From my own experience: My least favourite memory from early teaching: drilling gone wrong. The same sentence, 15 times, same voice, same pace. The students' eyes glazed over. What I learned is that drilling is…
💬 From my own experience: My first year of teaching, I corrected every error the moment it appeared. Lessons became error-correction sessions. My students stopped speaking. The day I learned to hold a correction until…
💬 From my own experience: My CELTA tutor told me: 'A hammer is not better than a screwdriver. They solve different problems.' I had been using PPP for every lesson, even when the aim was…
💬 From my own experience: My first solo teaching hour at The ELT Hub in Landerneau: I gave a pair-work instruction and half the class worked individually, half discussed in groups of four. I had…
💬 From my own experience: During my 120 supervised teaching hours, my tutor wrote this on my feedback form: 'Good use of ICQs, but your CCQs are too close to the meaning.' That note taught…
📖 From the teacher's desk: In my very first observed lesson on the CELTA course, my board work was a disaster — cramped, inconsistent fonts, no clear sections, and I talked while writing with my…
📖 From the teacher's desk: When I first received feedback on my own teaching in Landerneau, my tutor noted that I was interrupting students mid-speech to correct them — which was killing the fluency phase…
📖 From the teacher's desk: As a sommelier, I quickly learned that guests who chose a wine themselves were far more satisfied than guests I chose for. The same psychology applies in the classroom. When…
📖 From the teacher's desk: In hospitality, we always briefed the team before service — setting the scene, building anticipation, making everyone feel ready. The classroom lead-in does exactly the same thing. When I first…
📖 From the teacher's desk: In my CELTA observed lessons in Landerneau, drilling was the technique I had the most physical resistance to. It felt mechanical — almost old-fashioned. But watching it done well by…
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