Having heard lots of good things about it – and having been kindly provided by the author with a chapter to view – I finally got hold of a copy of Teaching EAL: Evidence Based Strategies for the Classroom and School by Robert Sharples. For those wondering about purchasing it, I simply say DO IT! … Continue reading Review: ‘Teaching EAL’ by Robert Sharples
Author: Paul Sludden
As a result of my mind being elsewhere (as it usually is!) and not looking where I was going, I stumbled in the school car park on Monday, losing my footing and injuring my ankle. Result: I’ve been unable to travel into work this week and spent my days with my foot up working from home.
Along with a couple of online lessons – like an unwelcome foray back into the height of the pandemic – I’ve managed to squander hours on the internet venturing down rabbit holes mainly through links to articles found on Twitter.
One search resulted in me signing up for a webinar hosted by the Bell Foundation which I understood to be about EAL mentoring. It seemed uncanny that the first topic of my two post blog at this point was going to be discussed online early evening on Wednesday, so I signed up on Tuesday before the rush for places arrived.
Unfortunately, no such rush took place which is a real shame because the webinar was superb. Not on the topic I thought I read (I’m blaming the painkillers), mind you, but on mentoring Early Career Teachers (or Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) as they’re known in Scotland) to ensure they adapt their practice to support EAL learners. With only three participants, if I was one of the presenters I’d have been tempted to fake a failure in technology, swap the ‘muter for the tele and zone out rather than Zoom in. The fabulous Caroline Bruce and Sheila Hopkins are far too professional to do so, thankfully, and what we received from them was akin to a private tutorial delivered by experts.
How I managed to sign up for something I shouldn’t have is beyond me. That I did so, though, I’m very much pleased about.
This was the third training webinar provided by the Bell Foundation that I’ve attended. It certainly won’t be the last as all three have been really good value.
You can find a list of Bell Foundation paid for and free events on their website. I strongly recommend giving them a visit.
I have to admit I have been seeking out more and more opportunities to get out in the car lately. Journeys to work, a drive to the supermarket, a nostalgia trip to… well, anywhere. Not that I’m much of a driver, nor that I enjoy it. I generally don’t. But now that I’ve downloaded an audiobook copy – read by the author himself – of David Crystal’s Making Sense: The Glamorous Story of English Grammar, there’s not an A, B, or C road you won’t find me on with the great Prof’s dulcet tones as a travelling companion! I think I’m on my fourth listen and entering overdraft to pay for the fuel. As with most of Crystal’s work, as the title suggests, it just makes sense. [More to follow when I can find pull into a layby].
EAL Peer Mentoring
When I worked as an English Teacher, I was always amazed at the enthusiasm of young learners who found reading a challenge when the S6 mentor students appeared at the door to take these pupils for Paired Reading sessions. The same thing struck me when I moved to Support for Learning and was tutor to… Continue reading EAL Peer Mentoring
