Recent Posts - page 8
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WalkThrus parent workshop – Tom Sherrington
I attended a parent workshop this morning by Tom Sherrington, co-author of the WalkThrus series. Sherrington is working with Bangkok Patana School to help embed an instructional coaching programme in the primary school. The workshop was good timing for me,… Read More ›
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Materials writing conversations #13: Brief creep
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Review: Teaching WalkThrus
Teaching WalkThrus: Five-step Guides to Instructional Coaching is a glossy collection of 50 strategies for enhancing teaching and learning. It’s from John Catt Publications, authored by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli (see here and here for my previous reviews of… Read More ›
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In brief: Changing Perspectives on LGBT Representation in ELT Textbooks
Author: Ben Goldstein Date: 2021 Goldstein begins with a quote from Scott Thornbury, who draws attention to LGBT invisibility in published language resources: Where are the coursebook gays and lesbians? They are nowhere to be found. They are still firmly… Read More ›
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Review: Off the Page
‘Off the Page: Activities to bring lessons alive and enhance learning’ (Thaine 2020) is a resource for practicing and trainee teachers. It aims to provide a range of activities which supplement and enhance coursebook-based provision – helping teachers to lift… Read More ›
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Materials writing conversations #12: Comments
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, etc… (Draft 1) 1. Discuss the questions in pairs*. • How often… Read More ›
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Materials writing news and views, March 2023
Things I learnt yesterday: Happy Mother’s Day. New releases I haven’t done an update since January so there are tons of new releases! ABC Culture, Pearson Italia. Lower Secondary War of the Worlds Penguin Reader, A1, graphic novel style! Sounds… Read More ›
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EAL support for disciplinary writing
I’ve been writing a bit about disciplinary literacy this week. If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s *basically* how people communicate, share knowledge, etc within a particular discipline. For the purposes of teaching EAL, think about how we teach… Read More ›
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Embedded formative assessment (New Directions)
I was lucky enough to deliver a video presentation alongside Alan Pulverness (TransformELT) at New Directions East Asia conference. We introduce the concept of formative assessment, explain typical formative assessment strategies, and discuss some challenges in embedding such strategies in… Read More ›
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Review: Memory – What Every Language Teacher Should Know
Memory – What Every Language Teacher Should Know is an independent published book by Steve Smith and Gianfranco Conti. Both writers are very experienced MFL teachers, curriculum designers, materials writers, bloggers, etc. Overview The aim of the book is ‘to… 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
August 10, 2021
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Reflections on the DipTESOL
June 29, 2021
teacher development ›
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Research in brief: Harnessing the translanguaging corriente
December 18, 2025
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Research in Brief: Input Enhancement and L2 Grammatical Development
October 29, 2025