Why throwing more worksheets at your students and spicing up old activities might not be the most effective way to go when dealing with exam preparation courses? What can you do instead? Keep reading to find out.
teaching
Summer school experience: lessons learned
It has been a week since my amazing experience working for English Country Schools finished and I now have some time to look back and think about the things I learned. You will find this post interesting if you have recently come back from a summer camp yourself or you are considering applying for a job next summer.
Inspired by…teaching ideas by Magdalena Kania & Łukasz Knap
In this post I would like to share teaching ideas by two Polish teacher trainers and educators, Magdalena Kania and Łukasz Knap. 2 weeks ago, I attended a workshop organised by DOS ELTea where Magda and Łukasz presented 3 incredible sessions packed with classroom takeaways. I picked my two favourite ideas and used them with my students. Take a look what happened.
The trouble with technology
You want to be innovative, you want to deliver fresh, engaging lessons, you don’t want to be accused of lazy teaching. You’ve read the latest, hottest blog post about 30 must-have apps/ tools/ platforms that are likely to make your teaching better. You got overwhelmed. You panicked. Now what?
What online teaching should NOT be about
Oh, you teach English online! So, does it mean that you just chat with people on Skype and they pay you for it? Does one even need any teaching experience to do that? These are some of the questions I’ve heard from both teachers and non-teachers recently and they basically sum up what I think online teaching should NOT be about.
June 3-2-1
June was all about videos. In this post, I’d like to share my 3 favourite video tools I have been using to incorporate video clips into my classes, 2 short videos I’ve used with different students on a number of occasions and they were always a big hit, and, finally, my new favourite online video series I’d recommend to any English language teacher and learner.
March 3-2-1
March, I rediscovered the power of Twitter which has now become my go-to place when looking for anything ELT. It was thanks to Twitter that I’ve stumbled upon two great websites which I’ve started using with my younger students (ages 11 and 12). Still, some of my problems remain unsolved and here comes my never-ending struggle.
February 3-2-1
In February, I spent a lot of time looking for reading and listening resources my students could use for some after class language practice I teach several elementary and pre-intermediate students and finding level-appropriate online resources was more difficult than I’d expected. I also stumbled upon two interesting apps for teachers and learned about a potentially incredible learning website which I’m not quite sure how to use. Take a look!
Voscreen: teaching with video clips
I might be a bit late to the Voscreen party as I discovered this free platform a couple of months ago. I’ve been experimenting with it quite a bit and I’d like to share my 10 ideas about using it with English learners in and out of the classroom.
Learning new skills
I’ve recently realized it’s been a while since the last time I tried to learn something completely new. Something that involved rules, a sequence to follow, and some logical thinking. It hit me when my dad tried to teach me how to play Hearts. Going through this painful experience made me think of teaching grammar.
