I love to teach students visiting Toronto.
It gives me an opportunity to use lots of Realia in the classroom.
My favourite realia is using Maps to Teach English.
Maps offer ESL teachers with a wonderful format for teaching.
Teachers can teach basic math terms for scale and distance. Teachers can also teach spatial relationships and even ratios. Adding time and speed components allows for lots of applications for students to plan trips and calculate each section.
Maps can indicate three dimensional components. Students can learn terms about height and depth as well as composition. Resources Maps can indicate agriculture, forests and minerals. Land use maps allows for explanations about parks, preserves and the effects of urbanization.
My students love to use the free Ontario Driving maps and use the distance cross references to calculate driving times. I pass out about 100 of the Ontario travel brochures that promote Niagara Falls, Algonquin Park, Elora Gorge, Museums, festivals, boat cruises, canoe trips, camping adventures and the other 90 wonderful things students can do while visiting Toronto. Students can pick two or three locations and use the maps to plan the trip.
The students want to see their favourite attractions or activities or events. When you provide the information and maps the students will learn an amazing amount of English motivated by their interests.
I have fun teaching the students have fun learning. They don't even realize that they even did homework sometimes.
Teachers can go to the Ontario Ministry of Tourism for free maps. The staff are very helpful and can provide almost everything that you need.
***********
ESL in Canada Blog URL
http://eslincanada.blogspot.com/
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Education Coaches and Mentors
Coaching and mentoring are old professions. Soldiers, artists and athletes have traditionally used teachers to learn skills, coaches to apply those skills and mentors to keep life progressing in balance with history and experience.
Modern teachers, coaches and mentors synthesize the best skills and practices for use in business, leadership training, academics, life styles, exercise, health and nutrition and finance to benefit students, individuals, executives, entrepreneurs and professionals.
Team work between the student and teacher, coach or mentor usually starts with a skills and ability review, progresses into a plan and results in a goal achieved.
Modern teachers, coaches and mentors can help their students improve their skills, save time, avoid mistakes, live more satisfying lives and achieve goals.
ESL in Canada will be expanding the list of skill sets for tutors, teachers, coaches and mentors. We will be featuring these professionals in the new networking lists.
For additional information:
http://www.eslincanada.com/agency.html
***********
ESL in Canada Blog URL
http://eslincanada.blogspot.com/
Blog Feed
http://eslincanada.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Blog Disclaimer
This blog uses original and reprintable articles in whole or part. Posts can be edited for spelling, grammar, accuracy, fairness or to meet ever changing legal publishing standards. We post one link to indicate the original post or source. We rely on the accuracy of the sources. This blog is not responsible for errors or omissions or any liability for any posts or any real, imagined, fabricated, current, past or subsequent damages. For additional info: eslincanada (at) gmail (dot) -com-
Modern teachers, coaches and mentors synthesize the best skills and practices for use in business, leadership training, academics, life styles, exercise, health and nutrition and finance to benefit students, individuals, executives, entrepreneurs and professionals.
Team work between the student and teacher, coach or mentor usually starts with a skills and ability review, progresses into a plan and results in a goal achieved.
Modern teachers, coaches and mentors can help their students improve their skills, save time, avoid mistakes, live more satisfying lives and achieve goals.
ESL in Canada will be expanding the list of skill sets for tutors, teachers, coaches and mentors. We will be featuring these professionals in the new networking lists.
For additional information:
http://www.eslincanada.com/agency.html
***********
ESL in Canada Blog URL
http://eslincanada.blogspot.com/
Blog Feed
http://eslincanada.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Blog Disclaimer
This blog uses original and reprintable articles in whole or part. Posts can be edited for spelling, grammar, accuracy, fairness or to meet ever changing legal publishing standards. We post one link to indicate the original post or source. We rely on the accuracy of the sources. This blog is not responsible for errors or omissions or any liability for any posts or any real, imagined, fabricated, current, past or subsequent damages. For additional info: eslincanada (at) gmail (dot) -com-
Saturday, June 10, 2006
How to determine if your Agent can honestly help you!
In Canada and many other countries anyone can use the title education agent, counselor or consultant without any prior training, education, certification or registration. This is a completely un-regulated industry with no standards and no policing associations. The internet is full of "agent complaints" from students, teachers, schools, homestay and service industries.
Many students and their parents will sit across the desk from a convicted criminal in a fancy suit, expensive looking office, who is using a false name, a new business agency name which sounds like an established agency, and is falsely representing his agency contracts and licenses from schools, universities and institutes.
Eliminating the obvious frauds is not that difficult. Prospective customers should ask to see personal ID, business registrations, business licenses and references from the schools they represent and references from previous students.
Prospective customers should ask to see what education or training or experience qualifications the agent has. Did they finish high school? college? university? Did they study abroad? Have they ever traveled overseas? to that school? been to that homestay? Why are they recommending that school?
Local discount agents describe all schools as the same and then try to place students based on discounts. Any school advantages of professional programs, curricula, teachers, or systems are completely lost using price only discount agents. I have seen many agent whiteboards with the "price du jour" - just like the fish market. Some of these prices were falsely high then "discounted" to make the price appear better.
Students are also increasingly aware that most of the larger agencies are promoting their own schools located in Canada, USA, Australia, and New Zealand. Many Canadian ESL schools do not know that they are competing with "foreign agency owned" ESL schools. The foreign agencies have the market presence in the local markets and simply place the students into schools where they have an ownership interest. The MBA's call this vertical integration. The mega agencies would rather make 40 to 50% than the regular commission of 10 to 25%. When the 50% is transferred internationally the "Canadian Schools" run at a loss and do not pay taxes. The "Mega Agencies" located internationally pay from 3.5% to 25% income taxes.
Prospective students should investigate the agent and agency before giving them any money.
There are honest, hard working and professional agents who have visited the schools they represent, post actual student testimonials and continue to offer good advice based on years of experience. Students who work with professional agents and consultants actually save the most money and time going to the right school the first time.
Original Post: ESL in Canada directory
***********
ESL in Canada Blog URL
http://eslincanada.blogspot.com/
Many students and their parents will sit across the desk from a convicted criminal in a fancy suit, expensive looking office, who is using a false name, a new business agency name which sounds like an established agency, and is falsely representing his agency contracts and licenses from schools, universities and institutes.
Eliminating the obvious frauds is not that difficult. Prospective customers should ask to see personal ID, business registrations, business licenses and references from the schools they represent and references from previous students.
Prospective customers should ask to see what education or training or experience qualifications the agent has. Did they finish high school? college? university? Did they study abroad? Have they ever traveled overseas? to that school? been to that homestay? Why are they recommending that school?
Local discount agents describe all schools as the same and then try to place students based on discounts. Any school advantages of professional programs, curricula, teachers, or systems are completely lost using price only discount agents. I have seen many agent whiteboards with the "price du jour" - just like the fish market. Some of these prices were falsely high then "discounted" to make the price appear better.
Students are also increasingly aware that most of the larger agencies are promoting their own schools located in Canada, USA, Australia, and New Zealand. Many Canadian ESL schools do not know that they are competing with "foreign agency owned" ESL schools. The foreign agencies have the market presence in the local markets and simply place the students into schools where they have an ownership interest. The MBA's call this vertical integration. The mega agencies would rather make 40 to 50% than the regular commission of 10 to 25%. When the 50% is transferred internationally the "Canadian Schools" run at a loss and do not pay taxes. The "Mega Agencies" located internationally pay from 3.5% to 25% income taxes.
Prospective students should investigate the agent and agency before giving them any money.
There are honest, hard working and professional agents who have visited the schools they represent, post actual student testimonials and continue to offer good advice based on years of experience. Students who work with professional agents and consultants actually save the most money and time going to the right school the first time.
Original Post: ESL in Canada directory
***********
ESL in Canada Blog URL
http://eslincanada.blogspot.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)