Next week is IATEFL 2024 (I’m speaking! [Page 80] come and say hi!), so the wonderful world of ELT conferences is very much on my mind. They’re a great opportunity to learn more about English Language Teaching, meet up with friends and colleagues (and make new ones!), and explore new materials and resources. It’s been a real privilege to have spent the last few years attending (and often speaking at) conferences in different countries, and I love having the opportunity to learn from teachers as well as experts in the field. In many ways, though, it doesn’t seem like that long ago since the fir ..read more

Whether you use ones that come with your textbook, find them on the internet or make your own (or get your students to make them!), flashcards are a great tool for the young learner teacher to have in their arsenal. Using pictures helps the teacher establish the meaning of new vocabulary quickly and easily – but they also provide lots of opportunities for games that require no prep time, provided you’ve remembered to take your flashcards with you. Here are four of my favourites… Spider For this game you’ll need a set of flashcards for vocabulary you want to practice, plus a flashcard featuring ..read more

One of my most memorable learning experiences in my own education was a study skills workshop that I attended whilst at secondary school. Led by a former circus performer, the day included a juggling lesson (and the workshop leader juggling our teachers’ mugs as a demonstration), but it also made a lasting impression as it was my first introduction to the idea of learning styles. In short, the idea that everyone has a particular preferred way of learning, and their learning will be more effective and efficient if instruction matches that learning style. Along with my classmates, I took a quiz ..read more

It’s been an interesting transition from the world of English Language Teaching into working for an ELT publisher. My job sees me still working with teachers on a regular basis, and talking, thinking and writing about teaching, but I’m well aware that there are some things I perhaps see differently now. I’ve taught in private language schools, summer schools, a state school, and online, but I’d never stopped to consider the overall breadth of English Language Teaching. How there are so many different contexts in which English is taught, who it’s taught by and who it’s taught to, and all the di ..read more

It’s been a long time – and what a time it’s been. Since I last posted I’ve moved from teaching to the world of ELT publishing, moved to a different part of the country, studied for my Delta, travelled to many, many new countries to work with teachers there (something that was beyond my wildest dreams when I started this blog), and on a more personal note bought a house, got married and had a baby. Oh, and there’s been a pandemic. Last week I had a fantastic time at IATEFL – and without wanting to be trite, it reminded me of how priviledged I am to work in this industry. How I firmly believe ..read more

When I first started teaching English abroad, I had no idea that it would turn into my career, and I don’t think I’m alone in that. Much as I know many ‘lifers’, I’ve also lived, worked and played alongside teachers who’ve decided that working in ELT  isn’t for them.  Many people take their CELTA or a Trinity with a view to living, teaching and travelling abroad for a year or so, but don’t see a career in the classroom as a long-term goal – and that’s perfectly ok! If you’ve started teaching but aren’t sure if it’s for you, or can’t decide if TEFL is worth it if you’re only going to ..read more

Yesterday in the UK (2nd February) was Time To Talk Day, which encourages people to break the silence and talk about mental health problems. I’ve already come across a couple of helpful ELT related posts – Phil Longwell’s brave and honest interview on the Teachers as Workers blog and Sandy Millin’s list of useful links on mental health in ELT, but couldn’t help but feel that this should give me the impetus to write a post I’ve been meaning to write for ages. One in four people are estimated to suffer from mental health problems every year, which means that it’s far more common than a lot of pe ..read more

One of the challenges of teaching lower level students is knowing when, and how, to grade your language. Although by the end of my Trinity I’d just about got my head around how to talk to elementary students, I still tended to find that I’d frequently be greeted by blank stares for the first few minutes of the lesson – before I’d graded my language enough to be easily understood. The first time I taught beginner students I had no idea how to speak to them! Grading your language is one of those things that seems much easier in theory than it is in practice. You just use simpler words, right? We ..read more

I read Joanna Malefaki’s post on Disciplining Adult Learners, and was immediately inspired to write my own thoughts on the topic. You see, we spend a lot of time talking about how to manage challenging behaviour in our young learner classes… but much as we shy away from admitting it, challenging behaviour happens from time to time in adult classes too. Similar to Joanna’s experience, I’ve had students: Openly text/play on their phones throughout the lesson Answer a phone call, then having a phone conversation in the middle of the lesson Ignore instructions (problematic when those instru ..read more

One of my many plans for The Best Ticher this year is to showcase some other voices, not just my own. After all, I’m not the only EFL teacher out there! To kick off my new series of ‘Interview with an EFL Teacher’ posts, I’d like to introduce my friend (and former colleague) Allison.    Allison is an EFL teacher from Long Island, New York. She did her CELTA in Wroclaw, Poland and currently works in Prague, Czech Republic. In her free time, Allison likes to read, draw, do arts and craft projects and play on her ukulele. Hi Allison, thanks for agreeing to answer some questions for my ..read more