This is a guest Business English TESOL post from Josh, Andrea's brother and co-founder of ESL Basics.The goal of any teacher is to empower people to succeed. That being said, I can't imaging someone succeeding at business who can't think long-term, strategically, and see "big picture". That being said, I would strongly encourage your student's to read creative business minded blog's on a daily basis. They don't need to understand every word... they need to grasp principles and concepts... the rest will take care of itself. I won't go into a long list of highly creative and successful business minded blogs, but I will give you two of them. First is Seth Godin's blog and second is Gary Vaynerchuk's blog. These are two of the most creative business people I have read (and seen) as of late. Below is a selection of their books if you are interested in buying books to give to your student's when they graduate or just to encourage them in their business learning. I hope you and your student's enjoy.
We are honored that they would post us on this list, especially considering the fact that the other 9 resources are amazing resources. Below is a list of the other resources listed with a very brief description of the site. (Several are not just ESL, but other languages as well)
Smart.fm - A site designed to systematically move you along the learning process to increase retention.
Vocabulix - Tons of free tools from creating quizzes to a verb conjugation chart.
Forvo - Audio wiki for word pronunciation for about 200 languages.
CAPL (Culturally Authentic Pictorial Lexicon) - Captures true meaning and intentions of words with images.
This is a MUST READ from Seth Godin about the two prominent schools of thought surrounding education and schooling. As TESOL professionals we should be striving for the "Type 2" listed below. This was so good I chose to include the whole post, you can see the original post here.
Two kinds of schooling - Seth Godin
Type 1. You can take a class where you learn technique, facts and procedures.
Type 2. You can take a class where you learn to see, learn to lead and learn to solve interesting problems.
The first type of teaching isn't particularly difficult to do, and it's something most of us are trained to absorb. The first type of schooling can even be accomplished with self-discipline and a Dummies book. The first type of class is important but not scarce.
The second kind, on the other hand, is where all real success comes from. It's really tricky to find and train people to do this sort of teaching, and anytime you can find some of it, you should grab it.
The sad thing is that we often conflate the two. We think we're hiring someone to do the second type, a once in a lifetime teacher, someone who will change the outlook of stellar students. But then we give them rules and procedures and feedback that turn them into a type 1 teacher.
Even worse, we often pay as if we're getting the scarce and valuable type 2 teachers but we end up hiring and managing type 1 teachers.
I spend a lot of time in colleges and other teaching institutions. Over and over I see the same thing--organizations that have painted themselves into a corner, keeping themselves busy but refusing to do the difficult work of teaching people to see. The dean of one college was so stuck in his type-1ness that he couldn't even bring himself to participate in a session run by a gifted type 2 teacher.
Is there anything more important to you and your organization (or your kids or your town) than figuring out how to obtain and share the wisdom that real teaching can deliver?
Please enjoy this "teacher tip" video about using authentic materials. Please comment below with your own tips to share with others. Also, feel free to leave a link to your website or another helpful site for ESL/EFL teachers.
Teachers
