sniglet (noun): any word that should be in the dictionary, but isn’t. (Hall, 1983). I’ve been watching some old sniglet sketches from Not Necessarily the News recently. This one is by far my favourite (sorry for lack of quality): Call… Read More ›
General
Highlighting success criteria to young learners
This post explains simple coding you could use to help learners notice key features of a model text. I know this type of stuff is common in primary schools, so I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel. It’s just not… Read More ›
A rant about comprehension questions
On my module in materials development we’ve just looked at reading and listening tasks. We spoke about what makes good/bad comprehension questions. ‘Plain sense’ questions are seen as pretty ineffective, as they just test familiarity with sentence structure rather than… Read More ›
Experimenting with ‘the Inner Workbench’
Originally posted on Jamie Clayton's ELT blog:
In Meaningful Action, Underhill explains his concept of the Inner Workbench: the place in our mind where we hear and manipulate inner speech. Putting learners in touch with this place as they…
The role of research in TEFL
I’ve been thinking about the role of research in TEFL recently. This was prompted by Dr Paula Rebolledo’s closing plenary on Day 2 of the Teaching for Success online conference, titled ‘How could research inform EFL practice?’ You can watch… Read More ›
Evaluating course books – checklists
I’m currently studying a module in Materials Development through NILE online. It’s a really worthwhile course so far! Unit two talked about evaluating materials, specifically course books. We were introduced to a range of checklists that could be used for… Read More ›
Recent whiteboard work
I mentioned a few whiteboard tips this time last year. I should probably follow my own advice, because my recent whiteboard work has been a bit shoddy. I’ve been taking some pictures of my recent boards. I won’t post them… Read More ›
Planning tasks for young learners
To an experienced YL teacher this post is just stating the obvious. To me it’s not, because I’m new to teaching primary aged learners. I’ve got in the habit of tweaking almost every activity to try and make it fun…. Read More ›
Encouraging autonomy in teen classes
You might not need to encourage your students to take control of their learning. I do. My teens aren’t used to working independently or undertaking tasks without the teacher directing proceedings. Our current topic is health and fitness. I found… Read More ›
Teaching for Success online conference
Oh look, Se at TalkTEFL has been taking the Mickey out of our ‘Quality Circle’… Sarah Smith and I will be chatting about our teacher-led development group (‘The Quircle’) at the British Council Teaching for Success online conference. We’re on the… Read More ›
ELT Planning 