David Dodgson

53 POSTS

David Dodgson blogged for Modern English Teacher over 4.5 years up to the end of 2021. During his time as the MET blogger, David wrote 52 posts spanning his teaching and managerial experiences across 3 different countries and 3 different jobs and drawing on his 20+ years in ELT. Throughout his career, David has worked in Kazakhstan, Bahrain, Turkey and Gabon, gaining experience with young learners, adults, EAL students and exam preparation classes, and holds an MA in EdTech and TESOL and the Trinity DipTESOL. When he finally returned to the UK, he relished the challenge of teaching in the UK for the first time as EAL Coordinator in a leading independent school, which was reflected in some of his more recent posts. David still continues to write, so expect to see articles from him in the new-look MET, as well as in publications like MET, ETp and TESL-EJ. You can find his personal blog here. His interests include supporting learning with technology, and teacher self-development. He also uses digital games as authentic materials for language learning, and blogs about it at eltsandbox.wordpress1.com. David believes that writing articles and blog posts allows you to be part of the wider ELT community, provides a platform to share and reflect on your experiences and to learn from others by engaging with the world of ELT beyond your own personal teaching context. So above all, his advice is to "write on"!

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The Final Stage: The Interview

2013-08-29

In the final post in his series of career development, MET resident blogger David Dodgson looks at the final – and perhaps most dreaded – stage of the job hunt: the interview. Again, drawing on his experience as a job applicant and as a recruiter, he offers advice on how to prepare for and present yourself to your future employers.

20 Things I’ve Realised in 20 Years of Teaching

2013-08-08

20 years is a long time in English Language Teaching. To mark two decades since taking his Trinity Cert TESOL, David Dodgson shares 20 ideas and reflections he has had in that time. From the need to experiment and reflect to the importance of considering different points of view and challenging established ideas, whilst not forgetting some classroom basics, he has compiled a thought-provoking list. What would you add?

Not so much beyond the walls as down the corridor

2013-07-12

Having looked at useful study skills and habits to encourage amongst secondary students in October’s post, this month our MET blogger, David Dodgson, shares with us some of the work he has been doing in collaboration with other academic departments in his school: Developing Effective EAL Support. Rather than focus on finding thematic links, he describes how identifying common skills across subjects has resulted in improved performance from his EAL learners.

The Whole Process – Top tips for improving students’ written work

2013-05-23

Writing is a key language skill for our students. So why is it so often left to the end of the unit? How can we make sure it is part of skills development and not just a way to test language? In this month’s post, we share our top tips for focusing on the whole process of writing in the ELT classroom.

Back to the Plan

2013-05-22

In his latest post, MET blogger, David Dodgson, considers the importance of the lesson plan for his teaching. He looks back at how the purpose of planning, as well as his attitude towards it, has changed over his years as a teacher, and looks forward to how planning will continue to play a key role in his classes.

The Value of Self

2012-08-23

In this month’s blog, David Dodgson, our MET resident blogger, shares his thoughts on teachers’ workloads, the importance of self-development, and the drive for self-improvement. He also considers the need to seek activities and relaxation away from our teaching day jobs, and makes the case for being self-centred once in a while to improve our performance in the classroom.

The keys to being an effective teacher

2012-07-31

We all strive to be the best teachers we can, but what are the key components of being an effective teacher? Is it even possible to master our craft of language teaching? David Dodgson reflects on his career and a recent mentoring experience to explore these questions and come up with some answers.

Simply Study Skills

2012-07-13

Following on from his look at ‘getting to know you’ activities in last month’s post, MET’s blogger David Dodgson this time focuses on establishing independent learning habits and encouraging the development of study skills. He shares what he does with his EAL students to encourage them to engage with the language around them and be active learners.