At ProjectGENIUS, one of the most challenging aspects of our work is that every school has a different hardware and connectivity profile. Moreover every teacher has a different profile in terms of his or her personal devices...
Avoid the habit of assuming, just because you “covered” something, that that is enough. Whatever else student-centered-ness might mean, at the very least, we should all be able to agree that it means seeking tangible proof of what the kids are getting out of what you are doing.
This lesson, incorporating the popular Japanese animated series' "Sazae San", is a great way to teach family & relationships vocabulary as well as a variety of related structures.
This lesson is a short, simple speaking task for junior-high students. Students listen to a sample speech about a trip taken by their teacher, then make a similar speech in front of their classmates.
The "better to have loved and lost" rationale really doesn't apply to attempts to execute pair work and group work activities correctly. There is a lot of other very meaningful work that you can do with the students. Do pair work only if you think it's likely to succeed.