I've seen lots of fantastic posts recently from teachers about the last year of teaching online and all the challenges it has thrown up. Freeed have dedicated March to being the anniversary of remote learning with lots of insightful articles and lesson ideas about teaching during the last year. So, as I settle down to [...]
As a new school year is about to kick-off, I've looked back at the last one and tried to make sense of how I feel about this year. A little shocked, a little numb, very relieved, proud of what I've achieved, regretful over what I got wrong, but overall, I'm left with a feeling of [...]
Being a teacher means you have to expect the unexpected but I don't think any of us could have imagined what 2020 would entail. Coronavirus has pulled the rug from all of our feet; the devastating loss of lives, the fear and uncertainty, the financial repercussions, it's changed our lives forever. Living in Italy, the [...]
It's that time of year again, the time when finding time is difficult, when stress levels rise as teachers frantically plan exciting and engaging first lessons to make their students fall in love with them, while managers frantically juggle book orders, student enquiries, entrance exams, and new teacher inductions. It's the nice kind of stress [...]
Reflection is the most important part of personal develop and the only way to foster a growth mindset, as I’ve written about here and here. So it’s no surprise that I jumped at the chance for a 5 day CPD challenge, which ELT.training have been running on their Facebook page. But what have I learned? [...]
In 2019, we are aware more than ever of how fundamental it is to reduce our environmental impact. To not actively try is simply irresponsible, especially in the ELT industry where we are particularly guilty of using vast quantities of paper. Each and every one of us can do our bit, so here are 10 ways to [...]
Silence is not a word that sits very well with most language teachers. After all, we teach how to communicate, it's second nature to want to fill gaps with words. I know that when I first started teaching I wanted to fill every second of the classroom with some form of noise, whether it be [...]
Languages are as alive as the people who speak them. They live, breathe, evolve and are influenced by their social and historical context. Therefore, a rigid non-flexible approach is ineffective in teaching as in order to own a language our students need to live it. We, as teachers, need to make sure that we do [...]
There is no doubt about it, digital technologies have made lessons more efficient, allowed limitless access to learning materials and given teachers an abundance of materials to help shape engaging lessons. Long gone are the days of students fidgeting while long-winded grammar presentations are slowly hand-written on the whiteboard or blackboard, instead, a quick press [...]
I have already underlined how crucial I think the reflection process is in both the development of a teacher and language learning in general. I know I am guilty of spending so much time discussing, planning and crafting materials for my lessons that I can be guilty of not dedicating enough time afterwards to deconstructing [...]
This academic year has been unconventional for me because for the first time I didn't start the school year in September, thanks to the arrival of my beautiful daughter Sofia at the beginning of September. When my maternity leave finished I found myself back in the classroom gasping to keep up with everything that was [...]
Any successful teacher will readily admit that they are still learning. This is what attracted me to this profession and what motivates me and encourages me to improve after a particularly taxing lesson with a class of boisterous 13 year olds. I truly believe that to develop as a teacher you need to invest in your own growth and the growth of CPD sessions on a variety of topics in order to keep our teachers engaged and to ensure quality lessons. But what happens if your teachers don't want to learn?
Learning lessons from TEFL 