01 July 2016 / by Ana Garza

Criteria for good activities

Here are some conclusions we, Madrid teachers, arrived to when discussing What do good activities include?

These are internal working standards that we are now setting in order to unify criteria for what good activities should contain. Now we have more clues on what others mean when they say "this week the activities were terrible" or "these days activities have been fairly good".

These Friday discussions are our own way of negotiating meaning!

General criteria

Consistency in TL, making sure it’s all covered throughout the activity

Teacher’s key whenever there are specific answers to questions, matching activities, etc

If texts are included, they should be short

Make sure the sources of pictures, texts and links are reliable (that they will not disappear)

Topic activities

The topic is engaging for a wide range of students and it can spark debate

There are several ways of approaching the activity: different types of material included (visual, audio visual) and different types of practice (discussion, debate, role-play, etc)

Structure activities

Have a functional approach to it

Focus on something specific of the issue specified

Have some kind of visual stimuli

Make sure visual stimuli can be easily related to structure

Include several situations and contexts for students to practice applying the structure

Vocabulary activities

TL is appropriate for the level

All the descriptors contained in the general criteria

Pronunciation activities

Focus only on one sound or one combination of sounds

Good practice of the target sound or combination of sounds: Tongue twisters, rhymes

Associated to a specific level or make sure in the same activity there are options for different levels

Be targeted towards the students getting to know patterns and rules

Include a teacher’s key: there should be an explanation of patterns, rules and exceptions

By following our own conclusions we can now turn good activities into great ones and be on the same page with it.

15

July 2016

ESL Course Design for the 2016-2017 Academic Year

by Max Zaman

With another academic year coming to a close, the teachers of Oxbridge Barcelona began to reflect on the year behind them and plan the ESL courses for the 2016-2017 academic year. We began by brainstorming on the activities and teaching methods that were well received by the students, but more importantly, helped students advance their Englis...

11

July 2016

Grading activities. Creating unified criteria.

by Rob Wylie

In all of our classes we use activities which are written by us, the teachers, but how can we ensure that the activities work during a class? Here at Oxbridge we have adopted a five-star rating system for grading activities to ensure that we are able to evaluate all activities not onl...

07

July 2016

Can a non-native teach English? No way!

by Marjan Van Rij

“Where are you from?” is usually one of the first questions I get when I meet students for the first time. I am from the Netherlands (which isn't Holland by the way but that’s a different story). “But English is not the official language of the Netherlands, right?” Yes, that's right. Our official language ...

04

July 2016

English prepositions are easy with the in-on-at pyramid

by Marjan Van Rij

Are your students struggling to memorize the prepositions? Moreover isn’t it a bit confusing to explain all different examples? Why are my hands on the table, am I in the building and at the desk? Don’t worry. In, on and at is often confused among Spanish ESL students. Probably because these three prepositions can be translated to one Spanish...

01

July 2016

Are you capable of learning English?

by Marjan Van Rij

One of my students told me after his two-hour class by videoconference that he felt very comfortable because he was able to follow most of it. Still he didn’t feel comfortable enough to speak at any time. He is at a beginner’s level but far from a beginner. I am talking about a middle-aged man who has been studying English almost his entire l...

01

July 2016

Criteria for good activities

by Ana Garza

Here are some conclusions we, Madrid teachers, arrived to when discussing What do good activities include? These are internal working standards that we are now setting in order to unify criteria for what good activities should contain. Now we have more clues on what others mean...

29

June 2016

Why don’t we translate while we teach English?

by Marjan Van Rij

“... and all other things.” I saw the look in his eyes: panic. “Things? What is things?” Oops, I didn’t know this was a new word. Mentally slapping myself in the face for my own stupidity, I started explaining the word “thing”. I pointed at different objects in the room while using the word “thing” and referred to myself ...

03

June 2016

How to use cognates for beginners

by Max Zaman

When students make the decision to step into the classroom to learn English, they often nervous and feel intimidated. For them it is as if they are entering a new world where nothing looks familiar. Thus they can become withdrawn and shy. The situation can be difficult for the TEFL teacher as well as they struggle to connect with the students...

30

March 2016

The importance of teaching practice in TEFL training

by Rafael Olivares

Teaching English is a very complex process that involves knowledge about linguistics as well as about educational psychology. However, like everything else in life, there is the theory and then the reality. There is a Chinese proverb that says: I hear and I forget... I see and I remember... I do and I understand. This holds so very true...

02

March 2016

The power of dissatisfaction

by Ana Garza

Dissatisfaction tends to be associated with something negative, but it's actually quite powerful when one uses it wisely. One of the problems it brings is that its consequence tends to be criticising –and it ends up there. But the other day I read something that said that people who were satisfied with their ...

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01 July 2016 / by Ana Garza

Criteria for good activities

General criteria

Topic activities

Structure activities

Vocabulary activities

Pronunciation activities

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