Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Guest Blog Post: Melissa Martinson

When I looked at a family tree worksheet from a beginning ESL textbook, the black and white line drawings didn't instantly capture my attention. I feared the diagram would be even more distant for my beginning ESL students. So what did I do? I turned on my laptop, opened iPhoto and printed pictures of my own family members. When I got to class, I taped a photo of me on the white board. The learners laughed. one told me the picture was too pretty to be of me (I didn't know whether to be flattered or offended :) ). Then, one-by-one, I taped my mom's, dad's, sister's, brother-in-law's, and neice's photo on the board as I identified their family role and explained relationships. This lesson made it easier for me to teach, and in turn made it easier for learners to grasp! And it was fun and made us laugh too.

Thank you Melissa, for sharing your story!