My reflections on TESOL Spain 2026 I was in Seville from March 12th to 16th for an amazing ELT conference—the TESOL Spain 49th Annual National Convention. From the moment I was informed that my proposal was accepted, I knew it would be a great event. Everybody working for this conference did their best to make…
Warm-ups and Lead-ins may change everything in a lesson. I’ve been planning to write something about lesson planning for a while, but I couldn’t decide how to do it. Then, while sitting on the couch and doing nothing for a while, suddenly I had this idea:“I will think about a 45-minute lesson flow where there…
As the year comes to an end, many language classrooms naturally turn to New Year’s resolutions. I actually love New Year’s resolutions: asking students to make lists, make promises to themselves, and draw road maps. However, over the years, I’ve noticed a shift in my own thinking. I still dream, plan, and imagine my future,…
I’ve recently watched a webinar on using AI with our students, and this was by far one of the best webinars I have watched on GenAI. The webinar was organized by Cambridge English, titled “Using Generative AI to develop writing skills for secondary learners”. The aim was to explore how generative AI can be integrated…
Using Birth Order and Personality Adjectives in Group Work Years ago, I used to use an activity I shared on my blog called Get into groups according to…. It was always a hit because it got students moving, talking, and reflecting on themselves and it was a great language practice. This week, our course flow…
“While I was watching a movie, the electricity went out.” How many times have we seen this sentence in grammar books? It’s a classic for teaching past continuous and past simple. I don’t even know how many times I’ve used it without even thinking—or said things like “Take an umbrella in case it rains” or…
An Engaging Alternative for Chain Stories Grammar can be boring when you just ask the students to do drills, gap-fills or rewriting activities. That’s why challenging students with fun grammar activities could help them produce better. This activity combines logic, storytelling, and collaboration in a fun challenge that will get the learners thinking and speaking…
How can we use warmers effectively in grammar lessons? When teaching grammar, context is everything. We want our students to see language as a tool for communication, not just a set of rules to memorize. That’s why presenting grammar within a meaningful context—through a reading or listening exercise, a short video, or a real-life situation—helps…
Over the years, I’ve found that effective teaching in ELT is all about clear communication, fostering engagement, and managing lessons efficiently. Implementing the following strategies has helped me create a more interactive and dynamic learning environment that benefits my students. The whiteboard is an invaluable classroom tool. I use it to display key vocabulary, lesson…
Creating follow-up tasks with AI In today’s reading class, we worked on an article about art. I started the lesson with a few warm-up questions: What is art? What do you think about art? The students had some interesting ideas, and their answers set the stage for what turned out to be a really…
