I spend almost all of my professional life doing one of two things: observing the work of trainee teachers on Celta initial teacher training courses, or observing the work of Celta tutors in my role as an appointed Assessor for the Celta award. Both of these jobs present various challenges and raise many questions, but […]
Category: Training Philosophy
posts exploring why we choose to work the way we do.
Where are all the unplugged teacher trainers?
Dogme ELT has been around (in the sense of having a name and a movement of people who recognize it as a legitimate and defined approach to teaching languages) for the best part of 15 years at this point of writing; what this means is there are a significant number of teachers working now who […]
balance isn’t everything
Movement is the destruction of balance. I don’t know who I originally heard this from, but it was in the context of running theory. The idea is that in order for a physical body to move in any direction, it cannot be in a position of balance. That is to say, it cannot be maintaining […]
Going for the jugular in the language classroom
Got Blood used under a Creative Commons licence from Drury Drama (Lee Radlin) Before I get started, let me put a few things on the record. I want the teachers I train to be bloody in tooth and claw when it comes to dealing with language. I want the teachers I train to sink their […]
Learning to listen
I’ve been thinking about listening skills a lot since we decided to “unplug” our CELTA course back in 2009. Listening skills development is certainly not a new or novel topic; what is perhaps unusual about my preoccupation is that it hasn’t been the students’ listening skills that I’ve been thinking about, but the teachers’…
Punching your weight in the language classroom
Ever got the feeling that your teaching doesn’t have the impact on your learners that you would like? Want to knock them out with your teaching? Maybe you need to learn a few lessons from a boxer. This new post is all about learning to punch your weight in class: http://wp.me/pPAaf-c1
Poetry and the Art of Teaching Practice
Have you forgotten the way to my hut? Each evening, I wait for the sound of your footsteps But they are never there. I heard this haiku translation (or something close to it) in Berlin several years ago during a workshop on Big Words, Small Grammar by Scott Thornbury. I am not sure why, but […]
What Makes a Lesson GREAT? – slideshow
I’ve just finished my first Webinar on what makes a lesson GREAT and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was strange talking into thin air for almost an hour but it was lovely to see so many people there and participating through comments: thank you all for coming. I know how busy […]
What makes a lesson GREAT? Part #5
Here is the final part in a five-part series of posts inspired by Mike Harrison, who asked on the IATEFL Facebook page “what makes a lesson GREAT?” My answer was: Group Dynamic Relevance to learners’ lives Emergent language Attentiveness Thoughtfulness You can find my posts on the first four characteristics by clicking on them above. […]
What makes a lesson GREAT? Part #3
This is the third installment in a short series of posts inspired by a question posed by Mike Harrison – you can give him your own answer on the IATEFL Facebook page. To recap, I thought the following things were likely to make a lesson GREAT: Group dynamic Relevance to learners’ lives Emergent language Attentiveness […]