by David | Games, Kindergarten
I remember when I first started teaching EFL kindergarten, I had an embarrassingly small repertoire of games that I would repeat every lesson. These days I have far more games ideas, and my quest is more to refine my list of ideas into games that are the most...
by David | Games, Phonics, Tips
When I first started teaching phonics, the teachers were given a small games bank of ideas for using in our phonics lessons. Later, I realised that, whilst some games (like duck duck goose) are really good for teaching phonics, the secret to expanding your phonics...
by David | Classroom Management, Games, Learning
Yesterday, I shared why I don’t use overt competition in my VYL classrooms. Today, I want to share my favourite quote on competition, it comes from an Amazon.com reviewer of Alfie Kohn’s book ‘No Contest: The Case Against Competition’. “I...
by David | Games, Kindergarten, Technology, Tools, Toys
A few months ago, I trialled finger flash lights in my classroom. As you might imagine, the kids loved them. (In fact, I successfully used them to re-energise a tired evening class, after trying to squeeze too much into my lesson plan. It was a matter of flipping off...
by David | Games, Phonics
Last night I played phonics bingo using CVCs, with my young learners. It worked really well. (You could also play phonics bingo using individual letter sounds.) Bingo works really well with very young learners, too. It might take a little demonstrating, but VYLs can...
by David | Games, Learning, Tips
In my first job after university, I worked for one of my country’s leading investment banks. Year after year, they were making 20%+ return on equity (about 3 times the amount as their competitors), and profits were increasing each and every year. From memory,...