ONLINE RESOURCES for teachers
productivity tools
Evernote (web, Mac, PC, iOS, Android) free
This wonderful tool helps you remember teaching ideas, keep track of resources, organize lesson plans, and archive whiteboard photos and audio notes. Like a teaching assistant in your pocket! More information and my video tutorial can be found on my teaching ideas blog.
Toggl (web, Mac, PC, iOS, Android) free
Use Toggl to keep track of the time you've spent prepping or grading for each class, so you know where the time went! Toggl's report features can create lists and pie charts giving you a picture of your time usage. Just like a budget, Toggl might help you discover where you are spending your time and help improve your time management overall.
This wonderful tool helps you remember teaching ideas, keep track of resources, organize lesson plans, and archive whiteboard photos and audio notes. Like a teaching assistant in your pocket! More information and my video tutorial can be found on my teaching ideas blog.
Toggl (web, Mac, PC, iOS, Android) free
Use Toggl to keep track of the time you've spent prepping or grading for each class, so you know where the time went! Toggl's report features can create lists and pie charts giving you a picture of your time usage. Just like a budget, Toggl might help you discover where you are spending your time and help improve your time management overall.
CLASSROOM PRACTICE
How to Pronounce Your Students' Names (web) free
Use these excellent resources (many including audio) to improve your pronunciation of students' names from the following countries:
Use these excellent resources (many including audio) to improve your pronunciation of students' names from the following countries:
Contextualizing Plagiarism from Purdue OWL
These classroom activities are designed to help your students understand and assess their attitudes toward plagiarism.
Apimac Timer (Mac) free
Install this app on your MacBook connected to a classroom projector and you have a full-screen stopwatch or countdown clock with alarm that the whole class can see during class activities.
Alinof Timer (Mac) free
Use this gadget on your MacBook when you want a countdown clock with alarm that only takes up a small space on your screen.
Thanks to Hudson Lim for recommending this resource.
These classroom activities are designed to help your students understand and assess their attitudes toward plagiarism.
Apimac Timer (Mac) free
Install this app on your MacBook connected to a classroom projector and you have a full-screen stopwatch or countdown clock with alarm that the whole class can see during class activities.
Alinof Timer (Mac) free
Use this gadget on your MacBook when you want a countdown clock with alarm that only takes up a small space on your screen.
Thanks to Hudson Lim for recommending this resource.
VIDEO CLIPS FOR CLASSROOM USE
Movie Segments to Assess Grammar Goals (web) free
This extensive website created by an ESL teacher is a treasure trove of film clips, each with a worksheet to practice a specific grammar point. New clips are regularly added.
WingClips (web) free
This site features high-quality clips from new and old movies. Inappropriate language and content have been edited out because these clips are primarily intended for church use, which makes them ready to go for the classroom.
Thanks to Joann Anderson for recommending this resource.
This extensive website created by an ESL teacher is a treasure trove of film clips, each with a worksheet to practice a specific grammar point. New clips are regularly added.
WingClips (web) free
This site features high-quality clips from new and old movies. Inappropriate language and content have been edited out because these clips are primarily intended for church use, which makes them ready to go for the classroom.
Thanks to Joann Anderson for recommending this resource.
Images
How to Find Stock Photos That Don't Suck (web) free
Look no further: you have hit the jackpot of high-quality images. Mostly free unless otherwise indicated.
Black & White Photos by Gilbert Garcin (web) subject to copyright and fair use
On this photographer's website is a collection of intriguing black and white images, useful for "What's going on?" types of activities.
Thanks to Janelle Pence for recommending this resource.
The Educator's Guide to Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Commons (web) free
This informative article explains some of the do's and don'ts for educational use of copyrighted material. Additionally, the website teachingcopyright.org features teaching curriculum on the subject and a useful FAQ on fair use.
An Overview of Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights (web) free
This page covers topics such as patents, fair use, public domain and the Creative Commons, in addition to trademark and copyright information.
Thanks to Abby (ESL Volunteer) and Harry Rizzo (Teacher Advocate/ESL) from the Center of Northern York's Knowledge Association for recommending this resource.
Look no further: you have hit the jackpot of high-quality images. Mostly free unless otherwise indicated.
Black & White Photos by Gilbert Garcin (web) subject to copyright and fair use
On this photographer's website is a collection of intriguing black and white images, useful for "What's going on?" types of activities.
Thanks to Janelle Pence for recommending this resource.
The Educator's Guide to Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Commons (web) free
This informative article explains some of the do's and don'ts for educational use of copyrighted material. Additionally, the website teachingcopyright.org features teaching curriculum on the subject and a useful FAQ on fair use.
An Overview of Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights (web) free
This page covers topics such as patents, fair use, public domain and the Creative Commons, in addition to trademark and copyright information.
Thanks to Abby (ESL Volunteer) and Harry Rizzo (Teacher Advocate/ESL) from the Center of Northern York's Knowledge Association for recommending this resource.
CUSTOMIZABLE GAME TEMPLATES
PuzzleFast Instant Puzzle Maker (web) free
This easy-to-use website generates printable word search, crossword, scrambled word, and matching puzzles based on your own words.
Thanks to Matt Huffine for recommending this resource.
Jeopardy App: Make Your Own Jeopardy Template Online (web) free or $14.99 for lifetime membership
This website allows you create custom Jeopardy games which can be played online with teams. The games you create are publicly accessible to anyone, and as such, you can search for games created by other users. With lifetime membership, you get no ads and the options to download games, save games privately online, and name the teams.
Printable Microsoft Word Game Templates (web, Mac, PC) free
These downloadable templates allow you to customize your own board games for class use.
Thanks to Christin Lusty for recommending this resource.
This easy-to-use website generates printable word search, crossword, scrambled word, and matching puzzles based on your own words.
Thanks to Matt Huffine for recommending this resource.
Jeopardy App: Make Your Own Jeopardy Template Online (web) free or $14.99 for lifetime membership
This website allows you create custom Jeopardy games which can be played online with teams. The games you create are publicly accessible to anyone, and as such, you can search for games created by other users. With lifetime membership, you get no ads and the options to download games, save games privately online, and name the teams.
Printable Microsoft Word Game Templates (web, Mac, PC) free
These downloadable templates allow you to customize your own board games for class use.
Thanks to Christin Lusty for recommending this resource.
CONVERSATION TOPICS
Conversation Questions from the Internet TESL Journal (web) free
An extensive list of questions categorized by topic
Conversation Topics from Early Rain (web) free
These conversation topics designed for discussion groups include short, background-activating discussions before introducing questions. Many incorporate Bible verses for comparison to a Christian viewpoint.
An extensive list of questions categorized by topic
Conversation Topics from Early Rain (web) free
These conversation topics designed for discussion groups include short, background-activating discussions before introducing questions. Many incorporate Bible verses for comparison to a Christian viewpoint.
WRITING PROMPTS
50 Phrases to Prompt Creative Journal or Essay Writing (web) free
Each of these writing prompts is simply a short, evocative phrase.
Story Beginnings for Creative Writing from Writer's Digest (web) free
Two or three sentences serve as the start of each new story idea. New prompts are added weekly.
Rory's Story Cubes (product) $14.95
Roll the nine dice, then tell a story with the images. This creative game can be used with any age or level. Watch the video intro here.
Visual Quick Write Prompts on Pinterest (web) free
This set of quick write prompts uses three word combinations and an image to spark student writing.
Writing Prompts on Tumblr (web) free
This Tumblr feed is a collection of writing prompts from the web, many featuring visual images or infographics.
TOEFL Writing Prompts from ETS (web) free
This downloadable PDF is a goldmine of practice TOEFL essay writing prompts provided by ETS, the creators of the TOEFL.
TOEFL Independent Writing Prompts from Good Luck TOEFL (web) free
These essay prompts are divided into five categories: Agree or Disagree, Preference, Description/Explanation, If/Imaginary, Compare & Contrast.
Question Prompts from Roll Play (web) free
This set of short questions for ESL writing has five categories: Hypothetical, Description, Narration, Opinion, Instructions.
Each of these writing prompts is simply a short, evocative phrase.
Story Beginnings for Creative Writing from Writer's Digest (web) free
Two or three sentences serve as the start of each new story idea. New prompts are added weekly.
Rory's Story Cubes (product) $14.95
Roll the nine dice, then tell a story with the images. This creative game can be used with any age or level. Watch the video intro here.
Visual Quick Write Prompts on Pinterest (web) free
This set of quick write prompts uses three word combinations and an image to spark student writing.
Writing Prompts on Tumblr (web) free
This Tumblr feed is a collection of writing prompts from the web, many featuring visual images or infographics.
TOEFL Writing Prompts from ETS (web) free
This downloadable PDF is a goldmine of practice TOEFL essay writing prompts provided by ETS, the creators of the TOEFL.
TOEFL Independent Writing Prompts from Good Luck TOEFL (web) free
These essay prompts are divided into five categories: Agree or Disagree, Preference, Description/Explanation, If/Imaginary, Compare & Contrast.
Question Prompts from Roll Play (web) free
This set of short questions for ESL writing has five categories: Hypothetical, Description, Narration, Opinion, Instructions.
pronunciation : international phonetic alphabet (ipa)
Interactive IPA Chart (web) free
Hear examples of each sound by simply clicking on the character in this IPA chart from the Linguistics Department at the University of Victoria, BC.
IPA Font Palette (Mac) free
With this installed on your MacBook, you can type any character in the IPA by clicking on the installed chart. Here is a how-to.
Sounds: The Pronunciation App (iOS, Android) free for basic or $5.99 for premium
Tap any character on the chart to hear the sound or tap-and-hold to hear an example word. Quizzes allow you to practice reading a word written in IPA, or transcribing a spoken or written English word into IPA.
Thanks to Ethan Bradley for recommending this resource.
Hear examples of each sound by simply clicking on the character in this IPA chart from the Linguistics Department at the University of Victoria, BC.
IPA Font Palette (Mac) free
With this installed on your MacBook, you can type any character in the IPA by clicking on the installed chart. Here is a how-to.
Sounds: The Pronunciation App (iOS, Android) free for basic or $5.99 for premium
Tap any character on the chart to hear the sound or tap-and-hold to hear an example word. Quizzes allow you to practice reading a word written in IPA, or transcribing a spoken or written English word into IPA.
Thanks to Ethan Bradley for recommending this resource.
vocabulary word lists
For a description of how to use these lists, see my vocabulary blog series starting with Which words do my students need to know?
The General Service List (GSL) (web) free
Michael West published this list of the 2,000 headwords of greatest "general service" in the English language in 1953. A New General Service List (NGSL) was published in 2013, with 2800 of the most frequently used words culled from corpus 100 times the size of the original.
The Academic Word List (AWL) (web) free
Averil Coxhead created this list of 570 word families appearing most frequently in academic English in 2000. For an alphabetical list, see the web page by UEFAP which lists complete word families.
The Academic Collocation List (web) free
Drawn from the Pearson International Corpus of Academic English, this list features 2,469 of the "most frequent and pedagogically relevant lexical collocations in written academic English." Downloadable as a PDF or spreadsheet.
The General Service List (GSL) (web) free
Michael West published this list of the 2,000 headwords of greatest "general service" in the English language in 1953. A New General Service List (NGSL) was published in 2013, with 2800 of the most frequently used words culled from corpus 100 times the size of the original.
The Academic Word List (AWL) (web) free
Averil Coxhead created this list of 570 word families appearing most frequently in academic English in 2000. For an alphabetical list, see the web page by UEFAP which lists complete word families.
The Academic Collocation List (web) free
Drawn from the Pearson International Corpus of Academic English, this list features 2,469 of the "most frequent and pedagogically relevant lexical collocations in written academic English." Downloadable as a PDF or spreadsheet.
ASSESSMENT TOOLS
Placement Tests for Graded Readers
Students can take these tests online to find their appropriate levels for the following graded readers series:
Test Your Vocabulary (web) free
Students can take this test online to find the approximate number of headwords known. Students could use it to assess personal progress.
Vocabulary Levels Tests on LexTutor (web) free
Use these tests to assess your students' receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge, with the results expressing the number of headwords known.
Creating a Rubric: Tutorial (web) free
This tutorial helps you consider the criteria to include when creating your own rubric from scratch.
Thanks to Alice Kang for recommending this resource.
Students can take these tests online to find their appropriate levels for the following graded readers series:
- Penguin Readers (web) free
- Oxford Bookworms (web) free
- Cambridge English Readers (web) free
Test Your Vocabulary (web) free
Students can take this test online to find the approximate number of headwords known. Students could use it to assess personal progress.
Vocabulary Levels Tests on LexTutor (web) free
Use these tests to assess your students' receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge, with the results expressing the number of headwords known.
Creating a Rubric: Tutorial (web) free
This tutorial helps you consider the criteria to include when creating your own rubric from scratch.
Thanks to Alice Kang for recommending this resource.