ESL Lesson Plan

Michelle, your newsletter looks very helpful. I have just arrived in Brazil and start esl teaching next week, and your newsletter will be a great help.
Cheers, Bryan

Your site is outstanding. I hope using the lesson plan "Marketing Executive" works with my Chinese university English major classes, with whom most of I have lost credibility due to low school morale, the lack of a decent text, my students having other "real" classes to pass and the spring fever which seems to have infected most.

I'm hoping to work in Brazil, Costa Rica, or Equador. I'm 68, with loads of creativity and energy, and get along very well in schools and academia. I earned a Masters in English and a Masters in Educational Theater (NYU), and have lots of publications. My BA was general science, my BS was psychology (Regents AKA Excelsior College). I have NY, NYC, DoDDS, and Louisiana teaching and administrative credentials. Any suggestions? I'm recently divorced and free to travel.

Hi there,
I'm really interested in this months 12 topics, but (pardon my ignorance) I don't know how to get into them. Please inform me.
Yvonne.

Hello to all you "older" teachers!
Never let your age stop you! Remember that you have a wealth of experience - business and life - that no young teacher has. I'm 55 and teach business English in Germany at an international language school and I'm having a great time. I have students ranging from the age of 18 to 75 and have the advantage that they believe in me precisely because I'm not young. The younger teachers in my school often complain that the students doubt their capabilities or don't take them seriously because of their youth.
So cheer up. You do have an advantage!
Good luck!

HI , I AM CONSIDERING TEACHING ENGLISH IN JAPAN , I AM TRYING TO WORK OUT HOW MUCH I WILL EARN COMPARED TO MY LIVING EXPENSES , IN OTHER WORDS I AM TRYING TO WORK OUT HOW MUCH I WILL BE ABLE TO SAVE OR SPEND ON OTHER ACTIVITIES , ANY INFORMATION YOU COULD PROVIDE WOULD BE GREAT , THANKYOU

Hi friends and colleagues,
I am a 56 year old American female. I have been teaching ESL in POland for 4 years and have just signed for my 5th. NOthing is impossible. I changed my life, my job, my diet, all during menopause and arriving in Poland by bus, not knowing anyone! My first year started off with a bang, within 3 months, I was the most requested teacher the school had ever had-especially in the Business English sector teaching at international companies. WHY?-because of my age and experience! I don't even have my first degree, but I have lived an exciting and varied life, having owned a small business, taking exchange students during my married life, and being involved in a lot of extra curriculars and different types of jobs. I am a happy go lucky girl, love life, and love to make my classroom funny, off the wall, and exciting. My technique is very unique-no Polish, no translation and no dictionaries. If you want explanations as to why, feel free to email me. I have had several ask me to write a teachers book on these ideas, but how can I do that when most of my classes are "ad hoc", lol. I go in with many ideas and adapt them to my class atmosphere, and the students have different attitudes for every class. As per my friends and students in Poland-"You should write a book on your stay here", so I am! There will be a teacher's chapter there, but I have a year to still collect info, so it won't be on the shelves for a while. Happy teaching everyone-in the right school, country, city, its fabulous!!! SMiles, Kathy

For my class full of shy teens: the first thing I found that got them up laughing and tallking was good old "Find Someone Who". They still ended up in two bunches (girls in the back, guys in the front) but at least they were moving about making noise! i find that the more competitive games I use, the better off I am. They absolutely hate for me to call on them to answer a question. I'm still on the look out for mays to get them talking because every week seems to be a bit of a struggle.