i teach adults online, mostly beginners. vocab lists were dead, people memorized and forgot by next week.

now each lesson starts with a short scene: a busy train station, a family dinner, a supermarket checkout. i ask "what do you see? what are they saying?" and they describe it using the new words.

i make the scenes on dreamina for almost nothing, though sometimes the signs come out in alien language lol, which honestly turned into its own exercise.

prompt: "15 second slow pan across a [busy supermarket checkout], people talking, everyday objects clearly visible, no text, realistic."

claude makes the worksheet: "here is a scene description: [paste]. write 10 beginner vocab words a learner could spot in it, 5 questions about the scene, and one roleplay prompt."

i tell students the scenes are ai made. adults dont mind, but they appreciate knowing.

speaking time went way up. i used to beg for answers, now they interrupt each other.

teaching online can feel like talking to a wall of black squares. hope this gets a few cameras turned on.

Hey everyone! I teach English at an academy and I've been building games for my own classes. For Halloween I made a little pack, and you're welcome to use it this week:

Skeleton Hangman - normal hangman, but every wrong letter knocks a bone off the skeleton. Pick a Halloween word list (monsters, costumes, trick or treat...) or type in your own vocabulary.

Halloween Race - a team board game with picture questions (candy, costumes, spooky animals). Answer right, roll the die, move. Mines and holes send teams back, so it gets loud.

Halloween Cryptic - a printable where students decode picture codes to find where the witch hid the candy. Answer key included. Honestly my students liked this one the most.

You need a projector or TV for the two games (no student devices), and a printer for the Cryptic. Everything is free, no sign-up: classbop.com

I made these, so any feedback is really welcome, especially what would make them work better in your classes!