STOP PRESS 2:10pm 1 March: DELTA PUBLISHING HAVE AGREED TO DONATE COPIES OF TEACHING UNPLUGGED TO THE SCHOOL IN NEED I WRITE ABOUT IN THIS POST – GREAT TO SEE SOCIAL NETWORKING WORKING FOR SOCIAL GOOD!  THANK YOU ALL AT DELTA PUBLISHING!!!

You have probably heard about the recent earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand and the terrible devastation it has caused.  I just received an email on a discussion list for CELTA tutors from a teacher working over there and I am re-posting it here in order to publicise the situation over there and to try to do some good:

Dear colleagues,
Our language school in Christchurch, New Zealand, is preparing to reopen in temporary premises while our building and campus are checked for earthquake damage. We cannot enter our school building to retrieve materials or coursebooks so we are currently engaged in some lateral thinking on how to teach without materials! We won’t have a photocopier or printers or internet access, or whiteboards in our premises. Most of the staff have internet access at home however.
Does anyone know of any online articles or pages of ideas for teaching in this type of situation? The students are adults here for general English as well as business English and Cambridge/IELTS exam prep courses.
Many thanks in advance for any tips or advice!

As you can see, the situation is quite extreme.  I am asking on behalf of these teachers and their students for the help of any colleagues who read this posting. Continue reading →