How RSS Works?

The RSS image is taken from here.

You probably have heard about RSS, or have seen an RSS icon (just like the one to the right) on the websites. Do you really know what is RSS, what are RSS feeds, and how to get use of it?

RSS -short for Really Simple Syndication- is simple a format which help readers to get regularly changing content. In other words, instead of visiting each website individually to check for the update information, you can benefit from RSS feeds which allow you stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the websites would like to stay updated on, so you can quickly scan headlines, from the blogs and websites you are subscribed to, on the same place.

Many of the websites or blogs publish an RSS feed. All you have to do is to get an RSS reader. There are numbers of free or commercial RSS readers, you can either download one of them or use it online. These feed readers let you view all your feeds at one screen. When you get the reader, you go to your favorite websites, find their RSS links, copy the URL of these RSS feeds, and paste them into the RSS reader. You are all set! Now your RSS reader checks for new postings and articles for you and downloads the headlines of these into the reader.

I prefer using Feedreader online. I am generally subscribed to the blogs or websites related to ESL/EFL, teaching, education etc. You can see the list of the blogs and websites I am following in the image below.

I think all of them are so inspiring and helpful but I find https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blog very effective and I highly recommend every ESL members to have a look at it (you can copy and paste this URL to your feed reader to be able to follow this blog). You probably know the British Council website but do you know about their RSS feed? 

They share a variety of different activities, lesson plans, innovations in teaching/learning, tips for teacher development, methodology etc. and share them quite frequently compared to others. It is a great source for teachers to create lesson plans for language learners of all age (kids, teens, adults). You can be sure about the accuracy of the language and information because their team consists of natives, English teachers, language experts etc.

I hope this post will help you to know more about RSS format. Get your feed reader without delay and enjoy easily stay updated without visiting the same websites every day!

Evaluating ESL/EFL Websites

Millions of ESL resources are just a click away!

As ESL teachers, we want to make learning enjoyable, fun, and meaningful to students. To do this, we need some extra teaching sources. As you probably know, lots of ESL websites give us an opportunity to reach hassle-free materials which make teaching easier and meaningful.

I am about to present one of those websites for English teachers. I hope you can make use of it in your teaching.

At this point I would like to add that before using a internet based material first you should evaluate the website. You have to make sure that the information is accurate, the links are not broken, the website is updated and it is appealing to your students. In this way, you can make the best use of the website.

If you are ready let’s evaluate the Teach-This.com website.

This website offers so many sources (generally on PDF format) both for the new English teachers as well as more experienced teachers. If you give an eye the the website, you can see that they offer so many activities related to grammar, parts of speech, functional language, and general English. They also provide numbers of games to be played in language classrooms. Moreover, they give some ideas and tips for teachers like classroom management, lesson planning or using music in class.

This website aims to ‘direct teachers quickly and easily to the resources they are looking for’ and ‘make learning fun and meaningful to students and to avoid the barriers that can make mainstream education a struggle’. That’s also what we want, isn’t it?

The website is originally created by Paul Adams, one of the members of ESL community and now they have a team of English teachers and ESL professionals with a mission of providing access to quality teaching resources online and their target audience is English teachers all around the world.

They provide plenty of activities with their aim, level, language focus, and procedure. They also give the time limit for the activities, so you know if the activity is suitable for your students. You also get all the directions on how to apply it in the classroom. As far as I can the the information on the website is accurate and there are no broken links, so no disappointment!

The Website also has some constraints, for example not all the documents are for free, a big majority of them are for exclusive! Some of the activities are so traditional, like simply filling in the blanks…etc. You have to spend some time on finding more creative ones. Activities are not suitable for young learners because they are generally colorless and without images, they can be dull for kids. Finally, there are no audios, videos, podcasts, or pictures on the website. All the materials are on PDF format! I think they definitely should have some activities related to listening. 

If you are also an English teacher, you can download some related activities about your lesson, and you can use them as ‘while’ or ‘post’ activities. I recommend you to have a look on the website, it is not enough on it’s own but can support your lessons!

You can check the website by clicking this link.