Internet
sites for teachers
How do you go about making a list of the best Internet sites for teachers? Where do you start? We decided to start by asking our users to tell us which sites help them most with their teaching. We then took the most popular choices and compiled this list of your favourite sites. If you think we’ve missed a site that should be here then click on the link below and complete the form.
We should point out that we’ve listed the sites in alphabetical order and only included sites that are specifically for teachers and have been submitted by teachers.
About ESL
http://esl.about.com
About ESL benefits from our alphabetical listing because it appears first in our list. However, it’s quite a challenge to find your way around the site to see what’s on offer so we wouldn’t put it top of our user-friendly list. We also found the ads very intrusive when we visited the site, so we didn’t stay long. We know you like it, though, because you told us so.
Why you like it ...
“It provides a great deal of materials for classroom use, with diversity in interests and topics.”
“Most of the time I use the reading activities because the texts and dialogues are nice. I also use the online tests.”
BBC Learning English
www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish
Part of the BBC World Service site, BBC Learning English is aimed at teachers as well as anyone wanting to improve their English. The site has quizzes, topical audio for listening comprehension, grammar exercises, and worksheets for students and teachers. The Business English section is very useful. Look out for “6-Minute English”, a popular resource available as streaming audio or as a podcast to download with a transcript.
Why you like it ...
“I can find worksheets and MP3 downloads to support my teaching.”
“There’s a huge variety of resources with plenty of video to make things interesting, and pronunciation help which students value.”
“I use some of the quizzes or topics for discussion in my classes, which make students have fun with English.”
“Helps with pronunciation and vocabulary very entertaining.”
“It gives me ideas and I can confidently send my students to the site to work independently.”
“It provides students with good reading material, new vocabulary and excellent podcasts.”
Discovery Puzzlemaker
http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com
Although not solely for ESL/EFL teachers, this is a very useful tool for creating your own crosswords and other word puzzles for the classroom. Once you’ve created them, print them out or copy and paste them into a text-processing program.
Why you like it ...
“I make criss-cross puzzles with translations of new vocabulary from the current unit of the course book. Students love looking up the words in a dictionary or testing how much they already know.”
ELLO
http://elllo.org
ELLO stands for English Listening Lesson Library Online. At this site you can find audio and video clips for classroom use. The site aims to help students learn English in an authentic way by listening to speakers from all over the world.
Why you like it ...
“It provides both teachers and learners with excellent material.”
“I can use material that does not normally appear in textbooks. Using the PC is a more attractive way to motivate learners to do listening practice.”
English and Fun
www.welcometoenglishandfun.com
This is a bilingual site from Argentina that’s packed with photocopiable activities, games, suggestions, tips, songs, comics, flashcards to print out, and much more. In fact, it’s slightly overwhelming when you first enter the site, so take your time to explore.
Why you like it ...
“I often use these vocabulary worksheets for my newcomer/immigrant students and students with special needs.”
ESL Kidstuff
www.eslkidstuff.com
This is a resource website for English language teachers who teach children. The main resources are printable flashcards and worksheets. They also have games, song sheets, and tips for teaching English to children.
Why you like it ...
“This is where I get worksheets and materials for my special-needs students. The ‘Tips for Teachers’ section is also useful.”
ESL Printables
www.eslprintables.com
This is a site where EFL/ESL teachers from around the world can share their lesson plans. You need to register and contribute your own materials to use the site. Each time your work is downloaded you get a point, which you can use to download another teacher’s worksheet or PowerPoint presentation. It’s a fun idea.
Why you like it ...
“There are stacks of worksheets and activities on virtually any vocabulary or grammar topic.”
“It’s extremely useful and entertaining. Teachers download such amusing worksheets that students find them great. You can find all kinds of resources to develop all skills.”
“I download materials here when I need to motivate my students with a very visual but to-the-point worksheet.”
“It gives me the opportunity of checking what other people do and the way they do it.”
Humanising Language Teaching
www.hltmag.co.uk
This impressive archive of articles on various issues related to language teaching and methodology as well as practical exercises is aimed at primary kids, secondary teenagers and adult learners.
Why you like it ...
“This website provides me a lot of fresh ideas about teaching English, and it also provides materials for my teaching.”
Isabel’s ESL Site
www.isabelperez.com
Extremely popular with teachers, especially in Spanish-speaking countries, this site was created by Isabel Pérez Torres, a secondary school teacher in Spain. Since 1996 she has been adding material produced by herself, her students and other teachers. There are lots of Web-based activities as well as songs complete with audio, lyrics and exercises, and pages of interesting links.
Why you like it ...
“It saves a lot of time, plus there are songs that students are interested in.”
“It’s complete, easy to use, and full of good ideas and links to interesting sites. I use it in the classroom with my students and I spend hours browsing through it. I find lots of information and interesting activities.”
“I particularly like the education-portals links section.”
its-online
www.its-online.com
Our gateway to the four Internet sites for teachers and students. At its-teachers you can access the online edition of this magazine as well as articles and activities from past issues. At 3sixty5 there are activities for every day of the year. You’ll find interactive theme-based activities at its-english. And there’s a community site for your students at its-myworld, where they can find pen pals, create their own English home page, and take part in online projects.
Why you like it ...
“So many activities and interesting teaching materials.”
“Thanks to its lesson plans I can take fresh and up-to-date topics into the classroom. My students love it! And the lessons make me (the teacher) look cool!”
“It gives me a lot of resources and tips to improve my teaching skills.”
“It has downloadable lesson plans complete with illustrations or photos to support the lessons.”
OneStopEnglish
www.onestopenglish.com
According to the site, OneStopEnglish has over 450,000 registered users in more than 100 countries around the world and contains over 6,500 resources, including lesson plans, worksheets, audio, video and flash cards. While some material at the site is free, you need a paid subscription to access the whole lot. A one-year subscription currently costs £32. In November, OneStopEnglish is planning a new Young Learner content launch, with the start of the second part of OneStop Phonics, their phonics series for children. Also look out for the “Live from ...” series of authentic podcasts. And while you’re checking out the OneStop site, visit OneStopBlogs (http://blogs.onestopenglish.com), the site that brings together blogs from throughout the English language teaching community.
Why you like it ...
“It’s user-friendly, with lots of lesson plans, warmers, games and methodology articles by top authors such as Scrivener, Harmer, Underhill, etc.”
“It offers ideas and new ways of approaching grammar lessons and/or lexical lessons.”
Six Things
http://sixthings.net
As a regular contributor to iT’s for Teachers, Lindsay Clandfield’s name will already be familiar to readers. Six Things is a collection of miscellany from the world of English language teaching, all presented in list form. Recent entries include “Six famous school report comments”, “Six things about multiple intelligences that you might not know” and “Six classroom activities with mobile/cell phones”.
Why you like it ...
“It has practical ideas I’ve used in class. It also contains information about teacher development, unusual areas of ELT (aviation English), and even some humour.”
Teaching English
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
Teaching English is produced by the British Council with content and editorial support from the British Broadcasting Corporation. All teaching material on the site is free to access. As part of a pilot project, the site also features a variety of teaching materials produced by selected U.K. publishers. If you’re looking for teaching materials and ideas go to “Try”. If you have a question to ask about teaching, go to “Talk”. You can also explore the “Think” and “Transform” sections.
Why you like it ...
“Lots of great links to useful material, resources, and ideas for teaching adults and teenagers.”
“Long list of lesson plans on a variety of interesting themes. Many of the lessons have downloadable audio files.”
“Really clear. Provides theory and practice for different levels.”
TEFL Clips
www.teflclips.com
This site is one of Jamie Keddie's projects, and it won him a 2009 ELTon award. It’s a site dedicated to the possibilities of using YouTube and other video-sharing sites in the classroom. There are lots of videos and activities at the site as well as some tips for teachers who need them. Jamie is about to give the site a new look to make it easier to use, so watch out for new developments. You can also find lesson plans and articles at www.jamiekeddie.com.
Why you like it ...
“It helps me to prepare video-based lessons for my class to fully engage my students into visualised lessons.”
“He asks himself many of the questions I ask myself. But as he is more experienced, he always gets the answer first.”
Many thanks to the teachers who are quoted on this page: Ahlke Saathoff, Aileen Cotter, Alison Miller, Carina Limardo, Carolina García Pere, Charo Pindado, Elena Nogués Meléndez, Ema Coll, Hall Houston, Jackie Robbins, Jose Angel Bañares Perez, Jose Angel Isla, Josep Sala Esquena, Manuela Kelly Calzini, Marina Alfonso, Maria Consuelo Calderón Gómez, María del Mar Edreira Santos, Maria Jose Fernandez Encina, Maria Mesejo, Maria Pia Berti, Michael Dylang, Natacha Carolina Sanchez Romera, Olga Galperin, Patric Fawcett, Paul Michael Ashe, Pham Nhu Cuong, Renato Gil de Sousa Piedade, Rosa Sanchez de Peralta, Rosario Pindado Santos, Silvia Noemi Morquin, Verónica de la Encina, Yao Tongan. Thanks also to everyone else who took part in our survey.