Newsletter #11

Good morning

December is with us and for me, that's the signal to put up the Christmas tree and get the fairy lights out! Even Covid can't stop that and putting up all the tinsel and decorations that my kids have made over the years, made me smile, so I hope that something made you feel that good this week, too.

What have I got for you today? A few tips on keeping your learners speaking in English, another observational challenge for you and a website with a great free tool for making tasks with YouTube videos... Here we go....

Keeping them speaking in English
So, you set your learners up with a nice speaking task, you get them started and as you monitor, all you can hear is conversations in their first language... Does this sound familiar? If it does and you'd like some ideas to encourage them to speak more in English, then this video will help. I'm saying nothing more- watch it and see if any of the ideas resonate!

Sneak preview -Reflective Practice #4
I hope that you've been enjoying reflecting on your practice (and if you've been procrastinating, it's not too late to start now- the activities can be done in any order). This week, I'm asking for a bit more effort, but the rewards are great- I promise. I want you to listen to a really short part of your lesson (one or two minutes) and transcribe it. You might be thinking 'really??!!' but it'll be a lot more interesting and eye-opening than you might think. ... Here's the challenge- see what you make of it.

Website- Tube Quizard
YouTube is an amazing resource for learners. There is so much material on an almost infinite range of topics so there is bound to be something to engage your learners. Teachers are often put off developing lessons from authentic video material like this, though, because of the extra work. This is where tools like Tube Quizard come in. is a great free tool that you can use to make gap fills from YouTube videos. You can use these in class or give them to learners for homework and there are ready made examples organised by level, language point and genre. You can also use the tool to make your own activities from your favourite YouTube video. Give it a whirl and let me know how you get on.

OK, I think that's about it for this week. Hope that you enjoy these ideas...I'm off for a mince pie now, so I'll see you next week.

Best
Jo