Relax, take it easy ;)

Aloha!

First of all, let me give you a quick spoiler alert: this post won't be about work. 

The last few months have been crazy for our teaching community. Some of us have sweat more than ever trying to make remote teaching work, while others have lost their students and classes due to the pandemic. In any case, it's been an emotional roller-coaster for all of us.

It's summer now, a lot of us can enjoy a well-deserved break and take care of ourselves. Nobody knows what the future holds so it's important to charge batteries before we get back to work and tackle new challenges. I know it's not easy to switch off and stop thinking about work, but  I strongly believe that a happy, relaxed teacher is a good teacher. For this reason, I wanted to share my ways to unwind. Perhaps some of you will enjoy them, too :)



Apart from reading books and binging on Netflix (I'm now watching Mindhunter, which I highly recommend), I love listening to podcasts. Here are some of my favourite podcasts:

BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour
Serial Podcast - especially season 1!
Stitcher - various podcasts - I really enjoyed This sounds serious


I've also become fond of colouring! It's a simple activity but has
proven to be very calming and relaxing. It helps me focus on something else than work and disconnect. Amazon offers a variety of fun colouring books for adults- check them out.




I'm sure I've already mentioned this in another post, but can't express my gratitude for FutureLearn - their free online courses are the bomb! If you want to spend your time in a more productive way, then I'm sure you'll enjoy learning something new through their professional courses.


Speaking of productive activities, exercise is definitely one of them. Sadly, I'm not a very sporty person but I've found Yoga with Adriene  fantastic- her 30 day yoga challenge hooked me on yoga and regular stretching. I also love long walks - they work like a therapy for me. Because of the lockdown and restrictions, I have discovered some truly charming and picturesque places in my neighbourhood. Go and explore your area, you won't regret it :)

After a good exercise, you surely deserve a slice of a delicious cake. Baking is another activity I find therapeutic and I try to bake something at least once a week. I never have time so I normally go for quick and easy recipes. Here are some recipes that always work for me:

The easiest banana bread ever
Basque cheesecake
The best apple crumble
Lemon-poppyseed cake
Basic muffins

How do you unwind? What helps you switch off? Remember, sharing is caring so comment with your tricks :) 

     Take care of yourself and stay safe! 

Tools for Teachers

Ahoy! 

This post is devoted to a variety of tools I find useful for teachers and students alike.

 I will be updating this list on a regular basis so please make sure to check it every now and again to see if anything new has been added.

• Genial.ly - a tool for creating interactive resources such as presentations, games, etc.

• Quizizz - a tool to create interactive quizzes and tests

• Kahoot - a game-based learning platform

• Quizlet - an app to learn vocabulary 

• Half a Crossword - make your own crossword

• Padlet a platform to share teaching material as well as students' work

• Screencast - recording and editing videos 

• Voki - for developing speaking skills

 Are there any tools/platforms you enjoy using in teaching both remotely and in-person? Please comment with your suggestions :) 

Social Distancing Bingo

How are you keeping? I hope you're not suffering from cabin fever. I'm definitely enjoying some perks of working from home (for example, having lunch on my balcony), but I'm very much looking forward to going back to "normal". 

I just wanted to touch base with you and share this quick Social Distancing Bingo I prepared for my teenage students. It can be used as a time filler, warm-up activity or exercise to practice the present perfect tenses. 

It's up to you how you want to use this activity but here is one idea: 

Students need to interview one another and find who has done the activities from the grid. It is better if they ask only a few questions per person- this will encourage them to speak to more people. Once they have filled four boxes in a row (diagonally, vertically or horizontally) with 4 different peer names, they need to call out BINGO! 

(If you teach online, you will need to use breakout rooms or a similar feature that will let you divide your students in pairs/groups). 

I hope this activity will brighten your and your students' moods a bit :)

Take care and stay safe :)

Teaching in times of Social Distancing

Long time no read,

I hope this finds you well...Even though I am having a (hopefully) short break from full-time teaching, education and ELT are still close to my heart and I surely haven't forgotten about you. 

This is a difficult time for all of us and a lot of you have been thrown in at the deep end and needed to move your courses online. I have taught online and attended various online courses as a learner myself...E-learning creates endless opportunities and has numerous advantages, but it can be daunting and confusing, especially at the beginning. 

This is why I created this list of (hopefully!) useful links that should help you feel more confident in teaching online. Feel free to comment with similar websites.We can do this! 

Tech Tools to Teach Online

• Google Classroom - a free web service, developed by Google for schools, that aims to simplify creating, distributing, and grading assignments in a paperless way
• EDmodo - an educational technology company offering a communication, collaboration, and coaching platform to K-12 schools and teachers
• Zoom - a web-based video conferencing tool with a local, desktop client and a mobile app that allows users to meet online, with or without video. Zoom users can choose to record sessions, collaborate on projects, and share or annotate on one another's screens, all with one easy-to-use platform
• Zoom Meeting Tutorial -if you decide to teach via zoom, then this tutorial might come in very handy!
• Four online teaching platforms Comparison by Teaching ESL online
• Slack for ELT - a simple communication tool for you and your students (and their parents!)

Tips and Resources for Teaching Online

• 5 ways to create and engaging and online class - I guess this one is self-explanatory ;) 
• 5 teaching tips - COVID19 - What is ELT's tips on teaching online
• Teaching online - using your coursebook and ideas for breakout rooms - British Council's webinars to help you get started with teaching online;
• Covid-19 learning support - British Council's  learning materials on LearnEnglish website to support teachers, parents and students.
• +50 Awesome Reading and Writing Websites to Keep Kids Learning at Home - Bored teachers
• Teaching online- the joys and challenges - youtube webinar with Cecilia Nobre 
• TypeForm- Create Online Tests, Questionnaires & Quizzes Tutorial on how to use TypeForm by EdTech 4 Beginners
• Challenges in ELT- teaching online - OneStopEnglish article
• Distance Teaching and Learning Hub - Macmillan Education teaching and learning resources available for free 
• Teaching from home tips and resources -Oxford University Press ELT
• Using a video conference platform for teaching online - Cambridge University Press
• Top tips for teaching English online - Pearson's top tips

I hope you'll find the above websites full of useful tips and resources. May this experience be an opportunity to develop new skills and discover new resources.

Keep up the great work, have fun and most importantly: 

take care of yourself and stay safe :* 

February Gems!

☆GEM ALERT☆

Anyone teaching business/in-company English?  TED The Way We Work is an original video series where leaders and thinkers offer practical wisdom and insight into how we can adapt and thrive amid changing workplace conventions.

Have you discovered anything worth sharing recently? 

Could you please tell me if ... (indirect questions with a twist)

Good afternoon Everyone! 

I've already told you how much I love using games in teaching. I also mentioned my fascination with Black Stories , a spooky card game with mysterious riddles. In this short post I'd like to share with you how I exploit this game to practice asking indirect questions with my teenage and adult students. This game is appropriate for both lower and higher levels (A2-B2). 

After explaining the difference between direct and indirect questions ( feel free to use this worksheet  ), write the below riddle up on your board:

Thank You

A woman goes into a pub and orders a glass of water. The man behind the bar grabs a rifle and aims it right at the woman. She thanks him and leaves. 

Clarify any vocabulary items your students might not know. Their task is to ask you yes/no indirect qestions to solve the mystery. Some example questions might include:

1. May I know if the man and woman know each other?

2. I was wondering whether the man is crazy.

3. Could you please tell me if she was thirsty? 

You should limit your answers to yes and no only, without giving your students any clues (unless, of course, they get stuck). The solution to the story:

The woman had hiccups and wanted to get rid of them with the water. The man behind the bar understood straight away and wanted to help her by giving her a real scare. It worked!

*For those of you who don't know it yet, it's believed that getting a fright might stop hiccups. 

You can find more black stories here. 

These cards are my students' favourite game and I can definitely say it's one of my best purchases :) 

Are there any board/card games you really like using in the classroom? How do you exploit them?

New Year, New Resolutions!

After a tough start to 2019, I'm finally back on track! It's nice to come back to see so many new followers...Welcome!

 One of my New Year's resolutions is to work harder on my professional development...joining a webminar or two sounds like a good start!

These webminars have attracted my attention and I'll be registering soon.Hope to see you there too!

How to help learners engage with vocabulary both during lessons and independently.

Talking to Teenagers in the English Language Classroom.


What do you do to keep up with the news in ELT? Feel free to share your tricks to become a better teacher :)

November Gems!

Can't believe it's December! Time flies... November was full of discoveries which I'd like to share with you in this short post. Here are some gems you might find useful:

Free Webminars on ELT- Macmillan English

Free Resources for Business English Teachers and Students

Graded Reading- LearnEnglish Teens British Council

Stories- LearnEnglish British Council

Collaborative Essay Brainstroming Strategies by The Daring English Teacher

12 Fun Speaking Games for Language Learners by Edutopia

Little Fox- Animated Stories for Young English Learners

Are there any websites/activities you'd like to share? 

What would happen if every human suddenly disappeared?

In this post I'd like to share a lesson I prepared for my upper-intermediate/advanced, adult students. I'm sure it could also work well with older teens and young adults. The lesson aims at revising the second conditional, practising listening, reading and speaking skills, as well as introducing some vocabulary.  


I. Divide your students into four groups and give each group one of  these photos  (or  photo 1, photo 2, photo 3, photo 4  ). Each group needs to describe their photo to their classmates in as much detail as possible.
Then ask everyone what the photos have got in common (they show a world without people)

II. Ask each group to discuss the following question: What would happen if every human suddenly disappeared? Let students brainstorm a few ideas in their small groups before sharing them with everybody. (Remember to encourage everyone to speak and use the second conditional.You can write their ideas up on a whiteboard).

III. Play this TED talk and ask your students to compare their previously discussed ideas to the ones from the video. Ask them to remember/note what the speaker says about the world without people. After watching the video spend some time on discussing it.

IV. Hand out this  worksheet   and ask students to do exercise I. Check their answers and talk about anything they found surprising.

V. Move on to exercises II and III to work on vocabulary. I told my students to do the exercises on their own first and then discuss their answers with their partners but you can choose another interaction pattern. Check their understanding of the words by asking various concept questions and asking them to use the words in a context. 

VI. Question IV might be answered in small groups first and then turned into a whole class discussion. Your students can later use the ideas to write a short essay on this topic (perfect homework ;) ).

You can play this  taboo game  in your next lesson to revise the vocabulary and have some fun :)

Hope you and your students will enjoy my lesson!

Teaching English to Young Learners- Useful links

A fellow teacher who's just at the beginning of her teaching career has asked me for some resources for her younger learners. I've compiled this list of useful websites which I'm also sharing here with you.

                                                 

 ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩  ⇩

British Council- Learn English Kids a must for every English teacher working with children;

ISL Collective   plenty of downloadable worksheets for students of all levels and ages;

Busy Teacher    a classic with teaching material for students of all ages and levels;

One-Stop-English  plenty of downloadable worksheets for students of all levels and ages;

Super Simple Learning   younger learners (songs and worksheets);

Teachit Languages various resources;

Twinkl teaching resources for teachers of various subjects (including ESL);

TES educational materials;

Yummy interactive resources for young learners (Polish and English version available);

ESL Kids stuff - to use this website you need to pay and become a member but there are also some free downloadable worksheets;

I child might be quite useful- I used it with my kindergarten kids but there are some materials for older kids too;

MES-English flashcards, crosswords, bingo cards, etc;

Little Fox animated stories for English learners- really good! includes songs and games;

Book Box another webiste with animated stories for children;

Fluentu some ESL activities for children.

Are there any other sites you would include in this list? What advice would you give an EFL teacher who is just starting their teaching career?

Business Phrasal Verbs Taboo Game

Sunday afternoons usually mean one thing for teachers: lesson planning ;) It's the end of a long weekend for many of us here in Europe so I'm sure you want to go back to work with something energising for your students...something that will wake them up after four days off. I bet a game will do the trick :)

In this post I'm sharing a Taboo Game which I've created for my adult students to revise some business phrasal verbs we'd been learning before the break (look forward to, go over, put forward, hand out, lay off, get on to, get out, get down to something, get away with (something), come up with, pull out of (something), knock off, stand out, slack off, go under, fall through, go down a storm, run ouf of).

I love playing taboo with my students: it gets them to speak and it's entertaining for adults and teens alike. Also, it teaches how to describe terms- a skill I find essential in working towards being communicative in a foreign language. Taboo, like any other game, might be played to revise vocabulary after finishing a unit of a textbook or it could be a great time filler at the end of a lesson. It's also a good way of waking your students up if they're a bit sleepy.

Taboo cards are easy to make and can serve you for a long time so you can reuse them (if you laminate them, you can have them forever...and who doesn't like laminating?!?!?!). 

If you've never played taboo and aren't sure how to play it, click here to familiarise yourself with the rules and read some useful tips. 

Enjoy :)