Teachers' Zone 12

Dear Teachers,

welcome to Teachers’ Zone after holidays- I do hope that all of you/us feel relaxed enough to  face the next challenge, which undoubtedly is every beginning of a new school year. I do believe that for the last couple of weeks  all of us have been doing nothing but look for new inspirations and sources of our new secret strength that will help us shine and excel in the months to come.

Today I would like to share with you my subjective list of the most helpful and resourceful tools to be found in order to enrich our lessons and make our days less busy and hectic than usually.

I would like to start with my latest discovery. Horyzonty Anglistyki can be both a paper or a digital magazine, which you can google on: https://horyzontyanglistyki.pl/. Whichever  form you decide to choose you will be delighted to see a number of brilliant articles that offer us a great deal of ideas to be used straightaway in our classrooms. No matter what a given issue is focused on, you are bound to be eager to try out suggested activities and exercises and follow the hints. What is also important is that the authors do not limit themselves to obvious topics, just the contrary- I bet most of you will feel like taking the risk of doing something new and unknown before once you look through the magazine. So- why not give it a try?

Another thing that accompanies me  when planning almost any lesson is The Teacher. Being a monthly magazine for English teachers it promises thoughtful insight into the matters that concern us all such as methodology, psychology, pedagogy and culture. Of course, there are practical tips as well, which will definitely help to incorporate the mentioned theoretical elements into practice and as a result- will guarantee a successful and meaningful lesson. Isn’t it what our job is about?

There is also Newsweek Learning English- a great magazine if you need to take advantage of contemporary articles in your classes  whose aim is  development of a reading skill . Bored with the textbook texts that your students  analyze without any passion and involvement?  Then do not hesitate any more, just grab the latest and most updated issue, choose the text and adapt it to your needs- whether it is learning to discuss what you have read, learn new vocabulary, pracitse reading comprehension. It is up to you- isn’t that just great?

A similar variety of texts can be found on a totally free and easily accessible Squid -mobile phone application. The texts are usually only one page long, which adds to its attractiveness and uniqueness. Depending on your or your students’ preferences you can go for any topic and almost any level of English your class represents. Using such texts lets us adjusts more easily to our specific needs and requirements. Another worth mentioning advantage is the fact that the texts are added systematically so you will never ever be forced to use the same text unless you want it. Feel tempted?

And last but not least- I have mentioned it before and I will keep repeating it over and over again- there is an online https://edunation.com.pl/ , which is THE .. everything- the best/the richest/the most innovative/the most encouraging/the friendliest- well, you name it- source of fresh ideas- during free weekly webinars you will meet the most creative authors of blogs- Karina Frejlich, Monika Ziembakowska, Ewa Torebko, Paulina Dolęga, to name but a few… You can join conferences or courses run by the most charismatic  and energetic women ever, who happen to be the founders of edunation- Luiza Wójtowicz-Waga and Anna Popławska-  and I have no doubts that after attending one webinar or one course you will soon feel addicted to listening to more and more of their lectures. And the only natural outcome will be not only your professional development- and that needless to say translates into greatly-organized  and satisfying lessons.

If you haven’t heard about these valuable sources, I am sure you will not feel disappointed. If you have- even better, I have no doubts you will agree with everything I have said about those fabulous tools.

Feel free to contact me if there are any questions whatsoever.

Katarzyna Nowak