Good morning
As I sit writing this, there's a bit of January sunshine coming through the window, so even though I've been feeling a bit fed up about not being able to go anywhere (anyone else got Lockdown Fatigue?) perhaps things aren't so bad and spring is just around the corner...
I've got some great stuff for you this week- the second in my occasional series of blog posts from people I find inspirational, a low prep, high value teaching activity and a website from one of the gurus of our profession, Jane Willis.
Inspirational ELT Stories
I first met Rachael Roberts in 2000 when she employed me to work as an ESOL teacher at Solihull College. She was a great boss and has become a good friend but the reason I think she's inspirational is because she's a fantastic example of the many different facets that ELT has. Rachael has been a teacher, a teacher trainer, a manager, a materials writer and she now works helping ELT professionals achieve their goals through her Life-Resourceful coaching.
Check out her story here.
Sneak preview
This week, I thought that it would be good to make another video with a classroom activity and I've got a great idea for you for a way to run speaking tasks that I have called Repetition 1-2-3. It takes very little preparation time and will give your learners a really purposeful structure to develop their language.
You can find the video here. Let me know how you get on if you use it.
Website
The activity in the video has a lot in common with a Task Based Learning approach and so, for my website this week, it seemed appropriate to point you in the direction of a site that has lots of information and lesson plans for this methodology.
If Jane Willis is a new name to you, you're in for a treat. If you already know of her work, you'll know why I'm highlighting her website. Her name is synonymous with Task Based Learning and she and her late husband Dave published extensively in this area. If you'd like to know more about her, you can
find out here and the
main website link is here. There are
articles you can download and some
free lesson plans. Be warned, the site looks a bit plain, but there is great content there, so don't judge this particular book by it's cover! I hope you find it useful!
So that's it from me. I hope that you have a productive and happy week and I look forward to talking to you (I know that sounds slightly odd, but it's how it feels to me) next Sunday.
Best
Jo Gakonga
