This is a completely imaginary conversation. No characters in the convo are based on real people – I’m just bored and imagining conversations I might have with editors… Lead-in Work with a partner. Perform a dialogue based on the following… Read More ›
General
RIP LTC Eastbourne
I’ve heard that it’s the end of the road for LTC Eastbourne. I haven’t come across an announcement from the school itself (now a Twin Language Centre). I’m only going on contact with staff, past and present. I’m gutted.
Bad teaching
A ramble from last year. Just came across it again. Ha! When I re-read it I thought, ‘actually Pete, it was pretty bad teaching! What were you on about?!’ Meh. I don’t just post the good. Enjoy. I’m such a… Read More ›
Writing and full-time teaching
I wrote this in 2019. Just came across it again. My loose thoughts on a random post-writing, pre-COVID evening… Balancing writing alongside teaching (and other) commitments isn’t always easy. I try to be realistic about the amount of time I… Read More ›
Be like Walton Burns
There was a good post from Russ Mayne recently on the importance of criticism. He mentioned overly unpleasant criticism and unnecessary venom that might accompany it. Russ mentioned both academic and social media contexts. This post is about the latter,… Read More ›
Book review: 21st Century Skills in the ELT Classroom
This book from Garnet Education explores various issues around the integration of 21st Century Skills in the ELT classroom (!). In the foreword, Christopher Graham (Editor) states that while each chapter is framed with reference to research, the focus is… Read More ›
Research in brief: Critique of BICS and CALP
BICS and CALP in a nutshell BICS and CALP was an idea first proposed by Prof Jim Cummins in the early 1980s. BICS stands for Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills, and CALP is Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency. Here’s what they are:… Read More ›
Review: Work It Out with Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verb resource books you’ve used… GO! Okay, so there was a good one on the bookshelf at LTC called ‘Illustrated Phrasal Verbs’. Me and Sketch used it so often that the student’s book fell apart (only one copy –… Read More ›
Materials Writing news and views, October 2020
Just a few things this time. I’m out the loop at the moment, enjoying my teaching too much! Facebook groups for writers There are a lot of Facebook groups for ELT writers these days. If you would like to share… Read More ›
Free lessons on Onestopenglish
Onestopenglish is still free at the moment. This is a great opportunity to make the most of their awesome resources. There’s so much available on the site: lesson plans, articles related to methodology, resources created by the Onestopenglish community… they’ve… Read More ›