Training the Trainers

At the London School of English we often have Teacher Development sessions.  These are an opportunity to share ideas and improve the way we, the trainers, deliver our lessons.  Today Ben and I led the session which was all about using technology in the classroom.  In the picture above you can see Ed and Andy, two of our trainers, checking out http://www.sporcle.com/, a website I previously wrote about here.

We think this is a really important part of what we do at the school, because anything that can make learning English more interesting and stimulating improves the learning experience. 

It's quite strange teaching your peers.  No matter how much experience you have teaching English, nothing quite prepares you for being in a classroom full of other trainers!  Here's a picture of our handout, showing some of the tricks of the trade that we shared today.

I personally found it all quite nerve-wracking, but overall Ben and I thought it went well.  I think that our colleagues found it useful and productive, and hopefully the results of our work will soon be seen in a classroom near you!

Glossary

to lead a session/workshop  to be responsible for teaching/organising something.
to check out   to look at/study something (informal)
peers  people who do the same as you e.g. workmates or classmates
tricks of the trade  useful information or skills based on a certain area of work
nerve-wracking  something that makes you nervous or anxious