As instructors, we all work with English learners with diverse language proficiencies, prior experiences, and resources. Reading instruction no longer involves all students reading the same text at the same time at the same level, progressing at the same rate. Therefore, existing reading mandates, curricula, and materials may be inadequate to meet the needs of the actual learners in a class. This presentation shares varied free digital resources for accessing levelled texts that can be used online or printed out, as well as reading level assessments and interactive comprehension activities. These tools used together can give teachers the capability to identify learners’ present English reading levels, provide learners with language input at their instructional level, guide learners in choosing independent reading materials at their instructional level, and track learner reading growth over time. Participants can expect to engage digitally throughout the presentation, using platforms including PollEv, Padlet, and Kahoot!

Engagement in the classroom is one of the perennial struggles of teachers. A promising methodology to increase engagement is the use of gamification. Gamification adds game elements to a non-game situation to improve learning and engagement. However, it can be difficult for a teacher to know where to begin. The belief that programming skills are needed or that the system is too complex often prevents a teacher from engaging with a gamified approach. This workshop will focus on creating a simple paper-based gamification application to promote participation in class. It will take participants through the steps of designing a gamified system for their classroom, from the identification of behaviors that the teacher wishes to encourage to the design and deployment of reward structures. By the end of the workshop, the participants will be able to deploy their own tailored system in their classroom, be it online or in person.

There is a major blind-spot in the education system: financial education! Schools have addressed almost every manner of practical life, from PE and sex ed to driver's ed and cooking classes. These classes have yielded positive results for students. But even the most basic financial education has been ignored, and the results of this failure on the part of the education system are widespread and devastating. More people struggle financially than not. This need not be the case! In this presentation, I shall first reveal and analyze how and why financial distress is more common than financial security. In the second part, I will offer basic education and tips for how to achieve financial stability. Finally, I shall offer tips and ideas for how to incorporate basic financial education into lessons for various student levels.

Many universities offer both degrees taught in English and degrees taught in the local language. Although both programs include English classes, students’ patterns of English learning motivation likely differ depending on language use in other classes. Understanding these motivational patterns can help teachers and course designers motivate students’ learning English during university. This original research study in Macao, China, compared first-year students in English-medium (EMI) and Chinese-medium (CMI) programs at one institution. Students’ motivation and enjoyment using English were measured three times over the year. Results show that for students in both EMI and CMI programs, enjoyment using English increased, but English learning motivation decreased, particularly for CMI students. EMI students’ demotivation was partly related to negative attitudes toward the work of studying English or discovering their English ability was sufficient to cope. Implications are given for teachers and course designers in EMI and mother-tongue programs.

As the coronavirus has caused many universities around the world to hold classes virtually, facilitating interactive learning online has become a new challenge among teachers. In my workshop, I will showcase the online lesson tool known as Nearpod, which I have used for two semesters for Japanese intermediate and upper-intermediate university English learners. Research has shown that Nearpod promotes active learning through its use of immediate feedback and its ability to facilitate collaborative participation between students, teachers, and lesson content (Amasha et al., 2018, Hakami, 2020). My workshop will allow teachers opportunities to see how Nearpod can be used for effective discussions, reading activities, vocabulary activities, student-paced assignments, and informing future instruction through its post-class reports feature. Finally, I will share the results of a quantitative survey of student self-reported perceptions of Nearpod, which indicated that students felt the lesson platform positively supplemented their online learning experience.