I’ve posted a bit about the process of setting up a new EAL department. I’ve mentioned target setting, establishing teaching and learning principles, quality assurance processes, long- and medium-term planning, blah blah. You can view the posts through my Teaching… Read More ›
Part of the interview process for the AO Route to QTS (Sunderland) is delivering a presentation. You do this during the live interview. The presentation lasts approximately 20 minutes, and it’s recorded for moderation. During the interview you should respond… Read More ›
I’ve been flicking through Jamie Clark’s Teaching One-Pagers recently, and overall I’m a big fan. Evidence-informed summaries of research and practice – informative, accessible, perfect for the staffroom coffee table. As Oliver Caviglioli points out in the foreword, One-Pagers is… Read More ›
This term we’re trialing an approach to pre-teaching academic vocabulary. Here’s the basic process: Step 1: Subject teachers identify 10-12 items of key vocab for an upcoming topic in either science, humanities, or maths. This should happen a couple of… Read More ›
Be More Toddler: A leadership education from our little learners, is a short reflection on leadership by Emma Turner. The author is an experienced leader, consultant, and former co-head at a UK school. It’s published by John Catt books. The… Read More ›
This CPD session that explored types of inclusion was for delivered to our EAL department only (4 staff). Why this session? I took a course on EAL coordination through the Bell Foundation back in September/October (see my review here). The… Read More ›
The second CPD session I delivered to the whole high school this year focused on oracy development. Why this session? Our EAL learners need more opportunities to develop their communication skills in mainstream settings. Curriculum coverage and institutional constraints can… Read More ›
I put together three different EAL INSETs this year. Two were delivered to the whole high school, and one was an in-department session. Here’s a summary of the first session. Session 1: Reviewing academic vocabulary Why this session? I usually… Read More ›
I’m setting up a peer observation scheme in my department. Basically, it’s like this: I’ll work out how we can evaluate the process down the line – we’ve just started. But I have ideas. Anyhow, the areas for development aren’t… Read More ›
We’ve introduced the Bell Assessment Framework to monitor the progress of our EAL learners. Here are some early reflections on the framework and tracking tool, including some challenges arising from its implementation. Why Bell? Adri Szlapak and I are working… Read More ›
ELT Planning 