English Toolbox Tips

We asked how you kept track of in-class work, homework and other assignments in a previous posting. We received responses that ranged from "in a notebook in my pocket" to "on my Palm Pilot/iPod/laptop/(insert gadget name here)." However, our favorite entry came from Brandy R. in Taipei, who lets her students do the work for her! After each class, one of the students must send an e-mail to all of the students in the class, plus Brandy (their teacher). This student must write one activity or lesson point that was covered in the class in this e-mail, then send it. The next student must "Reply All" to this e-mail, and list another activity or topic, and so on until all of the students have contributed to the e-mail and the final e-mail has the complete list of classroom and homework activities included. Brandy saves this final e-mail, and can use it to show administrators at her school what the students have been doing (in their own words!). Plus, she says, it's nice for the students to recall what they learned and see it in a list, since it reminds them of how much has been accomplished over the week or month or term. Very clever, Brandy: you get five free credits from English Toolbox!

For our next contest, tell us about the most startling example of culture shock you've experienced in your overseas postings. Send your anecdotes via e-mail to info@englishtoolbox.com by 25 October, and we'll pick the most interesting one and post it here. The winner will receive five free English Toolbox exercises, even if s/he isn't a subscriber!