📖 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…
📖 From the teacher's desk: Managing 20 front-of-house staff at The Ivy in Sydney, I learned that how you give instructions determines everything — even more than the instructions themselves. In the classroom, I discovered…
📖 From the teacher's desk: "Do you understand?" — I must have asked this dozens of times in my first observed teaching practice. And every student nodded. And then not one of them could do…
📖 From the teacher's desk: On my CELTA course, writing lesson aims was the first thing I had to master — and the first thing I got wrong. My early aims were teacher-focused ("to teach…
📖 From the teacher's desk: At 40-something, I completed the Cambridge CELTA course — sitting alongside trainees half my age, writing assignments, being observed teaching, receiving feedback. It was humbling and energising in equal measure.…
📖 From the teacher's desk: La Réunion is unlike anywhere I have ever lived. We have an active volcano (the Piton de la Fournaise), coral reefs, ancient forests, and tropical beaches — all on one…
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