Teaching without resources

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In the last step, you talked about your favourite resources, and
resources you would like to have. Even if you teach in a context
without access to many resources, there are lots of ways you can
teach engaging, useful and fun lessons.

Using your learners as a resource

In Week 1, we talked about the importance of understanding our

learners well so that we can better meet their needs in class. Learner-
centred, minimal resource teaching is the basis of dogme, an
approach articulated by Scott Thornbury and Luke Meddings (see
‘Want to know more?’ at the bottom of this page for more information).

Below are some teaching ideas which require minimal resources and
are based on your learners’ needs, interests and lives:

Syllabus/topics

Conduct a needs analysis to really find out about your learners. Ask
them what they would like to read about, talk about, or write about.
Give them a choice of topics each day or week. Give them a choice of
topics.

Leaner-based language work

Use learner output (what they say and write) as a basis for language
work. This means noticing and noting down common errors during
speaking and writing activities, and then helping learners to improve
what they say or write through error correction or a language focused
lesson. Use scaffolding (as we discussed in Week 1) to help learners
to build on what they already know.

Speaking games

There are lots of games your learners can play to practise speaking
and review and recycle vocabulary which don’t involve resources.
Game Example

A learner thinks of a famous person. Other

Guessing games learners ask ‘Yes/No’ questions to try and
find out who they are.

Learners describe things/words/phrases in

Definitions
English for others to guess.

Learners work in groups to think of ten

things on a particular topic, as quickly as
Vocabulary race
they can (things you find in a kitchen,
things you can do at the weekend).

Similar to vocabulary race, but learners

A-Z games have to think of things beginning with
different letters of the alphabet.

Choose a topic, such as food. The first

learner says: ‘I went to market and I
bought a …(name of a food)’. The next
Memory games learner says: ‘I went to market and I
bought a …(what the first learner said)
and a … (another type of food). Continue
in groups.

Writing
Learners can write stories, summaries of discussions, emails about
issues they are concerned about. Give them time to think and share
ideas first. Use their first draft to give some instruction on language
and then let them write a second draft. This is part of the process
writing approach.

You/your learners bring things from home

We are not suggesting that learners buy resources for you, but you
could ask them to bring in something from home or outside the class
(or you could bring them yourself). You could ask learners to bring in
something and talk about it in class, for example a personal item, a
photograph, a childhood toy, a video clip on their phone. Menus from
local restaurants could be used in a lesson about ordering food. A
local newspaper could be used to discuss current news topics.

You’ll be talking more about realia later this week.

Selecting resources
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Whatever the resources available, teachers need to make

informed decisions about what resources to use.

Below is a list of criteria which could be used when selecting

resources to use.

Question Rationale

Probably the most important question.

How will this help me to achieve my
How does it fit in with the course or
lesson aim?
lesson aim or topic?

Maybe it will change the pace of your

lesson, be useful further language
What does it add to the resources I
practice, or add a fun element to a dry
already have?
lesson topic. Be careful not to replicate
the material you already have.

For example, if you’ve found a worksheet

Is it suitable for my learners’ level,
interests, age?
on the internet, perhaps you need to
change it to make it easier or more
difficult. You might need to add or
remove pictures to make them more
culturally appropriate.
Question Rationale

As well as the amount of lesson time the

resource needs, if your learners are not
familiar with this kind of resource or
How long will it take?
activity, consider how much of your
lesson you will need to spend explaining
or demonstrating.

Your time is precious. Ideally, if you’re

going to spend time creating a resource,
How long will it take to prepare?
save it to use another time or add to your
institution’s resource bank.

Especially true of technology-based

If something goes wrong with this
lessons. It’s always good to have a plan B
resource, how will I change my lesson?
in case there’s a technical problem.
Different ways to use images
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Suzanne discusses the different flashcard techniques from the

previous step.

Receptive techniques Productive techniques

Learners recognise language Learners produce language

Example: learners listen to instructions Example: learners say what they see on a
and point to the correct flashcard flashcard

There are so many ways of using images in teaching. Although

children in particular respond well to images (and often love drawing!)
they can be a powerful way to present and practise language with all
ages, as images hold so much meaning and can stimulate the
imagination.

More ideas
Below are just some ways to use images.

 Presenting meaning or checking understanding of language

 Imagining and telling or writing a story
 Describing how an image makes you feel
 Playing guessing games
 Giving more information about a text (reading or listening)
 Creating a comic strip or storyboard for a movie
 Making posters
These activities do not have to be done using hard copy flashcards.
You could use digital images projected on a screen, or make handouts
including different images for learners to work on individually, in pairs
or in groups. For moving images, you’ll be discussing the use of video
in the classroom later this week.

 Which of the activities Suzanne describes have you tried? Which

would you like to try?
 How do you use images to help your learners to understand and
practise language?

Share your ideas in the comments.

Task: incorporating images into a lesson
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Some coursebooks come with their own flashcards, or your

institution might have invested in flashcard sets. Some of you
might need to find your own images, or choose to supplement
what you already have to make your classes more interesting
and varied.

The TeachingEnglish flashcard maker is a free tool that you can use this
to create your own flashcards, with or without text and phonemic
script.

You might also find these LearnEnglish Kids printable flashcards useful.

In addition, you can browse a variety of pictures to use in the
classroom on the teacher-created ELT pics website.

Task

You are going to look at some lesson materials to see how you could
add images to improve them.

1. Choose the age of learners that you would like to focus on

(primary, teen or adult).
2. Download the materials related to that level in the Materials to
download section below.

3. Think about these questions:

- How could you use images in this lesson to engage your
learners, add more variety and help them to understand and use
the language?
- What kind of images would you use (e.g. flashcards, digital,
learners drawings, posters)?
4. Share your thoughts in the comments. Please start your
comment with PRIMARY, TEEN or ADULT so we can all see
clearly which materials your ideas relate to.
Materials to download
Primary - problem page. Here are the answers to the tasks. This one has a
few images already! Maybe you would use them in a different way, or
use other images at different stages of the lesson.

Teen - films. Answers to the tasks are here.

Adult - April Fool’s Day. You can find the preparatory task here.
Task: Adapting tech-based lessons to a
low-tech or no tech context
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While some teachers dream of connected classrooms where

learners have their own devices, the reality for many of us is a
much lower tech environment.

In the previous step, you observed a lesson using mobile phone

technology. However, the only technology required was the learners’
mobile phones. As the teacher said, his learners were bringing this
technology with them anyway.

Below are some more suggestions for making the most of lower tech
classrooms.

Offline classrooms

 Learners use their own mobile phones to create a video, explain

how an app works, practise language using English language
learning apps etc.
 Adapt interactive online games to a live alternative e.g. taking
quiz questions from the internet and conducting a team quiz in
class.
 Set online research for homework (provided all learners have
access).
 Provide printed copies of online lesson materials.
 Download audio or video to play in class.

Task: Adapting a tech-based lesson

Even if you have access to technology, a plan B in case the

technology lets you down is useful. For example if we lose
connectivity in an internet-based lesson or if we are relying on a
powerpoint presentation but there is a power cut.
In this task, you’re going to evaluate a lesson plan and materials for a
tech-based lesson. Below you will find three lesson plans, one for
primary learners, one for secondary learners and one for adult
learners.

1. Download the plan which is most suitable for your context.

2. Consider how you could adapt this lesson if you didn’t have
access to the technology in your classroom. You might also
choose to adapt it further to meet the needs and interests of your
learners, as we discussed last week.
3. What would your ‘plan B’ be, just in case the tech failed during
your lesson?

When you comment, please start your post with either PRIMARY,
SECONDARY or ADULT so it is clear which materials you are
evaluating.
Using video
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Video adds lots of visual context, which helps learners to

understand what is said, and makes listening exercises more
engaging. You can also get learners making their own videos.

You might choose to watch whole films with your class - this can be
good for extensive listening. However, the activities below are focused
on using short video clips (up to 5 minutes) which leaves lots of time
for language and skills work. Make sure you watch the video first to
make sure it is suitable for your learners’ age, culture and context.

Ideas for watching video in class

You could download and show video on a screen, use DVDs, or

stream online if you have a connection, or ask learners to watch video
at home or on their own mobiles, if they have access. Make sure you
watch the video first to make sure it is suitable for your learners’ age,
culture and context! Here are some activities you could try:

 KWL. Before watching, learners think about and share:

-what they know about the topic
-what they want to know
-and, after they have watched, what they have learnt.
 Learners predict what happens next (and/or what the people in
the video say) then watch to see if they were right.
 Learners write/discuss/act out an alternative ending/beginning.
 Learners choose a character and imagine what happened before
the video clip / what their life is like now. They could write or talk
about this, or act it out.
 Learners role play a conversation between people in the video.
 Use the video to introduce new language in context.
 Watch or listen to a video of a story. Learners write (or kids can
draw) the story afterwards.
  Watch the video without sound and guess what people are
saying. Learners could ‘dub’ the video by acting out the
conversation as the video plays.
Ideas for making videos
Learners could make their own videos, perhaps using a phone or
video camera, or you could film them. Then they can watch each
other’s videos, using one of the listening activities above. You could
assign video-making for homework and/or might also choose to use
the videos for assessment.

 You could film any of the role play or drama activities above e.g.
conversations from the video, acting out an alternative ending.
 Learners can script and make their own advertisement /
information video / news cast / interview / movie scene etc.
 Film individual or group presentations.
 Learners could edit their videos, add subtitles etc. and share
them on a class vlog.
 Learners can make videos on their phones with the camera or by
using apps such as animoto or Magisto.
 Learners make their own animated videos using applications
such as Powtoon.
How do you use your board?
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The classroom board can be used in many different ways. Watch

the video of a teacher using her board during a speaking and
grammar lesson.

In the clip, only the teacher used the board, but learners can use the
board too. How they do it depends on the type of board you have. You
could have learners writing up answers for example, playing games,
giving presentations or ‘teaching’ their peers.

Types of board

You might have a blackboard, a whiteboard, a flipchart, paper on the

wall, a projector or a smartboard. Smartboards have a lot of interactive
features, depending on the make and software

If you have a projector, you can use this instant whiteboard app with

some useful features.

Some classrooms also have mini-whiteboards. Here are some ideas for

how to use them. If you don’t have a set of mini-whiteboards, you can
use paper instead, or laminate paper so that learners can write and
wipe it clean.
Teaching online - a different kind of
board
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If you teach online, it’s likely that you are giving individual
classes.

In these situations, using a traditional board isn’t always the best

option, because:

 it’s not easy for learners to see

 they don’t have a record at the end of the lesson
 if you teach online from home, you might not have access to a
traditional board

Instead, make the most of technology to help you and your learners
find an alternative way to make language notes. Your institution might
use a platform which includes a screen that you can use a board. If
not, and you are teaching online using Skype or Zoom for example,
the table below has some suggestions:

What can you use? How can you use it?

Lots of features similar to a smartboard.

You can share your screen with your
A board app such as classroom
student. They could also take
screen or RealtimeBoard
screenshots. Some apps allow multiple
users to write.

Googledocs You could use this to co-author

 documents.

Share your screen so your student can

see as you type and highlight. You could
send the word document to your student
Microsoft Word/Powerpoint
after the class as a record. You can also
prepare documents/powerpoints in
advance to share during your lesson.

Learners can look back in the chat after

the lesson. You can also use it to send
Use the chat in Skype, Zoom, Google
useful links. Zoom has the advantage of
hangouts or whatever conferencing tool
automatically recording your video call,
you are using.
but there is a limit of 40 minutes on the
free version.
Reflective practice
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Watch Rod Bolitho talking about the importance of reflective

practice in continuing professional development.

Reflective practice is an approach to teaching that involves critical

evaluation of your actions, to better understand your strengths and
areas for development as a teacher.

In other words, you look back at what you’ve done, consider carefully
whether it worked or not, and if so, why. This helps you to pinpoint and
develop successful practices, as well as identifying your professional
development needs and finding solutions for problems.

You may be familiar with Kolb’s experiential learning cycle –

reflective practice is based on this:

1. You have an experience e.g. you teach a lesson

You think about what went well, or not so

2. You reflect on the experience
well

You identify what it was that made the

lesson go well or not so well – the
3. You critically analyse the experience
activity? Your instructions? Your
knowledge of the subject/topic? Etc.

4. You plan future actions based on what e.g. you try the same speaking activity
you have learnt with another class because it worked
 well, or you research language so that
you know the language point better for
next time, etc.

Most teachers reflect mainly on lessons, but you could reflect on other
things too: a course, an interaction with a learner/parent/co-worker, an
interview or conference presentation, for example.

Ways to reflect

 Keep a reflective journal of what went well or not so well in a

lesson
 Ask your learners for feedback on a lesson or activity
 Make notes in your coursebook after each lesson
 Talk through your lessons with another teacher
 Ask a colleague to sit in and observe your lesson (peer
observation)
 Record yourself teaching (and then watch it!)
 Use an online journal to keep your reflective practices in one
place - notes, videos, documents, links

Whatever you choose to do, the process of reflection helps you to

keep learning and developing as a teacher.
Reflecting on your learning and looking
ahead
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You’re almost at the end of the course, and it’s time to think
about what you’ve learnt, and how you can keep learning after
the course.

Reflection

First look back at your learning points from the course. If you made
notes or kept a journal, you could use this. If you made comments in
the reflection step of each week, you could read this again.

Alternatively, skim through the To Do lists for each Week below:

Week 1: Understanding your learners

Week 2: Planning lessons and courses

Week 3: Managing the lesson

Week 4: Managing resources

Think about:

 What was new or interesting

 What you want to know more about
 What you want to try

Making a plan

Now change your thoughts into a concrete plan. The important things
to think about are:

What you’ll do
How and When you’ll do it
You can use one or more of the sentence heads to help you, if you
like.

I will learn more about … by …

I will try … I will do this (say when)
I will talk to … to find out more about …
I will research …
I will evaluate what I’ve learnt/done by …
If I need help with this, … can help me

Keeping to your plan

It is easy to make a plan, but as a busy teacher it is less easy to stick

to it! Here are some ideas on how to do this:

 Break your plan down into small achievable steps. You could
write a list or use a phone app like goal tracker to remind you
what you plan to do or help you to start a new habit.
 Set a reminder on your phone or make a note in your diary for a
week, a month, three months from now.
 Tell someone about your plan. Ask them to ask you about it in
the future.