Six Things

It’s been a nice long summer here at Six Things and although there have not been any posts since July I have not been idle. Actually, I have been extremely idle and only now I’m getting ready for a second “season” of Six Things lists on my blog. In the spirit of the fall season of new television series I thought I would give a “trailer” of what is coming over the next few months at this blog.

1. Stellar guest lists

What better way to launch the season premiere than with a special guest post? In the pipeline I have guest pieces coming from the “images” man in ELT Ben Goldstein, the “queen of the blog comments” Sara Hannam and none other than the great Jeremy Harmer himself!

2. The results of the poll

Yes, all this summer the votes have been trickling in and I’m just about ready to release the greatest of all controversial lists: the most influential people in ELT today. If enough people react strongly to this one (like they did on Twitter when I started the poll) then I may do other typical internet lists: ELT’s sexiest people, ELT’s greatest presenters … Anyway, there is still a little time to make your voice heard in this event, so vote now!

3. More lists of ideas and teaching tips

The “open-source” materials and ideas generator will continue here at Six Things. I’ve just been working on six ways to learn and remember students’ names for example, and there will be of course the topical teaching ideas. Even though someone suggested it to me I can’t really bring myself to do a Six Ways to Exploit Michael Jackson’s Untimely Death but there will be other topical things to look forward to.

4. Country-related lists

I’ve updated my Upcoming Talks page, and this fall I’ll be in Romania, Hungary, France and Italy. I’m sure at least one of these places will be the subject of a Six Things about Teaching in … piece.

5. Language-related lists

Another category I want to boost on the site is the language-related lists. I’ve got a list of video game terms that all young learners will know (after watching my own children on the Playstation this summer), plus something on new acronyms. Additionally, a good friend of mine has just co-written a dictionary of new English slang and I’m trying to convince him to give me six “hot new” expressions or slang terms. There will be others too.

6. A blatant plug

In January 2010 I’ve got a new book coming out. What, I ask you, is the point of having a blog you maintain and do for free if you can’t use it to promote your own book? Don’t worry, I won’t be “ramming it down your throats” but you can expect a blatant sales plug at some point or other on here.