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Why should I care about my students? Why should I care about my colleagues? It’s just a job!

 “Empathy is a choice, and a vulnerable choice because in order to connect with you, I have to connect with something in myself that knows that feeling”. During a management course in July, I came across a video (‘Brene Brown on Empathy’ you can watch it here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw ) which illustrated the differences between empathy...

Getting to know Computer Adaptive Testing and the LanguageCert Test of English (LTE) Listening & Reading

Introduction Over the last 30 years or so, computers have had quite an impact on language testing. As regards Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT) in particular, it is currently on the leading edge of assessment technology.                  Defining and exploring CAT                 CAT is a sophisticated method of test delivery that tailors test question...

Simple ways to find out more about your learners’ progress

Monitoring learner progress throughout the course can be a useful source of information for the teacher. Even though we tend to rely heavily on tests (summative assessment) to grade learners, summative assessment can give us an opportunity to have a clear picture of the impact of our teaching so that we can adapt it or shift focus on areas our learners...

Learning by Heart - a Plea for Poetry

Learning by Heart - a Plea for Poetry A strange expression that. A very guilty one as well. The “by heart” approach has carried all the negative effects of Behaviourism in Education so the demonization of the term is inevitable in teachers’ minds. What it usually means is memorization - sticking things in your head and keeping them there, ready to...

How the Pandemic Helped Me Become a Better Teacher

Covid-19 was no doubt a stressful time for teachers. I myself suffered my first ever migraine; a result, I believe, of so-called Zoom-fatigue. However, it was also the trigger for much ‘forced experimentation’: the idea that an unwelcome imposition can push us to change our habits and, in the process, develop new skills. In fact, I’d go as far as to say...

 Teacher research: Giving students roles to help develop their identities

Throughout my long career I have been committed to two fundamental goals: the professional development of my teachers and using the learning environment as a space to develop identities. In this article I would like to show how these goals can be addressed within the context of teachers striving to give meaningful roles to their students. These roles relate...

Choose the right graded readers for your course

Research shows that the more students read in English, the more proficient they become. Reading can significantly improve students’ level in all four skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. It can also result in big improvements in the use of grammar and vocabulary. An effective way of engaging your students with reading is by using graded...

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