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 ›
teaching
Year in review
It’s been a busy one! I still have writing projects to wrap up before the Xmas break, but I’m taking a moment off for some reflection. So, how’s everything been this year? Teaching I’ve learnt quite a bit from my… Read More ›
Review: Retrieval Practice (Kate Jones)
This resource by Kate Jones (2019) is a concise overview of all things retrieval practice – theory, research and classroom implementation. It begins by defining the term… ‘… the act of recalling learned information from memory (with little or no… Read More ›
Materials writing and pub quizzes
Before lockdown I was an avid pub quizzer. It’s the perfect hobby for a materials writer because we accumulate tons of useless facts when researching articles. Here’s a list of some random topics I’ve written texts on in the last,… Read More ›
Year in review
Last blog post of 2020. Here’s how the year went… January: Handed in my notice at British Council. Started Module 2 of the PGCEi. Goaded a few people on Twitter, felt guilty, stopped using Twitter. For a day.
Bad teaching
A ramble from last year. Just came across it again. Ha! When I re-read it I thought, ‘actually Pete, it was pretty bad teaching! What were you on about?!’ Meh. I don’t just post the good. Enjoy. I’m such a… Read More ›
Writing and full-time teaching
I wrote this in 2019. Just came across it again. My loose thoughts on a random post-writing, pre-COVID evening… Balancing writing alongside teaching (and other) commitments isn’t always easy. I try to be realistic about the amount of time I… Read More ›
Book review: 21st Century Skills in the ELT Classroom
This book from Garnet Education explores various issues around the integration of 21st Century Skills in the ELT classroom (!). In the foreword, Christopher Graham (Editor) states that while each chapter is framed with reference to research, the focus is… Read More ›
Reflection: Steps towards materials-light teaching
Me, Matt and Tiago chatted about lots of topics at the first Bangkok ELT Books n’ Beer session last night. Great fun! The topic of materials-light teaching and dealing with emergent needs came up. Tiago is on a Celta to… Read More ›
Materials writing news and views, March 2020
One-year anniversary of these posts. Cool! New releases Congrats to Billie Jago, who has authored these practice tests for Cambridge C1 Advanced: This is the first time I’ve come across the publisher Prosperity Education. Looks like they are mainly exam-focused,… Read More ›