Additional information
by Sandy Millin (Author)
ELT Playbook 1 contains a selection of 30 tasks to help teachers to reflect on what they do, centred particularly on the areas that seem to cause most problems for those new to our profession. It is based on my work as a CELTA trainer and as a manager of newly qualified teachers. There is also an associated online community where participants can choose to share their reflections and learn from others using the book, taking the first steps to building up an online support network.Who is this series for?- Those who want to develop as a teacher, but who would like some support to learn how to do this, along with clear tasks to work through.- Teacher trainers or managers who would like ideas for professional development programmes (though please do credit the source).And this book?- Teachers fresh off their initial training who would like to build on what they've learnt.- Those who have not yet completed an initial training course and would like something to start them off.- Teachers a few years after their initial training who feel they would like to go back to basics.- Those who would like to develop in a systematic way but are on a limited budget or working in an environment without available support.Series aims- To provide a series of tasks you can work through to improve your teaching.- To help you to build a professional portfolio that can be used to show your development when applying for jobs.- To provide guidance in how to reflect on your teaching.Why ELT Playbook?According to the Macmillan Dictionary online (accessed 17th August 2017), a playbook is 'any set of strategies to achieve a goal.' I believe it is just such a set of techniques and strategies that teachers need to develop both inside and outside the classroom to describe themselves as truly professional. This is reflected in the fact that the term 'playbook' has moved from the sportsfield to the boardroom over the last few years. It is also important to emphasise the 'play' part of 'playbook'. We already have plenty of work to do, so it's important that any professional development we do complements our work in an enjoyable and stimulating way, rather than adding unnecessary extra stress. None of the tasks should take you longer than 2 hours, and many of them should be achievable in under an hour. They are designed to fit in relatively easily around a busy career and the demands of home life.How do I use ELT Playbook 1?You can do the tasks in any order: you could start with something you feel you particularly need to work on, you could complete a whole category, or you might prefer to work through the book from beginning to end. If you do one task a week, you should have enough for an average academic year, with a couple of weeks left over to help you when you are particularly busy at work or home. You can also repeat tasks as many times as you like, perhaps reflecting on them in different ways, or seeing how your responses change over time or with different groups. That means that just this one single volume could provide you with years of professional development, if you so choose Having said that, if ELT Playbook 1 is successful, I hope to develop a series of similar playbooks for other areas of ELT, and I would very much welcome feedback on which areas you would find it most useful to focus on.
