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	<title>Marisa Constantinides &#8211; TEFL Matters Blog</title>
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	<link>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org</link>
	<description>Teaching, Training Teachers and Edtech ideas</description>
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		<title>Design Thinking and the Art of Professional Development</title>
		<link>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2025/11/24/design-thinking-and-the-art-of-professional-development/</link>
					<comments>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2025/11/24/design-thinking-and-the-art-of-professional-development/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Marisa Constantinides]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Nov 2025 09:23:13 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Article]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Guest post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Teacher Education]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/?p=5340</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[(repost) Article by Dr Angelos Bollas Professional development is one of those phrases that teachers hear so often that it risks losing meaning. For many in ELT, it brings to mind mandatory workshops, accreditation requirements, or reflective forms completed at the end of the academic year. Yet the need for professional growth has never been more urgent. Our classrooms, physical and virtual, change constantly: new technologies emerge, learner profiles diversify, and societal expectations reshape what we do. The question, then, is not whether we engage in professional development, but how we might do so in a way that is purposeful, authentic, and sustainable. In recent years, I have found unexpected inspiration in a framework that originated far from education: design thinking. Initially developed within the fields of product and service design, design thinking is a process that helps people understand complex problems, imagine creative solutions, and test them through small-scale action. Its central principle is empathy, a deep understanding of the people for whom we are designing. Although it was first used in contexts like engineering, healthcare, and business innovation, its human-centred and iterative approach makes it an ideal lens for educators who wish to shape their own professional journeys. What Is Design Thinking? Design Thinking emerged from the recognition that effective solutions rarely come from abstract analysis alone. Instead, they come from immersing oneself in a context, observing how people think and behave, and developing ideas grounded in their lived experiences. The process was popularised by design firm IDEO and thinkers such as Tim Brown, who describe it [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<title>4 Ways DELTA Module 2 Made me a Better Academic Manager</title>
		<link>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2023/02/20/4-ways-delta-module-2-made-me-a-better-academic-manager/</link>
					<comments>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2023/02/20/4-ways-delta-module-2-made-me-a-better-academic-manager/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Marisa Constantinides]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Feb 2023 21:59:22 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog post]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/?p=5276</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[by Geoffrey Adamson Words like ‘management’ and ‘human resources’ do not come up often in conversations in or about DELTA Module 2. Terms like these, it seems, are relegated to Module 3 and its ELT Management option. Clearly, the ELTM option provides academic managers with the opportunity of a dive deep into aspects of ELT management, but the benefits to managers of the learning gained in Module 2 should not be overlooked. Future, current and past Delta candidates should view the teaching module as a powerful way to inform their leadership. As I anxiously await my own Module 2 results, I wanted to share 4 ways in which my fully online Module 2 course with CELT Athens helped me upskill my own leadership practices. #1: Giving feedback I observe lessons. A lot. Most weeks, I’m in someone else’s classroom more than my own. My team of twenty teachers works with English language young learners of all ages, from toddlers to teenagers. I could start the day with a phonics lesson for four-year-olds, jump into a modal verb presentation with fourth graders and finish off with a reading skills lesson with middle schoolers. This challenge means I have to give actionable and supportive feedback on lessons throughout the school quickly and consistently. Delta Module 2 has helped me focus in on key issues and articulate feedback succinctly. Feedback from my course tutors as well as comments made by my peers on my course who were invited to observe me were great examples. Whether written or verbal, [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<title>It is a truth universally acknowledged&#8230;.</title>
		<link>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2022/11/24/5342/</link>
					<comments>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2022/11/24/5342/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Marisa Constantinides]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Nov 2022 09:36:38 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Article]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ELT Methodology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Language Analysis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lesson Plan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CELTA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DELTA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grammar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reflective Teaching]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/?p=5342</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[‘It is a truth universally acknowledged’ that some structures are more trouble to acquire than others. A classic example is the Present Simple, which, according to morpheme acquisition research is one of the last grammar structures to be acquired fully by foreign language learners. In this article, written a very long time ago but recently updated, I have attempted to explore some of the possible causes of difficulty and offer some suggestions for an approach to introducing ‘difficult’ grammatical areas to foreign language learners. In order to do this, I have selected one such area and will use it in the discussion as a means to illustrate some of the issues involved in teaching and learning the grammar of English. The points I make should apply to other similarly &#8216;heavy&#8217; areas of grammar. Focus on the Present Perfect Simple One of these ‘difficult’ grammatical areas that have caused language learners and teachers around the world quite a few headaches is the Present Perfect. Generations have sweated over it and yet, it still looms over the horizon like an ugly monster – a monster, moreover, not with one, but with quite a few heads! The problems with this ‘tense’, it seems, are not in the area of understanding the rules of form or use. On the contrary, if you ask, say a group of intermediate students, who have been introduced to the different aspects and uses of the Present Perfect about rules, they will probably be quite capable of verbalizing them. The same students will also [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<title>The elusive present perfect continuous in the passive</title>
		<link>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2019/05/17/the-elusive-present-perfect-continuous-in-the-passive/</link>
					<comments>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2019/05/17/the-elusive-present-perfect-continuous-in-the-passive/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Marisa Constantinides]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2019 18:12:52 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Language Analysis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Corpus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grammar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Translation]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/?p=5152</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[In all my years as a teacher, I have been reading about the elusive present perfect continuous in the passive as a classic example of that which is formally possible, the grammatical system of the English Language allows it,  but is never actually done, i.e. &#8216;used&#8217;, by the language community. According to Dell Hymes (1972)  the language that, consciously or  unconsciously, people use answers these four questions: Whether (and to what degree) something is formally possible; Whether (and to what degree) something is feasible in virtue of the means of implementation available; Whether (and to what degree) something is appropriate (adequate, happy, successful) in relation to a context in which it is used and evaluated; Whether (and to what degree) something is in fact done, actually performed, and what its doing entails. And here I was on You Tube and for some reason got fascinated by a video about the crown jewels in the UK and this young woman, author of a book on the crown jewels,  actually used one!!! Here it is!! I thought I should save it! Listen to it! Link to video excerpt in case you cannot view it in your browser At first, I thought it was a wrong use or that I had misheard, but, no, I think it makes perfect sense as it is used in this context! It actually sounds perfectly right! Could she have used a present perfect simple passive and would it have made equal sense? Probably, to most of us. But she was trying to [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<title>Student Made Games</title>
		<link>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2017/11/26/student-made-games/</link>
					<comments>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2017/11/26/student-made-games/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Marisa Constantinides]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 26 Nov 2017 11:48:33 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Article]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/?p=5078</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Market produced and teacher-prepared games have an important role to plan in the language classroom. Enjoyable and engaging, they draw attention away from too much preoccupation with accuracy and create the need to talk, spurred by the desire to play and, of course, win! However true this may be, the language used by learners in most games tends to be restricted and repetitive, almost like a set of ritualized phrases “providing drilling practice because of repeated forms” (Wright, A., et al, 1984).  As a result, they do not provide enough of a challenge, especially for the more advanced learners. Very few games involve negotiating or encouragement to use a wider repertoire of language. Student-made games Getting the students to make their own games as an addition to available commercial games may well provide them both with the satisfaction of a creative as well as game-like activity. The finished game game will do wonders in boosting up student enthusiasm, an effect which can spill into other areas of the curriculum quite easily. This “finished product: can be kept and reused with the same or other classes as well. Most students, except the very very young learners, will already be familiar with conventions of playing board games at home or in class – in the mother tongue or a foreign language. They will already be familiar with Start and finish points on a games board Winning an extra turn or losing one Throwing dice to determine moves Keeping score Penalties, prizes, good spots and bad spots The [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<title>Visualising Process Writing</title>
		<link>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2017/09/28/visualising-process-writing/</link>
					<comments>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2017/09/28/visualising-process-writing/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Marisa Constantinides]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Sep 2017 09:19:22 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ELT Methodology]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/?p=5072</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Reposted from my CELT Athens blog  My new infographic Some time ago, I started trying to learn to make infographics and had an idea for a poster showing a possible lesson following a process orientation to writing. The infographic took quite a bit of work to do. Process was less easy to depict than I had anticipated but here is my infographic Teachers, use if you think it might help your students understand the structure of your writing lessons; teacher trainer colleagues, use if you are doing a session on this topic. I have often used it as a prompt in a loop input on process writing to get trainees to write about writing. My handmade drawing Drawing by Marisa Constantinides Which one do you prefer? Let me know in the comments below please 🙂 Marisa]]></description>
		
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		<title>Life as it used to BI</title>
		<link>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2017/01/20/life-as-it-used-to-bi/</link>
					<comments>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2017/01/20/life-as-it-used-to-bi/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Marisa Constantinides]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Jan 2017 15:16:36 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Edtech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ICT]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PLN]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web 2.0]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/?p=4968</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[BI=Before Internet &#160; Our collective memories get so easily altered with the advent and use of new technologies. It&#8217;s so common amongst people to resist new tech and for teachers to insist that what they are used to is &#8216;good enough&#8217; and &#8216;didn&#8217;t they learn without this new tech just fine&#8217; themselves? Then, somehow, the new tech catches on and it is as if resistance had never existed!!! It&#8217;s good for us, once in a while, to look back and think about how quickly what we took for granted for a long time, changed so very quickly over just the past decade really!!! It&#8217;s astonishing! I was inspired to ask the question below by a colleague who put it out on twitter and waited for answers &#8211; I thought it would be fun to share our collective memories. I loved all the responses and have embedded a few of them in this post to remind you of how quick the changes have been in the last very few decades. Since I wrote this short post, I found out that the question has been asked times innumerable already; so what else is new these days? Not much other than that these answers are our own interactions from our group of friends, our very own PLN, so here goes: I had a case of stuck cassette tape happen to me in my final external teaching observation for the RSA DTEFLA &#8211; there goes another unrecognisable to some anachronism! Phil Keegan has one of those as well, I [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<title>What kind of School are you working for? (A Questionnaire on the ‘micro-climate’ of an institution)</title>
		<link>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2016/07/04/what-kind-of-fl-school-are-you-working-for-a-questionnaire-on-the-%e2%80%98micro-climate%e2%80%99-of-an-institution/</link>
					<comments>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2016/07/04/what-kind-of-fl-school-are-you-working-for-a-questionnaire-on-the-%e2%80%98micro-climate%e2%80%99-of-an-institution/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Marisa Constantinides]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Jul 2016 06:28:44 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog post]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/?p=374</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[This is a response to many  readers and trainees who talk about the frequent frustration befalling newly (or not so “newly”&#8230;) trained teachers finding themselves teaching in an environment where their training is not only not appreciated, but actually seen either as undesirable or as a threat.   On the opposing camp, I hear many Twitter friends who are administrators bemoaning the lack of passion, enthusiasm and, on occasion, technical knowledge of the skills of teaching  in educators. How can these two groups be drawn together? One of the key factors, the climate which prevails in an educational institution of any kind, is very often determined by school leadership,  be that a Director of Studies or Academic Coordinator.  But do all directors of studies have the leadership qualities which will create the right microclimate?  Here is a questionnaire to make you think about the kind of environment you are working in or have created for yourself or for others &#8211; whoever you are, teacher or school owner, its aim is to make you think and, then, hopefully, act in a positive way &#160; I hope to be able to send this as a survey questionnaire to teachers soon. Please let me know what you think about this idea which is an adaptation from an earlier work by Guildford on the question of identifying the microclimate of an institution generating creativity in the ELT classroom. Reference – Guilford, J.P., 1968, Intelligence. Creativity and their Educational Implications. San Diego, Robert R. Knapp Publications]]></description>
		
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		<title>Seven Questions for Alan Maley</title>
		<link>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2015/12/30/seven-questions-for-alan-maley/</link>
					<comments>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2015/12/30/seven-questions-for-alan-maley/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Marisa Constantinides]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 30 Dec 2015 16:29:38 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Interview Series]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/?p=4772</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[ “Life would be dull without creativity”, and “Creativity encourages risk taking”, Mr. Maley said in his talk at the launch of the most recent volume on creativity, Creativity in the English Language Classroom ,  a volume which he co-edited with Nik Peachy and for which he was an important inspiration.   As one of the contributors in this volume, I had first hand experience of his skilful and meticulous editing and must confess to being an early follower of his work, very much inspired  by the ideas related to including literary text in the ELT classroom &#8211; I still use many of the ideas he shared in early workshops on using poetry and have published at least three books on class materials using literary text. Alan Maley’s writings have inspired many teachers to be more creative over the years, not just me.  He has been a familiar and very important voice in ELT for a very long time and has always been a champion of allowing learners to escape the confines of the coursebook and letting their imagination run free. In those days, we did not call this a creativity drive but creativity it was! In more recent times, and since Sir Ken Robinson&#8217;s celebrated talk, many have &#8220;come out in the open&#8221; as it were and, indeed, the evidence of how keen ELT teachers are to embrace the idea that teaching and learning should be more creative is phenomenal. Alan Maley has written many books which have shaped the thinking of many educators and recently started the C Group, [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<title>Xtranormal has become Nawmal</title>
		<link>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2015/09/24/xtranormal-has-become-nawmal/</link>
					<comments>https://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/2015/09/24/xtranormal-has-become-nawmal/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Marisa Constantinides]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Sep 2015 19:28:07 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Tech Tools & Pedagogy Series]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creativity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Edtech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ICT]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web 2.0]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org/?p=4708</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Bringing the glad tidings that my favourite animation tool seems to be coming back! Xtranormal was a hugely popular video making tool with hundreds of teachers making videos for free, choosing characters, scenes, camera angles and really achieving a very professional looking outcome. Until they went bust. Despite its popularity, Xtranormal was not able to go on as a company and quietly went under about two or three years ago.  Some of the reasons have to do with the numerous free accounts and the cost of the huge amount of space they needed in order to store all these free videos. Read my related post here about free services. For a long time there was silence &#8211; complete silence about why or what was to happen. Until, almost two years ago, a new site redirected from the old site gave some hope. It looks like good news for now &#8211; the new service called nawmal is about to launch in December 2015 Watch their promo &#8211; it looks as good as it used to be and although it won&#8217;t come cheap, there is a lower price for schools and educators or students. Given the technology it takes to get done, I am not surprised. It looks like the same technology and they do have some affordable pricing plans for schools &#160; &#160; &#160; ____________________________________________________________________________________  Camera Angles, Backgrounds, Effects and more! Using these animations and camera angles, faceless coursebook dialogues could come to life and student dialogues could be turned into great sketches. ELT teachers are not the only [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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