There are some tips you can find here:
WAYS TO FRESHEN UP YOUR CLASSROOM
Freshen up your classroom!
- A new wall display. Are your walls bare? Or have you had the same displays up long enough that you yourself no longer take notice of them? Time for an update.
- A new seating arrangement. Okay, if you’re short on space or in auditorium with immovable desks, this isn’t possible. However, if you do have the option of designing your own seating arrangement, you might consider trying out clusters as opposed to rows or using two semicircles rather than one large horseshoe formation. If your room is set up with whiteboards on more than one wall, you can keep the same arrangement but make a 45° or 180° turn. At the very least, you can reposition just the teacher’s desk. The idea is to create a sense of newness yet still have a practical workspace. What promotes interaction among the students yet allows them to focus on you during a presentation?
- New student resources. If you don’t have a designated space for student resources, it’s time to create one. The basics include dictionaries, both a standard copy and a learner’s edition. Be on the lookout for affordable additions. Occasional treasures turn up at yard sales and flea markets for little money. Libraries sometimes have book sales to raise money and get rid of old editions. A few paperback novels (even with old publication dates) can still offer language practice to students in their free time.
- New décor. Sounds silly, yet simple things like houseplants and a subtle air freshener can create a welcoming environment. (Just be wary of strong fragrances. Some students may have allergies.) Find your happy medium between an institutional setting and “home sweet home”. Knick knacks can add character and serve as conversation starters. They can also be functional. Do you play language games which require students to draw slips of paper? Bring in an old decorative tea canister or cookie jar for this use.
Talking About Past and Present
Getting students to talk about the differences between the past and present is a great way to get students using a variety of tenses and cementing their understanding of the differences and time relationships between the past simple, present perfect (continuous) and present simple tenses. This exercise is quite easy for students to understand and helps to get students thinking in the right direction before beginning the task.
Aim: Conversation lesson focusing on the use of the past simple, present perfect and present simple tenses
Activity: Drawing diagrams as a support for conversation in pairs
Level: Intermediate to advanced
Outline:
- Give students the example below or draw a similar example on the board.
- Read through the example sentences showing the relationship between the two circles (‘life then’ and ‘life now’).
- Ask students why you used the various tenses (i.e. past simple, present perfect (continuous) and present simple (continuous).
- Have students draw two circles. Each circle should have ‘me’ at the center with a universe of friends, hobbies, relationships, etc. surrounding. One circle is drawn for the past and one drawn for ‘life now’.
- Students break up into pairs and explain their diagrams to each other.
- Walk around the room and listen to the discussions, take notes on the most common mistakes made.
- As a follow up, go through the most common mistakes made by the students to focus on the problems they are still having with certain tenses (i.e. using the present perfect instead of past simple for definite past).
Life Then – Life Now
Look at the two circles describing ‘life then’ and ‘life now’. Read the sentences below describing how the persons life has changed.
- In 1994, I lived in New York.
- Since then, I have moved to Livorno where I have been living for the past five years.
- In 1994, I had been married to Barbara for four years. Since then, we have had our daughter Katherine. Katherine is three years old.
- Barbara and I have been married for ten years.
- I used to play squash twice a week when I lived in New York.
- Now I play tennis twice a week. I have been playing tennis for over a year.
- My best friends were Marek and Franco in New York. Now my best friend is Corrado.
- I loved going to the opera in New York. Now, I love going to museums around Tuscany.
- I worked at the New York Association for New Americans for two years in New York.
- Now I work at the British School. I have been working there for over four years.
Draw two circles of your own. One describing life a few years ago and one describing life now. Once you have finished, find a partner and describe how your life has changed over the past few years.
