I recently did a 10-minute presentation for the ALL Language World conference on using GCSE-style activities at Key Stage 3. For anyone who signed up to the conference and missed my presentation, you can watch it back via a link that you should have been sent (for one month following the conference, I think). I…
DetailsI just wanted to quickly share 3 zero prep activities I have done in lessons recently that worked well. I can’t take credit for these ideas… I saw them first on social media but I’m really sorry to say I can’t remember/don’t know who shared them first, so I don’t know who to credit! Apologies!…
DetailsFollowing on from my presentation in the TM MFL Icons webinar on Saturday (23rd January 2021), I’ve had a look at all of the websites that were recommended for using authentic resources in A Level teaching and collated the best ones here.
What is the Staffroom? The Staffroom is a support community for anyone who works in education, from head teachers to classroom teachers, heads of department to teaching assistants. For £3 a month, you have access to a private Facebook group where you can connect with others, chat about life in school, support each other and…
DetailsWhen life seems totally overwhelming, I find that if I can just achieve one thing a day, I feel so much calmer and more positive.
Having recently read Kate Jones’ book on Retrieval Practice, I’ve been inspired to make sure I start each of my lessons with a retrieval activity. For the most part, I’ve been creating something based on the previous lesson, such as a little quiz, ‘find someone who…’ or a game such as Connect 4 or Battleships. After…
DetailsIf you’re looking for something to do in the last week of term before Christmas, but are sick of the same old worksheets and you’re not allowed to show films… how about a few Christmas listening activities, courtesy of Kate Languages?!
Inspired by a recent episode of Dr Rangan Chatterjee’s excellent podcast, I’ve created a new worksheet, which I’ve called ‘Breathing Bingo’. The aim is to see how many of these different breathing techniques you can tick off in any given week – you can either go for a line or attempt to get a ‘full…
DetailsA great ‘ice-breaker’ activity to do in the first lesson with a new group is ‘find someone who…’ as it gets students talking to each other and gives them a focused purpose rather than just doing an open-ended ‘tell us a bit about yourself’ in a room full of people they don’t know very well.
After reading the excellent ‘Retrieval Practice’ by Kate Jones (great name, btw!), I’ve created this placemat which could act as a generic prompt for learners of foreign languages to use in any given lesson. It should be suitable for any year group at any time of year. I think there are 3 possible ways of…
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