Category Archives: General

Lesson Plan: Going Vegan?

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For over 30 years, I’ve been a proud pescatarian—a semi-vegetarian, if you will—happily skipping steak. Let me tell you, being “the one who doesn’t eat meat” in a region, Asturias,  famous for its chuletones and fabada can make for some hilarious and eyebrow-raising moments: from explaining my choices at barbecues to finding the right food for me in a menu full of meat choices, I’ve collected plenty of anecdotes along the way.

So, in this lesson aimed at B2 + students,  we’re going to explore the fascinating world of vegetarianism—a topic that sparks some seriously interesting conversations.

Ingredients of this lesson plan.

  • Warm-up: speaking and a fun video
  • Introducing Vocabulary with a home-made IAnized 🙄 video: Vegan vs Vegetarian
  • Vocabulary
  • Speaking: two corners
  • Scattergorix Game
WARM-UP: Speaking and one of my Favourite Videos

To kick things off, I’ve got a video I’ve been using for years to introduce this lesson. Now, I’ll admit that the quality is terrible. It’s grainy but it’s absolutely hilarious, and I just can’t bring myself to part with it. Before we jump into it, though, let’s set the scene with a couple of thought-provoking questions:

  • Have you ever gone on a date with someone who was vegan? How did it influence your choice of restaurant or food?
  • Do you think food choices (like being vegan) should be a factor when choosing a partner? Why or why not?

LISTENING:Note-taking: Vegan vs Vegetarian

Time to clear up the terms vegan vs. vegetarian, often confused! I’ve made a quick video using AI magic to explain the basics.

Students watch the video and jot down the key differences. In retelling the main differences, make a point of writing key vocabulary on the board.

 Differences between de cristina.cabal

Vocabulary

Do we need a vocabulary exercise? Absolutely! The more words we know, the more we can express ourselves—plain and simple.

 

Speaking Practice

Let’s get moving with an expressing opinions activity! It’s all about taking a stand—literally.

Step 1. I’ve kept it simple—just grabbed three plain sheets of paper, and wrote I agree, I disagree, and I can’t decide, and stuck them in the corners with blue tack.

  1. I agree
  2. I disagree
  3. I can’t decide (optional, if you have a larger group).

Step 2. I display the first statement, Being a vegetarian is the best choice for both personal health and the planet . Once students decide whether they agree or disagree with the statement, and before they stand up, I offer some guidance by suggesting ideas they can use to explain their position on the statement.

So, if they AGREE, they can use these reasons;

  • Reduces risk of chronic diseases (heart disease, diabetes)
  • High in nutrients like fibre, antioxidants, and vitamins
  • Avoids animal cruelty in factory farming
  • Lower carbon footprint and reduced resource use (water, land)
  • Helps combat deforestation and biodiversity loss

If they DISAGREE, they can use these

  • Risk of B12, iron, and protein deficiencies without careful planning
  • Limited food options in some cultures or regions
  • Costly and hard to access plant-based substitutes
  • Large-scale plant production can also lead to deforestation and water use

Step 3.  they are ready now.  Sudents move to their corner and discuss with like-minded peers for about 5 minutes.

Step 4. After about 5 minutes, they’ll pair up with someone from a different corner and try to change their mind—debate time!

For the next statements, they’ll have a moment to prepare their reasons before standing up and choosing their corner.

Going vegan? – Presentación de cristina.cabal

Game: Scattergorix

After hard work comes the reward—this time in the form of a game! Have you ever played Scattergorix? In this round, the list of categories is all about food. Hey!!! And yes, I got a little help from ChatGPT. Sometimes, it’s not so easy to come up with something for every category.

These are the rules of the game and below, the home-made game I created for my students.

scattergorix de cristina.cabal

 


Food Scattergorix de cristina.cabal

Honoured with the Innovation in Linguistic Education Award

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Last night, 27 Nov 2024, at the 30th Anniversary Gala of the EOI Arrecife, I was honoured to receive an award recognizing my work on the blog—a project that began as a simple desire to share, to connect, and to explore new ways of teaching and learning languages.

This award for innovation in linguistic education through digital tools and platforms is not just about my work; it’s about the countless moments, ideas, and experiences that have fuelled my passion for teaching. Over the years, the blog has been my space to experiment with digital tools, explore creative methodologies, and reflect on how technology can make learning more accessible, engaging, and meaningful.

I want to thank everyone who has been part of this journey—my readers, my colleagues, and my students. Your feedback, ideas, and support have been the heartbeat of the blog. You’ve inspired me to keep pushing boundaries and to continue learning.

Thank you, EOI Arrecife, for this incredible honour.

 

A Mind-Blowing Free Tool for Student Speech Recordings: Transcriptions, Audio, Summaries and Easy Sharing with the Teacher

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Oh wow! This is quite a long title but I’ve stumbled upon an absolute gem of a website that I have to share with you all. If you’ve ever struggled with deciphering student recordings, trying to make sense of mumbled words, or spending precious time replaying audio to catch what they said—those days are officially over!

This incredible tool (it’s a website, no downloads needed!) lets students record themselves, whether it’s a presentation, a speech, or just a spoken reflection. The best part? it doesn’t just capture the audio. Nope, it goes way beyond that and also provides a full transcription of what the students said.

This amazig webiste is called Spacebar.fm .

Do students need to register?

They’ve got two options to choose from, depending on their needs:

  1. No registration needed: You can speak for up to 10 minutes per recording with a total of 5 interactions.
  2. Register for a free account: If you sign up, you get 200 minutes of recording time, with each individual recording lasting up to 90 minutes
How do you start the recording?

Easy, click on Tap and Talk and start recording.

What do you get after the recording?

Now, here’s what happens after a student records. You ‘ll get,

  • A beautiful image of the memory shared. (I know, not very useful but nice)
  • A summary of what the student shared, highlighting the main points and key ideas.
  • The full accurate transcription of what the student said, right there for you to read through or skim as needed.
  • The original recording, so you can listen if you want, but you’re no longer reliant on just the audio.
How Do Students Share Their Recordings? 

Very easy! After the recording is done, students just need to click on Copy Shareable Link. and send it straight to their teacher’s email. If you want to access your previous recordings, you’ll find them in the Memo tab.

Why I think this tool is a must-keep

Can you imagine? No more:

  • Playing back a recording ten times trying to catch every word.
  • Frantically jotting down notes as you listen.
  •  Worrying that you missed an important detail.

With this tool, you get a clear, written record of what each student said. This makes it so much easier to:

  • Provide detailed feedback.
  • Check for content understanding.
  • Highlight areas for improvement without struggling to hear what they meant.

I really think this could be a fantastic way to assess student speaking skills. It’s also a brilliant option for remote learning or when students are working on independent projects.

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Engaging Students in Job Application Writing: from AI Tools to Traditional Clotheslines

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If you’re anything like me, you probably feel the time crunch every time you try to squeeze in a longish writing task during a lesson. Let’s be honest, finding time for students to practice writing in class—beyond those quick sentences or short paragraphs—is tough!
I mean, there’s so much to cover!!! Besides, the second I announce a lengthy writing activity, I can see how the general mood changes, even mine.I know it is going to slow the pace, break the  flow of our lesson and a long etc , but… we know deep down that this activity is important.

The truth is I’d love to offload some of this writing practice as homework. I mean, wouldn’t it be easier to ask students to draft an essay at home and then review it in class? Sure… in an ideal world. But we’re not living in that world anymore, are we?  ChatGPT or any of its friends sure have something to do here.  I know that if I want to ensure my students are actually developing their writing skills, it has to be done in the classroom.

PREP

Before we get into the writing task itself, I dedicated several lessons to exploring the topic of work—covering vocabulary, discussing job roles, and what makes a strong job application. As you can probably guess, being a bit of an AI enthusiast, I have used different  AI tools to make this lesson happen. Here’s the step-by-step:

Step 1: Create a Presentation with AI Tools to Introduce the Task
  •  I relied on Perplexity for this because it not only generated a well-structured overview but also provided credible sources. This was key for a topic like job applications, where students need to trust the information.
  • I took the generated text from Perplexity and pasted it into Brisk Teaching, which automagically turned it into a Google Slides presentation, complete with relevant images. Now, it wasn’t perfect—just a draft—but it saved me a ton of time! I was able to quickly refine it by adding sections on indirect questions and formal connectors, tailoring it to fit my lesson objectives.

Ready-to-Use Materials: presentation

Step 2: Prepare Sample Sentences and Emails
  • I used Perplexity again to create sample sentences for the opening of the email, as well as two complete sample emails.
  • I printed these out as handouts and gave students 10 minutes to read through them. This step was crucial for modeling good examples and helping students see the structure of a formal email.

Ready-to-Use Materials: handout ,

Step 3: Generate Realistic Job Offers

Excited about writing? Let’s be honest: getting students excited about writing a job application can be really difficult. So, I decided to make it more engaging by giving them realistic job offers to choose from—just like they might find on LinkedIn. Did I create these from scratch? Nope! I used Canva’s AI tool to generate slides filled with job postings. It was fast and looked super professional.

I printed the job offers and hung them up on clotheslines in the classroom, creating a job fair atmosphere. I asked students to head over to one of the clotheslines and pick out the job they’d like to apply for. You can print them here

 

LinkedIn Job Listings de cristina.cabal

Step 4: Time to Write!

With their chosen job offer in hand, it was time to write the email. I set a timer and gave students 20 minutes to complete their task. I encouraged them to use the sample sentences and email structure from the handout as a guide. This focused writing time was key—it kept everyone on task and ensured that the writing was happening in class, where I could support them.

Step 5: Showcase and Feedback

Once the emails were written, we moved into a gallery walk activity. Students pasted their job offer and application email on the walls. They then circulated around the room, reading each other’s work. This was a great way to share ideas and see different approaches.
While they were reading, I walked around and provided feedback, focusing on the most noticeable errors. It was an efficient way to address common mistakes and give students a chance to learn from each other.

That’s all! I hope your students enjoy this activity as much as mine did!  Give it a go, and let me know how it works for you!

Prepping Students for Persuasive Role-Play: Remote Work vs. Office, and Reduced Working Week Debate

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If you’re like me, you’ve probably used role-play countless times to get students talking and thinking on their feet. But lately, I’ve found myself wanting to take it up a notch—giving students real-world topics that they’ll actually encounter outside the classroom. So, I created two role-play scenarios that bring today’s workplace debates right to our classroom: remote work vs. in-office and the reduced working week. These topics got my students diving into different perspectives and working hard to persuade each other.

ROLE-PLAY 1: Remote Work vs. In-Office Work Debate

MY PREP APPROACH

  1. Visuals.First things first—I kicked off the role-play by setting the scene with a quick, visual presentation. There’s nothing like a few eye-catching slides to spark interest. Don’t you agree?

Role-play: working remote vs in person de cristina.cabal

2. The Context. (also in the presentation above)

You and your next-door neighbor, who is also your best friend, have been working at the same company for five years. You carpool and split the costs, which has been convenient, especially with the high price of petrol.

Recently, the company has given employees the option to work from home, only requiring them to come into the office once a month.

3. Help is coming: Ideas. Here’s the PDF .I gave my students a handout laying out key points for each side. Students choose which position they want to argue, but I make sure we have an even split between pro-remote and pro-office advocates.. I encourage them to add their own points to this list to make their argument more personal and compelling.

CHOOSING ROLES AND PREPARING ARGUMENTS

Once they know their stance, students jot down three solid arguments that support their position

ROLE-PLAY AND PERSUASION TIME

Each student has 5 minutes to make their case, present their points, and then attempt to sway the other person.

 

ROLE-PLAY 2: The Reduced Working Week

This second role-play taps into another current trend: the reduced workweek. I wanted students to explore this not only from a productivity standpoint but also from a cultural and economic perspective. The debate centers around proposals to reduce the standard working week in Spain, traditionally from 40 hours to potentially 37.5 or even 32 hours, without reducing wages.

The procedure is just the same as above

MY PREP APPROACH

  1. Visuals.

    Role-play: The reduced working week de cristina.cabal

  2. Context: (also in the slides above)

It’s lunch break at a mid-sized company in Madrid. You and your colleague are discussing the news about possible changes to the work week while having coffee in the break room.

        3. Some Extra Help. Text? No, this time help comes in he form of a video

So this one  comes from a short, engaging video made on InVideo, an AI tool that helps you create quick, professional-looking videos. In this case, I found a piece of news in ElPais in English and just pasted it on Invideo. This tool is such a gem because I can tailor the content exactly to what my students need. It’s also great for visual learners who absorb info faster through media.

CHOOSING ROLES AND PREPARING ARGUMENTS

Students watch the video and then pick a side. I ask them to prepare 3-5 key talking points. Here’s where I get them to think critically: How could a shorter workweek boost mental health? What about the potential strain on business operations?

I challenge them to think beyond themselves and consider how this change might impact families, communities, and industries at large.

ROLE-PLAY AND PERSUASION TIME

Each student makes their initial case, and then they respond to counterarguments. It’s a great way for them to see how they need to think on their feet!

EXTRA SPEAKING PRACTICE

To wrap up the class on a high note, a whole-class speaking activity can be a great way to keep the conversation going and let everyone share their thoughts. A few open-ended questions about work culture can get everyone talking and reflecting on what they’ve learned.

Speaking de cristina.cabal