Debra Josephson Abrams
She was the first U.S. Department of State-Georgetown University English Language Fellow in the School of Foreign Languages at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Russia. Debra welcomes the opportunity to work with those who value integrity and are dedicated to the challenging and rewarding work necessary for improvement. If that’s you, contact Debra at partsofspeechec@gmail.com or through Parts of Speech Educational Creativity. Her photography is at Down the Shore Images.
Articles by Debra Josephson Abrams
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Better days ahead
What are you going to do when COVID-19 quarantine ends — and why are those your choices? While daydreaming…
Monday, August 10, 2020 -
Do what has to be done
In "Make something good happen," we looked at how the BBC series "My Perfect Country" can work in conjunction…
Monday, July 20, 2020 -
Make something good happen
What kind of world do you want to be a part of? While the answer may seem at once easy to conceptualize…
Thursday, April 30, 2020 -
Shipwrecked from a broken moral compass
In "Rest your eyes and listen," we examined how using fables or true, personal stories can achieve any…
Monday, March 02, 2020 -
Rest your eyes and listen
Stories designed to teach particular lessons, such as Aesop's Fables or Chassidic tales, can be used…
Monday, January 27, 2020 -
Who am I?
In my November article, we saw how interrogative pronouns lend themselves to extensive and inventive…
Monday, December 09, 2019 -
What are you from?
"Memories of Home" was featured this past summer on "Morning Edition," one of NPR's award-winning stalwarts.…
Monday, November 04, 2019 -
Mark your calendar
What day is it? Your answer could be anything from Monday through Sunday. But if you ask me, I could…
Monday, October 07, 2019 -
A queasy ride on the ‘sylla-bus’
As I’ve found again and again, regardless of the program, state, or country in which I teach, the lack…
Monday, August 26, 2019 -
What feast is this?
Too often, especially in higher grades/levels, and definitely in college and university, teachers assign…
Monday, August 05, 2019 -
What have you learned?
In the early 1990s, I happened upon a small book loaded with invaluable insights far greater than its…
Monday, July 15, 2019 -
The lives of language
When I was in Russia teaching English language pedagogy, research and writing skills, and American conversational…
Monday, June 03, 2019 -
Put me in, coach!
Are you an educator or administrator yearning for anonymous, authentic, non-evaluative, non-threatening…
Tuesday, December 04, 2018 -
Don’t swim alone
"Don't swim alone. Use the buddy system so someone always knows where you are and can get help if needed,"…
Monday, November 05, 2018 -
What difference does it make? — Mentoring
In an effort to do the right thing, organizational administrators often hastily create "mentoring" programs…
Monday, October 01, 2018 -
What I did over my summer vacation
For two hours, she writes on the board. We sit and dutifully copy. Occasionally, she turns and points…
Tuesday, August 28, 2018 -
The gravity of personal responsibility
Despite articulating my professional responsibilities in a written and signed commitment to my students…
Tuesday, July 24, 2018 -
An undetachable burden
Games, small group work, puzzles, funny videos, my dancing, and goodies, lots and lots of goodies: candies…
Monday, July 02, 2018 -
What’s your story?
What’s your story? Kasiva Mutua’s story, which she tells in her TEDTalk, "How I use the drum to tell…
Wednesday, May 30, 2018 -
The art of the real deal
Making recommendations is the topic of Module 2 of the conversation course I teach now to EFL students…
Thursday, April 19, 2018 -
One for all and all for one
What is community? What is your community? Do you have only one? In a recent faculty meeting during…
Wednesday, March 14, 2018 -
Step forward to make life better and save the world
On the school playground 52 years ago, the new boy and I giggled and laughed as we stretched ourselves…
Monday, January 22, 2018 -
What happens next? Introducing prediction strategies
As a proud Jersey Girl born and reared on the very South Jersey shore, I have "sand in my shoes" —…
Wednesday, January 03, 2018 -
What happened to the bird?
For a reading and writing lesson to introduce inference to low-intermediate/intermediate EFL university…
Wednesday, November 29, 2017 -
Food, football and fun for Thanksgiving
I love food. I love cooking it for others and myself. I love the joy others receive when eating the food…
Wednesday, October 11, 2017 -
It’s getting better all the time — better, better, better
In 2011, when I was living and teaching in the Washington, D.C., area, a trio of Korean university…
Wednesday, September 13, 2017 -
Listen. Talk. Learn. Explore.
"Learn. Listen. Talk. Explore the unique history of the people you care about." So encourages "Heart…
Wednesday, August 02, 2017 -
Phun with phrasal verbs
EFL teachers and students are at once confounded and delighted by phrasal verbs. Students' and teachers'…
Wednesday, July 05, 2017 -
What’s in your wallet? Lessons in American money
What do George Washington, an Egyptian pyramid and a bald eagle have in common? They all appear on the…
Wednesday, June 07, 2017 -
Digital discovery: Online scavenger hunt for exploring amazing America
One of the great joys of being an English Language Fellow is working with Access students, "talented…
Wednesday, May 03, 2017 -
Searching for the greatest gift
Behaving as UFC contestants, millions of Americans savagely attack and brutalize each other on Black…
Wednesday, April 05, 2017 -
Listen…do you want to know a secret?
As you learned from my previous article, I’m spending almost a year as an English Language Fellow in…
Wednesday, March 08, 2017 -
The reward of trying new things
Community outreach is one of my many responsibilities as an English Language Fellow. As such, I am invited…
Wednesday, February 22, 2017 -
It won’t happen forever: A family history project
I don't remember a time when I didn’t know my family originated in Russia. I grew up eating kasha…
Wednesday, January 18, 2017 -
What is love? An imaginative thinking, writing and art activity
As a child, I looked forward to reading the comics. I enjoyed the exploits and escapades of Blondie…
Wednesday, November 30, 2016 -
A ken for kenning: Identifying and creating imaginative language
For those who read the poetic epic "Beowulf" in excerpts or in its entirety, you'll remember the many…
Wednesday, October 05, 2016 -
Ending the torture of bullying: Resources, lesson plans and activities
February: African American History Month. March: Women's History Month. May: Asian Pacific Heritage Month.…
Wednesday, September 07, 2016 -
Puzzling for learning: What’s in the box?
"What's in the box?" is the title of a 1964 "Twilight Zone" episode. It's also the infamous question…
Wednesday, August 03, 2016 -
Puzzling for learning: Create a word for it
Is there a word for the mark made when someone falls backward in snow? Is there a word for the idiom…
Wednesday, June 29, 2016 -
Puzzling for learning: Quick brown foxes and lazy dogs
In my previous article, I wrote about the value of Wordsmith.org, a website that offers 22 years (and…
Wednesday, June 01, 2016 -
Puzzling for learning: A crossed stick, a cross tick, acrostic
Truchman. Yerk. Psittaceous. Florilegium. For years, Wordsmith.org has sent a delicious linguistic nugget…
Wednesday, May 04, 2016 -
It boggles the mind: A puzzling word game
There is significant research on the efficacy of using games to teach ESL/EFL. Yolageldili and Arikan…
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 -
Restorative justice: Creating tomorrow’s peacemakers
Regardless of how hard teachers work to create safe, welcoming environments in which our students can…
Wednesday, March 09, 2016 -
An idiom is worth a thousand words
Idioms are the "peculiar character or genius of a language." They are the keys that unlock the doors…
Wednesday, February 17, 2016 -
Flowers aren’t always red
From the moment almost 40 years ago when I heard Harry Chapin's "Flowers are Red," I’ve played it at…
Wednesday, January 20, 2016 -
Now is the time for real education to begin
Newly divorced and in my mid-50s, I moved 1,800 miles from the area where I lived and worked for nearly…
Monday, December 14, 2015 -
Electrical soil: Integrating music and art across disciplines, courses
As an experienced educator new to a decades-old university-based ESL program, I quickly found a curriculum…
Wednesday, November 04, 2015 -
Try this game in your next vocabulary lesson
"It was so boring! I hated learning new words that way!" exclaimed a frustrated student about traditional…
Wednesday, October 14, 2015 -
Hate, hostility and ignorance in academe: What will you do?
"Debra is a JAP." As I walk into my classroom, I see the words written neatly in bright orange on the…
Wednesday, September 23, 2015 -
More than reading: Integrating art into your curriculum
Overwhelming evidence undergirds the need for integrated curriculum based in multiple intelligences and…
Wednesday, August 19, 2015 -
Do unto others: Advice for job interviewers in education
Lying. Sleeping. Yawning. Stretching. Antagonizing. Talking on the phone. Talking and talking and talking…
Wednesday, July 22, 2015 -
The customer is not always right: A case for teacher autonomy in the classroom
According to both Immigration and Customs Enforcement and English Language Program requirements, students…
Wednesday, June 24, 2015 -
Play: Far more than purposeless activity
Some whisper, some laugh and guffaw, some argue. They gesture wildly, demonstrate their ideas with their…
Wednesday, June 03, 2015 -
What we talk about when we talk about best practices: Reading and writing
In previous articles, we have explored best practices in curricula, methods and approaches, multiple…
Thursday, April 30, 2015 -
What we talk about when we talk about best practices: Assessment
In this part of the best practices series, we will examine assessment and the many manifestations it…
Wednesday, April 01, 2015 -
What we talk about when we talk about best practices: Choosing materials
In previous articles, we have explored best practices in curricula, methods and approaches, and multiple…
Wednesday, March 18, 2015 -
What we talk about when we talk about best practices: CBI and multiple instructional approaches
Previously, we examined the elements that comprise a best practices-based curriculum, types of curriculum,…
Wednesday, January 07, 2015 -
What we talk about when we talk about best practices: Methods and approaches
The previous two articles in this series examined the elements that constitute a best practices ESL program…
Wednesday, December 03, 2014 -
What we talk about when we talk about best practices: Types of curricula
In Part 1 of this series on best practices in ESL programs, we looked at the overwhelming research…
Wednesday, October 22, 2014 -
What we talk about when we talk about best practices
If you are part of an ESL program assessing your curriculum through a best practices lens, an institution…
Wednesday, October 01, 2014 -
Facilitating an end to the troubling lack of student responsibility
Another sleepless night. A few days ago, I read my end-of-term student evaluations. As has become…
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
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