It's my turn to recommend ten blogs that I think are worth taking the time to follow. I was given this priviledge by Richard, at http://richardteachesenglish.blogspot.com and I'm finding it hard to come up with ten that haven't already been nominated! When I started my blog, I didn't realise how many other ELT blogs were out there, and have only really started to discover many of them recently. This means that I follow some of the most typical blogs on everyone's reading lists, but I am going to try to provide some different ones here. Of course, my favourites are going on the list, even if they have been listed 20 times already! By the way, the blogs are not listed in any particular order.
1) Carol Read's ABC of Teaching Children http://carolread.wordpress.com/
I have unwittingly become a kind of young learners specialist over the years and Carol has some wonderful ideas about teaching children. She also gives extensive replies to comments you make, which means she is all for helping and sharing with others.Well worth following if you teach kids.
2) Tefltastic with Alex Case http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/
Alex was the first person to comment on my blog and I regularly read his. He also accepts guest posts by newbies like me, helping novices to get our faces out there! He also provides lots of interesting ideas to use in the classroom.
3) Early EFL by Leahn Stanhope http://earlyefl.blogspot.com/
I have worked with Leahn in the UK and I can say that she is a funny, intelligent and dedicated teacher who has now entered the blogosphere to share her thoughts and ideas with the rest of us. This blog concentrates on Primary Ed and CLIL.
4) Training English Language Teachers Blog by Vanessa Reilly http://vanessareillytelt.wordpress.com/
Vanessa is a teacher trainer and writes course books and resource books for very young learners. Her blog has some lovely ideas to use with children under six, as well as older children.
5) TEFL Clips by Jamie Keddie and blog http://www.jamiekeddie.com , http://www.teflclips.com/
Fantastic resource site and blog (I've included them in the same entry because they're both worth a look and are both by Jamie) with plenty of original and interesting lesson plans and ideas, especially using video and images.
6) Mantras of a Mad Man http://mistermikelcc.blogspot.com/
A blog by a dedicated tutor of English, Mister Mike provides ideas to use in the classroom as well as how to use different web 2.0 applications and funny anecdotes. All in all, a good read!
7) Nik's Learning Technology Blog http://nikpeachey.blogspot.com/
I am a complete tech novice but I am trying to learn, and following Nik's blog is a great way to do so. I attended a workshop of Nik's at a virtual conference and discovered his blog. He presents different web tools in a very simple way and provides tutorials, which really do the trick.
8) Strictly4myteacherz -A tefl blog with Swag! http://strictly4myteacherz.wordpress.com/
I have actually only just discovered this blog even though it has been around for ages. It has lesson plans and teaching ideas, and amusing general posts. Put it on your reading list!
I am starting to flag now... I think I might have to include all the blogs that I am trying to avoid - they are brilliant but they have already been on so many lists, I really wanted to exclude them!
9) English Raven http://jasonrenshaw.typepad.com
Jason Renshaw's blog was one of the first I started reading. I really don't think I need to say anything about this blog, it's one of those "must-reads".
10) Sean Banville's Blog http://seanbanville.com/
I'm including Sean because apart from his blog he has several resource websites and I think he must be a kind of robot in disguise to manage all these things at once! He is totally dedicated to sharing and helping teachers and students alike with his lesson plans and online activities.
So, these are my ten. It has actually been much harder than I thought it would be, but I never imagined I would get to do one of these lists, I am honoured to take part. I wish I did know of more up and coming blogs rather than renominating these oh-so-famous ones because surely that's the idea of the initiative, but I don't. I would love to find out about more blogs, though, so if you have any recommendations or friends who have set up ELT blogs, please add them in the comments box.
