Tag: teaching

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Lifestyle

I Still Love To Read Classic Children’s Books

Classic Children's Books

Classic Children’s Books

It was just an offhand remark.

About classic children’s books.

Someone heard it and repeated it.

And now several people have thanked me.

What happened was that I mentioned to some friends that I had encouraged one of my adult ESL students to read children’s books.

This student was insulted.

He was polite about it, but he felt that, as physician, children’s literature was beneath him.

At our next class session, however, he told me that he had picked up A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket (AKA Daniel Handler).

And he loved it!

Many language students try to read books at the same level as their native language.

The problem is that if you have to keep stopping to look at a dictionary, you are disrupting the flow of your reading.

My suggestion is to read at a level where you don’t have to stop.

Read at a level where the context can help you understand all the words.

If your book is at a 5th grade level, keep reading more 5th grade books until it becomes easy.

Then move on to a 6th grade reading list.

And so on.

I have many friends from all over the world.

Several of them told me that, after hearing my story, they picked up some children’s books.

And their reading skills have improved.

See? It works!

My Favorite Children’s Books

Here’s a list of some of my favorite classic children’s books that you will enjoy whether you are an ESL student or not:

If you are struggling with reading comprehension, pick up some children’s books.

Read at a level where you don’t have to stop to look at a dictionary.

There is no shame in reading classic children’s books.

No matter your age, they are always a pleasure to read.

Liz Brenner

Everyone has a story to tell.

Even you.

Especially you.

About Me

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Categories
Work

It’s An Amazing Personal Development Plan For Kids!

A Personal Development Plan For Kids!

I’ve taught on lots of online teaching platforms.

Some of the forums were ok.

Others were terrible.

But recently I heard about Outschool.

Outschool

Outschool is an online K-12 teaching platform.

It’s used by homeschoolers, charter schools, independent studies, and even some public school programs.

They offer amazing support for the teachers, which is what really impressed me.

So I’m going to do it.

I’m going to teach on Outschool.

I’m starting with a middle-school public speaking workshop.

Every public speaker that I know wishes they had started younger.

No matter how young they started.

Join my public speaking workshop now.

It’s an amazing personal development plan for kids!

Public Speaking Workshop

Remember that speaking is not just about giving formal presentations.

It’s also about making conversations, meeting new people, talking to salespeople, answering questions, telling stories, telling jokes, and so much more.

It’s about voice, gesture, pacing, and word choice.

It’s about structure, impact, focus, and purpose.

It’s really all about self confidence.

And grace under pressure.

You’ll learn all of that in my classes.

Some Memorable Learners

I’ve taught Public Speaking to middle school students before.

Here are some of my favorite success stories:

  • A boy who didn’t speak any English was allowed to give a speech in his native language, but he was encouraged to say three things in English. He did it. A year later he was in class again, but this time he was fluent in English.
  • A girl told a poignant story about her big brother who got his first job and took her out for an ice cream. He let her pick out anything she wanted. This was the first time she had ever been afforded such a luxury. It was a heartwarming and inspirational story.
  • A budding comedian told what I thought was a serious story about terrible misbehavior, but there was a hilarious twist at the end. This girl was very shy and declined to participate in class until the final meeting. She turned out to be a very entertaining speaker!

A Personal Development Plan

Public speaking is a soft skill that’s required in every avenue of life.

You’ll need it for job interviews, networking, teamwork, and leadership.

It takes time to develop these skills.

Don’t wait.

Most adults wish they had learned this skill when they were young.

Start now.

This workshop is an amazing personal development plan.

There’s More!

I’m starting my Outschool teaching journey with a middle-school public speaking workshop.

Soon I’ll add a high-school section.

I have tons of other ideas for other classes.

Speaking, writing, ESL, and literature are just a few options.

Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Stay tuned for updates.

See you in class!

Liz Brenner

Everyone has a story to tell.

Even you.

Especially you.

About Me

Click to SUBSCRIBE so you’ll never miss an update! As an added bonus, you’ll receive a FREE GUIDE – Four Easy Steps To Editing Your Perfect Social Media Post. It’s a great resource to review before any post goes live.

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Categories
Lifestyle

Now I Own A Very Exclusive Gown

Mostly True Memoirs

An Exclusive Gown

The Grown Son had his third and (hopefully) final shoulder surgery.

The procedure itself went well.

But we did have some scheduling snafus.

And a check-in snafu.

And a check-out snafu.

As well as a pharmacy snafu.

So it wasn’t really a surprise to get home and find that he was still wearing the hospital gown under his clothes.

I laughed and laughed and laughed.

We now own the Most Expensive Garment ever.

You think Vuitton or Armani or Prada are exclusive?

Pffft.

This Hospital Gown cost more.

I’m sure of it.

The next time we’re invited to a black-tie event, I know just what I’ll wear.

I can brag sanctimoniously about how much I spent on it.

And hey, I’ve got the perfect shoes to wear with it.

Hospital socks!

I’ll be the talk of the town.

Liz Brenner

Everyone has a story to tell.

Even you.

Especially you.

About Me

Click to SUBSCRIBE so you’ll never miss an update! As an added bonus, you’ll receive a FREE GUIDE – Four Easy Steps To Editing Your Perfect Social Media Post. It’s a great resource to review before any post goes live.

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Categories
Work

Leave No Doubt – How To Be Very, Very Clear

Mostly True Memoirs

Leave No Doubt

I always tell my students this:

If your words create a huge argument about How To Say It, you need to find a simpler way to say it.

I see it all the time.

Groups on social media will erupt into a HUGE grammar debate.

Dozens and dozens of people will chime in with dozens and dozens of varied suggestions.

It’s an enormous, distracting rabbit hole.

Seriously, if writers can’t agree, how in the world will your readers be able to make sense of the thing?

It’s the responsibility of the writer to be understood.

It’s that simple.

If an argument erupts, the writer has missed the mark.

Instead of debating the grammar rules, just find a simpler way to say it.

Keep drilling down.

Simpler, simpler, simpler.

Keep at it until you have found the most straightforward way to express yourself.

Simple, by the way, doesn’t mean stupid.

I’m not suggesting that you dumb down your work.

I am, however, suggesting clarity.

Leave no doubt, or dangling modifiers, or run-on sentences, or improper noun-verb agreements in your writing.

If you’re not sure about a particular passage, post it to a social media group.

If an argument erupts, you know what to do.

Simplify.

Liz Brenner

Everyone has a story to tell.

Even you.

Especially you.

About Me

Click to SUBSCRIBE so you’ll never miss an update! As an added bonus, you’ll receive a FREE GUIDE – Four Easy Steps To Editing Your Perfect Social Media Post. It’s a great resource to review before any post goes live.

CHECK OUT SOME FREE WRITING RESOURCES!

CLICK HERE TO COMMENT – I PROMISE I’LL RESPOND

Categories
Family

It’s That Time of the Year

Mostly True Memoirs

It’s that time of the year.

It’s time for our annual insurance renewal fiasco.

It happens every year.

The pharmacy wouldn’t release the prescription.

The birthdate was incorrect.

Excuse me?

We all have the same birthdates we have always had.

Nothing has changed in that department.

They told me to call the insurance company to straighten it out.

This entailed an entire afternoon of phone calls and lengthy holds.

It eventually got resolved in my favor.

I knew it would.

I received an updated text from the pharmacy that my order was ready.

Back I went.

Where the clerk told me they couldn’t release my order.

The birthdate was incorrect.

I took a deep breath.

A very deep breath.

I was about to go full Karen on him.

But then he looked through the computer records and saw that the issue had been resolved.

I got the prescription.

As soon as I got home, the kid remembered an additional thing that he needs from the pharmacy.

I need a drink.

Categories
Work

How To Save A Career With An Impromptu Pronunciation Lesson

Mostly True Memoirs

My new ESL student introduced himself.

He is a cardiac surgeon.

In his free time he really likes cocaine.

What?

Excuse me?

Seriously?

After some discussion, I realized that what he actually meant was that he really likes cooking.

We had an impromptu pronunciation lesson.

His professional integrity remains intact.

Whew!

Categories
Work

What Do You Say When You Agree?

Mostly True Memoirs

The interpreters in my ESL classes are often useless.

Sometimes they are downright awful.

Today’s lesson was about expressions indicating agreement.

Of course, absolutely, that’s right, no kidding, certainly.

“What do you say when you agree?” is what I asked.

“What do you say when you are gay?” is what

the interpreter wrote in the chat box.

Oh.

Goodness.

That is not what I said.

That is not the correct interpretation.

That is certainly not the topic of the day.

Proofread before you post, interpreters.

Please proofread.

Categories
Work

Proofread Before You Post

Mostly True Memoirs

I don’t correct people’s grammar when I’m not teaching.

That’s obnoxious.

Especially online.

It’s so easy to make typos.

And auto correct can be a jerk.

I make plenty of mistakes myself.

I try to overlook it when I see it online.

HOWEVER…

Today I read an entire conversation about a dessert tortoise.

The first post was about a pet dessert tortoise.

And all of the responses were about other people’s pet dessert tortoises.

Every single person in the thread spelled desert wrong.

In my mind, I pictured a slow-moving tortoise covered in whipped cream and chocolate syrup with a sprinkling of salmonella.

It’s a desert tortoise.

Not a dessert tortoise.

Proofread before you post.

Categories
Work

She Is a Very Angry Woman

Mostly True Memoirs

Today my English students talked about phobias.

Spiders.

Snakes.

Lightening.

The dark.

In every class, the students seemed to have similar fears.

Except for one man.

He stated that he is afraid of his wife.

She is a very angry woman.

To alleviate his fear, he drinks a lot of beer.

Well.

That escalated quickly.

Categories
Work

Wait, What?

Mostly True Memoirs

My ESL students were discussing the importance of sleep.

One of them suggested avoiding cocaine.

Wait, what?

Yeah, I won’t argue with that.

I also won’t discuss it.

I quickly moved the lesson forward to our next agenda item.

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