Lately I’ve been feeling a bit pessimistic about the state of ELT. It feels everyday more like a club we NNEST are not welcome to join. When I look around me, online and offline, I see more and more people participating in the NEST-NNEST debate, affirming that there should be no differences. That gender, colour …
Author Archives: Capybara
This year I have been given many more YL classes at school, so expect to read posts on teaching children or teenagers. Contrary to what I believed, I am actually enjoying the new challenge. I will keep track of my progress and any difficulties or issues that arise here on this blog. As usual, thank …
Getting to know each other activities for YLs
A few weeks back I had to cover a lesson with a small group of young learners (6-7 boys and girls aged 10-11). It was the group’s first lesson, and while some students knew each other from the previous year, there were also some new students so I decided to devote about half the lesson …
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My #bucketlistchallenge
Following Hana Tichá’s post and her challenge to other bloggers to write their own bucket list, I’d like to share my own list of 10 things I’d like to do in the future. Some of these things have been in my bucket for years, some are new and exciting. I plan to do my best to …
7 blog posts you shouldn't miss
Today I’d like to do some meta-blogging by writing about not some specific blogs — you can find a list of my favourite blogs on the right — but about specific posts I often go back to. They inspire me, help me, give me practical ideas, so I want to share them with you, hoping …
What keeps you motivated?
Yesterday I was talking about motivation with one of my students, and so I started asking myself: what makes me invest time (and sometimes money) in CDP, in writing this blog, in reading and reflecting on my teaching? I guess the main motivation for me comes from seeing students go out of my lessons smiling, …
My beliefs as a teacher: learning and teaching
Today I would like to discuss a deeper aspect of my beliefs as a teacher: how I assume we learn a language, and how this affects what I consider effective teaching. What follows is a list of beliefs I gathered from observing myself and from analysing how I myself learned my second (and third) language. …
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My top 6 posts
Today I was looking back at my old posts, and I realised some have been quite popular compared to my average number of visits/views, and others are posts I’m quite proud of, despite the low number of visits. So today I’d like to go a bit nostalgic and list here my top favourite posts from …
My beliefs as a teacher: role of the learner
As part of the post series on my beliefs as a teacher, today I would like to discuss the role of the learner as I see it from where I stand. I will try to make this as generic as possible, even though I believe the role of a 4-year-old child is very different from that …
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Journalling and setting goals
I’ve recently purchased a journal (affiliate link) that is designed to help the user improve themselves and get things done by setting goals and reviewing them periodically. I’ve been journalling since I was something like 9 or 10, and I still find it helpful, so I decided to try this new experience starting from this new …