Recent research suggests that boredom might have many benefits, including increased creativity. A researcher from the University of Central Lancashire carried out the following experiment. She split students into two groups and had one group carry out a humdrum task…
English spelling might seem very illogical but it can be learnt through tough thorough thought, though. Only about 12% of words in English are spelt the way they sound. With 26 letters, there are around 44 sounds (this is not precise…
On Wednesday, I presented the project I’m currently leading at the British Council Teaching for Success Online Conference. [Take a look at the British Council Teaching English conference page where you can find fantastic talks by speakers from around the…
Do your learners like playing games? Today is the first day of another 365-day journey of ELT-CATION around the sun, so I thought it would be a good idea to list the top 10 most liked games posted on ELT-CATION…
Our planet holds a wide variety of unexplained phenomena, including the Sphinx, Bermuda Triangle, a Mayan crystal skull, the Great Pyramid, and now the Red Truck. Why on Earth the Jackson Hole Town Square livestream place became one of the most…
Here are my top 10 back-to-school activities that might be a nice alternative to a usual what-did-you-do-this-summer Q&A session. *HUMAN BINGO *MAD LIBS *TELL ME A STORY, GOOGLE What’s you favourite activity? Please share in the comments below. Happy new…
‘In crafting there are no mistakes, just unique creations.’ This is yet another post in my DIY or how-to-turn-a-carrot-into-a-clarinet series (See CREATIVE LOW-COST TEACHING/LEARNING AIDS to learn how to make low-cost flip cards, small books, vocabulary organizers, puppets and game fields out…
Speaking Games: The A-MAZE-ING Game ‘If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.’ A ‘maze’ principle has been widely used in ELT material design, in particular for reading assignments, where students are given different…
Speaking Games: Think Positive The creative life is simple: get up, get dressed, get on with it. Chuck Sandy. Creativity is the new Holy Grail of today’s life. The quest for creativity seems to have reached the proportion of global…
I got a ‘friendship book’ from Sandy Millin on Saturday. I’m returning it today. * * * When I was in school, we had special friendship books to be filled in by our friends. The questions posed there varied (a…
