Author Archives

Teacher and Materials Writer

• International schools: the current state of play (EL Gazette)

  By Pete on July 14, 2021 • ( 0 )

  

  The latest EL Gazette includes a feature article on international schools: This article began with a focus on traditional international schools – those typically serving the interests of Western expatriates. It suggested that nations such as Singapore, India and China… Read More ›

• Materials writing news and views, July 2021

  By Pete on July 13, 2021 • ( 0 )

  

  Euros over. Wimbledon over. Olympics coming up! New releases Some more Primary teacher books from Michelle Worgan: Emily Bryson is running a course on engaging learners with simple drawings. See here. This digital storytelling project from Vicky Saumell. See here…. Read More ›

• Poetry lesson: What do you hear?

  By Pete on July 10, 2021 • ( 1 )

  

  Here’s a short poetry task that worked well with YLs and teens. It’s based on a poem from A Nest Full of Stars by James Berry. Before you ask, no. I haven’t suddenly gone all NLP.   Aims Create a… Read More ›

• Reflections on the DipTESOL

  By Pete on June 29, 2021 • ( 3 )

  

  Here are some short video reflections on my DipTESOL experience. These are meant for candidates on the new DipTESOL course run through DublinTEFL. I’ve explained more in this intro vid… Excuse the tiredness. And the lockdown hair! Barbers are shut… Read More ›

• New ebook! 100+ Professional Development Tips for Post-CELTA Teachers

  By Pete on June 27, 2021 • ( 3 )

  

  So, here it is, my first self-published ebook! Here’s the blurb: This book is aimed at new teachers such as those who have recently completed a CELTA or Cert TESOL course. It offers a range of development tips and ideas… Read More ›

• Self-Publishing for ELT Professionals course (so far)

  By Pete on June 26, 2021 • ( 2 )

  

  I’m taking this training course on self-publishing through ITDI.pro. It’s four weeks long, and we’re going into the final week of input. It’s not necessarily close to the end though. I’d imagine they’ll be plenty to discuss in the forum… Read More ›

• Towards building a whole-school approach to EAL

  By Pete on June 15, 2021 • ( 0 )

  

  I enjoyed Adri’s post on EAL vs ESL the other day. It’s great to read so many positives regarding EAL culture at her school: teamwork, addressing individual needs, building a whole-school EAL approach, etc. Based on Adri’s comments, I feel… Read More ›

• EAL presentation tasks

  By Pete on June 6, 2021 • ( 0 )

  

  I’ve been teaching an intensive English course this term. It works out (online) at about 8 hours per week, would have been a lot more had we not been back in lockdown. Seven students, Japanese, between 12 and 14 years… Read More ›

• Timesaver: Conversation starters

  By Pete on May 31, 2021 • ( 0 )

  

  Here’s a quick fix warmer while you’re waiting for all students to arrive in your online class. I googled ‘conversation starters’ the other day and found this list of questions 225 starter questions on gifts.com. I pasted these questions into… Read More ›

• Timesaver: Quickfire questions

  By Pete on May 20, 2021 • ( 2 )

  

  Online learning again… Five weeks in. Need to keep things lively. Starting the lesson with these quickfire questions for my A2 level students. Nothing special, but livens things up while we are waiting for everyone to arrive. Here are the… Read More ›