Published materials
This 365-day journal has been designed to guide teachers through a full year of structured reflection. Each month focuses on a key theme, offering prompts that encourage both introspection and practical application. Whether used daily, weekly, or in bursts, this tool aims to support continuous development, foster professional fulfilment, and nurture a more thoughtful, intentional approach to teaching.
Reflective practice is widely recognised as a powerful tool for teacher development. According to Schön (1983), reflection allows professionals to think critically about their experiences, challenge assumptions, and make informed adjustments to their practice. For teachers, this process is particularly valuable. It enables a deeper understanding of the complexities of the classroom, promotes continuous learning, and helps connect theory to practice in meaningful ways.
Journaling is a highly effective method of engaging in reflective practice. Writing down thoughts, observations, and experiences encourages clarity, emotional processing, and long-term growth. Studies show that regular journaling can reduce stress, increase focus, and improve emotional well-being (Pennebaker & Chung, 2011). In the context of education, it helps teachers capture valuable insights that might otherwise be lost in the busyness of daily routines.
Diversity and representation have become important social issues in the last few years, and this discussion has filtered through to the ELT world. However this discussion seems to have had little or no effect on international English language teaching materials.
We feel that, significant improvements need to be made in how various groups in society are included in the most popular international coursebooks.
In response to this situation, we decided to create Raise Up! Project, starting with a multi-level coursebook containing eight lessons on a variety of subjects including work rules, family, leadership, and rural life. The methodology reflects that normally found in an international mainstream coursebook, as does the design. The book is an attempt to demonstrate how this kind of accessible coursebook can be inclusive without being controversial, and to provide teachers with practical, ready to use lessons that are genuinely diverse and are not currently provided to them by ELT publishers. All of our proceeds go to good causes, and everyone working on Raise Up! is a volunteer.
Have you ever noticed that you usually ask your students the same questions over and over again? Usually about their weekends? I did, so I decided to write this book so it never happened again. With How Was Your Weekend? 1001 Discussion Questions To Use With Your EFL/ESL Students you too can avoid boring yourself and your students with a huge variety of questions on a multitude of topics, from the personal to the general, from the serious to the silly. The only guarantee is that the quality of conversation in your classroom will improve!
Organised into different thematic sections, the book is easy to navigate and designed to be used quickly and easily during lessons. There is also an introduction, in which I describe how the book can be used and some things to take into consideration. With “How Was Your Weekend?” at your side, boring classroom conversations are now a thing of the past!
taylormadeenglish 