Games Games Games!

The end of the academic year is fast approaching so I’d like to treat my students to more games. They’ve been working very hard and I think they deserve to relax and have a bit more fun than we usually do. In this post I’d like to write about the games I find very popular among my students, but I’d also like to ask you to tell me what games have worked for you and your students.

This course we've played a lot of games based on role-plays, which my students have thoroughly enjoyed. I was pleasantly surprised to see both my teen and adult students get into their characters and use English in “real” life situations. Even my shyest students were eager to participate! If you struggle with finding ideas for role play activities, I recommend that you get a copy of Role Plays for Today by Jason Anderson . It’s a great book with plenty of interesting ideas for EFL students of all levels.

I’ve also exploited my blackboard a bit more and have played various games such as jeopardy, pictionary, hot seat and other fun games you can read about here.


It’s not a secret that I’m addicted to Amazon. I can’t go a week without ordering something. I usually order books and DVDs, but this year I’ve bought quite a few board games which I’m happy to play both with my friends and my students (teacher’s life can be truly great!).


I’m sure you’ve all played Taboo. It’s a great game and it always gets my students excited. It can be, however, a tad difficult for younger or less advanced learners. In that case I recommend Don't Say It! It’s like the Taboo game, but it’s designed for children and lower level learners of English.

I’m also convinced you’ve heard of Rory's Story Cubes. It’s a very nice and simple game which encourages learners to use their imagination and tell a story. It’s been enjoyed by my younger and older students (including adult learners). I need to warn you though: some kids make an awful lot of noise with these cubes so you might want to use Soft Foam Story Cubes . Just saying… ;)

If you enjoy storytelling games, you’ll like What's up? What’s up? is a card game in which all the players have to create a fun story using the pictures on the game cards. To spice the game up a bit, there are some special cards which make things more complicated, thus more interesting. If you decide to buy this game, remember to have a look at the cards beforehand: there are some pictures which might not be appropriate for the age or cultural background of your students. For example, I decided to get rid of a card with a picture of a condom cause I just didn’t want to deal with my teenage students’ giggles or some possibly awkward questions from my YL.

Another game which has been pretty fun for my students is BrainBox: English.I must say I had been quite reluctant to buy this game, but following a fellow teacher’s recommendation I decided to give it a go and I’m definitely not sorry! It appeared to be quite engaging and my students like how competitive it can get. It’s also a great exercise to improve one’s memory! Definitely worth buying.

I’d like to end this post with my personal favourite…a game which, no modesty here, made me pretty famous at school…kids talk to one another about this game and play it after school with their friends and families. Even my boyfriend got hooked up on this game and wanted to play for hours and hours. Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d like to introduce you to Black Stories. Black stories are mysterious riddles for teenagers and adults. Your students will have to solve crimes by asking yes/no questions. I'm jealous of those of you who haven't played Black Stories yet. There's so much fun awaiting you :)


Well, these are some of my favourite games I like playing with my students. What are yours?

Humans of New York lesson plan and worksheets

How do you procrastinate (I know you do ;) )?? I’m guilty of procrastinating every day. I sometimes convince myself that I can’t work until the house is spotless so I clean it until every room shines. On other occasions I feel I can’t do anything before watching an episode (or three) of Friends (btw. My life wouldn’t be complete without Monica, Chandler, Rachel, Ross, Phoebe, and Joe). And then, there are days when I just scroll up and down my facebook checking out what’s happening in the world…not very productive, right?

Not everything on facebook is useless though! There are some pretty cool pages out there! One of them is Humans of New York - a photoblog with street portraits and interviews collected on the streets of New York City. I’m absolutely hooked on reading those short but inspiring stories!

I have recently been practising for FCE speaking test part 2 (photo comparison) and I noticed that my students struggle with speaking and speculating about photos. Even though they know some useful phrases to make hypotheses and they’re familiar with modal verbs of speculation, they still lack ability to put these into practice. I knew I had to stimulate my students’ imagination and give them an interesting task to help them become more successful at speculating about photos, so I decided to turn one of my procrastinating activities into a task for my students. This is how I came up with a lesson plan based on a few photos and stories taken from HONY in order to give my students the opportunity to practice modal verbs and other phrases of speculation to hypothesise about photos.

In the lesson students can also become more confident at describing people and their feelings as well as telling or writing stories. The lesson can be adapted to lower levels and can be used to practice for other Cambridge exams such as PET speaking test part 3 (photo description).


Here are the links to the lesson plan (link) and the worksheets:


Humans of New York lesson step by step
Humans of New York lesson photos A-E
Humans of New York matching activity
Humans of New York matching activity KEY
Humans of New York creative writing (homework)

Hope you like the lesson. Don’t hesitate to write to me with your comments about it :)

Songs!

Do you like using songs in your lessons? Are you fed up with gap fills?? Me too! Here are some links with plenty of great ideas to engage your students in fun activities involving music:


14 song-based lesson plans and activities → A great article on using music in teaching by Onthesamepage ELT;

Beyond Gap Fills → ways of exploiting songs in language teaching;

Using music and songs → an interesting article by British Council;

The Language Gym → a recommendable article by Dr Gianfranco Conti;

Voices → another useful article by BC;

• Some gap fill worksheets for your teenage/adult students: 

Ed Sheeran 'Shape of you'

Amy Winehouse 'Valerie' 

Bruno Mars 'Just the way you are'

Cher 'If I could turn back time'

David Guetta 'Titanium' 

Ed Sheeran 'Thinking out loud' 

Gotye 'Somebody that I used to know' 

Johnny Cash 'She used to love me a lot' 

Avicii 'Hey Brother' 

Bruno Mars ' Locked out of heaven' 

Justin Timberlake 'Can't stop the feeling' 

Keane 'Somewhere only we know' 

Olly Murs 'Wrapped up' 

Rihanna 'Stay' 

Taylor Swift 'We are never ever getting back together' 

• Some songs with mistakes which your students need to find and correct: 

Coldplay 'Adventure of a lifetime'



I'll be updating this post with more ideas and worksheets in the future so make sure you come back to read it :)

The burning house activity to get your students speaking

A passport, a wallet, glasses, my parents' wedding photo, a mobile phone, a laptop, an address book, a fountain pen, my favourite mug...these are my favourite possessions...What would you grab if your house were on fire? A fun activity from a great blog I've been following for the last few months.


https://onthesamepageelt.wordpress.com/2016/03/25/the-burning-house/

A bit about me and why I'm here

I remember when I told my parents I wanted to become a teacher...They weren't too excited about the whole idea. They actually tried to put me off teaching a bit...'It's really hard work,' they said. 'Teaching isn't well paid.You might struggle to pay your bills,' they worried. 'Working with children is exhausting,' they kept trying to convince me to choose another career.

Nevertheless, they supported me all the way through my studies and were very proud of me when I finally graduated and gained a Master's degree in TESOL.

That was 9 years ago and I've been teaching English as a foreign language ever since.

And YES, It hasn't been easy. I spend my free time on planning lessons, marking, looking for cool ideas, and thinking of engaging games. I teach in various places so I usually run from one place to another. Public transport has become my second home. Trust me, it's tiresome.

And YES, I'll probably never make a fortune. Fortunately, I can pay my bills. I can even afford nice holidays every now and again. Hell, I sometimes go crazy and get a new dress or two :) 

And YES, not all of my students are angels and some of them require a lot of work. A LOT. An hour long lesson with a group of kids or teens can take up all my energy, and leave me with a pounding headache.

So yeah...teaching isn't a picnic. But I love it anyway. I love surprising my students with fun games and activities. I love watching them as they're becoming more confident users of English. I love bonding with them and listening about their friends, families, pets, life. It makes me very happy and proud to see them pass their exams or chat in English with their pen-pals. I even got to enjoy my underground journeys when I can read a book or listen to my favourite podcasts (acquired taste, I guess).

The last six years of ELT have been a pleasure for me. However, I've also met quite a few bitter, worn-out teachers who have grown very tired of teaching. I really don't want to become one of them in the future...In order to keep up with new methodologies, connect with other fellow teachers, exchange ideas, share materials and games, I've created Teachers' Pot.

You've probably already guessed I like drinking tea :D

I want to spice up my teaching and avoid burnout. I hope you can help me :)

Feel free to like my facebook page to be up-to-date with my teaching discoveries.

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