Recent Posts - page 37
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The 8 stages of teaching my own materials
I sat down to plan a General English class for our adult learners to the other day. I say plan, more like adapt. We have an in-house set of lessons so there’s already a plan in place, but the lesson… Read More ›
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Integrating technology in the EFL classroom
A few weeks ago I blogged about my recent experience of using edtech in class. Claudia Andrade shared an interesting response to the post: This got me thinking about my practice and my reliance on certain forms of evaluation. Looking… Read More ›
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How I plan with coursebooks
Coursebooks. Arrgh. I write and read so many rants about them. Global coursebooks are too ‘catch-all’, they’re not aligned with what we know about second language acquisition, they’re a straightjacket, the images promote certain ideals, the content is too diluted,… Read More ›
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Behind the scenes – thoughts on the blog
Ages ago I was asked on Twitter to write a ‘behind the scenes’ of ELTplanning. Well, here’s one (of sorts). It’s not about the process I go through, more just my feelings on blogging. Loads of teachers have contacted me… Read More ›
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Edtech exploration
I’ve come across loads of edtech sites/tools recently. I’ll forget them all if I don’t start writing them down. Here’s a random mix of stuff I’ve come across or have been using. Things I tried in class last term… Quizlet… Read More ›
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Global Digital Citizen Foundation
I came across this great site after they linked to an old blog post of mine. What a stroke of luck! According to the site, Global Digital Citizen Foundation is a ‘non-profit organisation dedicated to cultivating responsible, ethical, global citizens… Read More ›
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Lesson idea: crazy recipes
I feel like I say this a lot, but thanks to ELT-cation (Svetlana) for yet another great lesson idea. Your post on Wordless Videos for ELT was awesome. I used the Western Spaghetti video from PES as inspiration for a… Read More ›
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Making things up… during observed lessons
Last weekend I had a pretty scary lesson observation… I’ve been observed more at British Council Thailand than in any other teaching job, which is to me a good thing. There have been formal observations twice a year, observations during… Read More ›
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Lesson idea: Introducing inventions (2)
My Primary students (aged 11) are studying technology and inventions at the moment. I used this activity to introduce the topic – it worked well. This idea could be used for generating interest, sharing personal responses, developing schematic knowledge, revising… Read More ›
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App review: ELSA Speak
Let it gooooo, let it gooooo! Now that’s out of my system, here’s a review of ELSA Speak. It’s an app that teaches you to ‘pronounce English like an American through real-world conversations’. It’s a great use of AI in… Read More ›
Featured Categories
materials writing ›
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Materials writing conversations #20: The title
September 7, 2025
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Materials writing conversations #19: vague briefs
October 31, 2024
DipTESOL tips ›
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DipTESOL Independent Research Project
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Reflections on the DipTESOL
June 29, 2021
teacher development ›
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AI experiments: IGCSE ESL speaking assessment bank
February 8, 2026
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EAL adaptations: Lonely Planet Travel Writing
February 8, 2026