Learning a New Language… Again When I was in high school and university, I studied Spanish. During my second year, I mixed up courses and didn’t have the right credits to continue with Spanish, and didn’t need more language credits to graduate, so I stopped. One of m
Teaching Idioms, Learning Slang Teaching idioms (a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g., raining cats and dogs, see the light ) (from Google) is one of the more difficult lessons to teach in English language tea
If your student is struggling with language learning, how do you know if they have a learning disability? This has been one of my challenges teaching high school EAL. It can be very difficult to determine where a language barrier might actually be a learning disability. I have recentl
Language Learning at the Mosque The Ajyal Center in downtown Vancouver is an Islamic center and mosque. This past fall, I provided child care for children at the Ajyal Center during a Arabic / English language exchange through Language Partners BC . Many of the women participating had
December Traditions from Around the World This year I started working at an international school in Vancouver. In September the Mexican students celebrated Mexican Independence day. At around the same time, students from China celebrated the Harvest Festival. The holiday celebrations
What does social justice teaching look like now? The day after the US election results, I sat in my Social Studies 9 classroom and wrote an email to… myself? my best friend? the future? I just needed to get it down, and I’d like to share it with a wider audience. What am I
High School Today I am a high school teacher, but sometimes I don’t really understand what is going on with high school students. This is High School is a Canadian documentary series following high school students, teachers, and administrators during the school year at a public
How Do We Learn Our First Language? Are people natural language learners, with the ability to use grammar hardwired into our brains? Or do children learn language from their environment, using different types of thinking and categorizing, experimenting and using words to develop gramm
Things I couldn’t teach without I’ve just accepted a new teaching job at a school across town. Yesterday was my last day of summer school at my former school, so it was time to pack up. It’s amazing how much stuff you can move over the course of two years, also keepi
July 1st was Canada day and, for the first time (maybe ever), I was feeling very proud to be Canadian. Being Canadian, for years, was just about my passport and where I grew up. But things have changed. My partner just moved over from London, UK two days after Brexit. We’ve been
