Heritage and Destiny » Resources for Teachers

Resources for Teachers: Assessing Student Needs

Seoulman (R) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 06:02:53 +0000

Assessing students’ English learning needs and goals is important for both teachers and English learners themselves. Here are some helpful articles: Why are You Learning English? (interactive quiz, with follow-up suggestions) Setting…View article…

Resources for Teachers: Inflated Grades?

Seoulman (R) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:55:02 +0000

One of the least happy times for a teacher is grading. Beyond the raw score there are many external factors: the student needs an A to keep coming to school because of a scholarship, the department wants to look better, the college wants to keep students, student feelings which are related to teacher review sheets are also part of the mix. What do we end up doing, grade inflating.

Every Student an A Student

Owen Strachan has a couple of interesting articles on the phenomenon of grade inflation and the kind of mindset that goes with it.

Resources for Teachers: Quick Vocab Lesson Plans

Seoulman (R) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:03:55 +0000

Attention Teachers! Need a Quick Vocab Lesson Plan?
Synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech – they’ll have to know them all for those vocabulary words you handed them last week! This free vocabulary lesson includes a pdf of a concept definition map ready to go for quick, easy planning.read more

Help for a St. Patrick’s Day Class

Seoulman (R) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:34:00 +0000

There are a lot of resources here for creating a St. Patrick’s Day themed class.

It isn’t a Christian site, and some of the definitions and importance of the day is not there, but if you are teaching on the day, this is a good first stop.

CLICK HERE

For Teachers: What’s Missing in Out Teaching?

Seoulman (R) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:50:35 +0000

What’s Missing In Our Teaching?

True teaching aims at life change. I can teach an amazing lesson complete with powerpoint and handouts, but if my students haven’t changed, then have I really taught?

Knowing full well that life change is impossible without God’s intervention, there are still some things that we as teachers must do. I call it the M.I.A. (Missing in Action) as these 3 elements are often missing in our teaching:

Modeling – (ME) It starts with me. The more I change, the more I can influence others to change. I must become what I want my students to become. Not a perfect example, but an authentic one.
Involvement — (WE) I must get my class involved in the learning process. I must learn the art of asking good questions and become more of a leader than a lecturer. Too much of our teaching is entirely too passive.
Accountability — (YOU & ME) When I’m done with my lesson, I’m not done. I must create an intentional plan of action to be done outside the classroom. Oftentimes, teachers feel the pressure to “get through the lesson” and leave out this important step. But good teachers follow up with their students to see if they did what they were asked to do in an environment of humility and grace.

If you’re aiming at life change, look for ways you can build these three elements into your teaching, all the while depending on the Holy Spirit to do what you cannot do.

Check out more Teaching Tips here

Get a PDF version of A Sample Lesson Plan here

Teacher Resources: What Makes a Skilled Teacher?

Seoulman (R) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:42:26 +0000

What Makes For A Skilled Teacher?

“The first and primary issue in teaching is do you live what you say? Therein lies the greatest power the teacher has in his own pattern. You begin…with example. Skilled teachers set a living demonstration of their teaching for people to follow. I mean, that’s just basic. If you teach one thing and live another, you are not a skilled teacher, you are a very unskilled teacher. And people will not follow that kind of teaching. You must pattern in your life what you propagate in your lesson.”

(John MacArthur, 1 Timothy 3:3 sermon)

For Teachers: Teaching Telephone English

Seoulman (R) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:42:41 +0000

Telephone English: Getting Practice

Teaching telephone English can be frustrating as students really need to practice their skill as often as possible in order to improve their comprehension skills. View article…

Resources for Teachers

Seoulman (R) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:52:21 +0000

Printable Quizzes for Class

I’ve received a number of requests for quizzes to be put into a printable form which can be used in class. From ESL.about.com

View article…

Resources for Teachers: Teaching Absolute Beginners

Seoulman (R) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 05:17:11 +0000

Teaching Absolute Beginners (ESL) - 20 Point Program

Teaching absolute beginners requires the teacher to pay special attention to the order in which new language is introduced. This 20 point program provides a syllabus to take students from… View article…

Resources for Teachers (New):Living out your faith in the academic world

Seoulman (R) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 04:23:57 +0000

Living out your faith in the academic world: conference audio from Following Christ 2008

. What does a Christian life look like in the world of academia? Last December, InterVarsity’s Graduate & Faculty Ministries put on the Following Christ conference, where speakers like N.T. Wright and Andy Crouch talked about faith and the academic world. And fortunately for those of us who didn’t attend, they’ve collected audio and video from the conference and put it all online for free at the Following Christ conference website.

The highlight of the site is the archive of conference audio, which contains over seven hours of audio from the conference’s plenary sessions, including a three-part study of Colossians by N.T. Wright and an exhortation to understand science as worship by Francis Collins.

If you’re a grad student or a faculty member in the hallowed halls of academia (or even if you’re not), this is a site worth checking out—it’s living proof that the Christian faith is alive and well in the world of higher education.