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EWJ English with Jennifer - Education & Personal Development
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Are We on the Right Track for 2025? – English with Jennifer
Today I heard a life coach talk about the need to celebrate the effort and not necessarily the outcome. That felt reassuring. I didn't hit every goal this year, but I can definitely say I put in the effort to jump as high as possible. In fact, I posted my own positive affirmation recently on…
Should We Accept or Reject Auto Dubbing? – English with Jennifer
AI-powered tools are gaining steam, and amidst the excitement over what's becoming possible, I certainly hope we prioritize questions regarding purpose and control. Here I mean "we" as human beings. People need to be able to select and modify how such tools are being applied. What's the context? Who exactly is the user? What are…
Punctuation Is the Packaging – English with Jennifer
At the December livestream, I found myself telling YouTuber viewers the importance of gaining familiarity with standard use of punctuation marks. Of course, they have use of Microsoft Editor, Grammarly, or whatever AI tool they prefer, but having the knowledge inside of them is ideal. The external resources are there to help us all proofread,…
Feeling Abundant and Grateful – English with Jennifer
The holiday season is just about to begin here in the U.S. Whether you celebrate Thanksgiving or not, I hope the final weeks of 2024 are peaceful and beautiful for you and all your loved ones. May your tables be bountiful, may your homes be full of love and laughter, and may your lessons ring…
Comparatives: Not as Good as My Phone! – English with Jennifer
A surefire way to get people talking is to ask about their phones. What do they like? What don't they like? Do they want a newer phone? Why or why not? And you're almost certain to hit a hot button if you ask which is better, an iPhone or Android!This topic lends itself to practice…
Forging Her Path as an English Language Specialist: An Interview with Sara Davila – English with Jennifer
At a TESOL convention, you usually meet people with “Teacher” or some other variation on their name badge. Do you ever wonder what exactly a consultant in our field might do? Sit back and dig into a rich, detailed interview with Sara Davila, an English Language Specialist, GSE Ambassador, and Learning Alchemist. Think you might…
When Navigating Grammar: Practice Reducing Adverb Clauses – English with Jennifer
Finding focused practice is not as much of a challenge as coming up with meaningful practice for advanced students. Workbook-like exercises are plentiful. If you're search of creative and meaningful practice with reduced adverb clauses, take a look at my handout. I offer two sets of practice items. One task requires learners to decide if…
Catching On to Reduced Clauses – English with Jennifer
Many advanced students have seen and practiced both adverb and adjective (relative) clauses. They've even developed some confidence using reduced clauses. One challenge is recognizing the clauses and phrases in use. Making sense of the grammar they encounter is key if they aim to reproduce such structures in their own speech. With this goal in…
Weird and Wacky Errors with Relative Clauses – English with Jennifer
In a recent search for a ghost story that I could read aloud with my students, I came across a couple of tales that were appropriate for children. The language was simplistic, which was perfect for the task I had in mind. I boldfaced high frequency words and then challenged students to find synonyms. We…
Teaching Fluency with Flair: An Interview with Jason R. Levine – English with Jennifer
We teachers are a creative bunch, and we all have our gifts, but I've never known another teacher with a flair for rhythm and rhyme like Jason R. Levine. His dynamic style energizes any classroom and engages even the most reluctant learners. Jason has twenty-five years of experience as an English teacher, teacher trainer, and…
Pumpkins Out the Wazoo: Zippy Synonyms – English with Jennifer
Teaching students to avoid repetition in their writing and reach beyond common word choices takes time and plenty of practice. When I get to work with students long-term, I start showing them the tools I've turned to myself when I need to elevate my wording. Thesaurus.com is still handy and reliable. Today I showed one…
What I’d Really Like to Do Is (to) Get a Massage – English with Jennifer
My advanced Patreon students recently practiced wh-clefts by completing such statements as, "What I like most about where I live is ____." The completions led to a closer look at what pieces of grammar can actually be the focal point of these clefts.1. Often it's a noun or noun phrase that follows the wh-cleft.a. What…
Student Stumper 58: “Responsible people” vs. “People responsible” – English with Jennifer
QUESTION: If adjectives are supposed to go before nouns, why do I see the phrase "the people responsible"?ANSWER: Every so-called grammar rule has an exception. You could hold the view that rules are sometimes bent and even broken, or you can accept that there different patterns, and certain ones dominate under a set of circumstances.…
The Mix-Up: So do I VS. I do too – English with Jennifer
Agreeing with "so do I" and similar structures is a topic I've had to review with high intermediate and even some advanced students. They've all seen the structures before, but additional practice is needed to boost accuracy. Sometimes a full review of the various patterns is called for, so we go over subject-verb inversion with…
This Teacher Is Slaying It in the Soccer World: An Interview with Matt Slade – English with Jennifer
Each teacher has his or her own story. There’s often overlap, especially in terms of the kinds of interests and experiences that originally shaped our desire to teach, yet the number of different possible paths within ESL is amazing. Our passion to help language learners unites us, and our varied experiences makes our field so…
When We Use WILL with a Present Meaning – English with Jennifer
Happy September! What better way to start off than with a grammar post? Have you ever thought about how we use "will" to refer to the present? It's quite an odd concept, and I grouped it among weird grammar topics in a recent video. We almost always explain that "will" helps us express the future,…
What to Do This Summer – English with Jennifer
What will you do this summer? I'm going to continue working, but I'm making time for summer fun. I've started to play the popular game of Spike Ball, and I'm getting a little better at it. My children are patient with me. I also practiced patience when showing my son some of the moves I…
Still Feeling the Sunshine from TESOL in Tampa – English with Jennifer
It's been three months since I returned from TESOL 2024, and every week since then, I've been sharing convention highlights. I'm grateful for the new connections formed and all the valuable takeaway, some of which I'm already applying to my own teaching. Just before I left the Convention Center on March 23, I attended the…
Teaching Students How to Paraphrase with AI Tools – English with Jennifer
On the last day of TESOL 2024, I squeezed in a couple more sessions on AI technology. Kaitlin Decker and Dilafruz Vosieva of Arizona State University led a helpful Teaching Tip on Using AI Tools to Teach Paraphrasing in ESL Classrooms. The presenters encourage teachers to view ChatGPT as a tool to improve students' writing…
Building Listening Skills: Ideas That Work – English with Jennifer
I've followed and benefitted from the work of Marnie Reed and Tamara Jones for over a decade. These are two names I highlight on my TESOL convention schedule when I see them listed as presenters. At TESOL 2024 in Tampa, these ladies focused on listening skills. Tamara's Teaching Tip session was well-attended, especially considering its…
Hit the Ground and Running with Readers Theater – English with Jennifer
I have at least a couple more TESOL 2024 highlights in the pipeline, but before I carry on, I'd like to share additional scripts I created in the style of Readers Theater. As mentioned in my previous post, my Patreon students (B2+) voted to focus on oral news reports at one point, so I made…
Discovering the Fun and Benefits of Readers Theater – English with Jennifer
We teachers are a creative bunch, and I love both sharing and receiving ideas. One of the many reasons I like to attend a TESOL convention is because even after 25+ years of teaching, I can still make discoveries. My favorite sessions are the ones where I walk away with new tools or activities to…
Pronunciation Skills Empowered by Poetry – English with Jennifer
Alliteration can cleverly enhance the appeal of a TESOL convention session title, but the specific mention of imaginary creatures will also capture the attention of this fantasy/sci-fi fan. How could I further resist when I realized two TESOLers in Tampa would combine pronunciation and poetry in their workshop? I love integrating poems into my own…
Online Learning Is Here to Stay! Now What? – English with Jennifer
I was excited to see sessions at TESOL 2024 geared towards online teaching. For many years, I always had to consider how classroom activities presented at the convention would transfer to my context. In the post-COVID world we live in, online teachers have grown in number. Some of us are independent; others are affiliated with…
A Treasure Box of Insights and Ideas on AI – English with Jennifer
There are certain presenters you can count on to deliver quality takeaway, and Susan Gaer is one of them. Never a person to shy away from new technology, she was the teacher who got us to take out our smartphones back in Texas at TESOL 2013 and discover the possible mobile learning lessons we could…
The Process of Adopting AI in Writing Instruction – English with Jennifer
Of the many TESOL 2024 sessions on AI, Kyle Butler of Ohio University offered the most unique approach that would likely resonate with those still wary of the new technology. With sensitivity and relatable humor, he tapped into our sense of vulnerability and fear of being expendable in this fast-changing landscape of language instruction. On…
Developing the Right Mindset for Using AI – English with Jennifer
TESOLers in Tampa had a myriad of sessions on AI to choose from. Presenters approached the subject from different angles and explained how they had been using ChatGPT and other AI tools in their classrooms over the past year or so. In the context of academic writing, the consensus is that both teachers and students…
Opening the Door to AI in Language Learning – English with Jennifer
As I continue to share TESOL 2024 highlights, the door will now open to ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. More than one post will be needed to pass along my AI-related takeaway from the convention. Let's just dip our toes in right now, okay? You might know that I began to experiment with ChatGPT in…
Free and Practical Tools for Vocabulary Practice – English with Jennifer
I went to a few Teaching Tip sessions at TESOL 2024, and I was amazed how much the presenters were able to pack into twenty minutes. The truth is that having double the time would have been better, especially for Q&A and sharing, but that's for the event organizers to take into consideration. (When filling…
Mindfulness and Positivity in Our Teaching Practice – English with Jennifer
I hadn't been to an in-person TESOL event since 2019, and my experience in Tampa was celebration of sorts. I could once again see old colleagues and meet new ones. I gave and received hugs and handshakes. Smiles, business cards, and stories were also exchanged. I was very grateful to immerse myself in the convention…
Pondering Translingualism – English with Jennifer
In 2009, I posed the question, "Is it all right for the teacher to use the student's native language?" (See post.) In that post, I recalled a work experience early in my teaching career when I caved in to the school's request that I hide my knowledge of Russian. I'd be surprised by this request…
The Impact of a TESOL Convention – English with Jennifer
I'm still running from conference room to conference room (and sometimes from the TCC to the Marriott). It's the last day of TESOL 2024. I wish there were three of me so that I could attend all the sessions I'm interested in, but sadly I have to make my final selections. I'm happy to say…
TESOL 2024 – Tampa, Florida – English with Jennifer
I'll be attending the TESOL Convention this week. I hope to meet new and old colleagues in Tampa, Florida. Teachers, please come to my presentation on Thursday, 21 March, 13:00-13:45 US EST in Room 411. Let's talk about Leveraging Instagram to Engage, Teach, and Inspire Activation. I'm excited to return to this in-person event, and…
Reducing Repetition in Writing – English with Jennifer
Some of my students are discovering how ChatGPT can assist them, but I'm pleased to see they are still keeping themselves in the driver's seat, so to speak, generating their own writing and having the final say in what wording captures their meaning and desired tone best. For example, a student might feed an email…
The Benefits of Learning (and Teaching!) Grammar – English with Jennifer
Here's a simple truth. Some people like grammar, and other's don't. Also, grammar can be learned directly or indirectly. So, should we teach it? Should students watch a grammar video or study a chart in a textbook? I'm all for learning a language through through conversation and authentic sources, including movies and books. They provide…
What We Gain from Digging Deeper – English with Jennifer
In my previous post, I explored different ways we create emphasis, and I included cleft sentences. The effort I put into making that list will pay off even more as I move forward to create a new YouTube lesson, which will offer students more examples to illustrate the patterns used for stressing words and highlighting…
10 Ways to Emphasize Ideas – English with Jennifer
Language is truly amazing because we often have multiple tools at our disposal. Think of all the ways we can ask a question. Imagine our friend had a job interview.- We might ask about it directly: How did the interview go?- We could use a tag question to broach the subject: The interview was today,…
12 Captivating Questions for Conversation – English with Jennifer
Sometimes what we need is a set of engaging discussion questions. An online search will bear fruit. I found a robust list of 95 Funny Hypothetical Questions compiled by Susan Box Mann. Some are intriguing though outlandish, for example (#2), "What would you do if you found out you could stop time?" Others wouldn't be…
GRE Words: Fill ‘er up! – English with Jennifer
How does one get their fill of vocabulary? A few sips at a time. Trying to take in too much at any level doesn't lead to great results. Private students usually come to me having already mastered words on the General Service List (GSL). They also know most of the Academic Word List (AWL), at…
Flexibility with Prepositions: Part 2 – English with Jennifer
Once again, my students have helped me learn my subject matter better. One private student is working on GRE vocabulary, and we recently practiced the verb "gloat." With some browsing, we confirmed two collocations. Both The Britannica Dictionary and the Cambridge Dictionary list examples using "gloat over" and "gloat about." (In fact, the latter also…