The 3-4-3 principle and the importance of repetition

Putting students through their paces

Each lesson has four sides. I lift one side. If by the end of the lesson the students know what is under the remaining three sides, I do not repeat the lesson

A basic model for teaching kids

Try something that really works

This a very logical and easy-to-use starting point for teachers that are new to working with kids or want to improve their skills in this area.

Why teacher can't write

Postbox letter from

We are too busy to do anything else but teach. Yet, there’s something bogus about teaching language or literature 20 periods a week and never connecting with your subject matter out of the classroom.

The value of learning groups

How to help students learn better

Think back to when you were a kid or a teen and what your least favourite school subject was. It wasn’t that it was boring because if it had of been then other students wouldn’t have liked it or excelled at it. It was because it wasn’t particularly accessible to you as a learner.

Ruminations on curriculum development

advice in regards to developing your own curriculum

How can you develop a curriculum from scratch, with no materials to draw on whatsoever? Having been in this position myself, I might be able to help you out.

No magic bullets

Dave Patterson would most certainly like a word

Dave Patterson, who is a teacher at the Prince of Songkhla University in South Thailand, says it's about time Thai students took studying English seriously. And it's about time schools got serious about taking care of their students.

Behaviour management

What cultural aspects do we need to consider?

Any behavior management system must have a system of rewards and punishment. Even the Grade 1 teacher utilized a rewards and punishment system, though in her case the reward was positive reinforcement and praise.

Rules and goals for the EFL classroom

Be Informed — when a student walks into my class he/she needs to be ready

Student behavior is nothing more than the rules teachers establish to govern students. For many teachers, these rules have one thing in common - they all begin with the word "NO.” The problem with this rationality is when a teachers states what cannot be done, no positive statement is made as to what will be done in a class - all negative rules do is highlight the bad.