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 [...]
Everyone knows it, the most important thing you can gain in the classroom is trust. Get your students to trust you and then anything is possible, barriers will no longer be up, they won't be scared to experiment and risk making mistakes, in a nutshell, you will have created an environment that is conducive to [...]
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 [...]
I still to this day remember the first time I stood before 15 pairs of eyes, a board marker in hand and the overbearing sense of foreboding that weighed down on my shoulders as they waited for me to teach them something. That nervous anticipation thankfully now feels very foreign and I barely bat an [...]
Why the only teaching voice you need is your own: an important point to remember if you are a developing teacher
Here in Europe, it’s that time again. The time when people start putting away their summer gear and turn their focus instead to the new academic year that’s on the horizon. And the new school year usually entails a new academic team in some capacity, whether it be teaching, managing or offering admin support. I've [...]
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? [...]
As I lie on my sunbed with my toes covered in sand and nothing but my two small children to disturb my daydreams, I can truly understand the importance of maintaining a good work-life balance. While this would appear obvious to most, it’s something that as teachers we tend to forget as the lines between personal [...]
While thinking of ways to reduce our environmental impact, as part of a scholarship opportunity which I'm sad to say alas for me wasn't successful, I started to think about rethinking my whole approach to teaching to take the paperless classroom to the next level. While my idea went no further in the competition, I [...]
For many of us, the classroom is more than just a physical space, it is also a psychological construct where we have self-imposed strict rules of how to act, behave, conduct a lesson and respond to our learners. As we develop as teachers, I'm sure most of us will admit that we are guilty of [...]
Part 3 of the Key English Test (KET) focuses on communicative interaction, students need to choose the correct responses in a dialogue. This sounds easier than it is, as it's not just a straight forward question-answer match, but requires students to know a range of conversational phrases, as well as having good analytical abilities to [...]
Learning lessons from TEFL 