Here in the training department we're always encouraging teachers to use MEC in class. With more and more classrooms equipped with IWBs or projectors we think there's no excuse for shying away from technology in the classroom.

Even as I write this blog posting I can hear the cries of millions of teachers worldwide.

'Yes I’d like to use technology in the classroom, but how? Give me some ideas!'

That's why Steph and I went to EmbassyCES, London to film some demo lessons using MEC and an IWB.

We had a lovely time and have posted a few of the videos below. You can also see a description of our lesson plan. We hope it gives you food for thought and inspires you to send us your own ideas for using MEC in class.

As you're about to discover we're not experts at holding a camera so please excuse the shaky screen and unusual camera moves.

Holiday Lesson using an IWB and MEC listening activity 'Holidays'

Language - Superlatives

Level - Intermediate

Part 1

I began this lesson by showing the class three photos. Each photo represented a past holiday and what I thought of it. For example the first photo was of Tulum in Mexico and represented 'the most beautiful place I've ever been to'. I elicited the superlative from the class and then uncovered it on the whiteboard. I repeated this for three photos and elicited the three superlatives below.

most beautiful

most exciting

most frightening

I asked the learners to make questions out of these superlatives and wrote them on the board.

Part 2

The second part of the lesson was to get the learners talking in pairs using superlatives. I showed the class a slide on the IWB with three questions from a MEC resource they would do later (I didn't tell them this). The learners copied the questions and I gave them instructions to ask each other the questions and make notes.

After five to ten minutes the learners sat back down and we spoke about some of the answers they had given. It was a great way of getting to know the learners, hearing some interesting stories and an opportunity to make sure they were using superlatives correctly.

Part 3

At this point I wanted to introduce learners to some vocabulary they would be listening to in a MEC exercise so I uncovered each word from the IWB using the eraser tool and elicited the meaning. I also asked learners to say the words out loud in order to check their pronunciation.

Finally I opened the MEC listening resource Holidays on the IWB and we listened as a class. Learners had to match the speaker to one of the three questions discussed earlier. We listened to each speaker twice then the learners compared their answers with the person next to them. We listened a final time and I got them to tell me what they thought the answers were.

I hope that was useful and it has inspired you to teach a class using an IWB and MEC. Next week we will be posting Steph's demo lesson from our day at EmbassyCES, London.