SPONGE ELT - Bridge the Gap

In the ninth Sponge Chat, I got to sit down with Director of NILE and member of various organisations including Aquedtuo, Thom Kiddle. We spoke about teacher training, development, training trainers and whole load of other stuff. As usual, we also looked at some advice for teachers looking to move into teacher training as well as some book recommendations.

In the eighth Sponge Chat, I got to sit down with teacher trainer, Teresa Bestwick. We spoke about her journey into teacher training and, more recently, materials writing. We looked at a number of projects she has going on at the moment, including the TEFL Development Hub (which you all should check out!). And, of course, we looked at her advice for teachers looking to make similar moves.

In the seventh Sponge Chat, I sat down with Alan McDyre, President of ACEIA. Alan is extremely knowledgeable on the teaching situation in Spain as well as the legal documents that govern what we do in the language teaching sector. We sat down to talk about our 'convenio', the current teaching situation in Spain, and some advice he has for teachers looking to or currently working in Spain. He does mention quite a few documents and videos, all of which can be found on the blog: www.spongeelt.org

In the sixth Sponge Chat, I sat down with teacher, trainer, and materials writer, Richard Brown. We got to talk about his journey in ELT, teacher well-being, his project, English for Positive Change, and some advice he has for teachers. It was really inspiring to speak with Richard and see his vision of how we as teachers can create positive change in the world!   

Be sure to check out his site and courses: https://englishforpositivechange.comOr join his Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/791771607939944

In the fifth Sponge Chat, I got to sit down with teacher, trainer and materials writer, Linsday Warwick. She shared her journey from teacher to trainer/materials writer, some challenges she faced along the way, and some advice she has for teachers looking to make similar career moves within ELT.

In the fourth Sponge Chat, we got to speak about Monica's development as a trainer, the Cambridge Delta, some of the problems she has faced, her blog and, of course, some pieces of advice for teachers looking to move into teacher training. 

In the third Sponge Chat, I sit down with teacher and trainer Rachel Tsateri. Rachel is in a unique position as she is the process of becoming an established teacher trainer, so her thoughts and reflections are likely to be very relevant to all teachers thinking about making the move now.   

We got to talk about many things, from how Rachel got to where she is to some pieces of advice she has for teachers looking to improve their teaching or move into teacher training. Rachel even gave us some nice book recommendations.  

Rachel is looking for newly-qualified teachers to work with as part of her trainer development. If you are interested in working with her, don't hesitate to get in contact via her blog contact page at: https://teflzoneracheltsateri.wordpress.com/contact/

In the second of the Sponge Chats, I got to sit down with teacher, trainer, author and chilli-jam concoction expert, Chris Roland. We discussed how he got into teacher training, the various pieces of advice he has for teachers looking to make similar moves, and some things to avoid doing when you are a trainer. We also did a surprise unboxing of his latest book, Understanding Teenage Language Learners Online.

In the first of the Sponge Chats, I sit down with Borja Uruñuela and we discuss teacher training, starting off, where to go and how to get there.