In this section, you will find a number of blog posts, which have been written to help you develop your skills and knowledge as a teacher in the professional practice 'Planning lessons and courses'. From primary-aged students to adult learners of English, the blog posts you will find here are practical, insightful and full of ideas to support your teaching and planning for all kinds of classrooms.

Disclaimer: All content written for our magazine is produced independently by teachers working in the English language teaching profession around the world. The views and opinions expressed in the content produced by these writers does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the British Council

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Warm them up, PLEASE

“Here is the coursebook. Open it to unit 1. Read the title”

Can there be a more discouraging start to a new class? I, unwisely, did that 12 years ago when I started teaching! Now, that I am wiser, hopefully, I wish to share with you 3 simple ideas to start a new class that require zero preparation.

What's in a name: first classes

September is upon us, and we are all gearing up for the new classes, new courses. With the pandemic still very much on, none of us know quite what the new school year may turn out to be. Yet we are teachers and as such we must always be ready for the unexpected.

Sondos Awadallah-Was it a Lame Joke, or a Lame Listening Skill?

Have you ever prepared a joke to share with your students and expected them to burst into laughter, but ended up merely hearing crickets? I bet you felt embarrassed and thought what a lame joke that I shared! Believe me your joke was so funny, but students who did not laugh or react did not get your message. In other words, these students struggle with listening skills.

Listening and hearing

Listening and hearing are two different skills. People may listen but not hear and they may hear but not really listen. This refers not only to EL lessons but to life in general. I am sharing some techniques which help my students understand spoken English better, and help me plan my lessons during the pandemic. I can also share some of my very short videos.

Word Wall – an excellent vocabulary building technique by Mrs. S. Akilandeswari

There are many time tested techniques to help students expand their vocabulary trove. Some of them are – learn 5 new words every day and use them regularly, read, read and read, keep a thesaurus and dictionary handy, use mnemonics, picture association, and so on.  These techniques may work but they are slow and steady process.

A Journey of Learning: Reading

In our daily lives, we come across a wide range of texts for reading such as some stories, academic or newspaper articles, reports, emails, notifications and messages. And we all have different reasons for reading these texts to enjoy, to communicate, or to get some new information. And this affects the way we teach. 

Research and insight

Browse fascinating case studies, research papers, publications and books by researchers and ELT experts from around the world.

See our publications, research and insight