This last academic year has been quite a rollercoaster and just like any other teacher, I’ve done my fair share of hunting down ideas on the internet to make my classes more entertaining, enjoyable and above all, truer to real life.
So, I thought I’d put together a list of the TEFL resources I’ve found the most useful this year.
- Earth Cam (free app) – this displays live feed videos from webcams in locations around the world. There are videos of Times Square, Niagara Falls and many other places. Personally, I really enjoyed this app (which I put on my iPad) and used it to switch things up a bit from the photographs provided in course books. It was especially useful to get students practising describing and comparing/contrasting images and videos. I also used it in weather vocabulary lessons.
- Lesson Plans Digger (website) – Gosia’s website is full of fantastic ideas for B2 and C1 activities to make learning advanced techniques a little bit more interesting. I’ve spoken in a previous post about how well her word formation games worked for my B2 classes.
- Film English (website) – Though I don’t often have time during most classes to use one of Kieran’s fantastic videos and lesson plans, when I have the chance, the kids really enjoy it. With interesting and relevant topics, the videos give way to great discussions at all levels.
- Cambridge graded readers (books) – having started B1 and C1 book clubs this year, these graded readers provided thought-provoking content and simple storylines to follow, which was essential, especially at B1 level.
- Padlet (platform) – though I’m still getting to grips with using this in the classroom, during this last academic year, Padlet has allowed me to provide extra practice in a non-intrusive way. I post extra practice on the wall of our class and those who want to, do it, either electronically or on paper. It’s been a great way to give more to those who are really motivated. An added bonus is that they can’t lose the assignment, unlike a piece of paper!
But this is just my humble opinion. What about you? What resources do you love? Feel free to comment and share your ideas.
