Category Archives: General
Write your CV or Resume with Free Editable Templates
Do you dread having to write your résumé or CV?
I’m dropping in right quick to show you something that could be really interesting if you need to write a résumé or a CV.
A few days ago, one of my students asked me a favour. She was considering applying for a job outside Spain and wanted me to “have a look” at her résumé.
The truth is that it’s never easy to write this kind of document and even less if it needs to be written in a language that is not your own. So, a bit of help, guidance and a model to copy is always welcome.
Canva is a free graphic-design tool website I have been using for about two years to create beautiful engaging posters for my class, but Canva collection of content types is continually growing and among other content types, they have recently introduced templates for résumés which are fully editable. Make sure you choose the free templates unless, of course, you don’t mind paying a small fee. And remember you can change colours, fonts, insert text, images…etc. Below you can see a small tutorial I have created to help you get started.
2 Fresh & Fun Activities to Practise Both, Neither and Either
If you think that teaching both, neither and either is a bit boring, I have good news for you. In fact, I dare say great news! It can also be fun!
It’s no secret on here that I love having fun in my classes but what people may not know is that although flexible when necessary, my classes are carefully planned and games are not played just to keep my students entertained; on the contrary, they are carefully designed and used to improve certain abilities and with a clear goal in mind. If at the same time we can have a nice time, that’s the icing on the cake.
1.SOULMATES
This is a team game and it aims at practising the structures
- Both/Neither of them
- Both… and / neither…nor
Materials:
- 2 white cards with YES written on one side and NO on the other
- Teacher’s here
PROCEDURE
- Divide the class into two or three teams.
- Ask the teams to select two people to play for them and take the “hot seats”. These two students will sit facing their team.
- Decide which team starts the game by tossing a coin. Let’s say Team A starts the game.
- Explain you’re going to give each of the two members of the team a white card with YES written on one side and NO on the other. Tell them you’re going to ask them 10 yes/no questions.
- Their team will score a point every time these two students show the same answer to the questions asked, and the team provides a correct sentence containing the target structure.
- Repeat procedure for Teams B and C and give a big applause to the winners.
Example 1.
- Teacher asks: Have you ever scored 10 out of 10 in an exam?
- Student A: YES Student B: YES
- Team: Both of them have scored 10 out of 10 in an exam / Both Mary and Peter have scored 10 out of 10 in an exam (1 point)
Example 2.
- Teacher asks: Have you ever scored 10 out of 10 in an exam?
- Student A: NO Student B: NO
- Team: Neither of them have/has scored 10 out of 10 in an exam / Neither Mary nor Peter has scored 10 out of 10 in an exam (1point)
Example 3
- Teacher: Have you ever scored 10 out of 10 in an exam?
- Student A: YES Student B: NO (0 points)
2. CHANGING SCHOOLS
This communicative activity has two parts.
In part 1, students will have a conversation where the aim is to agree with their partner using the structures:
- So do I- to agree with a positive statement
- Neither do I or I don’t either- to agree with a negative statement
In part 2, students will report back to the class using:
- Both/Neither of us…
- We both…
- Both … and … / Neither … nor…
PROCEDURE.
PDF teacher’s here
- Ask students to work in pairs and give them Handouts A and B.
- Ask them to complete the answers.
- Explain the context. You have just changed schools and you don’t know anybody in the class. You want to make new friends quickly and the best way, if not the most honest one, would be to agree with whatever the student sharing your desks says. So, five minutes before the next class starts you decide to strike a conversation with the student sitting next to you.
- Start by introducing yourself and then ask your classmate some questions.
- Your classmate will introduce himself and also ask some questions. Make sure you agree with everything he/she says using the structures.
So do I- to agree with a positive statement
Neither do I or I don’t either- to agree with a negative statement
- Ask students to report back to the class using:
- Both/Neither of us..
- We both…
- Both … and … / Neither … nor…
Ex. Both of us have one brother/We both have one brother/ Both Peter and I have one brother.
Neither of us can speak Norwegian/ Neither Peter nor me can speak Norwegian
Example Handout Student A
You might also be interested in the following
Integrating Technology for Active Learning: An Activity Using Google Slides and Padlet.
There is no denying I use a lot of technology in my classes. It gives me great pleasure to discover a new tool and design an activity around it. I really think this is what keeps me motivated after so many years teaching. The challenge that mastering a tool brings and the possibility to use it in my classes to boost students’ motivation and spark their interest is certainly something that keeps my own motivation alive and kicking
Today, I would like to share with you an activity that I did with my intermediate students. I loved designing the activity and the way my students got involved activating their communicative and writing skills during the whole process.
Tools used:
- Google Slides
- Padlet
Aims:
- to develop students’ communicative skills
- to develop students’ writing skills
- to revise vocabulary related to “work”
- to integrate technology in the classroom
- to encourage collaborative work
Before the class.
I created a Google presentation using Google Slides and wrote the content for the first two slides. I also added three extra blank slides (see below)
I created three Padlets and called them: Work 1, Work 2, and Work 3
In each of these 3 blank slides I inserted a link to one of these Padlets.
During the class.
One. I asked students to form groups of 4. I have 12 students in this class, so I had three groups, one for each blank slide. If you have more students, you can easily add another slide to accommodate two more questions. I asked each group to write three or four questions related to “work”. I certainly encouraged them to come up with some juicy questions and avoid simple ones such as “Where do you work?”
Two. Once they have written their questions, the groups read them aloud and the class decides on the best two from each group to keep.
Three. At this point, there are two things you can do
- Assign each group one of the three slides and ask them to write their two questions, being careful not to delete the link to Padlet. Share the link for your Google Drive presentation making sure you share the link with editing permissions (read and write). I have shortened the link using Google shortener.
- If you think this step might be complicated for your students, you can always write them yourself. Have the groups dictate their two questions and move on to the next stage.
Four: Speaking. Ask students in their groups to discuss the questions in the three slides encouraging them to use work-related vocabulary. Get feedback.
Five: Set homework.
Show the presentation from the very beginning where they will see the instructions for their homework.
Explain that at home they will need to answer one of the two questions in each slide. They can do it by writing their answers or by recording them.
Remind them it is the same shortened link you shared with them in Three.
See one of the Padlet below
Irregular Verbs? Yes,Please!
My son Lucas was complaining he was going to have a permanent crick in his neck from spending hourrrrrs (or words to that effect) trying to learn irregular verbs in English when it occurred to me there might be plenty of sites on the Internet to help students, and my own son in this case, with this seemingly daunting task.
And just as I predicted there are some cool sites that offer a nice alternative to the traditional pen-and-paper method of learning irregular verbs.
Hard to believe me? Then, try these games and I bet you’ll be delighted next time you are asked to study them. Dear Lucas, this post is for you!!!
Jeopardy Quiz Game
Fun activity to teach action verbs in the irregular past simple tense. It can be played in teams (up to 4). It is especially useful for teaching ESL intermediate learning and teaching.
Irregular Verb Wheel Game
An enjoyable game where irregular verbs are chosen at random from a spinning wheel. In this game you have 2 minutes to answer questions related to the verb forms of the irregular verbs displayed in the wheel. You get 1 point for every correct answer plus a bonus 10 points for every verb you get 100% correct.
Hangman Game
From eslgamesplus.com, the always entertaining hangman game; in this case, with irregular verbs. A great timed activity to review irregular verbs while reinforcing their spelling.
Irregular Verbs Walk the Plank
A fun activity where the teacher is presented as an animated character on a pirate ship about to be eaten by sharks. You’ll need to answer correctly all the questions to see the teacher being eaten by the sharks (don’t worry, there’s no blood!). A game for kids that I enjoyed a lot and played more than once 🙂
Create your own.
If you’re not happy with any of the games above, you can always create your own. Superteachertools gives you the possibility of creating your own jeorpardy quiz in a very easy way.
Who said learning English is boring?