December 17, 2005
Get ESL-Lesson-Plan on "My Yahoo!" or "My Msn"
What is all this RSS business anyway? Read on:
"RSS" is just an acronym for "Really Simple Syndication" and it's a type of information feed that can be used in some really helpful ways. Don't worry, it's easy!
Do you use the MyYahoo! service as your web browser's homepage? How about My Msn ? Even AOL has a My AOL option.
I just so happen to use the MyYahoo! one, but they're all about the same, really. What they let you do is choose what kind of "news" you want to see. On "your page" you can have your local weather, stocks, airfares, you name it. Or, you can delete those modules. There's lots of personalized content to choose from.
Anyway, one of the REALLY cool things you can do with those sites is to add blogs like ESL-Lesson-Plan to the area where your news comes in. That's right, it will actually look like the news headlines do with the title of the "story" - in this case the title of the post - with the first few lines of the article so you can give and educated guess of what you're getting into before you click.
So, if you are one of our faithful ESL-Lesson-Plan readers/commenters but find it to be a real pain to find our link every time you want to visit us, consider adding an RSS feed to your MyYahoo, MSN, or AOL page!
It couldn't be easier really.
Take a look at the menu column on the left of this blog. If you are presently reading this post through some other site that is using our feed, you'll want to come directly to the actual site at http://www.esl-lesson-plan.com
Ok, where was I? Right, look at the column of links on the left. You may have to scroll down but you will see some buttons that look like this:
Click on the one that's applicable to you and then continue following the instructions given to you (you may be asked to "sign in" to your page.
After it's done, go to your "My page" for whichever service you use, hit the browser's "refresh" button and check if you can now see the posts for ESL-Lesson-Plan or not.
It's a pretty nifty thing, in my opinion.
Let me know if it works for you. I'll be interested to know if you had any major problems getting it to work for you and if you like the service.
Happy Computing!
Lee Hobbs
ESL Instruct, Editor-in-Chief
ESLemployment.com
Posted by lhobbs at 04:38 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 20, 2005
Greetings ESL Teachers From Pennsyltucky, USA!
"That's the secret to life... replace one worry with another...." ~ Peanuts' Charlie Brown
A Big "Hello" to all ESL Blog-Readers and Forum Participants,
For those of you who don't know me (and that's probably almost everybody) my name is Lee Hobbs and I'll be taking over the ESL Lesson Plan blog for a bit as Michelle is currently on extended leave (okay don't start throwing the tomatoes yet!). Please read on:
As the newly-appointed kid on the virtual ESL block, I’d like to first say hello to all the loyal ESL blog readers out there. For those who have already written to me, I thank you for the warm welcome.
I've been assigned to stand in for Michelle, who did a fine job, for both the ESL Instruct newsletter and this blog. I'll also be around as the newest ESL Forum moderator. For you curious types, here is a little blurb on my background :
As a North American native-speaker of English, I spent six years abroad working in the emerging ESL field of Central Europe during the 1990s. During that time, I had the opportunity to work closely with various sectors of ESL teaching, e.g. public grade-schools, public universities and private language schools. Now, in addition to writing newsletters for the publishers of ESL Instruct, I am presently teaching college classes in the United States and completing my doctoral work.
I look forward to hearing from everyone out there. Also keep your eyes peeled for the latest edition of the ESL Instruct newsletter...I'll be authoring the October edition.
With kind regards,
Lee Hobbs
ESL Instruct, Editor-in-Chief
ESLemployment.com
Posted by lhobbs at 11:21 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 27, 2005
Need to Lighten Up?
Hello everyone!
Do you ever feel the need to lighten up the mood in your classes? Maybe you’ve noticed that many jokes that are common in your culture simply don’t translate to your classroom. (Haven't you ever tried to tell one that just falls flat?) Cheer up! Check out this site for some jokes are the perfect for the ESL student. You’ll even be able to choose the English level so you’ll be able to find the perfect jokes for your classroom!
http://www.englishclub.com/esl-jokes/
Until next time,
Michelle
Posted by msimmons at 02:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 21, 2005
Do You Feel Out-Of-Touch?
Hello everyone!
As teachers, it’s critical that we keep up-to-date on the current trends in teaching. But some of us are far away from universities or other places where ESL teaching is a common topic of conversation. But that doesn’t mean that we have to miss out on any professional developments or ideas. If you have an Internet connection, you can read some great publications that are dedicated to advancing the art of teaching English as a second language. Here’s a list of some of great ones:
The Internet TESL Journal: http://iteslj.org/
Its teachers online magazine: http://www.its-teachers.com/
Language Learning and Technology: http://llt.msu.edu/
Teaching English As A Second Or Foreign Language: http://cwp60.berkeley.edu:16080/TESL-EJ/
Know of any more? We'd love to hear about them!
Until next time,
Michelle
Posted by msimmons at 01:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 09, 2005
Looking For A Teaching Aid? Here's A Great One.
Here's a quick tip for improving your student's listening skills.
Many times students become accustomed to their teacher’s voice and accent, and have a difficult time understanding other people—even though they may do great in class. That’s why it’s vital to expose them to different styles and variations of speech. That can be difficult to do if you teach in an area where English is rare.
One great solution to this problem is to have them listen to different video or audio files that involve other people speaking, and then discuss the conversation or story in class. A great web site where you can find a multitude of these is www.tolearnenglish.com. This site includes fifty video files and over one-hundred audio files to select from. What’s more, they’re all free! You’ll simply need RealOne Player to watch or listen to them, which can be downloaded for free from the Internet.
I highly recommend using this site to allow your students to listen to other people speak, so that they will be better prepared when they begin to interact with English speakers. The files are varied, and should provide enough diversity to appeal to everyone.
Until next time,
Michelle
Posted by msimmons at 08:07 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
