Context: Year 10 support class, only three learners, 1 hour Materials: whiteboards, pens Lead-in: What lesson did you just have and how was it? Learner responses – maths, so-so because we had a test. We discussed some of the test… Read More ›
international school
Implementing the Bell Assessment Framework
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 ›
Course review: EAL Coordinators – Organising Impactful EAL Provision
Professional development courses in EAL seem few and far between to me. That’s why I jumped at the chance to take this month-long EAL Coordinator course offered through the Bell Foundation – one of the go-to organizations for EAL CPD…. Read More ›
Reflection: Drop-in observations
Informal drop-in observations are the way forward. Well, they’re the norm in many places. But where they’re not, they should be. Why invest all that time in recruitment, have teachers go through round after round of interview, sometimes do demo… Read More ›
Intensive English programmes – what to include?
In my last post about intensive English programmes at international schools, I highlighted the importance of integrated (rather than segregated) provision. Think of the social/academic language the learners would develop from being immersed in the mainstream environment. The rich input… Read More ›
Intensive English programmes at international schools
Some half-thoughts on Intensive English Programmes at international schools. Feel free to comment and share your experiences. Intensive English Programmes have become a big thing at international schools in my region. As part of my recent job hunt, I researched… Read More ›
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 ›
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 ›
Useful resource: Comics Uniting Nations
Comics Uniting Nations aims to make the UN Sustainable Development Goals more accessible through comics. You can learn more about the partnership and its collaborators on their website. It looks like the project is inactive these days, but the site… Read More ›
From EFL to EAL: Subject teachers and staging tasks
There’s plenty of content from my initial TEFL training (2006 – wow) that is still relevant to my everyday practice as an EAL teacher. Here’s one example. If you have undertaken initial teacher training in EFL (such as a CELTA… Read More ›
ELT Planning 