I’ve just received a copy of the latest book from Alphabet Publishing. Walton Burns is following up last year’s ’50 Activities for the First Day of School’ with a new cookbook of ideas for building a classroom community. Burns states… Read More ›
General
Review: British Council apps for learning English
Students often ask me if I know any good websites and apps for learning English. There are a fair few websites I recommend, and this list is always growing (note: the latest edition is TubeQuizard). Apps though? Er… Feeling ignorant,… Read More ›
More creative displays and success criteria
We’ve been doing a module on travel. Last week, students wrote about their most memorable trip. Here’s the latest (sunny) display. I need to mount this on some nice coloured card and frame it a bit better, but I was… Read More ›
Writing pronunciation activities – 5 things to consider
I’ve written quite a few pronunciation activities this year for a regional product (Asia). Here are a few random thoughts on the process… Pronunciation for… what? As Laura Patsko mentions in this interesting Pedagogy Pop-up, pronunciation is important for all… Read More ›
Coursebook activities and SLA theory – do they match?
According to Tomlinson (2013:12-15), ‘it is generally accepted that [Second Language Acquisition] is facilitated by: a rich and meaningful exposure to language in use affective and cognitive engagement making use of mental resources typically used in L1 communication noticing how… Read More ›
Funny ELT illustrations
I picked up some interesting throw-outs from the British Council library here in Thailand. I’ve been flicking through Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language by Christine Nuttall (1996) this week. It’s clear, well-organised and has lots of practical activities… Read More ›
Flappy Drills – ‘Class, say after me…’
In this latest guest post, CELTA Trainer Nicky Salmon offers some tips for drilling pronunciation. I watch a lot of teachers doing drills to focus on pronunciation. Picture yourself drilling the following- Teacher: OK class, listen….vegetable, vegetable Students: Vegetable Teacher:… Read More ›
Assessment Capable Learners in the primary classroom
In this guest post Kirsten Anne shares some great advice on encouraging self-assessment in the primary classroom. I am a primary school teacher and currently work in a year 3 classroom. My students are between 7 and 8 years of age and… Read More ›
Quizlet Teacher account – worth it?
I’ve been using Quizlet in class for a while. This term I’m getting to grips with it a bit more as part of a project for my MA. Huh, Quizlet? Quizlet is a site which allows you to create your own… Read More ›
Classroom silence and digital natives
Svetlana Kandybovich recently wrote a post about allowing students thinking time. It’s full of useful ideas for the classroom and well worth a read. Something else worth reading is ‘The Four-Dimensional Human: Ways of Being in the Digital World’ by… Read More ›
ELT Planning 