Education for Life: Empowering Minds & Futures

  AI-generated photo  During my period of teaching I used to be so nervous and pressured to do everything right. I liked veteran teachers who appeared to be easy and good. As time went on, I realized that being a good teacher does not necessarily mean being perfect, it means being flexible, giving feedback, and making a person become independent. I have three main lessons that I would like to tell you, now. Be Flexible in the Moment  The good teachers change on the spot. A lesson can be derailed by unexpected things such as a fire drill, a hurtful comment or a funny distraction. Rather than simply overlooking such moments, I learnt to make certain changes: to be able to shorten the reading, to take a break. Minor stepwise progressions are able to keep the subject matter of the class on track without losing the bigger picture. Reteach When Many Struggle  When a few students are lost it is an indication that there has to be a change. I do not continue with the same pla...

Photo Credit: AI  I find myself reflecting quite a bit about communication in today times. Voice notes that oust paragraphs, podcasts that seem like a one on one dialogue, and TikTok monologues that deliver the impact in mere 30 seconds, it becomes evident: speaking is not only back it is driving the agenda. And honestly? It is logical. Not long before we wrote in spiral-bound furious scribbling notebooks, or typed out stories, we told stories, we were taught by word of mouth, we communicated by ups and downs in our voices. But here’s the thing, I don’t think writing is disappearing. Just look at TikTok, where passionate readers dissect novels in seconds. Instead, spoken English is carving out new space, reshaping how we learn, argue, joke, and even think. As someone who’s both a learner and a guide in this shifting landscape, I can’t help but wonder: Are we teaching language the way it’s actually being lived? From Textbooks to TikTok: Why Voice Feels Alive Again I scroll through T...

  This was the opening day of a new school term, and my pupils were in class feeling eager and ready to learn. The atmosphere was electric—some children paced anxiously up and down; others mumbled in altered tones. But today was different. I did not start as usual with the syllabus, but I went to the window, tied open the curtains, and told them, "Welcome to the world. This is our classroom today." The students looked at each other with a puzzled look. What do you have to say?" said Arif, a boy of infinite curiosity. I mean that the learning does not only occur within the walls of this school. History is in the streets, science is in the trees, math is in the market, and literature is in the story of every person. Nowadays we go out to know the world itself.  And thus in the park they had a class for the first time. They discussed the distances between trees and the measurement of the angles in the playground, and they heard the tales that were told to them by the elders...

Since I was taught in the grammar-focused way, it’s hard for me to give up those practices. Using lessons that relate to students’ culture helps a lot. It shows us the reason behind our work, so students may not ask why they have to learn a thing. I make sure to plan unit themes that are important and meaningful to my students. They become more interested in using the language and this helps them learn it more easily. Telling simple stories about teachers with a real purpose, like constructing a handbook for speakers of Bangladeshi, turns the activity into a job. The one change made students feel that their education was worth caring about. Before making a lesson, I always wonder: Is this going to be an exercise, an activity or a task? Exercises are basically like practice with verbs. Some communication is needed for activities to be successful. Yet, tasks are the most effective. They take place in specific contexts, have reasons for being used and look like how language is used in ...

🔹 What Do You Want Students to Learn When the lesson ends, students will can: 1. Describe important sociolinguistic ideas like code-switching, jargon, register, dialects and slang. 2. Look for examples of these phenomena happening in everyday life. 3. Detail what social settings have an impact on language use. 4. Use these approaches when talking or writing in ESL. 🔸 Main Principles & Explanations 1. Code-Switching When someone uses two or more languages or dialects in the same conversation or meeting, it is called code-switching. Example: A bilingual student says, "I need to study for my test... কিন্তু আমার ঘুম পাচ্ছে। (but I feel sleepy)." Why is it important: It represents how someone is able to adapt to a new language and fit into a new culture. This difficulty is common for multilingual people learning ESL.  2. Jargon The specialized words or phrases are only used by a particular group or profession. The server crashed in IT because of a Denial of Service (DDoS) at...

  Photo Credit AI Sometimes, the best learning starts with simply watching—watching a bird flutter, a fish swim, or an elephant splash on a live cam. From my experience as a teacher, I can tell you that sparing a few seconds just to look at an animal has the potential to spark a huge sense of curiosity in my students. Be it a bird lounging outside our window or a live feed from a zoo, these quiet moments enable children to focus, take a break and ask great questions. During these moments, they begin to notice patterns, learn patience, and start thinking like tiny scientists. But most importantly, they begin to feel concerned for animals and their surroundings. In my classroom, we’ve used live cams, bird feeders, and even small fish tanks to observe animals. My students take notes using simple behavior charts, called ethograms. They record things like eating, resting, and playing. A single question like: “Why does one elephant bathe more than another?” can lead to massive conversati...

                                             Photo credit-Growth Engineering Technologies ESL learning experiences benefit from the ARCS Model of Motivation, which John Keller developed as teachers apply it to facilitate student engagement and knowledge acquisition. The model integrates four essential components, which are referred to as Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction. You can deploy the components of the ARCS Model in ESL classrooms through the following approach.  1. Attention (A) – Capturing Student Interest   The classroom benefits from multimedia combinations which include images and videos together with songs in addition to interactive digital materials.    Learning can become more dynamic through educational activities including games and puzzles as well as role-playing techniques.     A lesson should begin with an in...