If you're running behind with a coursebook, what should you ask yourself first?
What is the learning objective and what do these learners need?
What is more important than completing every exercise in a coursebook?
Making sure students achieve the essential learning objective.
What are the three categories we used to decide what to keep, adapt or cut?
MUST, USEFUL and COULD GO.
Could the same coursebook activity be MUST for one class but COULD GO for another?
Yes, because its value depends on the learners, objective and context.
What are three things you would consider when deciding what a particular class needs?
What they already know, what they want and what they lack.
What is one good reason to move away from the coursebook?
Another activity may create better opportunities for learning, engagement or communication.
What is the difference between exam practice and exam preparation?
Exam practice gives experience with exam tasks; exam preparation also develops the language, skills and strategies needed to perform successfully.
What is one useful question the teacher could ask herself/ himself after an exam preparation task?
What did the students actually get better at?
What could you do BEFORE an exam task to make it more useful?
Ask students to notice, predict, recall or prepare something relevant to the task.
What could you do AFTER an exam task to turn practice into learning?
Ask students to reflect, identify difficulties, improve something or try again.
What should exam preparation develop alongside familiarity with exam format?
Transferable language and exam skills.
What is good classroom interaction?
Active thinking, listening and communicating, with opportunities to respond to each other — not just answering the teacher.
If one student answers every whole-class question, what does this tell you about the rest of the class?
Very little — one confident answer does not show what everyone else knows or can do.
When asking a question, why is thinking time useful?
All students have a chance to formulate an answer before someone else answers for them.
What is one sign that a lesson may be too teacher-centred?
The teacher is doing most of the talking, questioning and explaining while students mainly listen and respond briefly.
