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Why I gave up on ‘fast finisher activities’
Job Opportunity in IH Bydgoszcz with Sandy Millin
Fantastic opportunity for CELTA/Cert TESOL qualified teachers in Bydgoszcz in Poland. Follow the link below for details:
2Ts in a Pod Episode 8: Innovate ELT Conference
Image credit: Mark Wilding
Follow us on twitter @RobbioDobbio + @2tspod
First of all, if you haven’t already, please consider making a donation to Mental Health Friendly’s crowdfunding drive aimed at increasing access to English classes for people suffering and recovering from mental health issues, follow the link below:
https://gogetfunding.com/shay-educational-consultant/
This is our 8th episode of 2Ts in a Pod and our first exclusively for teachers. Katy and I attended the Innovate ELT conference at Oxford House in Barcelona where we interviewed speakers and organisers and generally had a lovely time. Check out the episode below, you’ll find the timings of the different interviews further down along with links to the various blogs and projects of the different interviewees. Thanks a lot to Oxford House and ELT Jam for having us!
Jo Sayers – 8.00-25.00
Scott Thornbury – 26.30-30.30
Dirk Lagerward – 33.00-42.00
Shaun Sweeney – 44.00-49.30
Ollie Wood and Mary Whiteside – 51.30-58.30
Nicola Meldrum – 59.30 – 63.30
Melody Phillip – 65.00 – 76.00
Learn more about ELTJam and Oxford TEFL at their websites:
eltjam.com/
oxfordhousebcn.com/en/
Check out Scott Thornbury’s brilliant blog “An A-Z of ELT”
scottthornbury.wordpress.com/
Subscribe to Dirk Lagerwaard’s excellent Vlog “NovELTies”:
www.youtube.com/channel/UCaRobWmFB_TLkqGM8Dg3IRQ
More food for thought at Shaun Sweeney’s blog below:
teacherdevelopmentlab.wordpress.com/
Find the free course on using online games in ELT that Mary and Ollie talked about by following the link below:
eltjam.academy/p/example
Follow the link below to explore Nicola Meldrum and Mark Mckinnon’s blog on teaching pronunciation:
teachpronunciation.blog/about/
Check out Melody Philip’s blog “Seahorse English”:
seahorseenglish.wordpress.com/author/sea…seenglish/
2Ts in a Pod at Innovate ELT
2Ts in a Pod is coming to Innovate ELT at Oxford House in Barcelona on May 11th & 12th and you can join us there at a discounted price using the offer code ‘2TSINAPOD20’ when you buy your ticket from the link below:
We’ll be doing the rounds interviewing speakers and attendees. Take a look at the lineup, who are you most excited to see?
Coursebook requests
After Christmas: Find Someone Who…
Image credit: Odyssey
Follow me on twitter @RobbioDobbio
This is an activity designed with young, low-level teens in mind to get them talking about their Christmas holidays using the classic “Find Someone Who…” format. Download the worksheet below.
After Christmas: Find someone who…
You may need to model some question structures on the board before students start mingling. Remind them to ask follow-up questions to get details of their classmates’ holidays.
- Speak to everyone in the class.
- Ask questions to find a person who did each activity, if they say yes, write their name and ask for details.
- First write the questions.
| Activity | Person | Details |
| Went on holiday
Did you go on holiday? Details: Where did you go? |
||
| Tried some new food
___________________________ ___________________________ |
||
| Had a party
___________________________ ___________________________ |
||
| Ate McDonald’s
___________________________ ___________________________ |
||
| Got some new clothes as a present
___________________________ ___________________________ |
||
| Got an electronic present (tablet, console…)
___________________________ ___________________________ |
||
| Visited family in a different town/city
___________________________ ___________________________ |
||
| Went to the cinema
___________________________ ___________________________ |
||
| Went skiing
___________________________ ___________________________ |
||
| Played a board game
___________________________ ___________________________ |
Lessons you can watch online
Amazing collection of class videos covering lots of different ages, levels, needs and skills.
An open letter to Glastonbury, from a victim.
CPE/Proficiency Writing Part 1: Phrase Sheet
Image credit: qvictorias.com
Follow me on twitter @RobbioDobbio
I’ve recently started teaching CPE again so I decided to make a phrase sheet for my students to help them tackle part 1 of the writing paper, the formal essay. Download it below:
CPE Writing Part 1 Phrase Sheet
Summarising Texts
- The first text/passage/extract outlines the benefits/drawbacks of…
- The second text argues/claims that…
- The first text advocates… +…ing (supports)
- The second text puts forward the idea that…
- It then goes on to espouse the viewpoint that… (say)
- The text sheds light on the issue/topic of…
- The text brings the topic of… to light.
- The writer of the first text is a firm believer in…
- The writer/author of the second text is highly critical of…
- Both writers seem to agree that…, where their ideas deviate however is on the topic of…
- The second text makes bold statements in support of…
- Not only does the first text state that…, but it also claims that…
- In addition to the aforementioned point, it also claims that…
Critical Examination
- One thing the writer fails to mention is…
- A glaring omission from the first text is…
- While the writer makes some valid arguments in favour of…, she ignores the fact that…
- One area which the writer seems to have overlooked is…
- While I am generally in agreement with the majority of the first writer’s points the obvious hole in their argument is…
- Were I to pick holes in the writer’s arguments, I would start by pointing out that…
- I feel it must also be pointed out that…
- When it comes to the topic of…, the text seems to be lacking somewhat
- One major weakness in the writer’s argument is that…
- The text neglects to mention that fact that…
- The writer seems to have gone overboard in their praise/criticism of…
Expressing Opinion
- I am of the opinion that…
- In my humble opinion…
- My thoughts on the matter are that…
- As far as I am concerned,
- As far as my opinions on the matter are concerned,…
- My initial reaction to the opinions outlined in the text was…
- I am a firm believer in…
- On the whole, I tend to agree with… due to the fact that…