Six ELT blogs worth following

Being a teacher in the 21^st century is great, isn’t it? We have access to a plethora resources, so it’s quite easy to learn something new from the comfort of our home. I love reading blogs because it’s a great way of finding out what other ELT professionals think and do. I am always happy to see a new post notification, so I thought it would be a good idea to recommend my favourite bloggers.

I follow quite a lot of blogs through WordPress Reader, so having to choose just a few was rather tricky. I decided to select only those that have been running for at least a year and whose latest post was published within the last two months. There are some excellent dormant blogs with very useful content that I may write about in the future, but now I am going to focus only on the active ones. They are listed in alphabetical order.

Adaptive Learning in ELT
This brilliant blog, which has been running for 7 years, always makes me think. Philip Kerr is very diligent in dealing with various ELT-related topics in his essays. Fake news and critical thinking in ELT is a great example of the type of posts you can read on the blog.

The author is sceptical of anything that isn’t supported by evidence, and I appreciate the fact that he doesn’t hold back his opinions. He seems to have a great sense of humour as well. This post on instructional grammar videos is full of hilarious comments and it really cheered me up during quarantine.

ELT Planning
Pete is an experienced teacher and a prolific blogger. There always seem to be new posts on his website! You can find tons of lesson ideas, posts on CPD, reviews and much more on the blog.

In addition, Pete is involved in materials writing, and his blog provides valuable insight into the world of coursebooks and the process of their production. He summarises his views on that in The benefits of using an ELT coursebook. Pete’s posts are really witty and he doesn’t take himself too seriously, which is always nice to see.

Evidence Informed ELT
As the blog’s name implies, it’s time for another dose of scepticism. Russ Mayne is more than happy to question what many believe to be true. I recommend that you read Woo Watch: The rise of Neuro to get an idea of what the blog is about.

I really like the way Russ tackles controversial issues. In fact, I discovered his blog when he decided to collect and publish anonymous opinions on ELT that might be considered unpopular: Taboo ELT and Taboo 2.

Sam Shepherd
This blog’s author teaches English in the UK, so it’s really interesting to read about his work in that teaching context. Sam Shepherd is another blogger who doesn’t mince his words, and that leads to thought-provoking posts. Moving on up? deals with career progression and makes for a very interesting read.

Sam also makes some great points in his post A bunch of lies that focuses on online personas. He says that blogs are a tool of self-promotion and you can never be sure if what you read on them is true. Well, I have no idea what Sam is like in real life, but I certainly enjoy his posts.

Sandy Millin
I assume most of my readers have already come across this blog because there is so much amazing content on it. Sandy Millin has been regularly updating her website for 10 years, which is just incredible. There is a lot of useful Delta-related information, including conversations with those who have obtained the diploma.

It’s amazing to read some of Sandy’s older posts and see what she has achieved throughout the years. I find her articles on CELTA tutoring and being a Director of Studies particularly insightful. It’s such an inspirational blog!

The TEFL Zone
If you are looking for new ideas for your teaching practice, I recommend that you follow The TEFL Zone. Rachel Tsateri shares lessons plans and downloadable worksheets that you can use in your own classes.

The Delta section of Rachel’s blog is a treasure trove for those interested in obtaining the diploma because it contains examples of successful assignments. There are also posts like Improving the quality of my teacher talk, which are very useful for developing teachers.