Lesson Plans, necessary?

When I started my training as a teacher, one of the toughest parts was getting the lesson plan right, getting used to the terrible comments made by my teachers and classmates and add to that the excruciating feeling of not knowing what you were doing!!!!...

Therefore, I found this video on the net which I think would have been very useful when I started.

And it poses an essential question: Are Lesson Plans REALLY necessary??

See for yourself and let us know your comments:

Practical Thursday

On this occasion, I'll share with you a comment on the type of practice you have in the classroom. In school, we all learned that there are ways to teach children which are absolutely different from adults, right? WRONG!!

In my experience, students enjoy doing children's stuff, just as much as them.

As an example, I ask my college students to act and present their own version of fairy tales:

They created their scripts, costumes and sets from scratch only using imagination, colored papers and markers.

And I'll tell you, it's the most fun we've ever had, without mention the linguistic value they put on them!!!

The next time you're about to do a communicative activity like this, think: What would My students like to do with this if they were 10 years old again??

Show us your pics, and we'll love to publish your experience as well...

Resourceful Wednesday

Id' like to talk today about a wonderful webpage that has been of great help to me.

The name of the site is http://www.theteacherscorner.net/printable-worksheets/make-your-own/

Particularly, about the printable worksheets included in the page. Sometimes, when you are working a very specific topic, or very specific vocabulary, you want to give your students the option of something more than your usual "fill-in-the blanks" type of exercise; and this is a good option for it. You can make unscrambled sentences worksheets, mazes, etc.

The first thing you need to do is get to the website.


Then choose the option: "Make your own worksheet"

After you have chosen to create your own worksheet, the window will display spaces to include your questions and clues for practice.
Aferwards, the screen will show in a different window the finished product, that you can print out and that includes your key on a separate sheet.
I encourage you to use it, or to check out the already made worksheet.

It's easy and free of charge!!

Musical Tuesday

I still haven't found what I'm looking for-U2

I am all in favor of listening to music in the classroom that has a linguistic value to it. This time,I would like to suggest you, this song by U2 that will help your students with the form and meaning of present perfect

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You can start off by having a review of forms of past participle verbs, either by completing a grid that they will later need and they can use to fill in the blanks as a latter activity.


What is think is really interesting about the song, is the actual topic. I have done these activities with young adults, (who confess themselves followers of the Irish band) and it is very satisfactory to see how they get a whole different meaning after analyzing the text and discourse of the lyrics.

When I ask my students what they think the song is about, almost everyone answers is about a man looking for the love of a woman, or a man feeling frustrated, but actually what it is, is the story of a man looking for spirituality; in this case represented in the figure of Jesus.

These elements can be highly exploited in a series of humanistic activities and exercises; for example, have your students create a timeline of the important things they have done or achieved in their lives (using present perfect of course) , have them reflect on what it is the spiritual elements in their lives or what they would like to have in their lives.

The topic of religious tolerance can be also explored as a cultural element by having them conduct an online research and presentation of Ireland, U2, and the context in which the song was originally written.

These are only a few ideas on how to use the song, but we'll be glad to hear from you!!
Include them as a comment in this post.

Welcome!!!

I have started this space with the specific goal of providing a space for those novice and experienced teachers who are in serch of ideas and answers to apply to their teaching practice.

I wanted this to be a space of your own, so if there is something you wish to comment, feel free to do so,

As time goes by, you'll find different topics to discusion and practices that might come helpful to your teaching reality or perhaps you can become the light to guide our community.


Welcome, and may this be your cyber-home.