Self-compassion for teachers 

It is true that the teaching profession attracts generous people. Teachers are generous with their time, dedicating extra hours to planning, marking and creating to make their students enjoy classes and learn in the best way possible. Teachers are generous with their colleagues, often helping to share materials, bring in cakes and biscuits to the staff room, and attend meetings after hours. Teachers are also generous with parents, taking the time to help them to understand more about their child’s progress. Yet, many teachers are not generous to themselves – they easily get stressed out, blame themselves if a lesson doesn’t quite go as planned, focus so much on their profession that their personal lives can be negatively affected. This is why, on this ‘Teacher’s Day’ on 27th November, I would like for teachers to think about, and then hopefully practice, self-compassion. 

What is self-compassion? 

When a family member, friend or colleague goes through a tough moment in life and you feel nothing but a sense of concern, and wanting to help and support that person, this is showing compassion, not judgement or pity. Self-compassion is to direct that love towards yourself when you face similar hurdles, rather than being angry at yourself, telling yourself off or feeling inadequate. It also involves facing the problem and the feelings involved, rather than ignoring it or burying it inside yourself where it will eat away at your self-confidence and sense of worth and will likely manifest itself later as anger. 

Why is it important? 

Living a life where your inner critic’s voice is the dominant voice is not a nice way to live! Nobody would choose that, and yet so many of us fixate on the negatives, rather than the positives. For example, if we had a good day at school and then one thing went wrong, we would fixate on that one thing rather than remembering all the good that had come before or after it. Such thinking can out us into a bad mood, cause anger, depression or a feeling of wanting to give up. It is interesting to note is that students are very perceptible to how their teacher is feeling, and it has implications for their learning. A study carried out by Moskowitz & Dewaele, 2019 showed that how students perceived the contentment of their teacher was directly and positively linked to their attitude, motivation and relationship with their teacher. If we can practice self-compassion, we will directly be able to help our students learn better. 

Self-compassion stages 

Self-compassion has been theorised to have three components, each with a positive pole and a negative pole: 

1. Self-kindness versus self-judgement. This is where you would talk to yourself as if you would a student – you acknowledge a mistake for what it is but do not let something that happened consume you.
2. Common humanity versus isolation. This is connected to the common phrase: ‘a problem shared is a problem halved.’ By seeking out people to socialise with and talk to, you can be reassured and be helped but keeping away from people will only put the problem front and centre of your thoughts. 
3. Mindfulness versus over-identification. This is where being calm and centred is better than over-dramatising a problem, thus letting it consume you. 

 How can I start to be more self-compassionate? 

It is really difficult to change deeply rooted habits, and to be self-compassionate is to start a long process of change, but one that is really worth it. There are great books and courses on mindfulness and self-compassion that you can read and attend that will offer you much better insight and help than I can write in this blog. However, if you want to start right away, here are some practical tips to begin with: 

1. When you make a mistake, talk to yourself as you would a friend – be compassionate, rational and kind. I often find talking aloud if I can’t find a friend lets those emotions out into the universe and I can vocalise my what-ifs and doubts to help myself to rationalise what happened, rather than let it be emotion-driven.
2. Breathe. Breathing in for 5 second and out for 10 seconds helps the oxygen get to the brain, the adrenalin to calm down and I can process things much more calmly, rather than over-identify (see step 3 above).
3. When you leave the classroom, say out loud to yourself one thing that you were happy with or grateful for that day to focus the attention, rightly, on the good aspects. You can also write this thought down in a diary and then you can have a collection of good memories of the school year. This can also help you to write nice reports too at the end of term as you have a record of some great things achieved in class. 
4. Do something active. Doing sport (don’t groan!) truly does help. It doesn’t have to be a marathon but getting off the bus two stops earlier and power-walking home gets the stress out, the endorphins up and you feel much better. 
5. Seek out people to feel better – have a coffee, play board games, go for dinner. Get distracted, and as time passes, you’ll see it wasn’t that bad whatever was causing you stress.  

As the spooky season creeps up on us like a ghost in the night, why not bring a little Halloween magic into the classroom? Whether you’re looking to trick your students into learning with a bit of treat-worthy fun, or you’re brewing up some activities that will make their skills rise from the dead, we’ve got you covered. Don’t be afraid, these activities won’t come back to haunt you—though they might scare up some serious engagement!

Unearth the History of Halloween

photograph by Powell Krueger

Underneath the sweets and scary costumes, Halloween has a rich history dating back to ancient times. Why not turn your classroom into a time-traveling crypt where students explore the haunted roots of this holiday? Split students into groups, each tasked with investigating one aspect of Halloween history—be it the Celtic festival of Samhain, the rise of Halloween in the U.S., or the origin of costumes and jack-o’-lanterns. Have each group create a ghostly news report or boo-tiful visual timeline to present their findings.

For a modern twist, challenge your students to create a short, engaging social media post (photo or video) summarizing their research. Think: 30-second TikTok video or something along those lines. They can use props and costumes to recreate historical scenes or make their own “haunted history” presentations.

A Green and Sustainable Halloween

Even witches and ghosts care about sustainability these days, especially dinosaur ghosts who hate seeing fossil fuels being used so much!

For this activity, challenge your students to think about how they can celebrate Halloween in an eco-friendly way. Start with a discussion on common Halloween practices. Things like costumes, decorations, eating endless amounts of sweets and chocolate and their environmental impact.

Next ask students to brainstorm and design their own “Green Halloween.” They could come up with costume ideas made from recycled materials, eco-friendly party decorations, or suggestions for low-waste treats. Have students present their ideas to the class in a “Green Halloween Fair.” They can even vote on the best ideas, giving out fang-tastic prizes.

Turn this into a creative writing task! Students can create a flyer or social media post advertising their sustainable Halloween ideas, complete with catchy slogans and imagery. This is a great way to practice persuasive language while raising awareness.

Monstrously Mundane: Halloween Characters in Everyday Situations

What happens when your favourite Halloween characters have to deal with the same everyday problems we do? In this imaginative and humorous activity, students will take classic Halloween figures—like vampires, witches, and ghosts—and place them in totally ordinary, un-spooky situations.

Provide students with three images of typical Halloween characters (like a vampire, a witch, and a ghost). Have them brainstorm how these characters would act in an everyday scenario, such as:

• A vampire at the bank, complaining about the opening hours because they can only visit after dark.
• 
• A witch at the supermarket, frustrated because they can’t find any eye of newt in the spice aisle.
• 
• A ghost trying to book a flight online, but struggling because they can’t select a seat, as they no longer exist.
• 

I like to generate these images using AI and ask my students what they think the prompt may have been. Let students, either use the images and characters crated above or ask them to  create their own.

Once students have chosen their characters and scenarios, they can either write a short story or create a dialogue between the characters and other people in the scene. Encourage them to use humour, develop comics and perhaps even act out their scenes for the class.

Reading

If writing isn’t whats on your agenda in spooky season maybe you’re looking to get your students into reading. There are a whole host of readers available for check them out here. For more Reading ideas check out Liz Beer’s article from last halloween

With these spine-tingling ideas, your students will be learning and laughing while they embrace the eerie season. Not only do these activities cover key language skills, but they also let students show off their creativity in frighteningly fun ways. Plus, by sneaking in some lessons on history and sustainability, you’re giving them a more scream-worthy Halloween experience. Don’t forget to check out Pearson Readers for even more boo-rilliant resources to sink your teeth into!

In Spain, as previous educational laws have, the LOMLOE seeks to encourage schools to foster a love of books and to promote the habit of reading amongst students. Why? Because reading has a direct impact on crucial aspects of education:

• Improvement of reading comprehension.
• Development of communication skills.
• Correct management of information.
• Development of critical thinking.
• Acquisition of  knowledge.
• Development of empathy for different realities.

Therefore, by encouraging a love of reading during the school year, students will want to continue reading during their summer holidays. Here are some ideas for learners and parents to continue to have a love of reading over the summer.

Visit a library

Summer months are hot! Cool off with weekly trips to the library to read, browse and borrow new books. Libraries not only have traditional books, but also digital copies for your digital device, magazines, newspapers and audio books. Very often they put on activities for children, so check out their schedule in advance.

Read different things

Set a challenge where students have to read many different kinds of texts over the summer and take a selfie when they do so – for example, a books, a comic, a leaflet, a cereal box. They can present the information to you on the first day back from holidays.

Audio books when travelling

Ask parents to listen to audio books in the car when travelling this summer, or have it downloaded to listen to on the plane or train. If the paper version is also available, their son or daughter can read along with the audio.

Time challenges

Ask parent to set daily or weekly time challenges, where time is reserved for the whole family to read together. It can start off small, e.g. 20 minutes a day, and with each week that passes, the length of reading time increases. Also, having a routine where reading is always done at the same hour, e.g. after lunch, is a great way not to skip or forget.

Book to movie

Ask students to choose a book that has been made into a movie. They must read the book first and then watch the movie and say how each was the same or different to the other.

Reading play dates

Set up a social reading group among friends in class. Children can first of all play together, and then after lunch spend some time reading together. They can either read their own books or read the same book together and practice reading aloud or acting out parts of the book.

Stamps and rewards

Ask your students to read 6 books over the summer. Give each student a reading card where they can write the titles of the books and a space for a stamp or parent signature. Each time they read a book, their parents stamp or sign their reading card. If they manage to read all six books, the children get a reward (either from the school or from their parents)

Pearson Readers

We have a great catalogue of Pearson English Readers available which has over 480 books to choose from, both fiction and non-fiction, including Disney and Marvel stories. Books are graded by level and organised by age, containing a wide variety of activities to accompany the stories. Take a look, get started, and happy reading!

Creating a teaching environment that is as welcoming a possible to all members of the group is hard work, but wonderful when it all comes together. Addressing all our students’ needs as much as we can should not mean a lot of extra work for the teacher, but adapting our normal lesson plans to embrace neurodiversity will go a long way to creating that inclusive teaching environment. Here are some ideas you can incorporate into your teaching:

Entering the classroom

Consider where your students are coming from and their energy levels. Will they have just come from playing outside with their friends and need calming? Have they been sat down previously and will likely be full of energy when they come in? This will help you to decide what the first welcome idea will be. Have the instructions on the board, e.g.

Play the word domino game from yesterday with your partner. You have 7 minutes.

Lucas hand out the laptops.
Abigail and Frank come and see me.

Some students may need extra tasks to use up their energy in order to concentrate later. Can you provide a task, such as delivering a message to another classroom?

Getting ready to listen and learn

Do students know exactly where to sit every lesson and who they work with? This kind of routine helps children to settle quickly and feel at ease. If you like changing seats every month then you can provide a seating plan on the wall for students to consult if they have trouble remembering. Can all the students see the board and you easily? Are they in the best place for learning for their particular learning goals? For example, if someone is easily distracted by movement outside the window, consider positioning the chairs and table away from the distraction. Finally, are the walls of the classroom too ‘busy’? Having too much information up on the wall can be a distraction for some students who find it hard to focus.

Another tip to consider is having a visual schedule of the lesson to help students understand what is coming next. If you follow a class routine, this is helpful for students to understand the flow of the class and what should come next. A schedule looks like this:

It can be placed on the wall next to the board in large letters or printed off and put on a student’s desk to follow. If this is too much for some students to process, consider using ‘Now and Next’ cards so students are focused on the present moment and not too overwhelmed with what is to come. These cards look like this:

Furthermore, some students may require a step-by-step visual approach to an activity, such as this:

Finally, do some of your students need to fiddle with an object to keep listening to you? If so, have something like blue-tac on hand.

Giving Instructions

Clear instructions are vital for students, especially those learning a foreign language, yet it is one of the hardest tasks for a teacher to carry out. We are nervous that our students do not understand us, so we say an instruction again and add more words; we try to joke with our students, but they do not quite get it: or a student asks us a question during a difficult moment in class and we respond unclearly. Take for example the last scenario. A student asks for help while you are trying to help another student. You may respond like this:

“Hold on, I’ll be with you soon”.

Students can interpret this in a variety of ways, e.g.

1. I need to wait patiently until my teacher can help me (correct interpretation of that the teacher wants!)
2. I do not consider your request as important as my current task.
3. I need to hold something? A pen? The table? For how long?

A lack of understanding by a student when giving instructions for how to complete an activity can be shown in a variety of disruptive ways, for example acting out, procrastination (because they really do not understand the task), not participating, playing with a friend, and so on. Consider these tips when giving instructions:

• Use imperative sentences and avoid extra detail. Write down the instructions in advance if you need to until you get very good at saying instructions clearly. Compare:

“Listen to the people talking then write your answers in the space”.

“Listen and write.”

The second command is much clearer.

• Try not to deviate from the course book instructions, especially if the students are trying to follow what is written.
• Use non-verbal communication strategies to help students to process the instruction.
• Use visuals and flashcards of items to support students with their comprehension of items, for example, show a picture of a pair of scissors.
• Avoid saying the instruction again in a different way and with more detail if at first students do not understand. Follow this pattern of Say the instructions, Stop, Observe if students understand (checking questions can help here), Repeat.

Assessing Understanding

You can implement different routines to help you to know if students understand the task or not. For example, students show you with the thumbs up / thumbs in the middle/ thumbs down visual to show who does not understand well. If this causes embarrassment to some students, you can implement a ‘buddy’ system where students check with each other what they have to do and ask each other for clarification. Finally, asking students to repeat back instructions or give answers to a task in front of others is sometimes very hard. Provide sentence starters to help them tell you. Finally, some students feel overwhelmed at the idea that they may get suddenly called on to answer a question. There is nothing wrong in telling that student that “No, for this next feedback I won’t call on you”, or “I will ask for your help for question three”

Task Differentiation

Asking, or expecting, each student in your class to undertake activities in the course book all together and all at the same time is unrealistic. Think about how to slightly change an activity in a course book to make it more challenging, or indeed, less overwhelming for some students. This is not meant to imply designing extra worksheets for students, but instead slightly changing a task already provided. For example:

Image taken from Rise and Shine Book 4

Activity 2: To make it harder, ask students to complete the activity, then write the sentences again from memory. How many words can they get right? To make it easier, ask students to only complete answers 2 and 3. Or, you provide clues, such as starting letters, on a mini whiteboard in front of them to help students complete the missing words.

Working in pairs or groups

When looking at tasks in a course book where students work with a friend or small group to complete the task, first analyse the task to see whether it has more social or academic demands, or if it has a balance of both. From there, you can plan some support strategies. For example:

Image taken from Rise and Shine Book 4

This task has a high social demand. Some elements to consider are listening, waiting, turn taking, participating, sounding interested, eye contact, sensory issues. The academic challenge is fairly low as the grammar used is predominantly ‘can’ sentences, possessives and adjectives to talk about upcycling. Therefore, as the teacher, you need to think about providing strategies for supporting the social challenge of the task for students.

Image taken from Rise and Shine Book 3

This task has a high academic challenge. The students focus more on writing sentences, using the correct grammar and vocabulary, check spelling and then putting all the information attractively together in a. project. The teacher needs to focus more on the academic support to help the student achieve the task.

Further considerations for the teacher when students work in pairs or small groups are:

• Who is in the group?
• How big is the group?
• Should you have a ‘buddy’ system or will you provide the support needed?
• Helping students to understand how to take turns.
• How does every student contribute – what’s their role within a certain project?

One useful approach to help all students keep on track during a project and to focus on the stages of a project is the Bell Wallace TASC Wheel (TASC means Thinking Actively in a Social Context).

Students start with the orange ‘Gather/Organise’ or red ‘Identify’ stage and work their way around the wheel, completing each stage.

Leaving the Classroom

An exit routine is just as important as a welcome routine. It helps students to leave the classroom calmly, proud of what they have achieved and knowing what they have to do for homework. Some aspects to consider are making sure you give enough time for students to tidy up in order to avoid stress and chaos. How can you calmly communicate what students have to do for homework? Do you need to provide more detailed, printed instructions for some to students to glue into their workbooks? Do you need to make a quick video and post it to the school web for students to watch calmly at home and understand? Do you have a system for leaving in a calm and ordered way?

Seeing your students as individuals who each have their own strengths and challenges is vital. It is hard for one person to provide support to all, but small changes in class can go a long way to help all students achieve their goals. Do not try to take on everything all at once without support. You need your directors and fellow teachers to help you with ideas and extra care. Also, some changes take time. If something does not work the first time in class, such as implementing a new welcome routine, keep trying as changes need time to be understood and adapted to by students. I will leave you with the final thought by author Alexander Den Heijer: “When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.”

In today’s global context, ELL teaching transcends traditional boundaries. It’s about empowering students to navigate the world confidently in English while nurturing their role as proactive global citizens. Including examples from Your World, the Pearson coursebook for teenagers, this blog explores crafting impactful learning experiences that blend language mastery with environmental and emotional intelligence.

Embracing Emotions: It’s Essential

Understanding emotions is crucial in our learning journey. Acknowledging and expressing feelings like frustration or sadness is vital for mental wellbeing. By integrating emotional literacy into ELL, we promote resilience, aiding students in articulating their experiences and building emotional strength alongside language skills. While it’s important we find solutions to problems it’s also important we allow ourselves time to get through negative emotions before moving on.

Using Role-Plays for Deeper Learning

Role-plays about common, and sometimes painful, dilemmas, such as a lost phone, serve as springboard for broader lessons and greater scope for empathy when considering world issues. These scenarios encourage students to articulate feelings, and solutions in English.

Practical Example: The Broken Phone Scenario

• Problem Identification: A student expresses the frustration of losing a phone, discussing immediate feelings and their root. Also look at potential impacts like the environmental toll of manufacturing one mobile phone.
• Sustainable Solutions Discussion: Shift focus away from the broken/lost phone to eco-friendly resolutions, while acknowledging it’s incredible annoying to break a phone, what are the next steps? Could repairing or recycling be viable options? This conversation fosters critical thinking and eco-consciousness. It also focuses on finding a solution from within rather than simply “buying a new one”
• Mental Health Benefits: Having a broken phone and an enforced digital detox for a few days can do wonders for your mental health. Perhaps take the chance to plan a few “phone free” activities students could do it their phone was broken for an entire weekend!
• Role-Play Expansion: Students brainstorm and role-play scenarios offering sustainable solutions, practicing English while embedding sustainability in their thought process.
• Global Impact Reflection: Conclude with a discussion on how individual choices, like opting for repaired or second-hand electronics, contribute to global sustainability efforts. Remind students there are many ways they can make a difference in the world. This is just one tiny solution.

Celebrating Diversity: A Europe day Celebration

After engaging with the Europe Day Competition from the workbook, a natural progression is to host a Europe Day celebration in the classroom.

This event can serve as a celebration of the European Union’s cultural diversity. Imagine a classroom transformed into a mini-Europe, where each corner represents a different member state, adorned with national flags, traditional costumes, and homemade replicas of famous landmarks. Students could share insights into each country’s contribution to environmental sustainability, highlighting how these nations are pioneers in renewable energy, waste reduction, and conservation efforts.

Europe Day Celebration:

• Team Formation and Role Assignment: Students assess their strengths and interests. It’s important that everyone has a chance to present how they want to present. There’s a chance not every student will want to stand in front of a class and read a powerpoint. Look for other presentation options and roles.
• Research and Presentation: Each group selects an EU Member State. They will beyond flags cuisine and capital cities. Allow students to look into areas like language, and cultural expressions though art. Assed to that encourage deeper research into climate policy and other areas related to the Sustainable Development Goals.  It only take a second to find out how much energy is produced by using renewables in Iceland. (Spoiler alert, it’s 99%)
• Cultural Exchange and Reflection: Students prepare and share their presentations, engaging in a rich exchange of cultural knowledge and language practice. This activity not only enhances understanding of diverse cultures but also fosters a sense of European unity and global citizenship.

This celebration would not only solidify students’ research and presentation skills but also deepen their understanding of the interconnectedness of European cultures.

Through activities like a “taste of Europe” food fair or a collaborative art project depicting Europe’s scenic diversity, students can experience the joys of cultural exchange. Such a celebration reinforces a shared commitment to fostering a peaceful, inclusive society. It’s an opportunity for students to practice empathy, appreciate diversity, and understand their role in the global community, all within the enriching context of learning English.

What next?

We don’t need to reimagine ELL, we don’t need to reinvent it. By integrating emotional literacy, environmental consciousness, and cultural diversity into our curriculum, we’re not just enhancing language skills—we’re empowering students to make meaningful contributions to the world. This holistic approach prepares them to face future complexities with resilience and empathy. It ensures students leave our classrooms ready to enact positive change. Together, we’re shaping a generation that values sustainability, emotional wellbeing, and global unity.