ESL Teachers' Blog of Substance

You are welcome to email me with your questions and ideas.

ESL Summer School Lessons

June 10, 2013

Here are some ESL summer school lessons if you're teaching a class this summer: swimming pool safety, things to do at the park, arts and crafts for kids, cartoons and kids television programs, bike safety, summer treats that are healthy, amusement parks, National Parks, and going to museums.

Who Was President When Your Parents Were Born

June 4, 2013

Don't know why, but today I started wondering who was president when my parents were born. My dad was born in 1922, so Warren G. Harding was president. My mom was born in 1930, so Herbert Hoover was president. Calvin Coolidge was president between these two. Dwight D. Eisenhower was president when I was born in 1955. Fun trivia. You might want to look up who was president when YOUR parents were born.

CA Health Insurance - Obama Care Costs

May 26, 2013

California released information on how much health insurance premiums will cost under Obamacare. The costs are lower than expected. The state will start enrolling people in October, and coverage will start in January of 2014.

Landlines for Emergencies

May 22, 2013

Reader's Digest (March 2013) says that there were 193 million landline phones in the US in 2000, but that there were only 150 million in 2011. The article points out that there were 109 million wireless phones in 2000 and 333 million in 2011. Most rural households have landlines because there aren't enough cell phone towers in their area. My mom's cousin worked for Ma Bell back in the day, and the government required that they cover everyone within 10 miles of a main line. There is no such law regarding cell phones. I wonder why. But an advantage to a land line is that during storms the landline cables are safe underground and are less likely to get knocked off line.

Angelina Jolie's Double Mastectomy

May 19, 2013

Just read about Angelina's double mastectomy. Genetic testing showed that her risk for breast cancer was 87 percent. I think she made the right decision, considering how high her risk was even though she doesn't have the disease at the moment. Testing also shows that she has a 50 percent chance of getting ovarian cancer. Jolie's mother died from it when she was just 56 years old. So Jolie might be getting her ovaries removed too. I wonder if the Affordable Care Act, which starts in January of 2014, will cover such testing. I'd love to be able to take preventative measures. Hats off to Angelina for going public with this information. Now, more women will learn about their options. Twelve percent of women will get breast cancer. That's a lot higher than I realized.

ESL Lesson about Types of TV Shows

May 17, 2013

If you're looking for some light end of the year lessons, I created a lesson about types of TV shows. It includes image and information about newscasts, game shows, singing contests, love stories, nature broadcasts, cooking shows, etc. It would be a fun lesson to use as the year winds down and CASAS testing is over. Time to have a little fun.

ESL Mother's Day Lesson w/ Worksheets

May 10, 2013

Mother's Day is this Sunday. I have a Mother's Day lesson on this website. You can find it if you go to the home page and look under the section titled Holiday Lessons. It's designed for beginning to intermediate ESL students and it includes free worksheets.

Senate Rejects Expanded Background Checks

April 18, 2013

Obama called it a shameful day for Washington. The US Senate rejected a plan to expand background checks for guns purchased online and at gun shows. A father who lost his son four months ago at Newton said, "Any dad in America could be in my shoes." He called it unspeakable grief.

American Icon Dies

April 4, 2013

Annette Funicello died this week and a part of American history died with her. She was the most famous of the famous Disney Mouseketeers and one of the original kids to handle the role. Annette was a classy lady to the end. I'm reminded of the song the Mouseketeers sang at the close of each show:

Now it's time to say good-bye to our company.
M-I-C (See you real soon)
K-E-Y (Why? Because we like you!)
M-O-U-S-E

Good-bye, Annette. May you have a soft landing and be greeted warmly in heaven. RIP.

Google Invited Me...!

April 12, 2011

Google has invited me to an AdSense conference in Irvine. I'm thrilled. It's from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. They discuss how website owners can improve traffic and ad income. The neatest thing is that they also give one-on-one customized SEO recommendations for one of your sites. I imagine they will have some great suggestions about ad placements and colors. I think they are also interested in signing people up for their Double Click program. The notice they sent said that 400 people in Southern California attended last year's event. It's invitation only, so I'm glad I made the list. Can't wait to hear what they have to say.

ESL Teachers Applying for Unemployment

June 25, 2010

Like many other ESL teachers, I'm off for the whole summer this year. Bummer! I usually work summer school, so I'm going to miss the income. I filed for Unemployment and had my phone interview on Tuesday. I filed using the online form on California's official website. You can go to www.ca.gov and click on the link near the top that says "Jobs" and then select "Unemployment and Disability".

If UI denies your case, be sure to appeal. I was denied benefits last year, but I won on appeal. I cited a California legal case called Cervisi et al. v. Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. You can look up this case online and learn more about it. I'm not a lawyer, so I don't want to mislead anyone.

Here's a quote: "The Superior Court concluded that "under the statute, an assignment that is contingent on enrollment, funding, or program changes is not a 'reasonable assurance' of "employment." The Court of Appeal adopted the Superior Court's findings and held that a contingent assignment is not a "reasonable assurance" of continued employment within the meaning of Section 1253.3."

Hope this helps. I'm glad we live in a country where the courts protect our rights. (I'm going to leave this blog post up so that you can find it next summer.)


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