David Dodgson

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"!

Reading QR Codes (IF We Can)

In his latest post, MET Resident Blogger David Dodgson talks us through an activity his teen students engaged in combining QR codes with an interactive ‘choose your own path’ adventure story. He discusses how the story and activity was created, what benefits came from utilising QR codes to deliver it, and the follow-up projects his students engaged in.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas-Themed EFL Activities

As the festive season draws nearer, our usually jovial MET blogger David Dodgson, goes all grinchy on us with a rant against superficial Christmas-themed lessons to finish off the year. He then explains why in their place he prefers either more reflective activities or simply regular lessons.

‘I eat present simple for breakfast!’ Using real life to encourage genuine language

Lesson ideas sometimes come at random moments. Inspiration hit David when his day didn’t have the best start … and led him to take a different approach to reviewing present simple for routines with his young learners. How? By simply focusing on real life.

Write On

David Dodgson, in the hopes of becoming MET's official blogger, discusses why his notebook is his most prized possession as a teacher.

Making exam preparation child’s play

David Dodgson describes some student-generated practice activities for theCambridge YLE tests.