be done socially online.</p>

<p>Yet&nbsp;the opposite is also true. As I tidied the room and gathered my possessions, I also noticed the clunky audiovisual equipment&mdash;an old CD player, scratched CDs I had from a holiday lesson, and a moody DVD player. Although weak in social interactions, the online classroom offers possibilities for incorporating videos, music, and other digital content that the physical classroom cannnot equal. This is the strength of the virtual setting. And teaching to this strength is probably the best way to make online learning more enjoyable&mdash;and perhaps to create greater engagement and a sense of shared experience.</p>

<p>As I closed the door behind me, my mind turned toward the future. What will next fall look like? Will we teach online or return to the classroom? Will it be a mixture of settings? The last several months have been challenging, and they have required creative approaches to teaching in new ways. We have learned a lot about managing online classes. We have learned to value things about the physical classroom that we sometimes took for granted. Regardless of what the next semester looks like, I am determined to retain some aspects of online learning, even as a complement to the physical classroom, and to continue to seek creative ways to nurture a sense of classroom community&mdash;both online and in person.</p>


ESL Teaching—Past, Present & Future

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

Teaching with Ellii

<p>In the wake of protests sparked by George Floyd&rsquo;s killing, monuments to Confederate leaders are being toppled and removed across the southern United States. In my hometown of Richmond, Virginia, the massive General Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue has become the center of ongoing demonstrations. The site is now adorned with tributes to people of color who have lost their lives at the hands of police. At the base of the statue, someone has posted a sign with the following anonymous&nbsp;poem:</p>

<div class="whiteBox">
<p style="text-align: center;">Dream like Martin</p>

<p style="text-align: center;">Lead like Harriet</p>

<p style="text-align: center;">Fight like Malcom</p>

<p style="text-align: center;">Think like Garvey</p>

<p style="text-align: center;">Write like Maya</p>

<p style="text-align: center;">Build like Madam C. J.</p>

<p style="text-align: center;">Speak like Frederick</p>

<p style="text-align: center;">Educate like W. E. B.</p>

<p style="text-align: center;">Believe like Thurgood</p>

<p style="text-align: center;">Challenge like Rosa</p>

<p style="text-align: center;">Inspire like Obama</p>
</div>

<p>Perhaps you too have seen this poem on T-shirts, bumper stickers, journal covers, or social media&nbsp;posts.</p>

<p>Though the names of the Black activists mentioned in the poem are familiar to many Americans, they may not be as well known to English language learners. In this time of heightened awareness of <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/70/lessons">social justice</a> issues, students may value learning more about historical Black leaders who have made a difference in the fight for equality. This poem provides an ideal approach to this&nbsp;subject.</p>

<p>After sharing the poem with your students, in groups or individually, have them choose an activist to learn more about by going online and conducting a search. You can guide their research with the following&nbsp;questions:</p>

<ol>
	<li>When did this person live?</li>
	<li>What is he/she famous for?</li>
	<li>What do you think is his/her greatest accomplishment?</li>
	<li>What do you think is the most interesting fact about this person?</li>
	<li>What character traits did/does this person have?</li>
	<li>Find one quote by this person and share it with the class.</li>
</ol>

<p>If you would like to ease into the project as a class, ESL&nbsp;Library features lessons on several of the figures noted in the poem. In our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons">Famous People</a> section, you will find lessons on Martin Luther King Jr. (<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/2566">Low‑Intermediate</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/1324">Intermediate</a>), <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/3185">Harriet Tubman</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/1375">Maya Angelou</a>. In <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/83/lessons">Easy Readers</a>, we have a lesson&nbsp;about&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/83/lessons/1490">Rosa Parks</a>, and in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/84/lessons">American Presidents</a> category, we have three lessons about Barack Obama (<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/84/lessons/1969">Beginner</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/84/lessons/1967">Low&nbsp;Intermediate</a>, and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/84/lessons/1504">High&nbsp;Intermediate &ndash;&nbsp;Advanced</a>).</p>

<p>After students have had time to complete their research, give them the opportunity to present their findings. They can give a short <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/124/resources/3029">oral presentation</a> or write up their research in essay&nbsp;form.</p>


Black Lives Matter Mini-Research Project

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<p>In addition to our <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/flashcard-player">Flashcard Player</a>, which is useful for teaching online or in the classroom, we now have an assignable <strong>Picture Dictionary</strong> task, which is suitable for asynchronous teaching and homework. Here is a demo of how this new task works:</p>

<h1>Picture Dictionary: Demo</h1>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZyTR1BMhUXA" width="560"></iframe></div>

<p>We&#39;ll be adding this task to our digital lessons throughout the summer of 2020. With your <a href="https://ellii.com/pricing">Plus</a> subscription, you can assign digital Picture Dictionary tasks to your students for homework. Your students can do these task types on any mobile device or&nbsp;computer. Here are the main sections where you will be able to find this task type popping up in the coming weeks:</p>

<ol>
	<li>Word Bank</li>
	<li>Simple Sentences</li>
	<li>Super Simple Grammar</li>
	<li>Visual Learning</li>
</ol>

<p>&nbsp;Here are a few lessons to try where this task type is already available:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/3249">Word Bank: COVID-19 </a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/91/lessons/1819">Simple Sentences: Feelings </a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/3298">Visual Learning: Healthy Eating Guide</a></li>
</ul>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/flashcard-player">Flashcard Player Demo</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/open-ended-questions">Open-Ended Questions Demo</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/product-feature-update-matching-vocabulary-preview">Matching: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/image-match-interactive-vocabulary-building-for-beginner-english-learners">Image Match: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/see-and-spell">See &amp; Spell: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/blended-learning-listening">Listen &amp; Type: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="question"><a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/180-video-true-or-false-task-demo">True or False: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="question"><a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/181-video-read-listen-task-demo">Read &amp; Listen: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="question"><a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/184-video-dialogue-task-demo">Dialogue: Demo</a></li>
</ul>


Picture Dictionary 

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<p>Though many schools are winding down for a few months in North America, language learning continues through July and August in many parts of the world. Some teachers also like to keep their students busy even when they aren&rsquo;t in the classroom. You can assign digital lessons to your students to help them avoid the summer slide. To help you plan ahead, here are some lessons that will be ready&nbsp;soon!</p>

<h1>Lessons</h1>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/3310"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/93_Eid-Al-Adha.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/3310">Eid al-Adha</a></h2>

<p>In this new lesson from <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons">Holidays &amp; Events</a>, students will learn about the &ldquo;Festival of the Sacrifice&rdquo; (July&nbsp;30&ndash;Aug&nbsp;3), an important holiday for Muslims.&nbsp;</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/3311"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/72_Social-Distancing.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/3311">Social Distancing</a></h2>

<p>We&rsquo;ve had many requests for a low-intermediate version of our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons">Discussion Starters</a> lesson on Social Distancing. You&rsquo;ll be happy to know that we have one in the&nbsp;works!</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/3312"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/113_Gardening.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/3312">Gardening</a></h2>

<p>Gardening is a popular topic for pre-beginners! We&rsquo;re working on a new <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/">Word Bank</a> lesson on this summer topic. This lesson will feature our new <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/picture-dictionary">Picture Dictionary</a>&nbsp;task.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label revisedLabel hangingLabel">Revised</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1615"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/88_Parts-of-Speech-and-Conjunctions.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1615">Conjunctions</a></h2>

<p>For several years, our publishing team has been rewriting and reformatting our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> section. This is the last lesson to complete before we tackle some brand-new grammar targets. Watch for an upcoming celebration post on our blog!</p>
</div>

<h1>Resources</h1>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources/3313"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/128_Job-Ads.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources/3313">Job Ads</a></h2>

<p>In this upcoming resource from <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources/">Real-World Reading</a>, low-level learners will practice reading very simple job&nbsp;ads.</p>
</div>

<h1>Flashcards</h1>

<p>Every family is unique! We&rsquo;ve heard your requests, and we&rsquo;re extending our flashcard set so that teachers will have lots of options for teaching vocabulary related to the&nbsp;family.</p>


Coming in July 2020

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<p><em>Last updated August&nbsp;26,&nbsp;2020</em></p>

<p>On March 11, 2020, as the vast majority of schools around the world were closing their physical locations, we made the very easy decision to upgrade all of our Standard plan users to our Plus plan at no charge. We committed to doing this until at least June&nbsp;30 in order to help schools access digital tools for teaching online without an additional financial&nbsp;burden.</p>

<p>At the time, we did not know how long this would last, but we could safely assume that schools would not resume for several&nbsp;months.</p>

<h2>Free Upgrade to Plus Plan Extended Through September&nbsp;30,&nbsp;2020</h2>

<p>In the spring we extend the upgrade until August&nbsp;30th. However, today, we are announcing a further extension of the free upgrade. All existing Standard plan users who bought subscriptions prior to June&nbsp;30,&nbsp;2020 will continue to enjoy a free upgrade to our Plus plan until September&nbsp;30,&nbsp;2020.</p>

<h3>What happens to my account after September&nbsp;30?</h3>

<p>On September&nbsp;30, your subscription will be set back to a Standard plan. With a Standard plan you maintain access to the following&nbsp;features:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Broadcast Tool:</strong> Broadcast all digital task types while sharing your screen online or using your overhead projector in&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li><strong>Flashcard Maker and Flashcard Player:</strong> Make flashcard/image sets to export as PDFs. Present image sets in the Flashcard Player while screensharing or using your overhead&nbsp;projector.</li>
	<li><strong>PDF Content:</strong> Access all of our PDFs from the Lessons and Resources&nbsp;sections.</li>
	<li><strong>Digital Reading Assignments:</strong> Assign digital reading tasks to your students as homework. (Reading assignments include articles and dialogues, and most contain an accompanying audio&nbsp;file.)</li>
</ul>

<h3>What features will I not have access&nbsp;to?</h3>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Homework Suite:</strong> Your Standard plan does not include the ability to assign any digital homework tasks other than the readings mentioned above. You will not be able to assign digital homework tasks such as Multiple-Choice, True or False, Put in Order, Type in the Blanks,&nbsp;etc.</li>
	<li><strong>Comprehensive Reporting:</strong> The Standard plan does not allow you to see the completion results of student&nbsp;assignments.</li>
	<li><strong>Comments and Feedback:</strong> The Standard plan does not give you the ability to leave feedback, ratings, or&nbsp;comments.</li>
</ul>

<h3>What will happen to current&nbsp;assignments?</h3>

<p>Your students will continue to have access to anything you previously assigned until October&nbsp;7 (one week after the plan change). For all assignments that were completed before that date, you will maintain full access to the scores and results of those&nbsp;tasks.</p>

<h3>How do I upgrade back to&nbsp;Plus?</h3>

<p>Upgrading back to Plus is easy. Once your plan changes back to Standard, you will see an Upgrade button on your account page, as well as below or next to most areas that offer Plus features. Upgrading is instant and can be charged to the card on&nbsp;file.</p>

<h3>What does the upgrade&nbsp;cost?</h3>

<p>For reference, <a href="https://ellii.com/pricing">our pricing page</a> shows the cost if you were purchasing a new plan. However, pricing will be prorated based on the time remaining on your current plan when you upgrade. This price will display on the checkout page for you to view before committing to any upgrade&nbsp;purchase.</p>

<h3>How can I learn more about the differences in&nbsp;plans?</h3>

<p><a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/208-video-standard-vs-plus-plan">This seven-minute video</a> shows you all the differences between the Standard plan and the Plus&nbsp;plan.</p>

<p>If you need any assistance, please reach out to us anytime. We&rsquo;re happy to&nbsp;help.</p>


Our Continued Commitment During the COVID Pandemic

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<p>You may have already noticed a new look and feel when you click on the&nbsp;Digital tab on a lesson page.&nbsp;In this demo, Tammy walks you through our updated digital Answer Key area.</p>

<h2>Demo</h2>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pNVT49AKa3I" width="560"></iframe></div>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/launch-or-preview-digital-tasks">Broadcast or Preview Digital Tasks</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-leave-comments-on-student-homework">How to Leave Comments on Student Homework</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/open-ended-questions">Open-Ended Questions (leaving feedback and ratings)</a></li>
</ul>


How to Find & Use the (Updated) Digital Answer Key

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<p>At ESL Library, we&#39;re all about making teachers lives a little easier! Here&#39;s a handy&nbsp;shortcut for anyone with a Google account.</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fBe4Xa1zNa8" width="560"></iframe></div>

<p>Note: You can also connect your Google account from your <strong>My Account </strong>settings.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/555/content_Screen_Shot_2020-06-10_at_4.19.02_PM.png" /></p>

<p>Looking for Clever single sign-on? This is in the works!</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/google-classroom-assignments">How to Post ESL Library Assignments on Google Classroom</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/students-sign-up-log-in">Sign Up or Log In (For Students)</a></li>
</ul>


How to Sign In/Sign Up with Google Single Sign-On (SSO)

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<p>Are you looking for the <strong>Results</strong> page? You can now manage your classes, students, and assignments/results in one convenient location called <strong>My Classes</strong>. Here are some simple instructions for finding results and other related features:</p>

<h2>1.&nbsp;Go&nbsp;to My Classes</h2>

<p>Find&nbsp;<strong>Class Prep</strong> in the main navigation bar from any page on ESL Library. Choose <strong>My Classes</strong>.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/393/content_Screen_Shot_2020-05-27_at_10.05.40_AM.png" /></p>

<h2>2. Choose a Class</h2>

<p>Choose a class that you want to manage or view results for.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/397/content_Screen_Shot_2020-05-27_at_10.05.58_AM.png" /></p>

<h2>3. Toggle to the Assignments Tab</h2>

<p>Here you can view all of the assignments for this class. Click on the down arrow to open the table and view results for individual tasks and students.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/395/content_Screen_Shot_2020-05-27_at_10.06.51_AM.png" /></p>

<h2>4. Manage Students</h2>

<p>On the Students tab, you can also easily <strong>Edit Class</strong> description or <strong>Add Students</strong>. The&nbsp;More menu&nbsp;(...) allows you to&nbsp;reset a password or delete a student from your class.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/396/content_Screen_Shot_2020-05-27_at_10.07.01_AM.png" /></p>

<h2>5. Manage Individual Students</h2>

<p>You can also quickly preview results and profile information about&nbsp;individual students by scrolling down to <strong>My Students</strong>&nbsp;(located below My Classes on the main My Classes page).</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/398/content_Screen_Shot_2020-05-27_at_10.32.11_AM.png" /></p>

<p>We hope you like this new, simpler design for managing your digital classes and results. Let us know if you need help navigating the new <strong>My Classes</strong> tables and features!</p>

<H1>Demo</h1>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9i2qIJuNAek" width="560"></iframe></div>


My Classes & Results Now Merged

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<h1>Improved Teacher-Student Communication</h1>

<p>Did you know that you can now leave comments for your students at the end of all single&#8209;answer, scorable <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/digital-task-type-demos">task types</a> (e.g., Matching, Multiple-Choice, True or&nbsp;False)?</p>

<p>The general comments area is visible after viewing your students&rsquo; results. You can also edit your comment if your student makes an additional attempt. If you have a comment relating to a specific attempt, it is a good idea to reference this in your comment. For example: <em>Your second attempt was much better. Great&nbsp;work!</em></p>

<p>Your students will see a speech bubble notification on a task if you have left a new comment or edited a comment for a new&nbsp;attempt.</p>

<h1>Demo of Comments Feature</h1>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OJQsJ8YG7-Q" width="560"></iframe></div>

<div class="whiteBox"><h5>Note:</h5><p>For <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/open-ended-questions">Open-Ended Question</a>&nbsp;tasks, you can leave ratings and&nbsp;feedback.</p></div>


How to Leave Comments on Student Homework

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

EdTech

<h1>Google Classroom Integration</h1>

<p>Are you using Google Classroom to communicate with your students? We&rsquo;ve launched the first phase of our Google Classroom integration. You can now post ESL&nbsp;Library assignments directly to Google Classroom so that your students can access all of your assignments in one place. Here&rsquo;s a quick&nbsp;demo.</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lWwONcT-VGs?si=ptvF9zQ21YQGUVvS" width="560"></iframe></div>

<p>Watch for further integrations coming soon, including the ability to import your Google Classroom classes and students directly to the ESL&nbsp;Library platform.</p>


How to Post ESL Library Assignments on Google Classroom

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<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;We learn geology the morning after the&nbsp;earthquake.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Ralph Waldo Emerson</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Metaphorically speaking, I suspect we all feel as if we&rsquo;ve taken a crash course in geology after the current earthquake struck earlier this year. For many of us, both teachers and students, we approached this crash course in &ldquo;geology&rdquo; (aka, distance learning) with both excitement and trepidation. We were eager to succeed in our new endeavor&nbsp;but also realized how much we had to learn about this new&nbsp;&ldquo;science.&rdquo;</p>

<p>The technical challenges came&nbsp;first:</p>

<ul>
	<li>How to navigate a virtual&nbsp;platform</li>
	<li>How to make students comfortable online (see our earlier post on <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/virtual-icebreakers">5&nbsp;Virtual&nbsp;Icebreakers</a>)</li>
	<li>How to assign online homework (see our <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/122-how-to-assign-digital-homework">Help Doc</a> that explains how to assign ESL&nbsp;Library&rsquo;s digital&nbsp;tasks)</li>
</ul>

<p>These were the basic skills for online instruction. In my case, my students and I tackled them with a mixture of trial, error, and (on our good days) humor. We are now fairly connected and comfortable with the online framework&mdash;at least we generally know what to&nbsp;expect.</p>

<p>But now, many weeks later, I am discovering a new set of challenges in my&nbsp;classes:</p>

<ul>
	<li>How to keep students&nbsp;motivated</li>
	<li>How to encourage student&nbsp;attendance</li>
</ul>

<p>Let&rsquo;s face it&mdash;keeping students motivated and engaged through distance learning is sometimes hard. Add a pandemic to the mix, and this challenge can feel overwhelming, if not impossible. Yet teachers are given the task to do just that. As my own students&rsquo; attendance to our class&rsquo;s Zoom meeting became erratic&mdash;and during some weeks, rather sparse&mdash;I&nbsp; had to reconsider my online teaching methods. I&rsquo;d like to share a few of my observations about the importance of relevance, flexibility, and&nbsp;feedback.</p>

<h2>Relevance</h2>

<p>Perhaps you&rsquo;ve opened your textbook to the unit that is slated for this week on the syllabus only to find that it concerns travel: <em>Did you take a vacation last year? Where did you go? How did you get there?</em> There is nothing wrong with the lesson&mdash;it teaches valuable question-and-answer structures&mdash;but it falls flat. Students may not be interested in talking about last year&rsquo;s travels; they are preoccupied with this year&rsquo;s&nbsp;problems.</p>

<p>Our lives have been affected by the pandemic in unexpected ways. Many students have found themselves unemployed and under tremendous stress, wondering how they will pay the bills. In many cases, they are suddenly responsible for homeschooling their children, and their schedules have been&nbsp;upended.</p>

<p>An English class can be a break from these concerns, but it also needs to acknowledge that these events are all taking place. The class needs to connect to students&rsquo; current lives. Here at ESL&nbsp;Library, we have been working hard to keep students engaged with relevant materials in a number of our lesson categories: <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/feelings-coronavirus">Expressing Feelings During the Coronavirus Outbreak</a> (blog post); <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/3249">COVID‑19</a> (Word Bank);&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/95/lessons/3247">The Coronavirus (COVID‑19)</a>&nbsp;and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/95/lessons/3302">Contact Tracing</a> (Health Matters); and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/3238">Pandemics</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/3250">Social Distancing</a>, and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/3285">Scams</a> (Discussion Starters). You can also find a lesson about the <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/82/lessons/3286">World Health Organization</a> in our Famous Things&nbsp;section.</p>

<p>Of course, everything in class doesn&rsquo;t need to be about the pandemic, but acknowledging it in some way in every class will validate students&rsquo; feelings as they navigate this&nbsp;crisis.</p>

<h2>Flexibility</h2>

<p>If you teach adults like I do, you have no doubt found that just finding a time to hold a class session is tough now that students&rsquo; lives have been upended. Suddenly, the hours between 9 and 11&nbsp;am on Mondays and Wednesdays might no longer belong to students for their own&nbsp;education.</p>

<p>Changing class times is not always possible, but to insist that 9 to 11&nbsp;am on Mondays and Wednesdays is the only time for class is to ignore one of the advantages of distance learning:&nbsp;flexibility.</p>

<p>My solution has been to adapt my class times in two&nbsp;ways:</p>

<ul>
	<li>First, instead of teaching one class for two hours, I teach the same (shorter) class twice. Two hours is a long time for a single online class, and the shorter class keeps students fresher and more engaged. More importantly, though, offering two times for the class gives students slightly more flexibility to fit their class into their current situation. This solution is not available in all educational systems, but it is worth exploring when&nbsp;possible.</li>
	<li>Second, I have begun carving out some time from scheduled classes in order to offer a new weekly or biweekly class session at odd times. This might be 30&nbsp;minutes in late afternoon or early evening or on a different morning. In these cases, this session is not the same as a regular class&mdash;it focuses on only one language&nbsp;skill.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Feedback</h2>

<p>Many of us can relate to this experience: You&rsquo;re the one speaking in an online gathering, and you finish what you have to say. You pause and expect someone to respond, but there is just silence. It is disconcerting. Others might be listening, but we want confirmation. We need a&nbsp;response.</p>

<p>This need for a response is true for teaching and learning online as a whole, not just in a single virtual conversation. But more than in physical classrooms, teachers in virtual classrooms need to be deliberate in acknowledging students&rsquo; work and in giving direct and prompt feedback. If students do not sense that their assignments are being read&mdash;if the feedback loop is not overtly completed&mdash;their motivation will quickly decline. Fortunately, you can now leave comments on all scorable digital task types on ESL&nbsp;Library&rsquo;s digital platform. (Learn more about this feature&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-leave-comments-on-student-homework">here</a>.)</p>

<p>We welcome your own reflections on ways to increase student motivation. Remember that motivation is not for students alone. Teacher motivation is equally important. If I look at what keeps me motivated as a teacher, it is the effort to make connections and to foster students in connecting to a new language and a new culture&mdash;no matter what the circumstances, whether in the physical or the virtual&nbsp;classroom.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&ldquo;Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do&nbsp;it.&rdquo;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Dwight D. Eisenhower</p>
</blockquote>


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