AI Harm and Human Rights

The report AI Harm and Human Rights, published by ICAAD in collaboration with a law firm, offers a systematic framework that links the harms caused by artificial intelligence (AI) to fundamental human rights. 

It argues that although many AI-related “harm taxonomies” and incident databases exist, they rarely make explicit connections between AI-inflicted harms and violations of human rights. The report fills this gap by mapping ten core human rights against concrete examples of AI harms — such as biased algorithms in hiring or healthcare, invasive facial-recognition misuse, or deepfakes that undermine freedom of expression. 

By doing so, the report provides public and private actors — companies, governments, watchdogs — with a practical tool to evaluate whether a given AI system or deployment could infringe basic freedoms. The mapping table becomes a first step for organizations to identify risky AI uses. 

Crucially, the report warns that many businesses still treat human-rights concerns as irrelevant to their AI deployments — even in the face of growing evidence that AI can cause real, widespread harms.

Find the report on:

https://icaad.ngo/2025/09/29/ai-harm-and-human-rights/

Running Reality #History

Running Reality is an interactive digital platform that acts as a global, time-based historical map. It lets users explore the world’s history from around 3000 BC to the present by selecting any date and place and watching how borders, cities, civilizations, and events evolved over time. 

Through its browser interface, you can navigate a dynamic world map, view historical data on settlements, battles, rulers, objects, and more, all tied to specific moments in history. The platform is designed for students, teachers, researchers, and anyone curious about the past, and it includes educational tools specifically tailored for classroom use. 

Every historical “factoid” in Running Reality is backed by a verifiable citation, making the model transparent and academically reliable. What makes it unique is its ability to visualize history as a living timeline—allowing you to scroll through centuries, watch territories expand or disappear, and understand historical processes in a highly intuitive, interactive way.

Find Running Reality on:

https://www.runningreality.org/

An Infographic Guide to Technology-facilitated Gender-based Violence (TFGBV)

Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) is an increasingly common issue affecting women and girls in many different ways. To help educators better understand this topic, a new infographic guide has been created. It uses simple, visual explanations to highlight what TFGBV looks like and why it matters in today’s digital world.

The guide includes 14 easy-to-read infographics that explore key ideas such as:

- the different forms TFGBV can take,

- how online and offline violence are connected,

- how TFGBV affects people differently depending on their identities and circumstances,

- what current data and research tell us,

- and how technology can be designed in safer, more ethical ways.

These infographics can be used in training sessions, classroom discussions, awareness campaigns, or any educational activity aimed at promoting safer digital environments. Each infographic comes with a short explanation that highlights its main points, making the material easy to understand and share.

This resource is ideal for teachers, school leaders, and anyone working with young people who wants to help build a more informed and respectful digital community.

Find it on: 

https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/An%20Infographic%20Guide%20to%20TFGBV.pdf

Teaching basic skills

New set of five guides that provide hands-on support on how schools and teachers can strengthen the teaching of basic skills through a whole school. They are developed to support the European Commission’s Basic Skills Action Plan, which aims to boost teaching and learning, support educators and enable supportive environments. 

The materials offer practical advice based on a whole school approach, helping schools provide effective and inclusive support for all learners at three levels: 

Universal support: Strategies that benefit all learners, such as engaging learning materials and supportive school environments. 

Targeted support: Focused actions for learners who may need extra help, including small-group activities, adapted teaching methods or additional monitoring. 

Individual support: Personalised interventions tailored to learners at risk or with specific needs.

(Source European School Education Platform) 

https://school-education.ec.europa.eu/en/discover/news/new-resources-available-teaching-basic-skills

NotebookLM, a versatile assistant for ESL teachers

NotebookLM offers English-language teachers a powerful and flexible tool for supporting students who are learning English as a foreign language. 

By allowing teachers to upload texts, articles, worksheets, or classroom materials, the platform automatically generates explanations, summaries, vocabulary lists, and comprehension questions tailored to the learners’ level. This helps teachers create personalised resources quickly and adapt authentic materials for different groups. NotebookLM also enables students to explore the content interactively, asking questions in real time and receiving clear, contextualised answers that reinforce understanding. 

For teachers, it becomes an efficient assistant for preparing lessons, designing activities, and differentiating instruction, while for learners it creates a more engaging environment where they can practise reading, listening, and speaking skills with guidance. In essence, NotebookLM enhances both teaching and learning by making high-quality language support accessible, dynamic, and easy to integrate into everyday classroom practice.

Getting started with NotebookLM is simple. After accessing the platform with a Google account, teachers can create a new “notebook” and upload the materials they want to work with—PDFs, Google Docs, web pages, or text files. Once the sources are added, NotebookLM automatically analyses them and becomes ready to answer questions or generate teaching resources based on the content. Teachers can then ask the tool to produce vocabulary exercises, reading-comprehension tasks, grammar explanations, or simplified versions of difficult texts. They can also share notebooks with students or colleagues, making it easy to organise collaborative learning. With just a few minutes of setup, English teachers gain a versatile assistant that supports lesson planning, scaffolding, and student autonomy.

https://notebooklm.google.com/

Musicmap

Musicmap is a powerful, beautifully designed tool for anyone who wants to understand, explore, and connect the vast landscape of popular music. It’s especially useful for music lovers, educators, researchers or anyone curious about how music evolved over time.

The project is based on more than seven years of research, drawing from over 200 sources. Its creator, Kwinten Crauwels, aimed to strike a balance between accuracy, clarity, and accessibility — so the map is detailed, but still easy to navigate. 

How it works

• The map (called the “Carta”) is a 2D diagram: the vertical axis represents time (from past to present), and the horizontal axis groups “super-genres” (broad families of music). 
• Genres are color-coded by their super-genres, and there are different types of links:
• Parent links (showing where a genre comes from),
• Influence links (how genres affect each other),
• “Anti-links” (genres pushing back or reacting against others). 

When you click on a genre, a panel appears with:

• Its name (and any synonyms)
• Approximate year of origin
• Which super-genre it belongs to (or if it's a hybrid)
• A brief description (historical, social, musical) 
• A playlist of example songs (usually 9–12) from different artists, helping you explore what that genre actually sounds like. 
• A connectivity bar with other useful links or tools. 

Find this resource on:

https://musicmap.info/

Teacher’s Essential Guide to Cyberbullying Prevention

This guide by Common Sense Education provides educators with a comprehensive, research-based approach to understanding and preventing cyberbullying in schools. It includes definitions of cyberbullying, the differences between offline and online bullying, real-world scenarios, prevention strategies, and ideas for classroom implementation.

The guide explains what cyberbullying is, how digital tools change the ways students interact, and why cyberbullying can be more complex than traditional forms of bullying. It offers actionable steps teachers can take: building a respectful classroom climate, creating digital safety rules, facilitating peer-to-peer support, integrating digital citizenship into lessons. Rather than only reacting to incidents, it emphasizes fostering a respectful online and offline environment, encouraging bystanders to act, and involving families and the community.

The guide includes discussion questions, scenario-based prompts, and links to further resources, making it practical for immediate implementation.

https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/teachers-essential-guide-to-cyberbullying-prevention

ESLfriend.com

ESLfriend.com is an online platform offering free ESL resources, including handouts, lessons, activities, and full lesson-sets for English language teaching and learning. The site describes itself as providing materials ranging from daily conversation and grammar to business English and test preparation. 

One of the major strengths of ESLfriend is its breadth of content: there are materials for a variety of levels, topics and uses — from conversation starters to full lesson packs. For teachers, this means a ready-made resource library to draw on, reducing preparation time. For learners, the materials can offer extra practice outside class. Another plus is the free access to most of the materials, making it accessible for educators and students with limited budget.

The site also includes media-based lessons (reading passages, audio, discussion questions) which are useful for integrating skills (reading, speaking, listening) rather than only grammar.

Find it on:

https://eslfriend.com/

ESPAD (European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs) Report 2024

The latest edition of the ESPAD (European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs) report has just been released and is ready for you to access.

This report is a vital tool, as it offers the most recent data (from 2024) on alcohol and other drug use, and risk behaviors among our adolescents.

Why is this report so significant?

A broad European view. The study collected responses from over 113,000 students aged 15 to 16 across 37 European countries (including 25 EU Member States). This gives you an incredibly broad perspective on what’s happening across the continent.

30 years of history. This study is a benchmark. With this eighth data-collection wave, ESPAD celebrates 30 years of collaboration that has compiled the voices of over 800,000 students since 1995. This makes it the most extensive and harmonized research project on adolescent substance use worldwide.

A planning tool. For you, as an educator, the detailed ESPAD data is crucial. It helps you understand current trends, identify areas of greatest risk, and design or adjust your prevention and education programs more effectively.

https://www.espad.org/espad-report-2024

Pumpkin contest 2025 #IESAzorín

For another year, our high school's English Department has organized and hosted its traditional Halloween pumpkin contest. 

The competition saw great participation, as is customary, especially from the younger grades. The awards ceremony for the most terrifying, most creative, and most amusing pumpkin took place on Friday, October 31st, during the first break. 

Our congratulations to all the participants and winners!

English4Today

English4Today is an online English learning platform designed to help users improve their English skills for study, work, and everyday communication.

It provides a range of English language learning resources, including grammar lessons, writing guides, vocabulary builders, and pronunciation support. It is aimed at both learners of English as a second language (ESL/EFL) and teachers seeking supplementary materials.

This valuable online resource offers:

• Grammar and usage guides. Detailed explanations of English grammar points, punctuation, and common mistakes.
• Writing and vocabulary tools. Resources to expand vocabulary and improve formal or academic writing.
• Online courses and eBooks. Structured learning materials for students at different levels.
• Teacher resources. Materials and tools for classroom use or online instruction.

Some content and courses are free, while others require membership or payment.

Find it on:

https://english4today.com/?v=12470fe406d4

Academic Writing Handbook for Learners

To fulfil the requirements of a course or programme, it is often necessary to produce written work for assessment. This type of writing is referred to as academic writing when it is completed for assessment or certification purposes.

The aim of academic writing is to communicate researched, analysed, and discussed information clearly and effectively. Such writing should be clear, concise, objective, and informative, and all sources of information or research must be properly acknowledged. Developing proficiency in academic writing generally requires guidance, practice, and feedback.

The purpose of this handbook is to provide guidance on academic writing for learners undertaking programmes equivalent to levels 5 and 6 of the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ). The resource may also be useful for learners at other levels and for educators supporting the development of writing skills.

Downloads:

https://www.fess.ie/images/stories/ResourcesForTutors/AcademicWritingHandbookForLearnersInTheFETSector.pdf

What Works Best?

"What Works Best" is a suite of resources developed by the Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (CESE) for the NSW Department of Education in Australia that outlines the most effective, evidence-based practices for improving student learning and wellbeing.

The resources succinctly describe 8 core themes that research consistently shows make a difference to student outcomes:

High expectations

Explicit teaching

Effective feedback

Using data to inform practice

Assessment

Classroom management

Wellbeing

Collaboration

"What Works Best" translates the latest research into practical guides and illustrations to support teachers and school leaders as they reflect on and improve their instructional practice.

Visit:

https://education.nsw.gov.au/about-us/education-data-and-research/what-works-best

Resources:

https://education.nsw.gov.au/about-us/education-data-and-research/what-works-best/all-what-works-best-resources

Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction

Barak Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction are a set of $\mathbf{10}$ research-based guidelines for effective teaching, derived from cognitive science, observations of "master teachers," and research on cognitive supports. They provide a framework for structuring lessons to help students efficiently acquire, practice, and connect new knowledge, primarily by managing their cognitive load and ensuring long-term retention.

The principles are supported by evidence from three key areas:

Cognitive Science: this research highlights the limitations of working memory (the mental space for processing information) and the importance of automaticity (fluent recall) in freeing up mental capacity for higher-level thinking.

Master Teachers:the principles summarize the instructional methods and classroom routines consistently used by teachers whose students showed the largest academic gains.

Cognitive Supports: these are scaffolding techniques, like models and prompts, that help students successfully navigate difficult material.

Download this guide:

https://beehiiv-publication-files.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/downloadables/747480c6-e377-4d48-b0a8-52b5a256f1e1/044f419a-31a0-4c23-b235-d5d34d6e6454/Download%20the%20Guide.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAQCMHTQSE2JGAGXHJ%2F20251017%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20251017T054512Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=191d7e3f436b5076848199d1b0a5967a41b520d69e700830af4bbdf7c8bc0c54

Brilliant Maps

Brilliant Maps is a website that helps people “make sense of the world, one map at a time.”  It publishes interesting, quirky, and often surprising maps on topics ranging from geography and history to social phenomena. 

On the site you’ll find maps like “All the Countries That Have Militarily Defeated the United States,” “European Countries With No Mountains,” or visualisations of how many hours young people spend doing unpaid domestic work. 

Each map usually comes with explanation or commentary about what it reveals, including sources, caveats, and sometimes comparisons or additional data. 

Find it on:

https://brilliantmaps.com/

Keep It Real Online. Helping Young People Stay Safe in a Digital World

In today’s hyperconnected world, young people spend a large part of their lives online — learning, socialising, playing, and exploring. The internet offers endless opportunities, but it also comes with risks that can affect their wellbeing. From online grooming and cyberbullying to exposure to pornography or unwanted messages, the digital space can be both empowering and challenging. That’s where Keep It Real Online, an initiative by the New Zealand Government, comes in.

Keep It Real Online provides practical advice, real stories, and step-by-step guidance to help children, teenagers, parents, and educators navigate the online world safely. Rather than simply warning about dangers, the campaign focuses on honest conversations, education, and early prevention — recognising that the key to digital safety lies in open communication and trust.

Visit:

https://www.keepitrealonline.govt.nz/

Free English Language Arts Worksheets

Free English Language Arts Worksheets on HelpTeaching provides a collection of downloadable worksheets for various English language skills. These cover topics like grammar, reading comprehension, writing, vocabulary, punctuation, and more. 

Teachers can use them to reinforce lessons, assign practice work, or support students who need extra help.

https://www.helpteaching.com/free-english-language-arts-worksheets.htm

Heart Words in Spanish

The page “Heart Words in Spanish” on ReallyGreatReading introduces a resource of videos that review high-frequency English words, explained in Spanish. 

The idea is to help students with words that are hard to read or irregular: by showing how they are spelled, highlighting the tricky parts, and then providing follow-up practice activities. Teachers can use these videos before doing the exercises.

The site is part of Really Great Reading, which offers tools and methods for helping with reading instruction, especially for students who struggle with decoding.

https://www.reallygreatreading.com/heart-words-spanish

Turn the music up

“Turn the music up” is a resource designed for 1st year secondary students (ESO). It proposes a final challenge: to record a collaborative music video that can later be shared on their own social networks or the school’s. Recording short music clips is nothing new for our students, who are used to using social media and sharing this kind of content. 

Through this challenge, they are encouraged to create and use content responsibly, while also exploring other possibilities such as taking part in talent contests.

As part of the project, students will discover music from around the world, learn fun facts about different countries through their songs, and dive deeper into instruments and musical genres in English. They will also practice creating simple song lyrics to express their own tastes and preferences.

https://edea.juntadeandalucia.es/bancorecursos/file/2f3ee596-ae90-456f-9405-a7c96454c685.1b42fc5a-ded6-472a-87ce-7d7dc99c1a60/1/ING_1ESO_REA_03_HTML(2).zip/index.html

A Practical Guide to Academic Writing for International Students

Writing essays and dissertations can be difficult for many international students at English-speaking universities. To support them, a selection of key chapters from well-known books on Academic Writing has been put together.

The first three chapters, by Stephen Bailey, cover the basics: how to write clear paragraphs, strong introductions, and effective conclusions.

The next chapter, by Jane Bottomley, explains the style of academic science writing, how to use sources responsibly, and techniques for paraphrasing and summarizing.

Chapters five to seven, also by Stephen Bailey, give practical advice for Business and Economics students on writing essays, reports, case studies, and executive summaries.

The last chapter, by Brian Paltridge and Sue Starfield, looks at common challenges faced by students writing theses or dissertations in English and offers tips for overcoming them.

https://www.routledge.com/rsc/downloads/A_Practical_Guide_to_Academic_Writing_for_International_Students-A_Routledge_FreeBook-_FINAL_VERSION_.pdf

Artificial Intelligence and English language teaching: Preparing for the future

Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming part of everyday life in education, and English teaching is no exception. The British Council’s 2024 report AI and ELT: Preparing for the future shows how teachers around the world are starting to use AI tools to support speaking, writing, and reading practice. These tools can give instant feedback, help students build confidence, and even make learning more personalised.

But the report also points out some important challenges. Many teachers don’t yet feel confident using AI in class, and issues like bias, privacy, and unequal access are real concerns. The message is clear: AI should be seen as a support, not a replacement, for good teaching. Teachers and students need to understand what AI can and can’t do, and make thoughtful choices about when to use it.

Used wisely, AI has the potential to make learning more engaging and accessible. The key is to combine the opportunities it offers with the creativity, guidance, and human connection that only teachers can bring.

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/2024-08/AI_and_ELT_Jul_2024.pdf

EnglishGCSE.co.uk free resources

Set of free educational resources aimed at the AQA English GCSE exams in 2026. These resources include lesson plans, scheme-of-work documents, summaries, and practice / preparation materials for specific exam questions. 

Many of the “2026 free” tagged resources are accessible at no cost which makes them particularly useful.

The site is built for secondary school levels (KS4 / GCSE in England), and these materials are differentiated and designed to align with what exam boards require. The resource types in the search results include:

• Lessons focussing on exam-style questions (e.g. Paper 1 / Paper 2 of the AQA English Language exam)
• Scheme of Work documents (detailed plans for how to structure teaching)
• Summaries of exam question styles
• Videos or materials for supporting creative writing, analysis of language, etc.

https://englishgcse.co.uk/search?type=product&q=2026+free

Money can buy anything

This Open Educational Resource (OER) uses English to help students prepare for two of today’s big challenges highlighted in the LOMLOE: digital skills and sustainability. Together, we’ll explore the first four Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the 2030 Agenda through active, hands-on tasks. At the end, you’ll work on a final project: creating a hopeful video about the recovery and/or rebuilding of a country.

This OER is part of a set of five learning activities based on the 2030 Agenda. You can use them all together or one by one. Taken as a whole, they cover the Year 9 (3º ESO) English curriculum.

Find it on:

https://descargas.intef.es/cedec/proyectoedia/ingles/contenidos/money_can_buy/index.html

Globe TV

In language teaching, few things are as motivating as hearing how people really speak in different corners of the world. Globe TV (globetv.app) is an intriguing tool that can serve as an inspiring resource: an interactive 3D globe that lets you access live television channels from numerous countries.

Globe TV is a free platform that streams television through IPTV (Internet Protocol Television). It requires no account or subscription: simply open the page, spin the 3D globe, choose a country, and click on one of the available channels. There’s even a Random button to discover something unexpected.

The app itself doesn’t host videos or manage broadcasts. Instead, it links to public streams listed in the community-driven project IPTV-org, which maintains an international catalog of free-to-air channels.

For language education, this tool offers some exciting possibilities. It gives learners access to authentic listening practice with natural speech, accents, registers, and cultural references that are hard to reproduce in textbooks. It also allows for cultural diversity: spinning the globe and tuning into another country’s TV can spark discussions about traditions, current affairs, and perspectives. Because it is free and doesn’t require sign-up, students can explore autonomously at home and bring summaries or clips back to class.

Visit: https://globetv.app/tr/

#UNESCO launches a global webinar series to promote lifelong learning

The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) has launched a new series of webinars in which policymakers, experts, and practitioners will share strategies and initiatives that demonstrate how to make lifelong learning a reality accessible to everyone.

Topics will range from digital education for older adults to family literacy, including prison education, the ecological transition in teaching, the role of teachers as continuous learners, and the promotion of learning cities. Inspiring experiences from the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities and the UNESCO Global Alliance for Literacy will also be highlighted.

The webinars will take place on the first and third Wednesday of each month and will be open to global participation, encouraging the exchange of good practices and debate on how lifelong learning transforms lives and strengthens communities worldwide.

Registration:

https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=Uq5PHbM5-kuwswIpVrERlItDvROkxVVIoYkA0rRl9y1URUlVQTU0NzA3QkZUUkFLMTBWMFo1TExSNy4u&route=shorturl

Teaching package on a sustainable Europe

This introductory learning and teaching package provides secondary-level teachers and teacher educators with a foundation in education for sustainability in European schools.  

In four units, pupils are introduced to the concepts of future thinking and actions, alongside European sustainability initiatives. It also explores education for sustainability, decoloniality and cultural and linguistic diversity. This learning and teaching package was developed by TAP-TS (Teacher Academy Project Teaching Sustainability). (Source: European School Education Platform)

Download the teaching package:

https://tap-ts.eu/course/index.php?categoryid=10

Debbie’s Resource Page

On her resources page, author and illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi shares a rich collection of materials designed for educators, librarians, aspiring children’s book creators, and young readers:

Classroom guides: ready-to-use modules for each of Debbie’s picture books, complete with activity ideas and tips from educators on how to integrate them effectively into lessons.

Free, print-ready materials: posters, bookmarks, reading logs, stationery, and picture book templates that can be printed and used immediately in classroom settings.

Behind-the-scenes insights: a fascinating “How the Book Was Made” series and the Picture Books 101 blog series—ideal for helping students understand the creative process and craft behind writing and illustrating children’s books.

Creative tools & support: resources like “Broken Crayon,” surveys, and writing prompts support educators in nurturing literary creativity among students.

Guidance for creators: practical advice for writers and illustrators—including FAQs and templates—designed for educators and aspiring creators working with visual storytelling.

Virtual visit info: details on how to invite Debbie for virtual author visits, workshops, or reading sessions—particularly relevant in digital or hybrid learning environments.

https://debbieohi.com/resources/

BBC World Service YouTube channel

The BBC World Service YouTube channel provides a wide range of educational resources, including podcasts, documentaries, interviews, and explainers on global issues. 

The content covers diverse areas such as culture, entertainment, science, history, investigative journalism, and current affairs, offering valuable material for classroom use and discussions. All videos are subtitled, with the option to translate them into multiple languages, which makes the channel especially useful for teachers working in multilingual or international contexts.

https://www.youtube.com/@bbcworldservice

Aula Palestina Classe d'Anglès

Section within the site 

https://aulapalestina.cat/, 

dedicated to Palestinian educational initiatives in Catalan.

The page offers English language resources, lessons, and didactic materials about Palestine.

https://aulapalestina.cat/classe-dangles/

The Conversation UK

The UK edition of The Conversation is an independent online news platform where articles are written by academics and researchers in collaboration with professional editors.

The goal is to provide fact-based, accessible, and reliable journalism, free from paywalls and not driven by advertising. Articles often explain complex issues (politics, science, health, technology, environment, arts, education, etc.) in clear, plain language, making research and expertise understandable to a wide audience.

The UK edition focuses on issues particularly relevant to Britain but also covers global topics. It’s widely used by teachers, students, journalists, and policymakers because it combines academic rigor with approachable writing.

Teachers can use articles as up-to-date, reliable resources for classroom discussions. Students can read expert explanations of current affairs and research in accessible language. It can also support critical thinking and media literacy by showing how experts communicate knowledge.

https://theconversation.com/uk

Mused. Map simulator (via Nao Casanova @NaoCasanova)

Mused.com is an online platform that lets users explore virtual, interactive tours of famous cultural heritage sites using 3D technology and WebXR. It offers immersive experiences, such as guided tours of ancient sites like the Great Pyramid of Giza or Tutankhamun’s Tomb—accessible directly from a web browser on PCs, mobile devices, or VR headsets.

It is an amazing tool for education as it removes barriers of distance, cost, and mobility, making iconic cultural sites available to anyone, it supports independent and group learning, and it is excellent for integrating lessons on history, art, geography, or cultural studies—even allowing students to compare ancient sites across civilizations.

Find it on:

https://mused.com/map/

Cartoon Movement

Cartoon Movement is a global online platform dedicated to editorial cartoons and comics journalism. Founded in 2010, it's based in the Netherlands and was created by Thomas Loudon and Arend Jan van den Beld, supported initially by cartoonist Tjeerd Royaards. It hosts a diverse community: over 500 freelancers from more than 80 countries contribute regularly. Carton Movement promotes editorial cartooning as a form of journalism and defends freedom of expression.

Cartoon Movement is a powerful resource for teaching English because it combines visual storytelling, current events, and critical thinking, all of which are excellent tools for language learning.

You can use editorial cartoons to introduce or reinforce vocabulary related to politics, social issues, culture, or international affairs, use cartoons as prompts for debate, discussion, or opinion writing, ask students to describe the cartoon in detail, interpret the symbolism, or explain the message in English, teach idioms and figurative language, and encourage creative production.

Find Cartoon Movement on:

https://www.cartoonmovement.com/

How Is Plain Language Used In Government Documents?

In this insightful video, the concept of plain language in public administration is explored with clarity and relevance. It explains how governments use simple, accessible language to communicate with citizens effectively, highlighting why avoiding legalese and technical jargon matters.

The video covers the purpose and importance of plain language for transparency and citizen understanding, and gives examples of how official documents have been simplified and redesigned.

Perfect for educators in language, civic education, or communication studies, this video offers a compelling case for teaching practical writing and clear communication. It also serves as an excellent conversation starter for students to analyze and design simpler versions of complex documents.

La enseñanza del inglés en el siglo XXI: Una mirada integradora y multimodal

Libro en abierto de Antonio Jesús Tinedo Rodríguez. En él se presenta una perspectiva actual e inclusiva sobre la enseñanza del inglés en el contexto del siglo XXI. Mediante un enfoque multimodal, se analizan metodologías activas, herramientas digitales y estrategias didácticas diseñadas para responder a los retos educativos contemporáneos. 

El autor plantea un modelo pedagógico que integra teoría y práctica, con una marcada orientación hacia la inclusión, la digitalización y la comunicación efectiva.

Tinedo Rodríguez, A. J. (2022). La enseñanza del inglés en el siglo XXI: Una mirada integradora y multimodal. Sindéresis.

https://helvia.uco.es/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10396/33145/la-ensenanza-del-ingles-en-el-siglo-xxi-gaqeut%20%281%29.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

AI resources for English teachers

This webpage from teachingenglish.org.uk provides a pathway of resources for teachers to integrate AI into their language teaching. The resources, which include webinars, articles, podcasts, and lesson plans, are designed to help teachers understand AI applications for lesson planning, assessment, and supporting learners, as well as to consider ethical issues like bias and privacy.

You can find it on the following website:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/professional-development/teachers/professional-development-pathways/pathways-ai-language-teaching

Globalgoals.com

GlobalGoals.org is the official educational and advocacy platform for the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — a global framework launched in 2015 to address urgent challenges like poverty, inequality, climate catastrophe, peace, and justice by 2030.

What you can explore on the site:

1. The 17 goals explained. Explore each goal—from ending poverty (Goal 1) and hunger (Goal 2) to gender equality (Goal 5), climate action (Goal 13), and global partnerships (Goal 17)—with clear descriptions, targets, and visual icons ([sdgs.un.org][2]).

2. Resources & teaching materials. Access downloadable teaching tools like lesson plans, infographics, and toolkits, designed for schools worldwide to integrate SDGs into curricula and inspire student action.

3. News, campaigns & calls to action. Stay updated with global campaigns, as well as stories highlighting youth leaders, activists, and policy updates from around the world.

4. Community & partnership engagement. Learn about the Global Goals community, an international network for educators, civil society, businesses, and youth to collaborate on sustainability efforts. The platform shares success stories, virtual events, and professional development opportunities.

5. Call-to-action tools. The site encourages individual and collective action—whether by signing open letters to global leaders, promoting social change campaigns, or embedding goal badges on your school website for awareness.

This site provides a comprehensive yet accessible entry point to the global SDG agenda. It offers ready-to-use tools aligned with curriculum standards and sustainability education, and encourages active citizenship, empowering both teachers and students to engage meaningfully with local and global challenges.

Find it on:

https://globalgoals.org/

Strategies for Essay Writing

For educators looking to strengthen their students’ academic writing skills, the Harvard College Writing Center’s “Strategies for Essay Writing” offers a clear, concise, and practical guide that covers the entire writing process. Hosted on the official website of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, this resource is ideal for high school and university-level instruction, especially in English language and humanities classrooms.

The site features a series of short, accessible articles that address key aspects of writing an academic essay, including:

• Understanding the assignment
• Developing a thesis
• Organizing arguments
• Counterargument strategies
• Transitions and coherence
• Revising and editing effectively

Each article presents concrete strategies and questions students can ask themselves to improve clarity, argumentation, and structure in their writing. There are also links to additional guidance on grammar, style, and discipline-specific expectations.

Find this amazing resource on:

https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/strategies-essay-writing

Most Americans love reading aloud to children, survey finds

A recent YouGov survey reveals that 53% of U.S. adults say they love reading to children, with another 14% doing so very frequently. The findings highlight the continued value placed on shared reading experiences, especially when books are fun, visually engaging, and educational.

What kinds of books are most enjoyed?

Picture books top the list, with 50% saying they “love” them and 34% saying they “like” them.

Books with rhyming text and educational content are also well-received.

While chapter books are slightly less popular, they still hold a strong place in read-aloud routines.

The survey also shows what adults prioritize when choosing read-aloud books:

They should be entertaining (64% rated this as very important).

Have appealing illustrations (57%).

Offer a valuable message or lesson (51%).

Interestingly, 18% of respondents say they “always” use different voices for characters, while over 60% do so at least occasionally — a simple yet powerful strategy to spark imagination and hold children's attention.

This data reinforces the importance of reading aloud as an educational and emotional tool. Teachers and families alike can enrich storytime by selecting fun, visual, and meaningful books, and bringing characters to life with voice variations. It’s not just about reading — it’s about creating a moment of connection and curiosity.

Source: 

https://today.yougov.com/society/articles/52531-most-americans-say-they-love-reading-to-children

80 Sponge Activities by whatihavelearnedteaching.com

Coined by Madeline Hunter, sponge activities are short, low-preparation exercises used to turn downtime into productive learning moments. These activities reinforce vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, etc., in small bursts, keep learners mentally active and focused even during unexpected pauses, and provide variety and fun, increasing motivation and classroom energy.

Short
Practice existing material
On‑their‑own or with peers
No new content introduced
Groups engaged
Elicit immediate responses

This resource is a collection of 80 short, ready-to-go classroom activities designed to fill those spare minutes—at the beginning, end, or during transitions—with meaningful practice. These “sponge” tasks include:

- Quick challenges like vocabulary scrambles, mini-dictations, word formation, or listing words by category.

- Games such as 20 Questions, flashcard races, or storytelling starters.

- Collaborative prompts—group questions, drawing tasks from oral descriptions, or quick debates—easy to launch and wrap up in a few minutes.

Find them on:

https://whatihavelearnedteaching.com/80-sponge-activities/

People on the Move

World Population Day, celebrated on July 11, is a global observance that highlights pressing demographic issues like migration, fertility, and urbanization. Focusing on migration fits perfectly with the day’s mission to deepen public understanding of how population changes shape societies and economies.

This resource for grades 6-8 provides a comprehensive, classroom-ready unit on human migration, covering:

- Key definitions (e.g., migrant, refugee, internally displaced person)

- Global data and trends on population movement

- Illustrated case studies that examine causes and challenges of migration

- Engaging activities, including readings, data interpretation, graphic organizers, and writing prompts

It encourages cross-disciplinary learning by integrating geography, social studies, and language arts, all while focusing on English vocabulary and comprehension.

Find it on:

https://populationeducation.org/resource/people-on-the-move/