Product reviews for Independent Thinking on MFL

After months of remote teaching during lockdown, I was desperate for a resource that would reignite my spark for MFL teaching. Crista Hazell's book definitely did that. Her book covers all the areas that are crucial to successful and engaging MFL teaching: building relationships with students, the importance of teaching phonics, how oracy works in an MFL class, and how to turn the dreaded assessment into fun activities.  

Since being back in the classroom, I have included a few of Crista's activities that have become -˜regulars' in all of the levels that I teach. My students are particularly fond of -˜two truths and one lie', -˜une minute', which I include in my settling-down routine at the beginning of my class, and -˜ch-ch-check it out', which is very useful when preparing for the directed writing part in the Scottish Higher exam. 

Another aspect that makes Crista's book unique is the fact that she tackles very practical matters of MFL teaching, such as how to make use of the MFL assistant and classroom assistant. From experience, including an MFL assistant or classroom assistant can be difficult due to time constraints, diverging expectations and teaching styles. Crista's practical tips help to deal with those issues by offering concrete examples as to how to involve them in the MFL class.  

The chapter dealing with budget constraints in the MFL class is really helpful, too. Crista offers very practical tips to make MFL teaching fun and engaging on a limited budget. She also lists a number of handy online resources for further ideas on this topic.

Overall, I find that the title is apt: Crista's book offers a variety of stimulating tasks that will hook MFL learners, it shows how to include a broad spectrum of learners, and, lastly, tackles topical issues that all MFL teachers have to deal with.