40 reasons why teachers write their own materials
Katherine Bilsborough
ELT Writer and Teacher Trainer - Author of 100+ course books and online courses. Trained 5000+ teachers. Using my experience to help ELT educators and writers develop their materials writing skills
Teachers! Why do you make materials?
?A few days ago I asked this question on LinkedIn and it sparked a really interesting thread. Lots of the reasons were ones I’d expected, many I shared myself. But others were unexpected and gave me food for thought. So, here’s a list of 40 reasons which came up. Which one do you think is the best?
1.????To personalize and represent my students as well as I can
2.????To address specific needs and interests
3.????To bring into the classroom topics that aren’t in coursebooks
4.????To differentiate my students’ needs
5.????Because I love it!
6.????To express myself
7.????It helps me to relax and learn
8.????To be creative
9.????Because I love designing materials
10.?To reinforce emerging language
11.?Because I believe in diversity
12.?Because I need to customize materials for my context
13.?To make lessons more interesting
14.?To explore the topics my students are into
15.?It’s a creative outlet
16.?To test my own theories and ideas
17.?To focus on current affairs
18.?Because I know my students best
19.?To fit around the picture books I use
20.?To personalize the context
21.?To support teachers needs
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22.?To cater for different needs and levels
23.?To give my students what the market doesn’t provide
24.?Because no single materials is enough or complete
25.?To make fresh, innovative materials
26.?I learn from the process
27.?For the fun of it
28.?My students appreciate the effort so it helps with rapport
29.?Because no other materials fit with our 10 week blocks
30.?To stretch my students and extend their learning
31.?Because every class is different
32.?Because I like experimenting
33.?Because searching for ideas is fun
34.?To make materials relevant
35.?To show students I care about them
36.?To include more interesting topics
37.?Because I work in a specific niche
38.?To highlight issues from the real world
39.?To supplement my coursebook
40.?Because I can’t afford to buy books
It’s clear to me that all teachers write some materials. It’s also clear that most teachers have had no focused training in the skills for materials writing and while there might be some overlap, in general they are different skills from teaching.
If you are an English teacher interested in developing your materials writing skills, check out the new 10-week online course that John Hughes and I have developed at www.writingELTmaterials.com You’ll find information about the course, the trainers, cost, dates, and more. There’s also a contact form to ask us any questions and a registration form for anyone who’d like to start the ball rolling.
?So … which of those 40 reasons resonates most with you?
ELT Writer and Teacher Trainer - Author of 100+ course books and online courses. Trained 5000+ teachers. Using my experience to help ELT educators and writers develop their materials writing skills
1 个月Thanks for sharing! This was two years ago ??
ELT Writer and Teacher Trainer - Author of 100+ course books and online courses. Trained 5000+ teachers. Using my experience to help ELT educators and writers develop their materials writing skills
2 年Thanks for sharing!
Helping business professionals get higher pay improving English Speaking in 60 hours
2 年1 and 2. Teaching adults that need to communicate with people in many different areas on a daily basis, it's been hard to find specific materials to cover jargon and vocabulary in formal books so to speak.