These posts are written for learners of English themselves. Find learning tips and ideas for learning English.

For Students

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<p><strong>Are you struggling to focus?</strong></p>

<p>I&#39;ve noticed many people complaining that they can&#39;t focus like they used to. They struggle to finish a book, pay attention during&nbsp;a meeting, or watch&nbsp;a full movie (without checking their news&nbsp;<strong>feed</strong>).<br />
<br />
I attended an online writing class this week, and the teacher started by asking us&nbsp;to <strong>eliminate</strong> all distractions. She reminded us that we&#39;d learn a lot more if we focused on the one thing we were supposed to be doing: watching her class (and maybe taking a few notes). It&nbsp;worked!</p>

<blockquote>
<p><strong>Tip:</strong> Good ol&#39; note-taking&nbsp;(by hand) can help you&nbsp;maintain&nbsp;focus during class because you aren&#39;t just sitting still. If&nbsp;you prefer to use a device&nbsp;to take notes, turn off your notifications and&nbsp;go offline (or on airplane mode).&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>

<h2>Improve your focus one goal at a time</h2>

<p>I listened to&nbsp;<a href="http://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/johann-hari-stolen-focus-pt-1/id1264843400?i=1000555669267" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><em>Oprah&#39;s Super Soul</em>&nbsp;podcast</a> last weekend where&nbsp;Johann Hari summarized his research on distractions from&nbsp;his book <em>Stolen Focus: Why You Can&#39;t Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply&nbsp;Again</em>.</p>

<p>He reminded us of something important too: &quot;Your attention didn&#39;t collapse. Your attention has been stolen from you by some really big and powerful&nbsp;forces.&quot;</p>

<p>In the podcast, Hari recommended&nbsp;focusing on one goal at a time. In addition to being&nbsp;<strong>meaningful, </strong>a&nbsp;goal should be set&nbsp;just&nbsp;outside of your <strong>comfort&nbsp;zone</strong>.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Did you know? The average college student <strong>switches</strong> tasks <strong>every&nbsp;65&nbsp;seconds</strong>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Johann Hari,&nbsp;<em>Stolen Focus</em></p>
</blockquote>

<h2>4 types of goals to help language learners regain focus</h2>

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<p>Johann Hari described&nbsp;four&nbsp;types of goals. <em>(You can use these as inspiration to get your language learning back on track.)</em></p>

<h3>1. Spotlight goals</h3>

<p>A spotlight goal is an immediate goal. You want to get something done right now (e.g., writing or reading this blog post). If we don&#39;t put a task like this into the spotlight, we&#39;ll undoubtedly&nbsp;get distracted by another shiny thing (or&nbsp;ping).<br />
<br />
For example, last week, my daughter asked me to print something for her. I went upstairs to my office, turned on my computer, and noticed a message from a colleague. I answered the message&nbsp;and then&nbsp;checked my LinkedIn updates. Then I turned off my computer and grabbed some dirty laundry and went back&nbsp;downstairs.<br />
<br />
<em>&quot;Did you print my essay, Mom?&quot;<br />
&quot;No. I&#39;ll do that. Can you bring down your laundry?&quot;&nbsp;</em></p>

<p>Clearly, I need to work on eliminating&nbsp;distractions when it comes to immediate tasks. I could also work on not&nbsp;distracting others who have an immediate task of their own to&nbsp;complete.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Challenge yourself: </strong>Your immediate language learning goal is to listen to and read this post without getting distracted. (Let&#39;s see if you can get all the way to the&nbsp;end.)</p>

<h3>2. Daylight goals</h3>

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<p>Hari described&nbsp;a daylight goal as the ability to simply know what your goals&nbsp;are.</p>

<p>One of my favorite ways to prioritize my&nbsp;goals is&nbsp;with Jennifer Louden&#39;s <a href="https://medium.com/@jenlouden/how-one-metaphor-can-change-everything-85a480b120be" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><em>Pots on the Stove</em> metaphor</a>.</p>

<p><img alt="Drawing of burners on a stove with goals written in each burner" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2371/content_Tara_daylight-goals-pots-on-a-stove.jpg" /></p>

<p>Once a week, I draw a stovetop in my journal&mdash;five circles of various sizes (some <strong>burners</strong> are bigger than others).&nbsp;Inside the circles, I write my main&nbsp;goals for the week, making sure to note which ones will require more attention. These&nbsp;may include work goals, personal goals, and other&nbsp;things&nbsp;that just need&nbsp;to get&nbsp;done.</p>

<p><strong>Challenge yourself: </strong>What are your language learning goals for this week? (Try the pots on the stove exercise above.)&nbsp;</p>

<h3>3. Starlight goals</h3>

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<p>A starlight goal is&nbsp;a long-term goal. If we allow ourselves to be constantly distracted, we won&#39;t achieve any of&nbsp;these.</p>

<p>Every year, I encourage my family, friends, and colleagues to choose a <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/word-of-the-year-2022" target="_blank">Word of the Year</a>. Unlike a New Year&#39;s resolution, the word you choose&nbsp;acts as a guiding&nbsp;light.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
<strong>Challenge yourself:</strong><strong><em> </em></strong>What&#39;s one long-term language learning goal that you have? (Make it meaningful and just outside your comfort&nbsp;zone.)</p>

<h3>4. Stadium light goals</h3>

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<p>A stadium light goal&nbsp;is a collective or group goal. This type of goal requires us to pay attention to each&nbsp;other.</p>

<p>For example, at work, we use roadmaps, <strong>objectives and key results (OKRs)</strong>, and check-ins&nbsp;to keep us on track with annual and quarterly&nbsp;goals.&nbsp;</p>

<p>I share collective goals with some of my&nbsp;exercise club, such as meeting every week for a workout and meeting quarterly for a neighborhood fun&nbsp;run.</p>

<p>One goal I&#39;d like to set with my family is for everyone to remain at the dinner table until everyone else is finished eating. This time is important to me because it&#39;s when everyone shares a <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/improve-your-listening-with-true-stories" target="_blank">story</a> from their&nbsp;day.</p>

<p><strong>Challenge yourself: </strong>What&#39;s one collective goal you could set with your language class? (If you aren&#39;t in a class, you could find&nbsp;a learning&nbsp;partner.)</p>

<h2>Glossary</h2>

<ul>
	<li><strong>switch</strong>: <em>to quickly&nbsp;go from one thing or position to another</em></li>
	<li><strong>feed</strong>: <em>a constant stream of information or updates</em></li>
	<li><strong>eliminate</strong>: <em>to fully remove</em></li>
	<li><strong>meaningful</strong>: <em>having a real purpose</em></li>
	<li><strong>outside one&#39;s comfort zone</strong>: <em>in a place or situation where one feels a bit challenged or&nbsp;uncomfortable</em></li>
	<li><strong>burner</strong>: <em>the element on a stovetop where the heat comes&nbsp;through</em></li>
	<li><strong>OKRs</strong>: <em>objectives and key results, a goal-setting system for setting ambitious, measurable goal</em>s&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Complete your first spotlight goal in the comments</h5>

<p>You made it to the end! Now, complete your spotlight&nbsp;goal.</p>

<p>Step outside your comfort zone and answer&nbsp;the following question in the comments: <strong>What distractions do you need to eliminate to achieve your long-term language learning&nbsp;goal?</strong></p>
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Struggling to Focus? 4 Types of Goals to Get Your Language Learning Back on Track

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Tour around the ELT conference circuit as our team shares conference highlights and session reviews.

Conferences

<p>I&#39;ve just returned from <a href="https://www.tesol.org/home" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">TESOL 2022</a><strong> </strong>in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,&nbsp;and it&#39;s time for my annual TESOL conference takeaways.</p>

<p>Though attending the convention&nbsp;in person was an option this year (most attended virtually), I could not bear to miss our 20th anniversary&mdash;the year we rolled out the white carpet as a Platinum Sponsor and <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-our-new-name-ellii" target="_blank">officially became&nbsp;<strong>Ellii</strong></a>!&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Ellii at TESOL 2022" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2271/content_Ellii-team-photo-TESOL-2022-booth.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">The TESOL 2022 Ellii Team (left to right): Ben Buckwold&nbsp;(Founder/CEO), Tammy Wik (Director of Outreach), Lei Kayanuma (Group Accounts Specialist), Mari Lasnetski&nbsp;(Chief Impact Officer), Tara Benwell&nbsp;(VP of Publishing), Ken Volcjak (Director of Partnerships) on the comfy, white carpet that we became famous for at this year&#39;s event.</p>

<p>In the spirit of less is more this year, I&#39;ve lightened the load from my traditional 10 TESOL takeaways to just seven&nbsp;points to unpack!&nbsp;</p>

<ol>
	<li><a href="#hybrid">Hybrid Hurts</a></li>
	<li><a href="#coffee">Coffee Chats Are Inclusive</a></li>
	<li><a href="#SEL">SEL Is on Overload</a></li>
	<li><a href="#thesimplest">The Simplest Tools Are the Best</a></li>
	<li><a href="#cell">Cell Phones Are <s>Welcome</s> Mandatory</a></li>
	<li><a href="#teachers">Teachers Are Advocates</a></li>
	<li><a href="#theworld">The World Needs More Stories</a></li>
</ol>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h2><a id="hybrid"></a>1. Hybrid Hurts&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>

<p>If there was one common pain point shared by teachers&nbsp;this year, it was a thumbs down for <strong>hybrid learning.</strong></p>

<p>While the hybrid approach gave students the option of learning at home or in person&nbsp;during the pandemic, teachers at TESOL described&nbsp;the frustration of feeling like&nbsp;they couldn&#39;t service either group effectively, especially at the lowest levels.</p>

<p>In contrast, many teachers described significant gains their students had during periods of fully&nbsp;remote learning.</p>

<p>One teacher suggested that one week of virtual class before moving to in-class should be kept as a permanent solution. This allows everyone to get set up on a learning management system (LMS) with a&nbsp;Zoom link that can be reused during lockdowns or bad weather days.</p>

<p>The TESOL conference itself was hybrid this year, and many speakers and attendees expressed similar&nbsp;concerns about the experience. People at home felt left out of&nbsp;the conversation, while speakers had difficulty engaging with both a live and remote audience.</p>

<p>This year, the Ellii team tried&nbsp;to accommodate both groups by hosting <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/where-to-find-at-ellii-tesol-2022" target="_blank">in-person and virtual sessions</a>. While many of the sessions were successful, we still&nbsp;learned a few tricks that would help improve&nbsp;the experience for&nbsp;virtual attendees next time around.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<h2><a id="coffee"></a>2. Coffee Chats Are Inclusive</h2>

<p>TESOL is well-known now for its informal <strong>Coffee Chats</strong>, and Ellii was&nbsp;pleased to be invited to one&nbsp;this year.</p>

<p>It was refreshing to hear our host, Diego, encourage everyone to use plain language. In an industry full of acronyms and academics with teachers from a wide range of&nbsp;programs and nations, a discussion&nbsp;about teaching can sometimes&nbsp;feel like a&nbsp;foreign language itself.</p>

<p><img alt="TESOL Coffee Chat with Ellii" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2270/content_Screen_Shot_2022-03-29_at_9.34.30_AM.png" /></p>

<p class="caption">TESOL Coffee Chat with Ellii session.</p>

<p>During this hybrid session, we talked about 5 must-haves for English language teaching (ELT) materials. The remote audience felt included as they&nbsp;pinned themselves on a map, participated in surveys, and shared ideas in the chat about the importance of <strong>relevancy</strong>, <strong>design</strong>, and <strong>inclusivity</strong> in materials.</p>

<p>A speaker from the live audience came to the podium to ask a question, and&nbsp;a&nbsp;speaker from the chat went on video. We also had follow-up discussions after the chat.</p>

<p>Hybrid isn&#39;t so bad after all (if you have your own host and tech team)!&nbsp;</p>

<h2><a id="SEL"></a>3. SEL Is on Overload</h2>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/academic-subjects/social-emotional-learning" target="_blank">Social-emotional learning (SEL)</a>&nbsp;was another common topic&nbsp;of discussion&nbsp;at TESOL this year.</p>

<p>From <strong>wordless books</strong> to <strong>mindfulness</strong> and <strong>meditation</strong>, ideas for emotional wellness and self-care were shared in almost every session.&nbsp;</p>

<p>However, one couldn&#39;t help but notice the whispers from the audience (or tweets from the virtual attendees).&nbsp;</p>

<p>Many&nbsp;teachers feel that SEL is just one more thing to carry in their overloaded backpacks. Do they care about their students&#39; <strong>well-being</strong> and <strong>emotional health</strong>? Of course! Do they want to record how many affirmations they hand out each week or which SEL standards they meet? Not if it&#39;s for a free doughnut or permission to wear jeans.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Gabriela Kleckova, TESOL President" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2286/content_Gabriela-Kleckova-TESOL-President-screenshot-Ellii.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">Gabriela Kleckova, TESOL President.</p>

<h2><a id="thesimplest"></a>4. The Simplest Tools Are the Best</h2>

<p>Teaching conferences and exhibit halls are always full of exciting trends and tech (at the booth, we were excited to show off <strong>Immersive Reader</strong>, which is coming soon to Ellii). But teachers themselves often get the most delight in learning about&nbsp;the simplest tools.</p>

<p>In their session,&nbsp;&quot;Practice More, Prep Less: Quick Ideas that Generate Life-Long Skills,&quot; Cheryl Bucholtz-Magallon and Esther Lee shared&nbsp;<a href="http://Spinnerwheel.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">the&nbsp;spinning wheel</a> they use to&nbsp;randomize&nbsp;topics or student selection. They also shared a simple&nbsp;<a href="http://ccg.buzz/host" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">online buzzer</a> for their most competitive practice activities.</p>

<p>In her teaching tip session, &quot;The Power of Practice: Systematized Fluency Activities Which Build Community,&quot; Elka Kristonagy,&nbsp;English Language Program Lector at Yale University, described some basic, yet powerful ways to&nbsp;use&nbsp;<strong>Google Docs</strong> in hybrid classes for those who don&#39;t have an LMS, including using <strong>Google Forms</strong> for formative assessment and comments for collaborative work.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, keynote speaker Helaine W. Marshall shared how a colleague taught an entire Level 1 class using <strong>WhatsApp</strong>.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2275/content_Ellii-team-art-TESOL-2022.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">The Ellii team taking a break to strike a pose with art by Pittsburgh artist Andy Warhol.</p>

<h2><a id="cell"></a>5. Cell Phones Are <s>Welcome</s>&nbsp;Mandatory</h2>

<p>One big change I noticed at TESOL this year was a shift in cell phone use&nbsp;in the classroom.</p>

<p>Instead of policing their use, teachers are embracing and even relying on cell phones.</p>

<p>During the session &quot;Should it Stay or Should it Go? Post-Pandemic Takeaways,&quot; a&nbsp;group of teachers from New York&#39;s Nassau Community College talked about this cultural shift.</p>

<p>They now rely&nbsp;on students to use their own data when the Wi-Fi goes down.</p>

<p>Students use cell phones for all sorts of resources, from looking up words&nbsp;to taking quizzes&nbsp;and accessing interactive activities with <strong>QR codes</strong> (not to mention confirming they don&#39;t have COVID-19 or requesting a washroom pass).</p>

<p>Personally, I didn&#39;t bother dragging my laptop around at TESOL this year. I took all my session notes&nbsp;on my phone (and brought home an empty paper notebook). Next year, I may lighten my load even more and not bother bringing a computer.</p>

<h2><a id="teachers"></a>6. Teachers Are Advocates</h2>

<p>In that same post-pandemic takeaways session, the speakers described how they advocated for&nbsp;6 out of 20 of their in-class hours to be switched to <strong>asynchronous learning.</strong>&nbsp;</p>

<p>This resulted in students becoming more independent learners (with the help of Ellii, I was happy to hear).</p>

<p>The most popular session I attended at this year&#39;s conference was &quot;6&nbsp;Strategies for Serving SLIFE&quot; (Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education).</p>

<p>During this session, Beth Evans (<a href="https://twitter.com/tofubeth/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">@TofuBeth</a>) described how a 12-year-old SLIFE student&nbsp;did not qualify for a bus pass because he didn&#39;t live 1.6 miles from school. When she learned that her Level 1 youngster&nbsp;had to cross several busy lanes of traffic and&nbsp;railroad tracks to reach the school, she knew she had to advocate for special arrangements to be made.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;I don&rsquo;t have all the answers but I have a big voice.&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Beth Evans</p>
</blockquote>

<p>To advocate for our students, we need to get to know them on a personal level. And even more importantly, SLIFE especially must know and trust their teachers in order to learn from them.</p>

<p>As one teacher mentioned, bringing Zoom into the room has actually helped humanize the teacher who has real-life interruptions like pets, and children, and mail deliveries.</p>

<h2><a id="theworld"></a>7. The World&nbsp;Needs More Stories&nbsp;</h2>

<p>After sharing a tear about the&nbsp;boy and the bus pass, we shared a giggle about a group of SLIFE students in Ohio who threw their winter coats in the trash after their first winter,&nbsp;thinking &quot;phew, that&#39;s over!&quot;</p>

<p>The thing I love most in life is <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/improve-your-listening-with-true-stories" target="_blank">stories</a>. So,&nbsp;naturally what I love most about TESOL is the stories we hear and tell in a setting that&#39;s new every year. (Not to mention the characters we meet!)&nbsp;</p>

<p>At the beginning of the final keynote this year, Helaine W. Marshall showed a picture of her kitchen. She explained that&nbsp;she didn&#39;t want an island in her kitchen when she renovated it because she loves to dance. An&nbsp;island would have stunted her creativity.</p>

<p>After she told us three stories of teachers who were creating fertile spaces in their work lives, she asked us all to think about what islands might be standing in our way. It&#39;s stories&nbsp;like these that inspire us to create new chapters in our lives and in the lives of our students. Get plotting!</p>

<p><img alt="Ellii at TESOL 2022" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2274/content_Ellii-team-TESOL-2022-booth.jpg" /></p>

<p class="caption">What&#39;s the story here? See Emly Bryson&#39;s post about&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-one-image-can-develop-visual-literacy-and-critical-thinking" target="_blank">how one image can develop visual literacy and&nbsp;critical thinking skills</a>.</p>

<p>See you next year in Portland, Oregon (home of the&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tesol-portland" target="_blank">best bookstore</a> I&#39;ve ever explored)!&nbsp;</p>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Share Your Thoughts</h5>

<p>What was your top takeaway from TESOL 2022? And if you didn&#39;t attend, what are your thoughts about hybrid teaching and learning? Let me know in the comments below. I&#39;d love to hear your thoughts!</p>
</div>

<h2>Presentation Links</h2>

<p>If you registered for TESOL, you can watch some of the recorded sessions mentioned in this post:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://tesolconvention.evareg.com/full-schedule/recording/TESOL22_973%208876%202605_2278.mp4" target="_blank">Embracing the Balancing Act: ELT Professionals Empowering Themselves</a>:&nbsp;Gabriela Kleckova&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://tesolconvention.evareg.com/full-schedule/recording/TESOL22_96660302009_CC1.mp4" target="_blank">Coffee Chat with Ellii: What Are 5 Must-Haves for ESL Materials?</a>: Diego Boada, Ben Buckwold, Tara Benwell&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://tesolconvention.evareg.com/full-schedule/recording/ID%202272%20Social-Emotional%20Learning%20with%20ESL%20Library.mp4" target="_blank">SEL with Ellii</a>: Tammy Wik</li>
	<li><a href="https://tesolconvention.evareg.com/full-schedule/recording/TESOL22_97407350634_2314.mp4" target="_blank">Creating Fertile Spaces for Instructional Innovation in a Digital Age</a>:&nbsp;Helaine W. Marshall&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://tesolconvention.evareg.com/full-schedule/recording/TESOL22_93977902219_2279.mp4" target="_blank">Invisible Immigrant to Advocate</a>:&nbsp;Gisele Barreto Fetterman&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="http://drive.google.com/file/d/1IjLcYekXLqpq8XDgSBdc9Uzu31Wg_Rfq/view" target="_blank">6 Strategies for Serving SLIFE</a>&nbsp;(presentation slides)</li>
</ul>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Takeaways from TESOL 2022: 7 Points to Unpack from Pittsburgh 

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<p>Do you want to improve your listening skills?</p>

<p>Listening to true stories is a great way to improve your listening skills. Storytellers are everywhere, but today&nbsp;I want to tell you about my favorite place to find them.</p>

<h1>The Moth Radio Hour</h1>

<p><em><a href="https://themoth.org/radio-hour" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The Moth Radio Hour</a></em> is a free storytelling radio show&nbsp;that you can listen to as a <strong>podcast</strong>. I listen to <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5UKrcYdaGbq10z97yqi81N" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><em>The Moth</em> on Spotify</a>, but there are lots of other places to find it.</p>

<p>The stories on <em>The Moth</em> are all true. Some stories make me laugh out loud. Others make me cry. I&#39;ve never been disappointed by a true story from <em>The Moth</em>.</p>

<p>Each week there are new true stories to listen to. Most <strong>episodes</strong> have three&nbsp;stories. Each story is about 15 minutes long. The stories in one episode&nbsp;all follow a certain <strong>theme</strong>.&nbsp;This week&#39;s theme was <em>shoes</em>.&nbsp;The theme is in the title of the episode, which is&nbsp;called &quot;If the Shoe Fits.&quot;&nbsp;If a theme&nbsp;doesn&#39;t <strong>appeal</strong> to you, you can always listen to past episodes. Some recent story themes at<em> The Moth</em> were&nbsp;siblings, love, and surprises.&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;<em>The Moth</em>&nbsp;was founded by the novelist George Dawes Green, who wanted to recreate in New York the feeling of <strong>sultry</strong> summer evenings in his native Georgia, when <strong>moths</strong> were attracted to the light on the <strong>porch</strong> where he and his friends would gather to spin <strong>spellbinding</strong> tales.&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;themoth.org</p>
</blockquote>

<h1>How to Improve Your Listening Skills with The Moth</h1>

<h2>Make Listening a Habit&nbsp;</h2>

<p>I listen to true stories from <em>The Moth</em> whenever I&#39;m&nbsp;preparing&nbsp;dinner. I can usually fit in&nbsp;at least two stories when I&#39;m prepping and cooking. Sometimes my teenagers hear a story playing in the kitchen and join me.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Try making a habit of&nbsp;listening to stories&nbsp;(e.g., listening on the train, listening on Sunday mornings, listening in the car).&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Learn Some Idiomatic Language</h2>

<p><em>The Moth&#39;s </em>episode titles and descriptions often include everyday language and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2800" target="_blank">collocations</a> that you may find useful to learn, such as&nbsp;&quot;divine intervention,&quot; &quot;a loss for words,&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;letting go.&quot;</p>

<p>The true stories you listen to will&nbsp;help you remember these&nbsp;expressions.</p>

<p>If you don&#39;t understand some of the everyday&nbsp;expressions the storytellers use,&nbsp;you can always ask about them in English class or leave a question right at the bottom of this post!&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Share the Stories&nbsp;</h2>

<p>A friend told me about <em>The Moth</em> a few years ago, and I&#39;m so happy that she shared it.&nbsp;</p>

<p>I often retell bits of the stories I hear on <em>The Moth</em> to a friend or family member. Retelling stories is a great way to practice your speaking and vocabulary. You can practice important skills, such as <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2465" target="_blank">paraphrasing</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2718" target="_blank">summarizing</a>, and <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/124/resources/2873" target="_blank">recounting</a>. <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1618" target="_blank">Reported speech</a> is another important, yet tricky, language structure you can practice.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Unlike TED Talks or celebrity podcasts, the&nbsp;storytellers at <em>The Moth</em> are often just regular people like you and me. You can&#39;t help wanting to tell a related story after hearing their stories.</p>

<p>I hope <em>The Moth</em> inspires you to tell your stories too!</p>

<p>By the way, if you hear a great story on <em>The Moth</em>, be sure to stop by this post again and recommend an episode!&nbsp;I recommend <a href="https://themoth.org/radio-hour/put-to-the-test" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">&quot;Put to the Test&quot;</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://themoth.org/radio-hour/where-we-belong" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">&quot;Where We Belong.&quot;</a></p>

<h2>Glossary</h2>

<ul>
	<li><strong>podcast</strong>: <em>a series of audio files that you can listen to online</em></li>
	<li><strong>episode</strong>: <em>one part in a series</em>,<em> such as a&nbsp;TV or film series</em></li>
	<li><strong>theme</strong>: <em>the main subject or topic&nbsp;</em></li>
	<li><strong>appeal</strong><em>: to&nbsp;like the look, sound, or appearance of something</em></li>
	<li><strong>sultry</strong>: <em>hot and humid</em></li>
	<li><strong>moth</strong>: <em>an insect with feathery wings&nbsp;</em></li>
	<li><strong>porch</strong>: <em>an enclosed outdoor seating area</em></li>
	<li><strong>spellbinding</strong>: <em>holding one&#39;s attention, very interesting</em></li>
</ul>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Question of the Month</h5>

<p>Who is the best storyteller you know? What makes this person a good storyteller? Share your comments with me below!</p>
</div>


Improve Your Listening Skills with True Stories

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<h2>Grade Levels</h2>

<p>Do you know how to express&nbsp;grade levels in English? It depends on where you live! A <strong>grade level</strong> refers to a level of study that has its students grouped or classified into grades by age.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Here are some common ways to describe school grade&nbsp;levels&nbsp;found in English-speaking countries:</p>

<blockquote>
<ul>
	<li>She&#39;s in (the) first grade. (US)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>She&#39;s in (the) 11th grade. (US) <strong>*</strong></li>
	<li>She&#39;s in Grade 4. (Canada)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>She&#39;s in grade 5. (Canada) <strong>**</strong></li>
	<li>She&#39;s in Year 8. (England, Australia, New Zealand)</li>
	<li>She&#39;s in Primary 3. (Northern Ireland, Scotland)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

<h3>Note:</h3>

<p>Year 1 and Grade 1 are not equivalent. A <strong>first-grade</strong> student in the US is a Year 2 student in the UK. This student may also be referred to as&nbsp;<strong>a first grader</strong>.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Education Stages</h2>

<p>Some English speakers think it sounds odd or even wrong&nbsp;to hear a grade level expressed in a way that&#39;s not common in their own region. The way we describe different types of education stages (types of schools)&nbsp;also differs from region to region and can sound odd if it&#39;s not customary. For example, <strong>primary school&nbsp;</strong>may be referred to as&nbsp;<strong>grade school,</strong>&nbsp;<strong>elementary&nbsp;school</strong>, or even <strong>public school</strong>.<strong>***&nbsp;</strong></p>

<p>In my region (Windsor, Ontario), elementary&nbsp;school starts in junior kindergarten (age 4&ndash;5). We also have senior kindergarten (age 5&ndash;6). Many other places in North America&nbsp;only have one year of kindergarten.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In many regions, elementary school goes to the eighth grade (Grade 8).&nbsp;Other regions&nbsp;have&nbsp;<strong>middle school </strong>and/or <strong>junior high school</strong>.&nbsp;Middle school usually ranges from the sixth grade to the eighth grade. Junior high school (&quot;junior high&quot;)&nbsp;is often synonymous with middle school, but it can also mean something different. In some regions, junior high&nbsp;includes the ninth&nbsp;grade.</p>

<p><strong>High school</strong> is also known as <strong>secondary school</strong>. In my region, (public) high school goes from Grade 9 to Grade 12. In the US, the words <em>freshman </em>(9), <em>sophomore </em>(10), <em>junior</em> (11), and <em>senior </em>(12) are sometimes used to describe&nbsp;the high school years instead of grade numbers.</p>

<blockquote>
<ul>
	<li>The word <strong>high school </strong>is always spelled as two words.</li>
	<li>The word <strong>kindergarten</strong> is spelled with a <em>t</em>&nbsp;(not a <em>d</em>&nbsp;as in <em>garden</em>,&nbsp;though it is often pronounced this way).</li>
	<li>The short form&nbsp;<strong>K&ndash;12 </strong>refers to primary and secondary school together.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

<p>What about before and after K&ndash;12? <strong>Preschool</strong> is also called <strong>nursery school</strong>,<strong> </strong><strong>playschool</strong>,<strong>&nbsp;</strong>or<strong> pre-K</strong>.&nbsp;Many parents put their young children in preschool for social reasons, though it&#39;s optional.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Post-secondary</strong> school refers to&nbsp;<strong>college </strong>or&nbsp;<strong>university</strong>.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Letter Grades</h2>

<p>The word <strong>grade</strong> doesn&#39;t always refer to a school-age group. It can also mean the <strong>score</strong> you get on an assignment or in a class. These types of grades can be expressed in many ways too, such as&nbsp;letter grades&nbsp;(A+), proficiency levels (Level 4), or percentages (100%).</p>

<p><strong>*</strong>In writing, it is recommended to use the numerical form for numbers over ten (11, 11th).&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>**</strong>When used after the word &quot;Grade&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;Year,&quot; most style guides recommend the numerical form for any number (Grade 5). It depends on the style guide whether you capitalize&nbsp;the word &quot;grade&quot; or not.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>***</strong>Types of schools (high school, elementary school) are not capitalized unless it&#39;s part of a school name (Did you go to <em>high school</em> in Windsor? Yes, I went to&nbsp;<em>Walkerville High School.</em>) or at the beginning of a sentence.</p>

<p>Ask your teacher to assign the Functional English lesson called&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/1957">Saying &amp; Writing Numbers</a>&nbsp;if you want to learn more about numbers.</p>

<h2>Question of the Month&nbsp;</h2>

<h3>What was your most memorable (school-age) grade, and why?</h3>

<p>Did you attend any type of preschool or post-secondary school? Try to use some vocabulary from this post in your response!</p>


How to Say & Write Grade Levels & Education Stages

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Learn how to make the most of your Ellii subscription with tips from our publishing team.

Teaching with Ellii

<h1>Teachers&#39; Notes</h1>

<p>Our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons" target="_blank">Discussion Starters</a> section has 100+ readings based on interesting topics that are relevant today. Some of these topics have been suggested by our members, and we welcome your ideas&nbsp;too! Our goal is to include topics that teens and adults have strong opinions or feelings about. We hope that even your shy students will&nbsp;feel inclined to join in. We add new lessons regularly, so please keep a close eye on this section.</p>

<h2>About This Section</h2>

<p>Some teachers prefer to teach a materials-light class. Rather than using a textbook, they search for short or authentic materials that are related to the interests of their students. The Discussion Starters section may be useful for this type of teacher. These lessons are recommended for tutoring and online teaching as well as general conversation classes. Many of these topics will interest teens and young adults, though a mixed-age class will undoubtedly have very interesting discussions based on topics such as climate change, digital learning, or distracted driving!</p>

<p>You don&rsquo;t have to cover all of the suggested activities in a lesson. Some teachers just play the audio file. Others just use the reading and discussion questions.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Discussion Grouping Options</h2>

<p>Discussions based on these lessons don&rsquo;t have to be limited to pairs or small groups. Encourage your learners to share their opinions in a variety of ways.</p>

<ul>
	<li>in a large group discussion with the whole class</li>
	<li>in small groups of their choice and in groups&nbsp;of your choice</li>
	<li>in pairs of their choice and in pairs of your choice</li>
	<li>in chat room conversations</li>
	<li>with fellow students or friends</li>
	<li>with video chat partners</li>
	<li>on a Facebook group page</li>
	<li>in a Twitter chat with a set #tag</li>
	<li>on the phone with fellow students</li>
	<li>via texting on mobile devices</li>
	<li>with parents and other family members at the dinner table</li>
	<li>in role-play situations</li>
	<li>in blog posts and comment sections</li>
</ul>

<h2>Pre-Reading</h2>

<h3>A. Warm-Up Questions</h3>

<p>Before you listen to the audio file or read the article, find out if your class is interested in this topic. How much do they already know? Talk about the 4&ndash;5 questions (provided) together as a class, or put students in small groups to discuss. Note that the digital version has a warm-up video with the same questions.</p>

<h3>B. Vocabulary Preview</h3>

<p>Each Discussion Starter lesson includes a pre-reading vocabulary task. The lesson also reviews these 8&ndash;12 words in a few different ways after the reading. Some teachers prefer to assign this task as a pair activity. You can decide whether or not to allow your students to use their dictionaries for this activity (if you allow this, you may want to encourage English&ndash;English dictionary use). Be sure to practice the pronunciation and spelling of the&nbsp;key vocabulary throughout the week. We hope you&#39;ll encourage your learners to use&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/104/resources/2966" target="_blank">Vocabulary Cards</a> to really get to know each word!</p>

<h2>Reading</h2>

<p>The readings are about 200&ndash;300 words in length and most are written at an intermediate&nbsp;level. Other lessons are low-intermediate and some are high-intermediate to advanced. We encourage you to explore many options for reading in class, including silent reading, reading aloud, shared reading, and reading with audio support. You can also assign the reading for homework, or have students record&nbsp;the&nbsp;reading&nbsp;and&nbsp;send it to you!</p>

<h3><b>Note</b></h3>

<p>Even though most of the readings are aimed at a&nbsp;lower- to upper-intermediate level, the&nbsp;lessons can certainly be used for higher levels as well. Advanced students usually don&rsquo;t mind reading a lower-level lesson if it&nbsp;leads to a great discussion or debate.</p>

<h2>Listening</h2>

<p>All of our Discussion Starters lessons have mp3 files (North American&nbsp;or UK) that you can download or stream.&nbsp;In addition to being available with the PDF, the audio is available in the digital version (Listen &amp; Read and Listen&nbsp;&amp; Type tasks). Note that only the US audio is available in the digital version.</p>

<p>A gap-fill activity is included at the end of each lesson. If you want your students to listen to different voices and accents, try sharing the UK audio (note this matches the text in the British English printable version). If you want your students to really focus on listening, you can play the recording for your learners without handing out the reading and have them work through the comprehension questions.</p>

<h2>Comprehension</h2>

<p>Each reading includes a set of comprehension questions. You can use these questions or have your students write their own questions. You can also ask the questions orally and have students take turns offering the answers. Make sure that your students give more than just one-word answers if they are writing them out. (Encourage them to use the digital version to save paper! Suggested answers are provided after they submit their answers. Teachers can see these suggested answers in the digital answer key and when checking answers.)</p>

<h2>Vocabulary Review</h2>

<p>Each Discussion Starter lesson includes one or more vocabulary review tasks. If you don&rsquo;t want to use class time for this, you can assign individual tasks for homework and take the answers up the following class to check if your students have remembered the new words. Example vocabulary review activities include fill-in-the-blanks, matching, true/false, and synonym/antonym.</p>

<h2>Grammar Practice &amp; Review</h2>

<p>Some of the Discussion Starters lessons include a mini-grammar review and practice task. The grammar target is typically used in context in the reading. Note that not all Discussion Starters lessons have grammar tasks. There may be another type of task, such as a Class Survey (print only). We encourage you to explore our related grammar lessons (and videos) from our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> section if your students need more practice.</p>

<h2>Discussion</h2>

<p>We hope the discussion questions in these lessons will give your students plenty to talk about. You can set students up in small groups or have rotating pairs, or even schedule a chat about this topic with students from another class or country! These questions also make great writing prompts.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Research or Critical Thinking</h2>

<p>Some Discussion Starters lessons feature a research option. Others include a critical thinking task or group activity. You can decide whether these optional tasks are appropriate for your students and if you have enough time to include them.</p>

<h2>Speaking Task</h2>

<p>The digital version of our Discussion Starters lessons includes a speaking task called <strong>Personal Response</strong>. Students have up to two minutes to comment on a quote or question related to the topic. The lesson image is also usually provided for inspiration. For a lite version of this lesson, you can easily just do the warm-up questions with a follow-up speaking task as a homework activity. If you want to create a rubric for the speaking task, you can personalize this <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/104/resources/2129" target="_blank">Speaking Task Assessment Form</a>.</p>

<h2>Answer Key</h2>

<p>The teacher version of the printable lesson has an answer key, which may also include some extra usage notes or teaching ideas. We recommend that you print the teacher version with the answer key. You may not need to photocopy the answer key for all of your students unless they request it. Alternatively, you can print out a few answer keys and have students share them around. Looking for the answer key in the digital version? Find answers to applicable task types by clicking the apple icon next to the digital task title in the Task List menu. Note that the printable answer key is not meant to be used with this digital version.</p>

<p><img alt="digital answer key" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2015/content_Discussion-Starters-Teachers-Notes_Answer-Key.jpg" /></p>

<h2>Printable Vs. Digital&nbsp;</h2>

<p>The printable and digital version of our Discussion Starters lessons have most of the same content, though the task names and order may be slightly different. The digital versions currently go with the US printable versions (with American spelling and usage).</p>

<p>While it is possible to use a hybrid approach for this section, it&#39;s important to preview both versions (print and digital) since they do not match exactly. You will encounter a few small differences and therefore it is not advised to have some students using the printable while the teacher or other students use the digital version. Also, some digital activities are not available in our printable versions. Similarly some group tasks (e.g., Class Survey) from our printable lessons are not currently offered in the digital versions.</p>

<p>Look at the following information to see a few key differences between the printable and digital versions. Why do they differ? Unfortunately, our digital task suite does not allow for an exact transferral to and from our paper-based materials. However, as new digital tasks types are built by our developers, we&#39;re able to mirror the printable and digital lessons more closely!</p>

<h3>1. Warm-Up</h3>

<p>In most digital versions, you will find a warm-up video in addition to warm-up questions. The video is a small teaser of the content and contains a few interesting facts. The warm-up questions from the printable lesson are also provided in this digital task. Some teachers like to assign this digital task for homework before doing the lesson in class to get their students thinking about the topic.</p>

<p><img alt="warm-up video" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2016/content_Discussion-Starters-Teachers-Notes_Warm-Up.jpg" /></p>

<h3>2. Vocabulary Preview&nbsp;</h3>

<p>The pre-reading vocabulary task is generally identical in the printable and digital version;&nbsp;however, matching tasks are split into two tasks (A and B) in the digital version to reduce scrolling. If a pre-reading vocabulary task is not a matching task in the printable lesson, the task may vary in the digital version.</p>

<h3>3. Discussion Questions</h3>

<p>The final question set is usually identical, but sometimes one of the questions has been removed from the digital version and used in the speaking task instead. Encourage your class to come up with a few more related questions of their own.</p>

<h3>4. Listening Vs. Listen &amp; Type (Gap-Fill)</h3>

<p>Though this is the same task type in both the printable and digital versions, the blanked-out words may differ slightly. Since the digital task type only accepts exact answers, we sometimes use different blanks in the digital version. For example, if a word has spelling variations, hyphens, or capitalization that could affect scoring when typed incorrectly, we try to avoid using it in the digital version.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Teaching 1:1</h2>

<p>Do you teach one student at a time? The Discussion Starters section is one of our most popular lesson sections for private teachers! English teachers who teach private or semi-private classes&nbsp;love this section because of the relevant, topical content and ready-made question sets that help students gain confidence in speaking.</p>

<p>If your teen to adult learners want to practice talking about real-world issues, this section will give you exactly what you need. You can assign plenty of tasks digitally (or even email the PDF and MP3 if you prefer) for pre-class and post-class homework, including reading and vocabulary review tasks. During your time together, you can focus more on speaking and pronunciation using the prompts provided. If you assign the reading (or listening) before class, ask your student to jot down any vocabulary or sentence structures they want to go over in class.</p>

<p>Encourage (or even challenge) your students to use the key vocabulary during your discussion time. Ask students to tell you a word from the reading that means <em>X&nbsp;</em>(definition from vocabulary preview task). Can they spell it? Do they know what part of speech this word is in the reading? You can also go over any errors from the digital homework together.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Leave a Comment</h2>

<p>Do you use the Discussion Starters section? Please leave a comment below and share your teaching methods with our teaching community. How do you expand on the lesson tasks? What task order do you use? Do you prefer the printable or digital version? What is your favorite topic or category? How do you use this section in your 1:1 classes? Let&#39;s discuss!</p>


Discussion Starters: Teachers' Notes

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<h2>Happy New Year!</h2>

<p>Every year, instead of making a New Year&#39;s resolution, I choose a Word of the Year.&nbsp;This year, my word is &quot;<strong>journal</strong>.&quot;</p>

<p>Instead of waking up and immediately <strong>scrolling</strong> through&nbsp;my phone, I plan to reach for my notebook to do three&nbsp;pages of writing (<strong>longhand</strong>) before anything else.</p>

<p>I learned this practice of keeping &quot;morning pages&quot; many years ago from writing coach Julia Cameron (<em>The Artist&#39;s Way</em>). Based on past experience, starting my day off with morning pages almost always results in having a&nbsp;happier, more <strong>productive</strong> day.&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;Pages clarify our yearnings. They keep an eye on our goals... They will point the way True North. Each morning, as we face the page, we meet ourselves. The pages give us a place to vent and a place to dream. They are intended for no eyes but our own.&quot;</p>

<p>&mdash;Julia Cameron</p>
</blockquote>

<h2>New Year,&nbsp;New Wall</h2>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/word-of-the-year-2021">Last year</a>, I enthusiastically added all of our team members&#39; names to my office wall after choosing the word <strong>zeal</strong> as my Word of the Year. My wall&nbsp;became the <strong>background</strong> for my video calls throughout 2021 and was often the subject of <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/1749">small talk</a> before a meeting.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This year, I challenged everyone from the publishing team to think of their own Word of the Year. At the beginning of this week, my office wall was <strong>a blank slate</strong>. Today, it&#39;s full of inspirational words to help us keep our hearts, minds, and bodies on important goals throughout the year.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Tara's Word Wall 2022" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2021/content_Image_from_iOS__1_.jpg" /></p>

<p>Note: The Word of the Year challenge is also in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2563">How to Write a Basic Paragraph</a> lesson.</p>

<h2>Glossary</h2>

<ul>
	<li>journal (<em>noun</em>): a personal notebook</li>
	<li>journal (<em>verb</em>): to&nbsp;record thoughts&nbsp;in writing</li>
	<li>longhand (<em>noun</em>): cursive handwriting</li>
	<li>scroll (<em>verb</em>): to browse content (especially on a touch screen) without much thought or care</li>
	<li>productive (<em>adjective</em>): getting a lot accomplished</li>
	<li>zeal (<em>noun</em>): great energy or enthusiasm</li>
	<li>background (<em>noun</em>): the scene&nbsp;behind a person or object</li>
	<li>a blank slate (<em>expression</em>): a fresh start, a new beginning</li>
</ul>

<h2>Question of the Month&nbsp;</h2>

<h3>What&#39;s your word of the year for 2022?</h3>

<p>Please join us in choosing a Word of the Year for 2022! Tell us your word and&nbsp;explain the reason for your choice. Teachers, learners, and ESL Library staff are welcome to join!&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Word of the Year 2022

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<h2>What Makes You Cozy?</h2>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/1970/What_Makes_You_Cozy.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<p>I recently finished&nbsp;Isabel Gillies&#39;s book <em>Cozy: The Art of Arranging Yourself in the World</em>.&nbsp;While I was reading this book, I found myself asking everyone around me the same question: &quot;What makes you cozy?&quot;</p>

<p>What I discovered is that a lot of people had similar answers. Here are the ones that I heard the most. Can you spot a <strong>common denominator</strong>?</p>

<ul>
	<li>a cup of tea</li>
	<li>a fireplace&nbsp;</li>
	<li>a warm blanket</li>
	<li>a snuggly pet&nbsp;</li>
	<li>fuzzy pajamas</li>
	<li>a bubble bath</li>
	<li>thick socks</li>
	<li>wool sweaters</li>
</ul>

<p>It&#39;s plain to see&nbsp;that being&nbsp;<strong>cozy</strong>&nbsp;requires warmth, especially in a cold climate or season, which seems to be when we <strong>crave</strong> coziness&nbsp;the most.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Interestingly, the most common answer I heard to my cozy <strong>query</strong> was&nbsp;&quot;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/82/lessons/3565">tea</a>.&quot; It makes perfect sense that the little sweater you put on a teapot to keep it&nbsp;warm is called a&nbsp;<strong>tea cozy</strong>. Isn&#39;t that&nbsp;the coziest word&nbsp;you&#39;ve&nbsp;ever learned?</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;I can&#39;t know what everyone will think is cozy, but, in my late forties, if I&#39;ve learned anything, it&#39;s that we are all pretty much the same.&quot;</p>

<p>&mdash;<em>Isabel Gillies, Cozy: The Art of Arranging Yourself in the World</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>One of the most unique answers I heard was from a&nbsp;little boy from Winnipeg who said that his facemask makes him cozy!&nbsp;Even after a long day at&nbsp;school, he&#39;s not in a rush to take it off when he gets&nbsp;home.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/home-vs-house"><em>Home</em></a> is another cozy word. Did you know that <a href="https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/52072939431288277/">an old&nbsp;teapot makes a cozy home for a bird</a>? You can also turn a teacup and saucer into a bird feeder. What comes to mind when you think of home?&nbsp;For me, it&#39;s all about <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/13/flashcard_categories/458">baking</a> in a cozy kitchen!&nbsp;Isabel Gillies prides herself in having <strong>comfort foods</strong> available when her family gets home. She shares several recipes for foods like applesauce and muffin <strong>batter</strong>. What are your <strong>go-to</strong> comfort foods?</p>

<p><img alt="cozy " src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1969/content_christmas-muffins-with-holiday-mug-and-teapot-SBI-300754682.jpg" /></p>

<h2>Glossary</h2>

<ul>
	<li>common denominator: <em>a shared feature</em></li>
	<li>cozy: <em>feeling comfortable, warm, and relaxed</em></li>
	<li>crave<em>: to have a strong need or desire for</em></li>
	<li>query: <em>a question</em></li>
	<li>tea cozy: <em>a little sweater for a teapot that keeps the tea warm</em></li>
	<li>comfort foods: <em>foods that make you feel good or at home</em></li>
	<li>batter: <em>a mixture of flour and liquids for baking</em></li>
	<li>go-to:<em>&nbsp;the ones you return to again and again</em></li>
</ul>

<h2>Question of the Month</h2>

<h3>What makes you cozy?</h3>

<p>Share your own list in the comments below! You can include things&nbsp;(<em>pencils</em>), words (<em>tea cozy</em>), activities (making <em>Christmas&nbsp;crafts</em>), and of course comfort foods and hot drinks (<em>banana bread, peppermint tea</em>).&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


What Makes You Cozy?

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<p>October 14 was World Sight Day. <strong>Coincidentally</strong>, I went in for an eye exam that day. You can probably guess my <strong>optometrist&#39;s</strong> first question.&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>On average, how many hours do you spend looking at a screen?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>As someone who has worked from home for about 20 years, you can probably guess what my answer was.</p>

<p>&quot;Too long!&quot;</p>

<p>With so many students and&nbsp;teachers&nbsp;participating in&nbsp;online or <strong>hybrid</strong> learning, screen time is really <strong>taking its toll </strong>on our eyes.</p>

<p>My eye doctor shared a useful tip for anyone who works or studies in front of a screen for several hours a day. She called it the 20-20-20 rule.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>What is the 20-20-20 rule?&nbsp;</h2>

<p>Unlike so many other health tips and tricks, this one is so simple.&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Every 20 minutes, look about 20 feet away from your screen for 20 seconds.&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>That&#39;s it! Sometimes the smallest changes make the biggest difference. If you spend a lot of time staring at screens, I hope you&#39;ll give this trick a try.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Eye Break Activity</h2>

<p>After your 20-second break, come back together and describe what you saw. You can do this orally or in writing.&nbsp;Try looking a different way each time you take a break.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>I looked out the window. I saw a lonely basketball hoop standing firm while the trees around it were blowing in the wind.&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>You could also tell each other what you did NOT&nbsp;see.&nbsp;Or you could describe what colors, shapes, or movements you noticed.&nbsp;Alternatively, since you are giving your eyes a break, you&nbsp;could also focus on the sounds you heard in that 20-second break.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Glossary</h2>

<ul>
	<li>coincidentally: <em>by chance, not planned</em></li>
	<li>optometrist<em>: eye doctor</em></li>
	<li>hybrid<em>: a mix of two elements</em></li>
	<li>take its toll:<em>&nbsp;to cause damage or suffering over time</em></li>
</ul>

<h2>Leave a Comment</h2>

<p>What is one small change you have made recently to improve your health?&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Related</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2148">Eye Idioms</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/95/lessons/1844">Eye Health</a></li>
</ul>


Eye Break for Online Learning 

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<p>Do you ever have&nbsp;<strong>negative</strong> thoughts?</p>

<ul>
	<li>I will never learn this language.</li>
	<li>Nobody understands me.</li>
	<li>I don&#39;t belong here.</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>Affirmations</strong>&nbsp;are the opposite of negative thoughts. They&nbsp;are statements of truth&nbsp;that are <strong>positive</strong> in nature.<em>&nbsp;</em></p>

<ul>
	<li>I believe in myself.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I have friends and family who love me.</li>
	<li>I am a hard worker.</li>
</ul>

<p>Daily affirmations are a form of mental exercise that can&nbsp;<strong>transform</strong> your mind just like physical exercise transforms your body.</p>

<h2>What Can Affirmations Do?</h2>

<ul>
	<li>
	<p>Change your mood</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Relieve stress</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Improve&nbsp;your sense of self-worth</p>
	</li>
	<li>Boost your confidence</li>
</ul>

<h2>20 Affirmations for English Learners</h2>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/1797/20-affirmations.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<p>Listen and repeat these affirmations.</p>

<ol>
	<li>I learn a little bit every day.</li>
	<li>I am doing my best.</li>
	<li>I know more today than I knew yesterday.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I am ready to learn something new today.</li>
	<li>I can ask for help.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I can help others who need me.</li>
	<li>I can achieve my goals.</li>
	<li>I can do difficult things.</li>
	<li>I can learn from my mistakes.</li>
	<li>I can use more than one language to communicate.</li>
	<li>I play an important role in my&nbsp;community.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I accept all of my emotions.</li>
	<li>I am ready for a new challenge.</li>
	<li>I am different&nbsp;and unique.</li>
	<li>I treat others with kindness and respect.</li>
	<li>I am grateful for my friends and family.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I am thankful for my teacher.</li>
	<li>I take care of my body and mind.</li>
	<li>I focus on things that matter to me.</li>
	<li>I feel wonderful.</li>
</ol>

<h2>5 Ways to Use Affirmations</h2>

<p>Here are five things to try:</p>

<ol>
	<li>
	<p>Write down one affirmation before bed every evening.</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Write down one affirmation whenever you&#39;re experiencing a negative emotion (sadness, depression, fear).</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Say (or sing) a daily&nbsp;affirmation in the shower!</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Recite an affirmation silently before a test, exam, or other challenge.</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Focus on your&nbsp;affirmations whenever you notice&nbsp;negative thoughts running through your mind.</p>
	</li>
</ol>

<h2>Sentence Starters for Affirmations...</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I am&nbsp;+<em> positive adjective </em>|<em>&nbsp;</em><strong>I am strong.</strong></li>
	<li>I am a(n)&nbsp;+<em> noun </em>| <strong>I am a survivor.</strong></li>
	<li>I&nbsp;+<em>&nbsp;simple present verb</em>&nbsp;| <strong>I work hard.</strong></li>
	<li>I can / will&nbsp;+ <em>base verb </em>|&nbsp;<strong>I can get a job. I will succeed.</strong></li>
	<li>I am thankful&nbsp;for&nbsp;+<em> noun&nbsp;</em>| <strong>I am thankful for my family.&nbsp;</strong></li>
	<li>I am proud of myself for&nbsp;+&nbsp;<em>-ing verb</em>&nbsp;| <strong>I am proud of myself for participating in class.&nbsp;</strong></li>
</ul>

<h2>Leave a Comment</h2>

<p>Write your own affirmation in the Comments section below. Your affirmation should be a positive, true statement about yourself.</p>

<h2>Related</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/105/resources/3842">Affirmations (Slideshows)</a></li>
</ul>


20 Affirmations for English Learners

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<p>Our first-ever ESL&nbsp;Library Virtual Conference took place September 17&ndash;18 with 800+ attendees from more than 81 countries. The theme for our inaugural event was <strong>Empowering Teachers in the Digital Age</strong>.</p>

<p>As per tradition, I always try to make time for a post-conference reflection with a few highlights and takeaways. I love having a summary to look back on as well as something to share with those who were unable to attend.</p>

<h2>3 Highlights</h2>

<h3>1. Social Networking</h3>

<p>Improving communication around the world has always been ESL&nbsp;Library&#39;s core mission. Based on the feedback we&#39;ve received about the conference, it&#39;s safe to say that attendees, speakers, and ESL&nbsp;Library staff all appreciated the opportunity to connect in this welcoming space at this challenging&nbsp;time.</p>

<p>We used the chat, the Q&amp;A, raised hands, direct messages, speed networking, and virtual theme-based tables to check in and learn from each other. There was an overwhelming feeling of positivity and optimism that I think we&#39;ve all been craving. Did you feel&nbsp;it?</p>

<h3>2. Speakers</h3>

<p>Our invited speakers and ESL&nbsp;Library staff covered a wide range of topics including publishing trends, blended learning, the flipped classroom, social-emotional health, assessment, and the rise of EdTech.</p>

<p>We were grateful to learn from&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/meet-the-esl-library-virtual-conference-speakers-russell-stannard"><strong>Russell Stanndard</strong></a> (Teacher Training Videos),&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/meet-the-esl-library-virtual-conference-speakers-fely"><strong>Fely Garc&iacute;a L&oacute;pez</strong></a> (Flipgrid), <strong><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/meet-the-esl-library-virtual-conference-speakers-dr-katie">Dr. Katie Welch</a> </strong>(Welch Education), <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/meet-the-esl-library-virtual-conference-speakers-robyn"><strong>Robyn Lockwood</strong></a> (Stanford University), and <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/meet-the-esl-library-virtual-conference-speakers-dr-margaret-e-malone"><strong>Dr.&nbsp;Meg Malone</strong></a> (ACTFL).</p>

<p>Our CEO, <strong>Ben Buckwold</strong>, also shared behind-the-scenes stories and industry insight while our conference host,&nbsp;<strong>Tammy Wik</strong>, led demonstrations of our own platform and features, including an interactive <a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres">flashcard</a> workshop that left us all bursting with ideas. Representatives from our Publishing team (Ann, Tanya, and Tara) also enjoyed leading our two morning Coffee Talks, where we chatted with attendees about the evolution of grammar materials and the importance of <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/academic-subjects/social-emotional-learning">social-emotional health</a> for teachers and learners.</p>

<h3>3. Storytime</h3>

<p>Our CEO, Ben&mdash;a natural storyteller&mdash;finally got the&nbsp;chance to share ESL&nbsp;Library&#39;s origin story. If you weren&#39;t able to hear it live, be sure to grab a coffee and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgeVgruJ6OA&amp;list=PL0MvnNQjMzmaFPrxnBSMRLuLGL8l6GpWZ&amp;index=11">watch the recording</a>. While we listened to Ben, we admired the new art on his wall, courtesy of our talented&nbsp;in-house illustrators, featuring topics from our popular <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons">Discussion Starters</a> section.</p>

<p><img alt="ben-buckwold-esl-library-conference" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1755/content__ben-welcome-conference.png" /></p>

<h2>10 Takeaways</h2>

<p>This was a single-strand conference, and it soon became clear&nbsp;that&nbsp;I couldn&#39;t&nbsp;miss a minute of it! After coffee breaks and social hours, attendees and speakers automatically bounced back into the next session, so it always felt inclusive and we got to know each other.&nbsp;Here are some of my top takeaways from the speaker sessions.</p>

<ol>
	<li>Don&rsquo;t feel you need to start class by taking up the homework. A&nbsp;<strong>pre-class task </strong>should be&nbsp;a springboard for the class activity. (Russell&nbsp;Stannard)</li>
	<li>According to language learners themselves, 85% of what they learn is from independent learning. <strong>Extramural learning</strong> is learning that&nbsp;takes place <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/ESLlibrary">outside the walls</a> (or screens) of a classroom and is not necessarily related to the class content. Let&#39;s encourage our learners to be active learners. (Russell Stanndard)</li>
	<li>The pandemic has inspired us to use tech differently, even now that some of us are back in a traditional classroom. We use tech for announcements,&nbsp;for sharing examples, for leaving <strong>live-time feedback</strong>, and for real-world speaking and writing practice. (Dr.&nbsp; Meg&nbsp;Malone)</li>
	<li>When it comes to <strong>assessment</strong>, it helps to find out what students&#39; expectations are of themselves. Compare these to your expectations and consider meeting them in the middle. (Dr. Meg Malone)</li>
	<li>When creating your own Flipgrid prompt, try to incorporate the four domains (listening, writing, reading, and speaking). Don&#39;t forget to include&nbsp;<strong>lingustic supports</strong>.&nbsp;(Fely Garc&iacute;a L&oacute;pez)</li>
	<li>Flipgrid&#39;s <a href="https://admin.flipgrid.com/discovery/partners">Discovery Partners</a> make it easy to find useful content fast. They can also inspire you to get involved and create your own prompts.&nbsp;(Fely Garc&iacute;a L&oacute;pez)</li>
	<li><strong>Design Thinking</strong> (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test ), a trend teachers are grativating to,&nbsp;has a background in business. It&nbsp;shares a lot of elements of <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/111/lessons">project-based learning</a>, which focuses on a central question that the teacher chooses. (Robyn Lockwood)</li>
	<li>It&#39;s important for teachers to stay active in the industry in order to help publishers develop the materials students and teachers want and need. Teachers can raise their voices by joining local (e.g., TESL London)&nbsp;and international <strong>organizations</strong> (e.g., TESOL or ACTFL). Join a SIG and get active on a social channel, such as LinkedIn. (Robyn&nbsp;Lockwood)</li>
	<li><strong>Social-emotional learning</strong> is not just about the skills we teach. It&#39;s also about the educational culture and setting. (Dr. Katie Welch)</li>
	<li>Provide students with alternative <strong>sentence stems</strong>&nbsp;to &quot;I don&#39;t know,&quot; such as &quot;May I have more time to think?, May I ask a friend for&nbsp;help?, I&#39;m not sure about that, but I can tell you...&quot;. (Dr. Katie Welch)</li>
</ol>

<p><img alt="3 signature SEL practices" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1748/content_Tara_ESL-Library-Virtual-Conference-2021-Highlights-Takeaways_Speaker.jpg" /></p>

<h2>Related Resources</h2>

<p>Looking for recordings of our sessions?&nbsp; The&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/conference/2021">recorded sessions from the ESL Library Virtual Conference</a> are now available!</p>

<h2>Summary</h2>

<p>At a conference follow-up meeting with the organizers and staff, we all came away with a similar feeling. Our first-ever ESL Library Virtual Conference turned out to be much&nbsp;more than any of us expected. With virtually no&nbsp;technical glitches to worry about, our organizers and moderators were able to ensure that everything ran smoothly. The speakers were all well prepared and&nbsp;the attendees were extremely engaged. In fact, so&nbsp;many ideas were shared, we don&#39;t know where to start!</p>

<p>Thank you to Airmeet for a great platform, and thank you to all of the speakers, organizers, staff, and attendees for helping make this event such an enriching and uplifting experience. We hope you feel empowered to go out and do your best work and also to take care of yourself and your students! And yes, we will do this again!</p>

<p><img alt="You can’t pour from an empty cup. Take care of yourself first." src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1749/content_Tara_ESL-Library-Virtual-Conference-2021-Highlights-Takeaways_Quote.png" /></p>

<h2>Comments</h2>

<p>Did you attend our first-ever ESL Library Virtual Conference? If yes, you&#39;re part of the history books! Please share a highlight or takeaway in the comments.</p>


ESL Library Virtual Conference 2021: Highlights & Takeaways

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Discover what's new or coming soon, including upcoming lessons and resources and product feature updates. 

Announcements

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;ESL Library (now Ellii) was founded in 2002 as a resource site for English teachers. The materials are designed to enhance, complement, or supplement curriculum. New materials are added every month. The lessons include relevant, thought-provoking materials that focus on real-world issues, historical events, and natural dialogues geared toward teens and adults. There are also kid-friendly lessons for young learners and middle schoolers as well as lessons for literacy classrooms.&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;<a href="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/2448/ESLLibrary__1__2.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WIDA PRIME Correlator</a></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Does your school follow the <a href="https://wida.wisc.edu/">WIDA Standards Framework</a>? If yes, you may be wondering if Ellii (formerly ESL Library) is a good fit for your school.</p>

<p>WIDA uses a special correlation process called PRIME, which stands for Protocol for Review of Instructional Materials for ELLs. The main purpose of PRIME is to help educators in the K&ndash;12 space understand the relevance of materials that are available for their language programs.</p>

<p>In early 2021, a WIDA&nbsp;PRIME&nbsp;V2 correlator spent a week reviewing Ellii&#39;s (formerly ESL&nbsp;Library&#39;s) offerings. They looked at our&nbsp;correlation to WIDA&#39;s Standard Framework as well as connections to the ELD Standards.</p>

<p>You can view the full <a href="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/2448/ESLLibrary__1__2.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WIDA Correlation for ESL&nbsp;Library</a> on WIDA&#39;s PRIME inventory page (with referenced examples taken from a variety of materials and sections on&nbsp;our site).* Here is an abridged&nbsp;summary:</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">Materials are asset-based.</li>
	<li class="correct">Materials feature academic language.</li>
	<li class="correct">Materials address language features appropriately and consistently at the discourse dimension for all proficiency&nbsp;levels.</li>
	<li class="correct">Materials address language features appropriately and consistently at the sentence dimension for all proficiency&nbsp;levels.</li>
	<li class="correct">Materials address language features appropriately and consistently at the word/phrase dimension for all proficiency&nbsp;levels.</li>
	<li class="correct">Differentiation of language is addressed throughout the materials and is developmentally and linguistically appropriate for the proficiency&nbsp;levels.</li>
	<li class="correct">The four language domains are targeted and integrated throughout the&nbsp;materials.</li>
	<li class="correct">Social and instructional language are&nbsp;included in the&nbsp;materials.</li>
	<li class="correct">Materials encourage language learners to engage in higher-thinking skills at all&nbsp;levels.</li>
	<li class="correct">Materials cover a range of language functions that are incorporated into a communicative&nbsp;goal.</li>
</ul>

<p><img alt="WIDA PRIME V2 Correlation Seal" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1731/content_WIDA-PRIME-v2-seal-TM.png" /></p>

<p>As you review the official <a href="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/2448/ESLLibrary__1__2.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WIDA Correlation</a>, please note that Ellii (formerly ESL&nbsp;Library) is not currently licensing WIDA terminology, which means we cannot explicitly reference WIDA standards and descriptors in our materials. In addition, Ellii, which services teachers all over the world, does not yet assign specific grade bands to materials. We do hope to add WIDA proficiency levels to our <a href="https://ellii.com/equivalencies">Equivalency Scale</a> later this&nbsp;year.</p>

<h2>2021&nbsp;Updates</h2>

<p>We&#39;re always striving to make improvements! A new Young Learner filter has been added to the site since WIDA&#39;s correlation. Other <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/feature-updates-2021">recent developments</a> include teacher discretion labels, digital speaking tasks, and <a href="https://ellii.com/collections">collections</a>. Ellii&#39;s (formerly ESL&nbsp;Library&#39;s) new collections make it easier for teachers to sort and filter relevant content by theme, function, and academic subject&nbsp;as well as by age-appropriateness and proficiency level. Finally, our new <a href="https://ellii.com/folders/published">Ellii Folders</a>, curated by the publishing team, support the progression of language development and have been popular with our K⁠&ndash;⁠12&nbsp;teachers.</p>

<p>A special thank you to the folks at WIDA for your careful consideration of our materials and&nbsp;site!</p>

<p>*If the link does not open a PDF, please visit <a href="https://www.widaprime.org/correlated-instructional-materials">WIDA&#39;s PRIME inventory</a> and type ESL Library as a search term.</p>

<h2>Related</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="collection"><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/academic-subjects">Academic Subjects Collection</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/wida-conference-2018">WIDA Conference 2018: Highlights &amp; Takeaways</a></li>
	<li class="external-link"><a href="https://www.casas.org/qs/Publisher/Show/805" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CASAS Quick Search</a> (New CASAS Collections coming soon!)</li>
</ul>


WIDA Correlation: A Seal for Ellii (formerly ESL Library)

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<h2>Do You Use Flipgrid?&nbsp;</h2>

<p><a href="https://info.flipgrid.com/">Flipgrid</a> is a popular EdTech tool that encourages students to speak out&nbsp;on all sorts of topics they&#39;re learning about at school. With Flipgrid, teachers and students become their own content creators. The best part about Flipgrid is that everyone gets to use their creativity to the fullest including curators, teachers, and students.&nbsp;It&#39;s no wonder the language teaching community loves Flipgrid!&nbsp;</p>

<h2>ESL Library Is a Flipgrid&nbsp;Partner</h2>

<p>Flipgrid recognizes the importance of designing activities that target both academic and language needs. We&nbsp;were thrilled when Flipgrid invited ESL Library to become an official <strong>Discovery Library Partner</strong>.&nbsp;Each quarter, our publishing team&nbsp;adds several prompts for&nbsp;Flipgrid teachers to use with their students. ESL Library&#39;s Flipgrid prompts&nbsp;includes photos, videos, quotes, discussion questions, and more! These prompts integrate with full lesson plans and activities on ESL Library.<br />
<br />
Find&nbsp;<a href="https://admin.flipgrid.com/discovery/partners/ellii">ESL Library</a> in Flipgrid&#39;s <a href="https://admin.flipgrid.com/manage/discovery">Discovery Library</a>, and be sure to check out all of the other great educational partners too. You can filter by <strong>Language Learning</strong> to find the best prompts for your students.</p>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NtnFYKZOYpg" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>

<h2>Learn All about Flipgrid at the ESL Library Virtual Conference</h2>

<p>This September, ESL Library is hosting its first-ever conference for English language teachers! On Friday, September 17, 2021, from 11:30 am to 12:15 pm (CDT),&nbsp;Fely Garc&iacute;a L&oacute;pez&nbsp;will show teachers&nbsp;how to get started with Flipgrid and how to create discussion topics that incorporate best practices for second language acquisition. Learn more and register&nbsp;for <a href="https://ellii.com/conference/2021">ESL Library&#39;s Virtual Conference</a> today. It&#39;s free!</p>

<h2>Share the Love&nbsp;</h2>

<p>The first thing we discovered when partnering with Flipgrid is that this company truly cares about learners and the learning journey. They are helpful and welcoming, and you can tell right away that the staff at Flipgrid love what they do. If you love Flipgrid as much as we do,&nbsp;please leave a comment telling teachers why&nbsp;you love it and how you use it with your language learners.&nbsp;</p>


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Tara Benwell