Watch before you read...
Without doubt, writing materials is an essential skill for teachers. For this issue, we joined forces with the JALT Materials Writers SIG. Together, we invite you to sit back and enjoy high caliber advice, inspiring stories, and a wealth of information on materials writing. In the Main podcast episode, Aleksandra Popovski covers the basics of materials writing. In the Lite video, Rachel Roberts briefly explains what’s important to remember when teachers integrate the materials they develop into their classes. To start us off, Heather Kretschmer summarizes our Main and Lite selections and whets our appetite for writing materials for our students.
In the Think Tank, Marc Helgesen distills over three decades of materials writing experience to eight valuable tips. Heather Kretschmer explains how to evaluate materials and encourages teachers to write their own materials. Next, our readers and JALT Materials Writers share their expertise in a wide range of contributions. Drawing on her experience teaching Spanish, Mariana Gisler tells us what motivates her to adapt materials in creative and fun ways for her classes. Then Duane Kindt describes the strategies and materials he uses to give multi-level classes ample opportunities to communicate in the target language. In the PLUS, John Carle tells us all about the activities of the JALT Materials Writers SIG. Wrapping up our issue, Konoka Nakamura writes up her thoughts on why it’s difficult for some students to learn languages. Finally, be sure to keep an eye out for text boxes interspersed in this Think Tank with humorous anecdotes from the textbook writers among us.