Keep Calm and Teach English

800 million Europeans are represented in the Council of Europe's 47 member states and all are encouraged to discover more languages at any age. This stems from the Council of Europe’s conviction that linguistic diversity is a tool for achieving greater intercultural understanding and a key element in the rich cultural heritage of our continent.  The general objectives of the European Day of Languages are to: alert the public to the importance of language learning and diversify the range of languages learned in order to increase plurilingualism and intercultural understanding; promote the rich linguistic and cultural diversity of Europe; encourage lifelong language learning in and out of school. In keeping with these rules, people, young and old, are encouraged to take up a language, or take special pride in their existing language skills. Also, those responsible for providing access to language learning are encouraged to make it easier for people to learn a range of languages, and...

With 800 million Europeans represented in the Council of Europe, and 47 member states, it's no wonder that the Council strongly believes in linguistic diversity as a tool for achieving greater intercultural understanding and a key element in the rich cultural heritage of our continent. The general objectives of the European Day of Languages are to: alert the public to the importance of language learning and diversify the range of languages learned in order to increase plurilingualism and intercultural understanding; promote the rich linguistic and cultural diversity of Europe; encourage lifelong language learning in and out of school. In keeping with these rules, people, young and old, are encouraged to take up a language, or take special pride in their existing language skills. Also, those responsible for providing access to language learning are encouraged to make it easier for people to learn a range of languages, and to support policy initiatives to promote langua...

Wheel Decide is a free online spinner tool that allows you to create your own digital wheels for decision making, prize giveaways, games, and more.The uses of Wheel Decide run as far as your imagination. In the EFL classroom and in education in general the wheels can be used for a variety of activities: Spin a wheel of questions, topics, or vocabulary terms. This is a great substitute for studying or revising, and since the topics shuffle, everyone stays on their toes. Pick a random student in class to answer a question or participate in a classroom activity. Engage your students by having them decide on the options whether they are questions, vocabulary or grammar items.  Use the wheel to randomly assign groups or teams. You can also randomly assign jobs to teams or individuals. Unlike you or your peers, Wheel Decide has no biases. Below you can find two wheels I made off the top of my head: one for playing vocabulary games and one for a pop quiz on irr...

Twenty Questions is one of those "go to" games that require no preparation and can be used as a timesaver when the lesson finishes earlier than expected, as a student reward or even when you are too tired or ill to continue, (because let's be honest, teachers can have "one of those days"....). photo by  Karinamannott A fun alternative to the game is  Akinator, the Web Genie . Akinator is an internet game and mobile app based on 20 questions that can guess which character the player is thinking of by asking them a series of questions. It is  an atificial intelligence program that can "learn" the best questions to ask you.  What is interesting about the Akinator is that the more you challenge him the bigger his database becomes.  With Akinator students can have the chance to see questions modelled for them before they actually try to ask their own - asking questions is not as easy as it sounds for language learners especially in lower lev...

LearningApps.org is a Web 2.0 application that allows you to create interactive teaching modules to support your lessons. It is very simple and straightforward in its use and requires no special digital skills. Every module created is public and can be used by any teacher interested. photo by  Karita88 Among the formats offered are games like 'Who wants to be a millionaire?", matching pairs, clozed tests, crosswords,  activities on  audio/video material, group puzzles etc.  If you feel it is too much work you can search  among the already made modules, like for example this simple matching activity I created for my 1st Grade (of Junior High) students. It can be used as a pre-reading activity for  Halloween related lessons .  

Watch the video... ...and play the games