Setting off for pastures new…

Image used under a Creative Commons Public Domain licence via http://www.clker.com/ http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en

My blog has lived with the WordPress people for a little over two years now, and while we we have got on well and I have got used to how they like to keep their place neat and tidy, I have recently started to yearn for a place of my own – somewhere with a little more freedom and space.

So, with fond memories and a tear in my eye, it’s time to fly the nest and settle down under an address of my own.

From now on, you can find me over at teachertrainingunplugged.com – not a big change of address, but it means a lot to me.

Please make sure to update your bookmarks and re-subscribe of you need to – I don’t want to lose touch with any of you!

Apologies for any inconvenience caused by the move, but I felt it was time to stand on my own two feet.

Hope to see you over at teachertrainingunplugged.com very soon!

Anthony

PS: my next blog post – The Classroom As Crucible – will be going live over on teachertrainingunplugged.com at midday CET tomorrow.

My first guest bloggers – my students

Work in progress…

Earlier today I unexpectedly had the opportunity to cover a teaching practice slot on our CELTA course. As I was watching one of my trainee teachers working with a recording of a book-club discussion about Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, I started to think about what I could do next with the student group that would be challenging and worth their while.

I decided to ask them if they were writers themselves, and it turns out that one of them had recently penned a poem to a friend on the occasion of their birthday (if I understood them correctly). from here, I made a connection to some poetry writing that I had been doing with students recently myself, and this led me to my blog.

I showed some of my recent posts and then admitted a problem: I am so busy with the current training course that I was afraid about not getting my next post out in time.

The class agreed – cautiously – to becoming my first ever guest blog post writers, with a post about their experience as students working with my trainee teachers in teaching practice. .

We defined who my typical readership was and what they were likely to be interested in hearing about, and then I let each student write about whatever they felt like in response to this. I spent my time supporting them and refining where I could, but I didn’t suggest content.

They agreed that I could post their comments on their teaching practice experience here, and I would love it if you would reply to them in a comment.

Guest Post: Breaking The Law In The Language Classroom (On Phil Wade’s blog)

You can check out my guest post on a blog belonging to the Mighty, Mighty Phil Wade by following this link:

Breaking The Law In The Language Classroom – Anthony Gaughan

It’s just me getting all self-righteous about the wanton lack of respect for copyright in our photocopy-addicted profession – and some classic 80s heavy metal courtesy of Judas Priest.

Hope you enjoy it!

Anthony

WEBINAR RECORDING: What Makes a Lesson GREAT?

WEBINAR RECORDING: What Makes a Lesson GREAT?

On Thursday 28 June I was honoured to give my first webinar, asking the question what makes a lesson GREAT?, for the British Council Teaching English team.

Thanks go out to the 70 or so participants who gave up luchbreaks, dinner times or sleep to attend – I deeply appreciate it!

If you couldn’t make it, or if you would like to relive the experience, the recording of the whole session including Q&A is now online (duration: 67 minutes).

‘Til next time, all the best,

Anthony

What Makes a Lesson GREAT? – slideshow

I’ve just finished my first Webinar on what makes a lesson GREAT and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it!

It was strange talking into thin air for almost an hour but it was lovely to see so many people there and participating through comments: thank you all for coming.  I know how busy teachers’ days are, so I truly appreciate it.

As it was my first time, I totally messed up the upload of my presentation slides, and had to work with an incomplete set – serves me right for not checking in advance!  However, here they are, in all their intended glory.  You can either play it as a slideshow (each slide is set for 10 seconds so you can read the text-heavy ones) or you can click through.

Thank you for being patient with me.