From scepticism to adoption, I’ve been on an AI journey lately. I’m not 100% sure where I stand on the ethics, so it might be that I complete the circle in the future and stop using AI again. For now, this is how I am using it as my Teaching Assistant.
Author Archives: Chris Richards
Conference Report: TESOL Spain 2025 (Burgos)
The TESOL Spain convention in Burgos featured insightful talks on topics like social justice in English language teaching, AI in pronunciation, and emotional well-being for teachers. The event fostered connections and inspiration, culminating in a warm community atmosphere and anticipation for next year’s convention in Sevilla.
Classroom Tech #3: Online Tools
This month, I’ve decided to share some online tools that I use and suggest ways that they can be exploited in the classroom. If they are familiar to you, perhaps you can point out other ways to use them. If they are new, give them a go and report back! If I’ve missed your favourite,Continue reading “Classroom Tech #3: Online Tools”
Classroom Tech #2: Visualisers
The post discusses visualisers, a relatively unexplored tool in ELT classrooms, likening them to high-quality external webcams that display physical materials for the entire class. Despite their benefits, such as maintaining eye contact and enhancing student engagement, they are underutilised due to cost and limited functionality.
Listen Carefully and Answer the Questions!
The blog post discusses the complexities of teaching listening in language education, highlighting challenges faced by both students and teachers. It emphasizes the importance of designing effective comprehension activities, utilizing authentic listening materials, and actively engaging students in real-world listening tasks. The author invites readers to share their listening practice ideas.
Classroom Tech #1: Mini Whiteboards
Anyone who knows my teaching knows that I’m enthusiastic about this very low-tech piece of classroom equipment. MWBs can be quite expensive bought from retailers, but can be easily made from laminated pieces of card. All you then need is a set of markers and some cloths to wipe them clean. In this post, I’mContinue reading “Classroom Tech #1: Mini Whiteboards”
A Term of ELT Events
The first in the series of planned posts on this rejuvenated blog is an overview of the last couple of months in ELT from my perspective, what’s being going on (and therefore, what’s been keeping me from posting!). Bilbao It feels like ‘Bridging the North’ has been a staple of the Spanish ELT event calendarContinue reading “A Term of ELT Events”
Normal Service to be Resumed
It’s been a while since a post has been published here, but I’ve got a bit of series planned to appear over the coming weeks and months. Keep your eyes peeled!
Conference Review: TESOL Spain 2024
I felt like I was returning home. I lived in Cáceres for three years from 2016-2019 and when I first arrived, I could barely say more in Spanish than request basic food staples and state that I didn’t eat meat (and that includes tuna; and no, not even jamón). So I was returning to myContinue reading “Conference Review: TESOL Spain 2024”
Celebration
At ACEIA in Sevilla earlier this month, I spoke about ‘A Sense of Achievement’. I talked about the difference I see between achieving things and perceiving that things have been achieved. I posed the discussion question to the attendees: have you ever achieved something, but it didn’t feel like an achievement for some reason? TheContinue reading “Celebration”
Chris Richards ELT 