101 easy TEFL blog posts
Karenne says that if I can’t write something better than my last attempt for her upcoming blog rave, she’ll publish that dodgy photo of me in a compromising position, so here goes:
There is not a TEFL teacher alive who couldn’t easily bang out a couple of hundred very interesting words on at least one of the topics below (in no particular order):
1. A great/ terrible lesson I observed
2. What I learned from some student/ observer feedback
3. The characteristics of a good student/ language learner/ teacher/ teacher trainer/ DoS
4. A piece of teaching advice/ book/ game/ approach that didn’t appeal but suddenly/ gradually does (and why)
5. A call for career advice (with some possible options/ jobs/ countries I am thinking about)
6. What I wish I’d known before I started TEFLing
7. What I would change about that (CELTA/ DELTA/ observed) lesson, looking back
8. An approach to teaching that I am working on
9. A variation on a well known game/ activity/ method of teaching…
10. A crazy teaching idea that I found in a book/ that I came up with but was too scared to use/ that I tried with kids but haven’t tried with adults yet
11. My first/ last year of teaching
12. How I got out/ am planning to get out of a teaching slump
13. A well known way of teaching… that I tried with…
14. Time management/ Organisation/ Stress management tips for TEFLers
15. Things to ask employers in job interviews
16. What to study before you take your TEFL course
17. How to choose the best country for you
18. If you liked… (city/ country), you’ll love…
19. Things to ask a TEFL course provider
20. Ways of spotting bad jobs/ countries/ TEFL courses
21. Common misconceptions about…
22. A (successful/ disastrous/ experimental/ interesting/ eye opening) recent lesson (and what I learnt from it)
23. The difference/ The unexpected similarities between teaching… and …
24. A book/ teaching activity/ teaching approach I love/ hate/ think is overrated (and why)
25. A list of my favourite books about…
26. Teaching methodology articles/ books/ workshops I’d love to see
27. A ranking of textbooks/ books for the CELTA/ well known TEFL practise activities (for…)
28. What I think about a book I’m using/ reading at the moment
29. How I adapt a book I’m using at the moment
30. A recent lesson plan that I’m proud of/ that I want advice on
31. Why I think the new edition of… is better/ worse
32. Some things I’ve been reading on the internet
33. A new book I like the look of
34. The books I have waiting to be read (and a call for suggestions on which one I should read first)
35. A call for opinions on a book I am using/ reviewing/ thinking about using next year/ thinking about recommending to my boss/ trying to write a better version of
36. A call for alternatives to a game/ textbook/ methodology book that I’m not so keen on
37. My favourite TEFL author/ speaker/ blogger
38. My favourite blogs/ sites/ pages/ articles (on…)
39. Some nice quotes from teachers
40. A general education book I am reading
41. A self-help book I am reading (and how it is relevant to teachers)
42. A comic strip that might appeal to TEFLers
43. Some odd quirks/ idioms of the language I am studying
44. A whinge about the impossibility of the language I am supposed to be learning
45. My favourite quote from an article/ blog/ website
46. Something on YouTube that could be relevant to or interesting for TEFLers
47. A film that could be relevant to TEFL
48. A video/ song/ poem that you could use in class
49. Some great photos for prompting classroom speaking
50. A metaphor for teaching/ language learning
51. A student I am having problems with
52. A call for ideas on how to cope with (a student/ a textbook/ a grammar point/ …)
53. My best/ worst ever lesson/ job/ boss/ colleague/ student
54. My CELTA (or CELTA “equivalent”) experiences
55. What I would recommend or not about my TEFL career plan
56. What my pre-TEFL experience taught me that helped me in my teaching
57. A teacher I learnt from (or learnt what not to do from)
58. What I’ve learnt about myself by teaching
59. What I’ve learnt about teaching by learning languages/ from a particular course, book or teacher
60. Teaching technology/ a teaching book/ a conference presentation I’d like to see
61. A couple of amusing anecdotes
62. Things overheard in the teachers’ room
63. My (teaching) strengths and weaknesses
64. My answers to some interview questions I saw elsewhere
65. The advantages and disadvantages of teaching in…
66. What’s changed about my teaching in the last month/ year/ decade
67. A book/ idea/ game/… that I once liked but wouldn’t use now
68. An extended version of a comment that I put on someone else’s blog
69. An interesting forum thread (and what I think about it)
70. Some tips for students who want to improve their …
71. A teacher in my last school (and their approach to teaching/ career path)
72. How to get into Business English teaching/ teacher training/ exam teaching/ ELT publishing/ ELT management
73. Some industry gossip
74. What I would change about a TEFL course/ textbook/ the industry
75. An interesting workshop I’ve been to
76. My teaching resolutions
77. A mini (teaching) biog
78. How cultural differences (in…) affect classes
79. Why I’m not as disparaging/ even more disparaging about my secondary school French teacher now
80. Things to take abroad for your first teaching job/ when going to…
81. Body language and gesture differences to be careful with in the classroom
82. Some amusing language mistakes
83. A summary of difficulties with English for … students (including which bits are least and most important from Learner English)
84. A summary of the best sites I found while doing a search for … tense/ teaching in…/ using…
85. How I simplified the instructions for a game/ a grammar explanation
86. The best explanation of… I have found
87. Games using flashcards/ dice/ slips of paper/…
88. A game that is usually used for … that I used for…
89. Language points that you can practice with…
90. Ways of using a particular site/ video/ song with a class
91. Highlights of the last edition of ETP/ MET/ ELTJ magazine
92. A reading list if you are interested in…
93. How teaching in… is different from (what you learn on your CELTA/ other countries/ other types of institution/ other ages)
94. Missing out/ Adding/ Rearranging one stage of a usual lesson
95. Alternative ways of…
96. A top ten/ twenty/ fifty/ hundred list
97. A criticism of someone else’s top hundred list
98. 100 TEFL blog posts that I am too lazy to write myself but am hoping that others will because I want to read them
99. A totally irrelevant blog post just so that I can reach a nice round number
100. Another totally irrelevant blog post when I realise that I miscounted
101. A blog post congratulating myself on just reaching that nice round number
You might also want to have a look at my similar article:
15 easy ways to write a TEFL workshop and/ or article
And my previous attempt to keep the lady happy by writing for TEFL blogging noobies and boobies is here:
What is the point of TEFLtastic blog?
Tags: Lists
July 10th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
Nice work Alex. You inspired me to write #41. http://edition.tefl.net/articles/classroom-solutions/a-complaint-free-classroom/
July 12th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Fantastic post Alex. I really liked this one (for obvious list reasons). Would like to use it in a future workshop on good blogs – and will cite you of course.
July 12th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Thanks guys, quote away!
July 13th, 2009 at 5:45 am
[...] 2009 Today one of the bloggers I read most consistently, Alex Case of Teftastic, has published a list of “101 easy TEFL blog posts”. It’s fantastic for someone just starting out [...]
November 15th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Well, looks like that’s given me at least 99 more things to write about. Well done, Alex.