Tag Archives: handouts

• Managing the “Awkward Silence”: The Escape Technique

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(This posting includes an attachment teacher’s script which you are welcome to use.)*

Many of us have been there: you call on a student during a whole-class discussion, and instead of an answer, you’re met with total silence.

Whether they don’t know the answer, are struggling to translate their thoughts, or simply lack the confidence to speak, the result is the same: the student feels stressed, the teacher isn’t sure whether to wait or move on, and the rest of the class starts to get restless.

The “Escape Technique” provides students with a safety net. If they can’t answer within a reasonable amount of time, they are taught to use specific expressions to “pass the mic” to a classmate.

The “Escape” Phrases

  • That’s a good question. I’d like to think about it first. Perhaps (a classmate’s name) could answer it.
  • I’m not sure, but (classmate’s name), what do you think?
  • I have no idea. How about you, (classmate’s name)?

When students use this technique, it can actually turn into a humorous situation.  Almost any time a student has used one of these expression, it has elicited a lot of friendly laughter by the classmates and teacher.  The classroom tension is immediately released.

To help your students become comfortable with this technique, you can use the handout and attached script, which I’ll explain about below.

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• Short, High-Interest Articles for Extensive Reading: #15: “Wanting To Stop Unhealthy Habits”

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(This posting includes a handout LINK AT THE END OF THIS POST which you are welcome to use with your students.) *

                                      Wanting To Stop Unhealthy Habits

Jena and Daniel had similar problems. They both had habits that were bad for their health, and they couldn’t stop. Jena ate too much junk food, like chips, candy, and cupcakes. Daniel smoked cigarettes. They both had cravings, which means they wanted something very much and couldn’t stop thinking about it. They tried different ways to quit for many years, but they finally found a new method. Research shows that this method is more effective than others, and thousands of people have used it to stop their unhealthy habits.

Other methods didn’t work.                (See complete article below.)

For background information about these articles and for suggestions for how to use them with your students, see  • Introducing “Short, High-Interest Readings”  Also, I’ll be adding more of these articles in the right-hand column: ESL Reading> Short, High Interest Articles for Extensive Readings

Here is the 15th article. You can download the article for your students by clicking on the link at the end. Also included are three optional exercises: True-False Questions; Paraphrasing Exercise; Reflection Exercise.

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• Short, High-Interest Articles for Extensive Reading: # 14: “Why It’s Hard to Apologize”

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(This posting includes a handout LINK AT THE END OF THIS POST which you are welcome to use with your students.) *

Last week, Emily took her driver’s test but failed. At dinner, she told her family but asked them all to promise not to tell anyone because she felt embarrassed. Yesterday, a friend, Jay, said to her, “Your sister, Kara, told me that you failed your driver’s test. Are you going to take it again?” That afternoon at home, Emily was upset and told Kara, “Kara, I asked you not to tell anyone one about my test, but Jay said that you told him.” At that moment, Kara knew she should say sorry, but she didn’t want to. There is a common saying, “Three of the most difficult words for people to say are, ‘I am sorry.’”

(See complete article below.)

For background information about these articles and for suggestions for how to use them with your students, see  • Introducing “Short, High-Interest Readings”  Also, I’ll be adding more of these articles in the right-hand column: ESL Reading> Short, High Interest Articles for Extensive Readings

Here is the 13th article. You can download the article for your students by clicking on the link at the end. Also included are three optional exercises: True-False Questions; Paraphrasing Exercise; Reflection Exercise.

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• Fun Activity To Reduce Irritating Classroom Behavior

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(This posting includes a handout which you are welcome to use with your students.)

 (This is a revision to an earlier posting: Enjoyable and Effective Awareness Activity for Changing ESL Students Classroom Behavior)

Most ESL students don’t do goofy things just to irritate the teacher. Usually, they are unaware of how they are coming across or unaware that they are acting differently from the other students or even what is expected of them.  These are some of the habits students tend to bring to our classes:

  • Chronically arriving to class late
  • Chatting with classmate
  • Text messaging during class
  • Not paying attention
  • Not participating in a group
  • Calling out answer before others get a chance
  • Sitting in the back of the room day-dreaming
  • No eye contact to teacher or classmates in a group
  • Speaking own language in a group
  • And more

An effective approach to circumventing these habits is one in which students become aware of the effects these habits have on the teacher and other students. In this post, I’ll explain how programs that I’ve taught in were able to help students see how their behavior is viewed by others. Not only was the process enjoyable for the students, but also, we noticed far fewer students engaging in these behaviors.

Here is how we did it. 

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