Category Archives: Teaching shy students

Losing my best students

Getting back to my paranoid fears of the last post (because a blog might be time consuming and pay nothing, but unlike seeing a therapist it’s free), there definitely does seem to be one kind of student I have lost … Continue reading →

Posted in ALT, Classroom management, Cultural differences/ cultural training, Eliciting, JET, Pairwork and groupwork, Problem students, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in China, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching English in Korea, Teaching shy students | 3 Comments

The benefits of teaching in Japan

Number one is that the status of English teachers is not so obviously low that when I met the love of my life and asked her to marry me she actually agreed! You won’t hear a lot about it on … Continue reading →

Posted in Becoming a Director of Studies, Cross cultural training in EFL, Cultural differences/ cultural training, Discipline in the classroom, Eikaiwa, ELT management, English Teachers in Japan, IELTS, Job security, Teaching English Abroad, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching English in Spain, Teaching Japanese primary school children, Teaching older students, Teaching shy students, TEFL, TEFL working conditions, TESOL, TOEIC | 7 Comments

33 cultural differences to annoy you in the classroom

1. German students trying to be cool 2. Japanese students giggling at everything you say, until it just isn’t flattering anymore, however cute they are 3. Chinese students falling asleep, then making you feel guilty when you do the topic … Continue reading →

Posted in Body language in the classroom, Classroom management, Cross cultural training in EFL, Cultural differences/ cultural training, Problem students, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching shy students, TEFL, TESOL | Leave a comment

Another day, another jumper

Someone else took their frustration out on the world by choosing rush hour to dive in front of the Tokyo-bound train again this morning. That’s one way of coping with pressure, I guess. It all makes me wonder- any Japanese … Continue reading →

Posted in CELTA, Classroom management, Problem students, Teacher training, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching shy students | 2 Comments

X in the classroom

Teaching (college student) teenagers again despite my best efforts to avoid it, there is one factor in the classroom that stands out more than other kinds of classes and, subtly or sometimes not so subtly, affects the classroom dynamic of … Continue reading →

Posted in English for study abroad, IELTS, Lesson observations, Needs analysis, slang, Teaching shy students, Teaching teenagers, TEFL, TESOL | 20 Comments