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Updated: Jul 13, 2022

Summer is a time for relaxing and reconnecting with friends and family. But, it's also an ideal time to reflect on the year just gone and invest some time into improving your practice and get some new ideas into your locker for the next academic year. Personally, every time I dip into one of these books it reinvigorates me and revitalises my passion for teaching. I fully recommend spending an afternoon or two in the garden with one of these books and a big mug of tea (or a G&T if you prefer!).



The avid #mfltwitterati followers will have come across Steve and his inspiring tweets. In this book Steve Smith explores the skills that it takes to deliver exceptional language teaching and produce outstanding results. Offering support to all language teachers, this book offers a wide range of approaches to teaching and learning that will help to keep students stimulated and engaged when studying languages.


This was the first book I bought as a trainee teacher and it's still a go to resource for me when I need some inspiration. This best-selling title contains over 100 inspirational ideas on teaching languages in the classroom. Each one has been successfully tried and tested. Ideas range from solving murder mysteries to participating in fun activities to help students speak and understand languages."The Continuum One Hundreds" series offers 100 invaluable and practical ideas for teachers of all levels.


This practical guide provides teachers with a range of innovative strategies for motivating pupils of all ages in modern foreign languages. Containing new material for primary teachers, as well as more teaching tips, additional lesson ideas and an extended directory, Amanda Barton shows how learning a language can be fun. Brimming with useful tips and inspirational advice on every aspect of modern language teaching, this book will prove essential reading for every modern language teacher.


An absolute must read for any language teacher out there. Authored by two of the most inspiring teachers on twitter. The Language Teacher Toolkit is designed with both practising and trainee (pre-service) teachers in mind and uniquely bridges the gap between research and classroom practice. It is a comprehensive and clearly written handbook, particularly useful for teachers of modern foreign languages (world languages) who work in high schools (secondary education).



‘A wealth of theory, research, practical advice, case studies and tasks in one volume…Indispensable for both HEI tutors and mentors, and an important book to recommend to all MFL students.' – Language Learning Journal

‘Presenting clear, straightforward, factual information on all current issues facing MFL student teachers ... An excellent reference guide during the first years of teaching.' – Mentoring and Tutoring

Learning to Teach Foreign Languages in the Secondary School has established itself as the leading textbook for student teachers of foreign languages in the UK and internationally. The practical focus is underpinned by a theoretical perspective and backed up by the latest research, encouraging you to develop a personal approach to foreign language teaching.




This book provides the reader with fun and engaging activities designed to revolutionise language teaching; enabling teachers to authoritatively impart knowledge while fostering a thirst for knowledge and love of learning in their students. First, the Vocab Fun Learning Activities (VFLAs) learn the vocabulary in ways which will improve recognition and recall. Then, the Fun Learning Activities use this vocabulary knowledge to build sentences and paragraphs; explore and use this language while keeping the whole class engaged and actively learning. The activities are designed to encourage all students to participate and learn more through enjoyment. Based on the author s extensive classroom experience, and underpinned by research into how students learn best, each activity comes complete with a detailed explanation and plenty of ideas for variations, differentiations and extensions.


General Teaching


Teaching isn't all about teaching; new teachers quickly realise that they need to be lion tamers too. Controlling a class isn't something that comes naturally to everyone - but it can be learned. This no-nonsense guide tells teachers what the teacher training didn't, and offers instant strategies for dealing with the most common, and extreme, classroom scenarios. Using his experiences of teaching in inner-city schools, as Behaviour Guru on the TES advice forum and working as a nightclub bouncer, Tom Bennett helps teachers, old and new, to assert their authority in the classroom.


Another great take on behaviour strategies to implement in the classroom. This book remains a firm favourite with trainees, newly qualified teachers and experienced staff alike. The advice ranges from the basics of behaviour management to 'how to deal with the class from hell' and is applicable whether you are working in the early years, primary, secondary or further education with level specific examples in every chapter. The book covers preparing for your first meeting with a new group of students, developing your individual teaching style, creating a positive learning environment and working in really challenging schools. Sue is famed for the practical, honest and realistic nature of her advice, and all her ideas include case studies and anecdotes based on her years of experience working as a teacher and the stories and problems she has advised on 'agony aunt' style, for teachers of all levels.


Being an NQT can sometimes feel quite overwhelming, this book will take the NQT through a journey which starts with interviews, leads them through the first visit before taking up the job and then into the first hectic weeks and months. Light in touch but rich in content, it can be read around the pool during the holidays before your first term or kept at your bedside or in your desk draw for an emergency flick through once teaching gets underway! It expands on the stuff that teacher training touches on, but importantly provides a refreshing look at the nitty-gritty stuff that most training doesn't! Includes: getting a job, dealing with workload, discipline, preparing eye-catching lessons, dealing with parents, pastoral care, being a form tutor, dealing with colleagues, dealing with boys, getting involved in school life, taking trips, marking, assemblies, career development and much more


A follow on from the NQT series, Andy, Chris and Gary show you how to unleash your brilliance. Have you ever had a class that are angels for your colleagues but Lucifer incarnate as soon as they cross the threshold of your classroom? Or realised too late that your best-laid lesson plans were doomed from the start? Or had your energy and enthusiasm sapped by a mood-hoovering staffroom Grinch? Not a problem when you've mastered the art of being a brilliant teacher. With plenty of practical advice and top tips, let this book show you how. A brilliant book for teachers. An inspiring, engaging and informative new series that shows you how to transform your practice and become - quite simply - brilliant.



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