eLesson Inspirations

A bank of resources for teachers of English.

Short videos to make your students think, and practical ideas for using them in the classroom.

With lessons built around these clips, your students can learn English and explore real-world issues.

To get started, you can browse the eLesson Inspirations menu on the right, or go directly to the eLesson Inspirations archive page.

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16 Responses to eLesson Inspirations

  1. Bill January 23, 2014 at 2:46 pm #

    very poetic yet political esp. lost generation and pale blue dot

  2. Adrian Underhill January 27, 2014 at 10:04 am #

    I like these lesson inspirations. There are so many good ingredients out there but these inspirations put them together into wholesome snacks. And what’s good and what will keep them good is the invitation for multiple perspectives (including the obvious for and against) not just a single ‘good’ viewpoint, because people automatically dig in against preaching, even when it’s good. I do.

    • Margit February 1, 2014 at 9:32 am #

      I agree, rather than trying to convince (‘win’ over) people, it’s more effective to show alternative perspectives. This week’s e-lesson (Black Friday) aims to do that with the topic of overconsumption. Thanks, Adrian, for telling me about Adbusters a few years ago. They have powerful articles, ads, clips for ‘shaking up’ and raising awareness.

  3. Ildikó January 27, 2014 at 2:43 pm #

    Excellent ideas, thank you for sharing them! I’ll start with a lesson built around “If I could change the world…” and will let you know how it went.

  4. aGi January 27, 2014 at 6:14 pm #

    G.I.S.I.G. has done a great job on this! The videos offer a nice variety of issues and the tasks that go with them are fresh, inspirational and sometimes provocative! I like the way students are treated with respect in terms of content, language and feelings alike.

  5. Rachel January 28, 2014 at 4:03 pm #

    I think we all need a little “slow food” in many areas these days – thank you!
    I love ‘Leaving home’ – the ideas given for using it are great, but I feel inspired to use it in other ways too. Might work well with some of those first year Univ. students as well!
    A great initiative – thanks!

  6. Xiaobing January 28, 2014 at 6:12 pm #

    It does exactly what’s said on the tin: they are inspiring E resources, half ready-made, but there is still space for teachers to tailor to fit their own students and classrooms! I also agree with Adrian on the multiple perspectives to keep options open. Thanks for all the hard work!

  7. Ale Soto January 29, 2014 at 4:14 pm #

    Excellent resources! Thanks a lot for sharing and congrats

  8. George Pickering January 30, 2014 at 2:29 pm #

    Wow what a really useful and impressive resource.
    What I really like is the marvellous combination of excellent content and design.
    Congratulations to everyone involved in this very worthwhile project.
    How do I find out more about the software and design features?
    Looking forward to seeing future videos.

    • Margit February 1, 2014 at 9:50 am #

      Thanks George. I put together the content, but had a lot of help from our webmaster, Laszló Hajba, and the designer, Mark Bain. I’m also happy with the way it looks and think that Mark did an excellent job with logo and design.

  9. Chaz Pugliese February 2, 2014 at 10:32 am #

    Dear Margit,
    A very useful resource and once more, proof that there’s life beyond grammar. I’ve long been convinced that if I want my students to pay attention and react to the lesson/activity I must challenge them beyond the language. Which is why I like these clips. They provide teachers w/ plenty opportunities to tap into the cognitive and affective domains. Thank you.
    Chaz

  10. Wolfgang Ridder February 2, 2014 at 8:45 pm #

    Good evening, Margit,
    finally found some time to look at these. I just wish these would have been available during my time of active teaching. Hope you don’t mind that I mention these to the members of our own local English Teachers Group. It just shows – as I always have maintained – you don’t need lots of time and/or a top-level fluency and understanding of language in order to make the classroom a discussion ground for real content and thinking.
    Thanks a lot for doing this for GISIG,
    Wolfgang

  11. Peter Medgyes February 3, 2014 at 5:05 pm #

    Margit,

    What a lovely idea! I wish I had a class to teach some of this. How can you spread the news most efficiently that it exists? All IATEFL members should be notified one way or another.

    Love,
    Péter

  12. Dennis Newson February 4, 2014 at 11:53 pm #

    Margit. A clear, truly educative marvellous idea, beautiful presented. I shall certainly be bringing eLessons Inspirations to a lot of people. Congratulations to you and Lazlo and everyone else involved.

    Dennis

  13. Marjoire Rosenberg February 8, 2014 at 12:15 pm #

    Hi Margit and all,

    This is just a great collection and extremely helpful for all the SIGs as well as the TAs. I assume you have already announced it in the eBulletin, but you could send the link to the SIG Coordinators list so that we can inform our members. Just great materials!

    And the Black Friday clip was fascinating. We actually included a story on Buy Nothing Day in a text book series for upper secondary schools that I have been working on for the last several years. This clip would be perfect to show in class.

    Well done!

    Marjorie

  14. Alan Maley February 21, 2014 at 12:31 pm #

    What a splendid new initiative! Really fresh and usable. And so elegantly economical. In a world which is all too full of information, we need all the inspiration we can get!

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