Keep Calm and Teach English

Happy December!  The twinkling lights are up, the cocoa is warm, and it’s time for one of my favorite traditions: my yearly Advent calendar. Let’s count down to Christmas together! There is a new fun activity behind each door, from Kahoot quizes and filling in Christmas songs lyrics for the weekdays, to making easy Christmas crafts for the weekends. The doors open only on the relevant day so they can be a real surprise.  If you are not sure how these calendars work visit my page with my older calendars here to get an idea. You can make your own digital Advent Calendar in  adventmyfriend.com/ . It's free does not require registration.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)  is a teaching framework that helps us design our lessons in a way that all students have equal access to learning, ensuring that every student has an equal chance to succeed. It originated in the field of special education but can be applied across all classrooms. It is grounded in the science of learning and neuroscience.  The aim of UDL is to use diverse teaching methods that remove barriers to learning. It focuses on creating flexibility so instruction can adapt to each learner’s strengths and needs. In this way, UDL supports all students.  Although UDL is not designed only for students who learn and think differently, it can be especially valuable for them - even for those without a formal diagnosis. It can also be very helpful for English language learners. Why is it important? It addresses student diversity: different interests, abilities, and language backgrounds. It creates flexible learning environments. It supports neuro...

Developing reading comprehension in the EFL classroom requires much more than vocabulary practice or grammar explanations. To help learners truly understand a text, teachers need strategies that promote deeper thinking, engagement, and meaningful language use. One highly effective framework is the Four Levels of Questioning—Robot, Detective, Judge, and Inventor. Although not part of Bloom’s Taxonomy, these four levels align closely with Bloom’s hierarchy of cognitive skills, making them a practical tool for EFL teachers who want to build higher-order thinking skills while strengthening English proficiency. Robot questions form the foundation. These basic recall questions—Who? What? When? Where?—support the Remembering and Understanding stages of Bloom’s Taxonomy. For English learners, this stage ensures comprehension of essential information and key vocabulary before moving on to more complex tasks. This makes Robot questions ideal for early stages of reading comprehension activities....