Compiled by Marja Juhola

Welcome to the first recap of 2014! Exciting things are happening – we (the Slovak Chamber of English Language Teachers) finally have our first officially elected Executive Committee and ELTForum 2014 is fast approaching. Registration for participants opens on 1 March – don’t miss it!

Trying to keep up with all the links and resources online can be difficult but to make your life easier, below a brief summary of what has caught our eye in the last couple of months.

Lesson and Activity ideas

• If you want to find out what a bat baby is called, follow this link for some animal-related vocabulary and worksheets.
• Do you/your students like comics? Shelly Terrell gives some advice on how to use this resource in class.
• A word game to help your learners with critical thinking and listening skills.
• A great idea by Will Cardoso to get your learners speaking.
• Two drama ideas to use with your YL classes.
• Bored with the activity you have used for years to teach the conditionals? Find new ideas here.
• Roseli Serra gives some excellent ideas on how to encourage B2 learners to use discourse markers.
• An easy-to-use site with lesson plans for different levels.
• Some practical tips on lesson planning and activity ideas from edutopia.
• This great site gives you ready to go lesson materials based on some inspiring TED talks.
• A video lesson using a clip about Simon the Cat from Larry Ferlazzo.
• More video lesson ideas using a miniature spaghetti western, by Mark Warner.

About teachers and teaching

• What makes some teachers more memorable than others? See this inspiring post by Lori Gard.   
• What did Albert Camus want to say to his former teacher?    
• Ruth Graham talks about the joys of being a teacher.

Teacher Development  and Reflecting on Teaching

• SO[U]LCamp is back!  6th – 14th August 2014 in Čadca, Slovakia.
• Electronic Village Online organisers all sorts of interesting courses – for details see here.
• Jeff Dunn has put together a time-saving list of useful education blogs to follow.
• Tyson Seburn keeps a calendar of all sorts of ELT events.
• Matthew Lynch’s short article focuses on multiculturalism in the classroom.
• Ritsuko Nakata gives advice on how to help YLs remember new language better.
• Great ideas on how to teach English for Academic Purposes from Adam Simpson.
• Thinking about using project-based teaching? You will find a wealth of materials to help with planning and assessment on this edutopia page.
• Help with dyslexic learners from Patricia Hodge.
• Critical thinking, Bloom’s taxonomy, asking the right questions – want to find out more? Go here.
• Excellent resources for collaborative learning, collated by Doug Keely.

Technology

• Sarah Findlater lists five top technology tools for the English classroom.
• Justin Tarte believes Twitter makes him a better educator. See here for his ideas.
• Some of these clever ways to use your phone’s camera are perfect for teachers.
• Want/need to create your own quizzes or polls? Check out this article for some advice on the different tools available.

Fun Stuff

• If you are frustrated with English spelling, find out why it is all so messed up. By Arika Okrent.
• Hilarious homophones. For your own amusement or to use in class.