Could it be that there is only one evaluation question that it's worth using? It's a very simple question: What engaged you? This one powerful question asks the listener or reader to simply identify something,…
This post is inspired by a reading in one of the advanced books - it might well be English File which has a reading related to animals. Anyway, the reason this comes to mind is…
STUDENTS MUST SPEAK FOR AT LEAST 95% OF THE LESSON As I said in a recent post, the only sound I tend to hear coming out of classrooms is the sound of teacher's voices. This…
1 BEING TOO ATTACHED TO THE BOARD We all too often stay stuck at the front of the classroom, welded to the board. It's as if we think we aren't doing any teaching unless we…
FIVE TYPES OF EXPLOITATION IN A LANGUAGE SCHOOL I've recently become interested in drilling down into the power structures that exist within the typical language school. What I find interesting is the way the exploitation…
I can't pinpoint exactly how this idea formed but I am grateful that it appeared in my thinking. The insight I had was that error correction only referred to the actions of one person -…
Why do most coursebook exercises require learners to do so little? Why are they so often asked to fill in blanks, to circle things, to match things together or to write T or F? This…
So, I once had an interesting Padlet experience. A person was brought in to act as the thrusting new broom at the school where I worked. The existing brooms just all felt a bit tired…
