Keep Calm and Teach English

Welcome back! I really hope you had a great summer break, lots of fun and happy moments and now you are ready for a new school year full of new ideas and activities! Keep Calm and Teach English will try to keep you company throughout the year! Coming back to school can be challenging for most students and teachers so this is a good opportunity to make our first days enjoyable. To this end I've collected some back to school activities that I have already used with success and some (like the self-portrait project) I would like to try this year. 1. GET-TO-KNOW-YOU ICEBREAKERS Icebreakers are essential for building relationships and creating a positive classroom culture. A simple Google or Pinterest search of icebreakers will yield tons of fun results.  Larry Ferlazzo offers 7 easy icebreakers you can do with post-it notes, all in one neat inforgraphic.  2. PRINTABLE FACEBOOK PROFILES Students use social media extensively while schools on the other han...

Only two days left for the school year to officially start. I'm in my new school, a Junior High School after 4 years in a High School. Students are younger (12-15 years old), their level is lower (A2 -B1), books are different, new material is needed... Searching the Internet for material related to the Think Teen series I came across a very helpful blog by a colleague in Serres. Adapting the YOU file found in http://www.thinkteenjuniorhigh.blogspot.gr/ here is a "getting to know you" activity where students present themselves through fingerprint profiles. They make nice art for the classroom walls too! Fingerprint Profile

It is common knowledge that our students use social media extensively while schools on the other hand are not always tech friendly. Why not bring Facebook on a piece of paper then? It can be much more motivating than having students answer the usual "Tell me about yourself" questions. If you can get them to bring their photos, the printables can make beautiful front pages for their portfolios. These Facebook profiles have been adapted from Charly Baker's printables found in Teachers Pay Teachers . Facebook Student Profile

With schools opening soon I couldn't think of a better post to start the new year than an icebreaker activity to use with students you already know from previous years. Basically what they have to do is write a poem about themselves following the  "I am Poems" format. The activity can be very motivating as teenagers love talking about themselves and the better their level of English the more interesting the results. If you are able to work in the computer lab the results can be surprisingly creative!