I recently taught a great group of upper-intermediate Italian college students. They were from a humanities college, they requested lessons in history, psychology, sociology and so on. It was International Women’s Day the weekend before, so I thought it was… Read More ›
I got an A in my CELTA, but I had some teaching experience before the course. I find one of the hardest things about teaching is actually standing up and doing it. I am a really nervous person, and this… Read More ›
My CELTA course was exceptional. The whole experience more than surpassed my expectations, and I came away with heaps of ideas and confidence. In fact, I gained so much from the course that I ended up passing the DipTESOL barely… Read More ›
Here’s a great video to shape your own lesson around. In a previous blog I mentioned a few websites where you can find one minute long videos, which are great for a lesson starter. Here’s my favourite: Source: http://filmschoolrejects.com/features/10-fantastic-short-films-that-are-only-a-minute-long.php I think… Read More ›
How do you encourage a really shy class to express themselves? It’s a question I’ve been asking all week. My latest group of single nationality pre-intermediate teenagers are a lovely bunch, but they can be so timid. I haven’t found… Read More ›
I read a great post from Svetlana Kandybovich yesterday on using Google games in the classroom. Her comments on Google matched my experience. I used to fight against technology and hated it when students always tapped away on their smart phones… Read More ›
I stumbled across Google Trends on the net last year after reading a blog by Jeremy Kritt. I did a project on Trends back in June, and found it a great resource for lessons. Google Trends provides information of what… Read More ›
Here’s a fairly topical upper-intermediate level lesson, as we get closer to the general election. I saw this report on Sky News back in mid-February and thought it would be a really good talking point. Apparently, David Cameron is thinking… Read More ›
This is my first blog on the Trinity College London DipTESOL. It might seem like I’m jumping ahead a bit by talking about the final observations, especially if you’re new to the course. But if you’re anything like me, the… Read More ›
I’ve only just discovered the British Council Premier Skills site. It’s a great resource for some of the groups I teach. They’ve got a lesson planning competition going on at the moment, which inspired me to create a little something…. Read More ›
ELT Planning 