Newsletter 2021#32

Good morning

I'm excited on two fronts this morning - we're on the move again this week - off to Crete tonight (following the sun as far south as we can go without actually leaving Europe!) and the first VoiCE- Video Creation for Educators group programme is full already and I'm taking bookings for April. Can I say 'things are going well' without tempting a thunderbolt down on my head? I'm in the land of Zeus after all....

Something old

If you teach in a monolingual environment, encouraging learners to keep speaking in English can be challenging, especially at lower levels and especially with teens and younger learners. Of course, there's a place for L1 in the classroom, but getting them using the language as much as possible increases practice time and progress.  A few years ago, I did a bit of crowd sourcing on how to keep learners speaking English in class and this video was the outcome. I hope you enjoy these ideas and that you find some new ones here!

Something new

Now for something a bit different - let's imagine that you've done CELTA and you've been teaching for a little while. You love the classroom (physical or virtual) and you think that this is the career path for you. What next? The obvious contenders for a further qualification are the Delta (or Trinity Diploma) or an MA. But which should you choose? It's a tough question but I've made a short video here with a few thoughts and some links to lots of other information. Feel free to pass it on if you know anyone who's thinking about taking the plunge!

Something borrowed

Finally, it's that time of year again when the ELTons roll around. If this acronym is new to you, it's a British Council award for innovation in English teaching materials and it's styled as a sort of 'Oscars of ELT' with an award ceremony in London (although I hear it's an afternoon, not evening event this year - a bit more tea and cake, a bit less champagne and canape?!)  There are five categories including Course Innovation, Innovation in Teacher Resources and Learner Resources, Digital Innovation and Local Innovation and although it's largely dominated by the big publishers these days, it's still interesting to have a browse through and see what's happening out there in our world. You can find a list of the finalists here.

If you want a recommendation, this resource Vlogger Academy has free material at all levels based on YouTube vloggers - I think it'd be really motivating for teens.

Well, that's it from me for today. Hope you have a great week and see you next Sunday :)

Best

Jo