New Jersey Teacher

Teachers everywhere can attests to the fact that motivating students is not an easy task. One really has to work hard, be persistent and be creative at the same time in order to even attempt to motivate an unwilling student. Despite the difficulties encountered, motivation is a crucial component involved with teaching any student. A student's desire to participate in the learning process will essentially determine whether he/she will succeed or fail. The reasons for a student's motivation can vary a great deal, however there are basically two types of ways in which a student can be motivated. They can either be intrinsically motivated, which means they take part in the activity for their own enjoyment and for their own learning benefits, or they can be extrinsically...  [Read more]

Today, all teachers are faced with the ongoing challenge of working to make their teaching more effective. Whether they teach traditional students or EFL students, teachers must develop their skills to best meet students´ educational needs. We have a fairly clear idea today of the skills teachers should seek to develop. According to Robert Slavin, "research on teaching has made significant strides in identifying teaching behaviors associated with high student achievement" (Slavin, n.d.). These teaching behaviors include "essential teaching skills," which are "basic abilities that all teachers, including those in their first year, should have to promote order and learning" (Eggen & Kauchak, 2004, p. 579). The Key Teacher Skills include Preparation, Attention, Clarity,...  [Read more]

Although the benefits of learning foreign languages are undisputable, the implementation varies around the globe. When should we introduce it' Should we go for a bilingual education, foreign language classes or immersion schools ' Immersion elementary schools started to appear in Canada in the early sixties (CRAWFORD, 1989). In Europe, after a long tradition of a second language learning in secondary and high schools, the European Centre for Modern Languages conducted, in 2002-2003, a project called 'Janua Linguarum - the Gateway to Languages' in ten European countries to promote the introduction of language awakening at the end of primary schools. There are a number of arguments in favor of early language learning. Noam Chomsky, a 20th century linguist, referred to a...  [Read more]