
Author Archives
Teacher and Materials Writer
-
Punctuation..? – Book Review
Punctuation..? published by User Design Books is a short guide for using common punctuation marks. The blurb actually says it covers ’21 of the most used punctuation marks’, which I found a little embarrassing as I hadn’t heard of half… Read More ›
-
It’s your move… helping students manage spoken discourse
Helping learners to deal with spoken discourse was a hot topic on my Diploma course. You might encounter the terms ‘interactional talk’ and ‘transactional talk’ when you get to modules on discourse analysis; a possible development task could be to… Read More ›
-
12 ideas for reviewing vocabulary
I’ve kept a list of all the vocabulary that has come up in class during the last few weeks of summer school. It’s a fair bit – about 200 words. Here are some ideas for reviewing vocabulary in groups. For… Read More ›
-
Thoughts on teaching Vietnamese learners
I’m currently working at the British Council summer school in Ho Chi Minh City. It’s been a fantastic experience so far, and it’s the first time I’ve ever taught English to Vietnamese learners. It’s also my first stint at the… Read More ›
-
5 ways to use Shakespeare in ELT
-
5 ways to make reading tasks more fun
This week a colleague at the British Council gave me FIVE different activities for my young learner classes. That means I have to share 5 ideas to even things out! There’s a theme to the ideas below – 5 ways… Read More ›
-
5 ideas to expand your ELT Toolkit
I was reading the Teacher Toolkit the other day, which is a fantastic site. I took at least 5 new ideas from it, mostly relating to classroom management. It reminded me how rewarding it is to learn from others, and… Read More ›
-
35 ways to introduce your lesson topic
-
Little tips from CELTA training that go a long way
When you undertake a 1-month intensive CELTA course it’s near impossible to absorb all the information you’re given. You have to prioritise, and that means getting the basics right. Staging a lesson, introducing new language effectively, anticipating problems, that type… Read More ›
-
Fluency practice: What do you know about Britain?
Here’s a fun way to get students sharing information, in the context of history and culture. I originally got this idea from waygook.org, which is a good source of lesson inspiration if you’re a teacher based in South Korea. Let’s… Read More ›