I think even the most rabid of coursebook critics, amongst whom I count myself, would concede that, on the whole, published course materials have been getting better over time. New examples of unsuccessful work will always come to light, and older gems will always lead us into the fallacy that “they don’t make ’em like […]
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Unplugged Radio Episode 6 – The Whites Of Their Eyes
Hello! Welcome to Teacher Training Unplugged Radio – my name is Anthony Gaughan. (if you can’t see the podcast player above, click this link for the audio.) There has been quite a long gap between episodes as Christmas and New Year got in the way. I had to do something to convince Father Christmas that […]
A gift for the season
Because Santa knows that teachers are always good girls and boys, the Great Bearded One asked me to help him out a bit this year with his deliveries. So here is a link to your very own Christmas present from me and the mighty, mighty Phil Wade – a one-month teacher development experiment, 5 minutes […]
Unplugged Radio Episode 5 – teaching without terminology
Hello! This is Anthony Gaughan for Teacher Training Unplugged Radio. In this episode I’d like to talk about focusing on form in the language classroom, and how not to waste time on it. Let’s get started… Quite often when people try to teach grammar, they make one or two things hard for themselves, and their […]
Bits and pieces
Funny how half a year can slip by… It is with some shock and no small degree of shame that I realised it has been that long since my last post here. So I thought I would give you all a quick update on some of what I have been up to and what I’ll […]
THE PLACE IS HERE AND THE TIME IS NOW
What follows is the text of a talk I just gave on the closing day of IATEFL 2014 in Harrogate, UK. — Hello, I’m Anthony. Are you sitting comfortably? Good: then I’ll begin.. First things first: thank you for coming. Some of you have come a very long way to be here. You may have […]
Dogme is not “just good teaching”
Usually when (it) is so simple we say, “Oh, I know that! It is quite simple. everyone knows that.”But if we do not find its value, it means nothing. It is the same as not knowing. – Shunryu Suzuki in “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind” – I am not sure when exactly it started, but at […]
how to use stories and anecdotes as reading or listening practice
We listen to or read a massive amount of text every day and – whether you believe it or not – we almost always have a reason for doing so. The amount of times we genuinely just hear things without any kind of thought process being triggered, without any kind of expectation, evaluation, is tiny. […]
how to get learners talking and capitalise on what they say
NOTE: I’ve now combined what used to be two separate pages into one here. I’ve also removed a video for a while until I find a workaround for a loading problem it was causing. Makes things simpler. One of the fundamental tasks for language teachers is getting learners talking in a useful way […]
Parachute training for teachers
Have you ever learnt to sky-dive?
If you have, you may recall receiving this instruction…
“Immediately after you pull the rip cord, shout out at the top of your lungs ONE THOUSAND, TWO THOUSAND, THREE THOUSAND – CHECK!!!!
When you shout CHECK!, tilt your head back and look above your head.
If you see your parachute canopy opening, relax and enjoy the ride.
If you don’t, reach for your reserve rip cord and pull it.
Repeat.
If you see your parachute canopy opening, relax and enjoy the ride.
If you don’t, relax anyway, because it will all be over before you know it.”
Macabre as the punchline is, there is actually a great deal of sense in this short lesson – both for novice sky-divers and for teachers of all levels of experience.