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Latest from the Blog

5 Suggestions for Effectively Teaching ELLs Remotely

Are you affected by the school closings due to the coronavirus pandemic?  This blog post  offers you some tips for teaching English Language Learners remotely.  I’d also like to give you some links to resources you may find useful.  (More resources are being posted on my Facebook page.) Click HERE

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Title text in purple in center of image overlaid on background of vegetables and spices.

How to Create a Class Cookbook in 6 Easy Steps

Food is a great entrée into a culture.  It answers all the who/what/where/when/why/how questions: Who prepares it, what are the ingredients, where are dishes prepared, when are they cooked, why are certain foods prepared, how are they made.  Discussing these aspects of food preparation is also a great way to

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cover of resource shows title in black and outlined in red at top, image of bridge across Yangtze River in center, and supplemental text at bottom.

8 Photographs of Wuhan, China: A Free Resource

I wasn’t planning on writing another blog post about China but I’ve been obsessively reading and watching the news about the coronavirus that began in Wuhan, China.  Because, you see, I used to live and work in Wuhan – in the early 1990s, I spent 2 years teaching at a

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How to Make Glutinous Rice Balls for Chinese New Year

(This post was updated January 7, 2023.) Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival as it’s known in China, starts soon so I’d like to wish you Xin Nian Kuai Le — Happy New Year!  (In Mandarin, that’s pronounced: sheen nee-en kwhy luh.)  This year, Spring Festival ushers in the Year

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Happy New Year Freebie: Goals for Students!

Happy New Year!  I hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing vacation at the end of December and beginning of January.  As you gear up for the new decade in 2020, I would like to offer a freebie you can use with your students.  It’s traditional to make New Year

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Why You Should Teach Your Students About Impeachment

It is hard to escape politics these days.  Brexit in the United Kingdom, impeachment in the United States, democracy protests in Hong Kong, upcoming elections again in Israel, mass protests in Chile and India – all provide numerous opportunities for teachers to discuss current events with their students.  And all

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Learning How to Decenter Whiteness in a TV Show

When I was asked if I’d like to participate in the #itstimetotalkracism campaign, at first I wasn’t sure what I could write about because I’d never really taught an explicit anti-racism lesson.  But after thinking about it, I realized I could present a lesson I’d implemented when I was a

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22 Helpful Anti-Racism Blog Posts for Educators

The #itstimetotalkracism campaign is a 22-day effort by teachers to help other educators and their students discuss racism, bias, and related issues.  Please click HERE to read how and why it got started.  I was honored to be invited to participate and hope you will share these blog posts and

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5 Reasons Why Round Robin Reading Is Ineffective

Learning to read is important.  So is understanding information that is read aloud.  But it is not realistic to expect students to read a text out loud in class and simultaneously comprehend what was read.  It doesn’t matter if they are the students doing the reading or they are just

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