It’s that time of year again and I don’t know about you but I’m really looking forward to going back to school. I always think it’s a good idea to start the year with some original activities because a) the students’ books never arrive until week 3 and I hate the thought of photocopying a load of stuff they’ll just throw out afterwards and b)I think it encourages students to see the English class as a place where they can do fun stuff, use their creativity and take risks and c) it will lull them into the false impression that my classes are fun!

It’s also time to take a look at some CPD to make sure my students aren’t the only ones progressing in my classroom.

So here’s some of the stuff I’ve got planned:

a) The paperclip test

Those of you old enough to be familiar with headway first edition might remember a similar thing with a cabbage. The idea is to ask students to come up with as many alternative uses as possible for a paperclip. I read somewhere (but can’t find where!) that the average person can find about 10-15 uses, however NASA use this as a test to employ engineers and are looking for about 200 uses!!

b)F.A.I.L. lesson

Check out this  FAIL lesson about famous failures:

Who do you think the following famous people are ?

This person didn’t speak until he was four-years old. He also failed his entrance exam to the Swiss Federal Polytechnic school located in Zurich at sixteen-years old. And, even his father, up until the time of his death, considered his son to be a major failure. After eventually graduating from college he worked as an insurance salesman, but quit after some time because he failed at that as well.

When she was 9-years old, her group, Girl’s Tyme, appeared onStar Searchand lost.

At the age of sixty-five-years old, he set out with his famous recipe and only a $105 social security check to his name, in an attempt to sell his franchise model. 1,009 restaurants rejected him before one accepted his offer.

He intended to earn his PhD in literature Lincoln College, Oxford, but failed and subsequently dropped out of school. After he wrote his first book, And to Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street, it was rejected 28 separate times.

He was rejected during an early Hollywood screen test when the producer stated, “Can’t act. Slighty bald. Dances a little.”

His first company went bankrupt. His second company also went south when, after a dispute with partners, he was forced to walk away with only the rights to his name.

After you’ve taken a guess check out https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/21-famous-failures-who-refused-to-give-up_us_57da2245e4b04fa361d991ba?guccounter=1for the correct answer.

Write a resume of the successes of one of these people.

What have you learnt about « failure » ?

3) I’ll be printing out the brilliant Learning scientists posters to put up and then we’ll discuss leaning strategies – time spent discussing successful learning strategies is never wasted!

4) After a brilliant weekend training session on positive discipline I’ll definitely be using some of these resources.

5) I’ll be registering for and preparing the workshops I’ll be giving at a few conferences such as ETAS PD day,  TESOL France, and putting in a proposal for IATEFL Liverpool 2019. If you’ve never put in a talk or workshop proposal for IATEFL or your local/national ELT association then it’s a must – the best way to learn is to explain to someone else, and teaching is all about sharing knowledge so go for it!

6) Organising a girls’ night out! Don’t forget self-care is essential for teachers, you deserve and need a break and your lessons will be even better after a break doing something you love!

Whatever you get up to this new term, enjoy it and let me know what you’ve got planned!