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Teacher and Materials Writer

• Lesson idea: using sports commentaries in class

  By Pete on April 24, 2015 • ( 11 )

  

  Have you ever heard of the ‘instantaneous present simple’? I hadn’t until a recent diploma module. Apparently it’s used to describe events or occurrences with some level of immediacy. You find it in newspaper headlines (like ‘Brad marries Angelina’), verbs… Read More ›

• British History Lesson: Boudica

  By Pete on April 19, 2015 • ( 1 )

  

  I recently taught a great group of upper-intermediate Italian college students. They were from a humanities college, they requested lessons in history, psychology, sociology and so on. It was International Women’s Day the weekend before, so I thought it was… Read More ›

• CELTA tip: guided discovery

  By Pete on April 16, 2015 • ( 15 )

  

  I got an A in my CELTA, but I had some teaching experience before the course. I find one of the hardest things about teaching is actually standing up and doing it. I am a really nervous person, and this… Read More ›

• What I gained from the CELTA: Lesson Frameworks

  By Pete on April 14, 2015 • ( 13 )

  

  My CELTA course was exceptional. The whole experience more than surpassed my expectations, and I came away with heaps of ideas and confidence. In fact, I gained so much from the course that I ended up passing the DipTESOL barely… Read More ›

• Lesson idea: exploring the characters in a short movie

  By Pete on April 13, 2015 • ( 0 )

  Here’s a great video to shape your own lesson around. In a previous blog I mentioned a few websites where you can find one minute long videos, which are great for a lesson starter. Here’s my favourite: Source: http://filmschoolrejects.com/features/10-fantastic-short-films-that-are-only-a-minute-long.php I think… Read More ›

• A fun lesson idea using Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking out loud’

  By Pete on April 10, 2015 • ( 2 )

  

  How do you encourage a really shy class to express themselves? It’s a question I’ve been asking all week. My latest group of single nationality pre-intermediate teenagers are a lovely bunch, but they can be so timid. I haven’t found… Read More ›

• Using Google Doodles to revise dates

  By Pete on April 7, 2015 • ( 0 )

  

  I read a great post from Svetlana Kandybovich yesterday on using Google games in the classroom. Her comments on Google matched my experience. I used to fight against technology and hated it when students always tapped away on their smart phones… Read More ›

• DipTESOL observed practice – lesson planning

  By Pete on April 6, 2015 • ( 11 )

  Avoid my ramblings and skip to the end of this post for an example lesson plan for the DipTESOL observed practice.

• Video resource: a one minute guide to planet earth

  By Pete on April 3, 2015 • ( 3 )

  Here’s a fluency based activity to challenge those adult advanced classes. I am always on the hunt for activities that will stretch my strongest students, and get them talking about rather alien topics. After all, if you’ve mastered a language… Read More ›

• A fun way to introduce graphs in class

  By Pete on April 1, 2015 • ( 2 )

  

  I stumbled across Google Trends on the net last year after reading a blog by Jeremy Kritt. I did a project on Trends back in June, and found it a great resource for lessons. Google Trends provides information of what… Read More ›