Catarina Pontes, Autor em RichmondShare Blog | High quality content and interaction in the ELT world

Catarina Pontes

When life gives you lemons…

25 de junho de 2018

An unsuccessful lesson observation. A promotion you didn’t get. An opportunity you were not offered. I believe everyone I know has been through a tough professional moment at some point in their career. And I also believe I don’t know anyone who rejoices facing problems and always sees them as fantastic opportunities to grow and...Read More

Career, Reflections about Education

career, Lesson observation

Learning from failure

27 de abril de 2018

by Catarina Pontes

Just like telling a learner you don’t know the answer to their question at the start of your teaching career, talking about your professional failure is no easy game. I don’t aim to be blowing my own trumpet in the next lines; what I want to narrate instead, is how often times your backstage may...Read More

Teacher Development

Failure, learning, teaching-career

Practical tips to help learners become more fluent in English

25 de agosto de 2016

by Catarina Pontes

English teachers are often asked by learners how they can become more fluent in English. Developing oral and written fluency in English requires discipline and a certain study routine – it does not happen overnight as all teachers certainly know and have pointed out to their learners. Learning English nowadays is certainly more accessible...Read More

Speaking and Spoken Language, Vocabulary

New Year’s resolutions – what are yours? How about focusing on CPD?

25 de janeiro de 2016

by Catarina Pontes

The year has barely started and it’s been quite a busy one here: planning and delivering training sessions, submitting proposals to conferences and writing posts and articles, all with the main aim of focusing on CPD – Continuing Professional Development. The pursuit for professional development in teaching should not stop when obtaining the CPE or...Read More

Career, Reflections about Education, Teacher Development

Level it up – how to add challenge to your lessons

29 de junho de 2015

by Catarina Pontes

I believe it’s fair to say that one of the most important elements that contribute to the success of a lesson is certainly the amount of challenge learners are posed with. And when we think about challenge in a broad sense, we should certainly take into account the sources of language learners will be exposed...Read More

Classroom Experiences, Language Acquisition

challenge

ELF in my lesson?

25 de maio de 2015

by Catarina Pontes

British or American? Learners all over the globe have for long asked their teachers and peers which English they speak. Nevertheless, much more importantly than having a major focus on one of the main dominant varieties of English, it is crucial to raise learners’ awareness to the importance of being more and more used to...Read More

Pronunciation

ELF

Helping learners get ready for the “real world” – teaching strategies and fostering autonomy

25 de abril de 2015

by Catarina Pontes

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” The wisdom in this Chinese proverb can be easily transferred to the classroom environment. Helping learners to develop strategies that can better enable them to communicate is the best way to...Read More

Learner Autonomy

Tell me know how I’m doing – the importance of feedback in the EFL classroom.

25 de março de 2015

by Catarina Pontes

Students taking a course in a foreign language very frequently bring with them a world of expectations and needs – in both personal and professional contexts – that they want to be met in the classroom. Those expectations and needs, however, can many times be beyond what can be achieved within a semester of studies....Read More

Classroom Management, Language Acquisition, Reflections about Education

feedback

Teaching pronunciation

25 de fevereiro de 2015

by Catarina Pontes

Teaching pronunciation in the English classroom is of great importance – it helps learners communicate better, convey their messages more effectively and sound more natural. Yet, this tends to be a rather marginalized area in EFL classrooms around the globe. Helping learners to sound better, to recognize different accents and varieties of English, and also...Read More

Language Acquisition

awareness, pronunciation