IATEFL 2021: Connections
It is not quite the same, that is for sure. The atmosphere of a room full of enthusiastic, interested colleagues from around the world just does not compare with me … Continue reading
A Barcelonian Affair: Making Connections in the Time of Corona
At the end of this rather difficult school year, and now that the sun is shining, both metaphorically and literally, it feels like it is time to reflect on one … Continue reading
Going Video: Execution
As projects go, this one was a bit of a disaster. The plan was to create a set of videos about presentation skills. Yeah, this did not happen. That course … Continue reading
Rollercoaster of Change
Uncontrollable, unexpected and all-encompassing. That is how we could describe the events that forced a major change on us this spring. It has impacted us as people in our many … Continue reading
Sunday Readings: Innovation, Change and Digitalisation
How does innovation happen? What are the required elements that need to meet at the right time in the right place for lasting innovative change to take place? In educational … Continue reading
Sunday Readings: Willingness to Communicate, Anxiety and Perceived Competence
Learning a language as an adult requires hard work. It takes time, willingness to take risks, dedication and truckloads of motivation. It is a job that has no endpoint; the … Continue reading
Going Video: Plan
Aaargh, this plan was due 3 weeks ago and even now it is not really even a plan yet, more like an idea. Anyway, here goes nothing. The aim is … Continue reading
Sunday Readings: Online Learning and Willingness to Communicate
Continuing my Sunday Readings series, I turn next to another article on computer-mediated language learning and how it can impact learners’ willingness to communicate. Communication in L2 is the main … Continue reading
Sunday Readings: Computer-mediated Speaking and Foreign Language Anxiety
As language teachers, we know that It is sometimes difficult to provide our learners with equal opportunities for speaking in class. In pretty much every class there is someone who … Continue reading
Sunday Readings: Communication Skills and Digital Tools
I am currently developing a little project on digital pedagogy and it helps to write it out here. Here is a brief summary of an article I just finished reading. … Continue reading
The Meaning of Life and Stuff
The meaning of life is… No, I don’t know what the meaning of life. And I should be working on stuff with looming deadlines but earlier this week I attended … Continue reading
Sunday Readings: Assessment of Adult Learners
I am doing this the wrong way round somehow: my last post was about feedback and this one is about assessment. Logically, I should have started with a text on … Continue reading
Sunday Readings: Feedback and Self-Regulation
Having read Hattie and Timperley’s (2007) article about giving feedback, I have to wonder if I ever get it right! That it is a complex issue is clear; common sense … Continue reading
Sunday Readings: Multimodality and video in learning
When I was a teenager, I learned French intonation, word stress and individual sounds by listening to music. We had a few French records and cassettes and, with the lyrics … Continue reading
September 2019 Meet-Up: Classroom Routines
Another meet-up, another selection of great ideas shared. Here are the highlights! Our discussion centred on the different classroom routines we have. Having a set of routines is good … Continue reading
Sunday Readings: to tech or not to tech?
Does the use of ICT in teaching and learning lead to better learning outcomes? Well, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t, or it is “difficult to explain why only some … Continue reading
Part 3: Exploring the effectiveness of flipped learning in an HE context
This third section (Part 1, Part 2) will look at the programme from the students’ point of view. There are several recent studies that investigate both the benefits and potential … Continue reading
Part 4: Exploring the effectiveness of flipped learning in an HE context
This final part looks at the flipped programme in terms of the potential challenges identified in Part 3. We will begin by looking at different attitudes and experiences all learners … Continue reading
Part 2: Exploring the effectiveness of flipped learning in an HE context
The first part of this series on flipped learning offered some background on this approach. The aim of this second part is to look at the programme I am teaching … Continue reading
Part 1: Exploring the effectiveness of flipped learning in an HE context
The use of digital tools in the classroom has increased dramatically in the last ten years. This development has been evident in all levels of education, from primary school to … Continue reading
Welcome to My Summer!
Hello peeps! Here is my first adobe spark experiment plus a little introduction to my summer teaching/learning environment. Photo: View from my window. Now that is a lie. Quite … Continue reading
3 things I learnt last week
Because my mind is like a sieve, I have to tell you about these three new things I learnt last week, in the hope that this will help to stick … Continue reading
A Collaborative Writing Activity
Today I thought I’d tell you about a writing activity I have used in class many times. When working with in-company clients or when teaching on courses which focus on … Continue reading
An Activity I Use Often: An Analysis
This is a piece of homework for a course I am doing at the moment. Fingers crossed I pass! I need to pick a typical teaching moment in class and … Continue reading
May 2019 Meet-Up: Mixed Ability Groups
Today we had the last meet-up of the spring and this is a short summary of some of the ideas that we discussed. Mixed ability classes can be tricky, and … Continue reading
Sunday Readings: Learning Styles
When I did my initial teacher training course, learning styles were still ‘in’. We had input on it, and, after graduation, I seem to remember attending in-house or training day … Continue reading
IATEFL2019: Day Three Highlights
On my way home, I am writing this somewhere between Manchester and Frankfurt. Below a brief summary of some of the talks I attended on the third day of … Continue reading
IATEFL2019: Day Two Highlights
Today has been a techy day. One of my aims at this conference is to find out what is happening in ed tech at the moment, with a view of … Continue reading
IATEFL2019: Day One Highlights
Liverpool was grey and rainy today but it was warm and cosy inside the convention centre which resembled an anthill with teachers going from plenaries to workshops to talks. I … Continue reading
Saturday Readings: Digitalisation
I have a bad habit of going “off-piste” with my reading. I start from point A, with every intention of staying on track but more often than not get caught … Continue reading
February 2019 Meet-Up: Difficult Students and Situations
Venting is good sometimes, right? We have all had/have students/classes that can be difficult at times and it feels good to be able to discuss them with colleagues. Constructive ideas and … Continue reading
Card Challenge: Using pictures
I don’t know about you but I have a tendency to collect stuff that I think I could use in the classroom in some way. It is like I have … Continue reading
January 2019 Meet-Up: Favourite websites/apps for learning and teaching
In this month’s local English trainers’ meeting we shared our favourite websites and apps for lesson prep lessons or for use in class. This is our little list: Websites with … Continue reading
Reflecting on 2018
Having taught my last lesson of the year this afternoon, this seems like the perfect moment to reflect on the year gone by. These are not brand new ideas, rather … Continue reading
Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
I am no anatomy expert but recently my learners got to practise their body parts vocabulary, of both humans and animals. I share the two activities below. Human Body Parts … Continue reading
November 2018 Meet-Up: Christmas and New Year Activities
We had a lovely get-together on Friday and shared some ideas for Christmas and New Year activities. Here is a selection. Christmas Making fridge poetry (common words – can anyone find … Continue reading
Presenting Structures: Grammar Surprises
Recently, I have been thinking about different strategies for presenting grammatical structures. It was also the topic of our October Trainers’ Meet-Up so I thought I would put a few … Continue reading
September 2018 Meet-Up: Zero-prep Warmers and Fillers
Social media is great for keeping in touch and for spreading information fast but it is so much nicer to meet people in person. I have had this idea of … Continue reading
New Beginnings: Part 2
Need a quick and easy no-photocopies activity for your first lessons this school year? Look no further: here are some ideas for getting-to-know-you activities to use in either brand new … Continue reading
New Beginnings: Part 1
First lessons of the new school year are just around the corner and although my mind is still very much on the course I am teaching now, I know the … Continue reading
Thinking Critically: Two Activities
Thinking critically can be a tricky thing when you come from a culture that does not encourage you to develop these skills. I am currently working with learners who come … Continue reading
IATEFL2018: Day 4 Highlights
Saving the best till last! Of the sessions I saw today, two stand out, two that I will remember. Barry O’Sullivan: Living to tell the tale: a history of … Continue reading
IATEFL2018: Day 3 Highlights
I have a confession to make: a chunk of Day Three was spent shopping and eating nice food. There were some great sessions I saw too, though. Here are my … Continue reading
IATEFL2018: Day 2 Highlights
Another session-packed day and there are some signs of conference fatigue but luckily there is an unlimited supply of tea again this year. Here are my highlights from today’s sessions. … Continue reading
IATEFL2018: Day 1 Highlights
Day one of the event of the year behind us and already there is lots to think about. I couldn’t possibly tell you everything about the sessions I attended here but … Continue reading
Project CHANGE: Grand Finale
So this is it. The last lesson of the course and the final coursework is hanging on the wall. Not bad, if I say so myself. I cannot take any … Continue reading
Last Lessons: Leaving it to Chance
This is an easy way to get learners to talk about upcoming holidays. A couple of my groups are starting their (very long) summer holiday this week so we spent a … Continue reading
Project CHANGE: Update
This is an update on project CHANGE, which is something I have been working on with one of my adult learner groups. If you have read this post, you know … Continue reading
Interaction in Online Learning
I am taking part in a MOOC on digital pedagogy and this week’s topic is interaction and participation in an e-learning environment. So this post is me doing my homework … Continue reading
Risk-taking: A Poem
This could have been an absolute car crash. A poem. A rather dark poem. Lots of long words. It could have easily gone very, very badly. This is the poem, used … Continue reading
Lights, Camera, Action: Filming Articles
In this picture, you can see a car. The car is white. The car is next to a shop. Behind the white car, there are other cars. The sun is … Continue reading
Techy Game Things
I attended John Hughes’ OUP webinar on using games in the classroom last week. I am a big fan of both game-based as well as gamified activities. We are never … Continue reading
Reviewing Lexis: The Mind’s Eye
I feel a wee bit bad. I turned up for my first class today with no idea how I was going to start. The lesson itself was sorted but the … Continue reading
Light-bulb moments: learner feedback and motivation
It is always great when you see it happen before your very eyes – a light-bulb moment, a sudden realisation, a moment of clarity that changes the way you … Continue reading
Project CHANGE: Phase II Kick-off
This week saw the start of Phase II of a project I am working on with one of my groups. The autumn was spent on groundwork and now in the spring, it … Continue reading
Differentiation, kinda
Differentiation in education is used to refer to providing personalised instruction by taking into account differences between learners. Often the key difference is ability and skills: some learners have more … Continue reading
New Year Predictions
First lessons after the holidays are looming on the horizon and I thought I would devise a short and simple activity I could use with all of my classes in … Continue reading
Gerunds and Infinitives: Regret Killing the Chickens?
Gerunds and infinitives are tricky because there is no logic there, except for the preposition + gerund business. So here is a little something I did today with one of … Continue reading
The Past is Tricky: swim, swam, swum
Irregular verbs. The list is long and lots of repetition is required. I am quite into tiny little drama activities at the moment and decided to try something out with … Continue reading
Practising Chunks: An Adventure
Nothing like a little adventure in class. One of my groups went on one last week. It involved walking through a field of rocks, going up a steep hill, jumping over … Continue reading
Workshopping Grammar
I am writing above the Atlantic, on holiday but 9hrs is long time to sit on a plane and this seemed a perfect moment to write up my thoughts on … Continue reading
Variety is the Spice of Life: A Gamification Experiment
Variety is the spice of life. This is why I decided to gamify a tiny part of my Thursday evening class this week. Gamification in education is the application of … Continue reading
Back to School: One pen, two hands
Sometimes good ideas just appear from thin air, usually when I am out for a run and have nothing to write them down with. The idea in this post was … Continue reading
Observing a Class: the Role of Affect in the Classroom
So this week I observed and gave feedback on 22 lessons. Yeah, I am knackered. And as the train rolls past the mountains and fields of central Europe en route … Continue reading
Many heads are better than one: Lexis Revision
Choice. Learner Autonomy. Learner Independence. Personalised learning. All important ideas that today are seen as key contributors to motivation and the learning process. But not all learners find it easy … Continue reading
IATEFL2017: Wise Words
Lots of clever, experienced and skilled people gave talks at the IATEFL Glasgow this week. And many of them quoted other clever, experienced and skilled people. Here is my collection of … Continue reading
IATEFL2017: Growing Minds
I spent the past week at the IATEFL Glasgow 2017 conference – the ELT event of the year. The programme was absolutely overwhelming: picking talks and workshops out of the … Continue reading
Stuck in a Lift: A Lesson on Small Talk
You know that sinking feeling when your carefully prepared conversation questions fail to get much of a reaction from your students? They talk for two minutes and then turn to … Continue reading
Stepping out of my Comfort Zone
I don’t sing. I don’t play a musical instrument. I just don’t. I come from a long line of amusical, tone-deaf people. When my sister and I were younger, our … Continue reading
Flippin’ Future
Future is expressed in a multitude of ways in English. Many of my students, even at higher levels, tend to overuse will because they have learnt that will is future. … Continue reading
Vocab Revision Activity: Easy peasy…
So this is the easiest ever vocab revision activity. I have used it for years and pretty much every single time students comment on how much they like it. And, … Continue reading
Learning to Learn
Underlining does not work. Useless, a waste of time as a learning technique, they say. Many of us are blessed with very motivated students who are keen to improve their … Continue reading
A, AN and THE: A Peer-Teaching Activity
English articles can be a bit of a nuisance. Having mostly worked with learners whose L1 has no system of these little pains in the neck, I have tried a … Continue reading
New Year, New Goals: An Activity
With the first school week of the year behind me, I thought I’d share a little activity I ran in pretty much all my (adult) classes this week. It is … Continue reading
Let’s play BALL: Part 2
If you read Part 1, you’ll know that I have started a little blog-writing experiment in one of my adult education classes in the autumn semester. Before Christmas I asked … Continue reading
Let’s play BALL: Part 1
In case you are wondering, BALL stands for blog-assisted language learning (Ward 2004). This first post on BALL is a brief theoretical focus on the topic. Part 2 will then … Continue reading
Stretching the Mind: Introducing a New Grammar Structure
Memorisation and rote learning have been a bit of taboo in language learning for a long time. They were seen as behaviorist ideas which viewed as form and habit, whereas … Continue reading
Autonomy, Motivation and Choice: Part 2
The wait is over! If you have been waiting for this Part 2 with bated breath, you can now relax. In this post I will answer the questions I posed … Continue reading
Autonomy, Motivation and Choice: Part 1
So learner-centredness has been a bit of a buzzword for a while. But what does it actually mean? How is it realised in the classroom? In this post I will … Continue reading
An experiment on attention-getters
I had 18 guinea pigs this morning. And what great guinea pigs they were! All language teachers, it was an exciting mix of both nationalities and target languages. My job … Continue reading
Revising Lexis: Let’s mime!
So there are about a million other things I should be doing right now but I just need to tell you about an activity we did in one of my … Continue reading
First Lessons: Tired of the same old same old?
As the new school year fast approaches, I find myself in rummaging through my brain for first lesson ideas. You know, those getting-to-know-you and getting-to-know the-teacher activities that form an … Continue reading
Carbs and then some more Carbs
Nothing beats the combo of sugar and flour. They form the main constituents of pretty much all of my favourite foods. If only we could survive on nothing but cakes, … Continue reading
Walking is the Best Medicine
Hippocrates said it over 2,000 years ago and who am I to say otherwise. Today we all know about the benefits of walking and they are manifold: it is good … Continue reading
Celebrating Failure
Were I to start listing my failures here, this post would be far too long for anyone to read. So I won’t. But I do want to look at failure … Continue reading
Observing a Class: Using Peer Feedback in EAP Writing
Collaborating with your peers is an everyday occurrence in academia. You write articles collaboratively with them. You submit these articles to journals, to be reviewed by other peers. And you … Continue reading
Observing a Class: A Bone of Contention
I’ve been out and about again, popping into classrooms to see classes in action in different institutions. Last week I saw two groups which were particularly interesting as they comprised … Continue reading
We Learn to Read by Reading
“We learn to read by reading”. These are the wise words of Frank Smith (quoted in Nuttall 2005, 128), a prominent psycho-linguist, who has conducted research into reading theory. So … Continue reading
Observing a Class: Life doesn’t come with instructions but…
Sometimes a 90-min lesson flies by. Sometimes it just drags on and on and you think it’s never going to finish. Not in the class I saw this week. I … Continue reading
Stuck together: Online Resources for Teaching Collocations
Lexical chunks. Word partnerships. Multi-word expressions. Collocations. In class, I tend to introduce them as words that are married. Whatever you choose to call them, collocations are an interesting feature … Continue reading
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