There are times when you're class is going wrong or a colleague is ill and you've been asked to cover, you have no plan, no materials and a textbook that is boring your students to tears... These fillers require no preparation and no equipment beyond a whiteboard, markers and some paper. These are my favourites and have got me out of more than one hole...

I made this for a performing arts enrichment for the students who did not want to be in the play. Students try to design a poster aimed directly at the audience by: 1. Having a standout image 2. Using the minimum amount of text 3. Being very clear about the audience & their motivation for seeing a play. I hope this PowerPoint saves you a bit of time trawling around for theatre posters and gives students some direction as to what is expected when making this kind of poster.

This resource was used in ICT to encourage students to make their own advert, but could easily be adapted for reluctant writers or made into an assembly to show how advertising works. i.e. Selling products people do not want to buy. This resource requires a newer version of PowerPoint or the player.

These lateral puzzles have been around for many years in one form or another and they are a great way to encourage discussion, thinking and creativity. Also once you know them, you can bring them in at a moment's notice, but before using them make sure you know a few, because just occasionally a student can solve it instantly. They can be displayed on an electronic Whiteboard from the Website or you can use the PDF for printing out and handouts. In a Special needs environment they can help students to think about literal and lateral meanings.

Although Matilda was supposed to be 5, I'd challenge any 5 year old to actually do this maths in their heads! If you are reading Matilda to a class, this is a very nice way to introduce Spreadsheets in KS2 or could be used as an exercise in KS3. You will need the book Matilda by Roald Dahl (Pages 45 - 47) to make full use of this exercise, but could be done as a standalone. Also a good example of real life Maths for a Maths lesson. (I would stress this is based on the book rather than the film, which has different Maths)

I really just put this together to show off just how capable the Mind Mapping Software could be, but I am sure it must be useful for showing tenses. It was originally part of a series of lessons on learning 2 learn and how Mindmaps could be used to help with revision. The resource uses shortened English, because when I made the original materials I was teaching speaking rather than formal written documents. (For the British Council in Kuala Lumpur)

This little PowerPoint generates random interview questions that can be asked for school magazines, speaking and listening skills and idea generators for interview pieces. (Made it for Performing Arts enrichment, so that students can interview the cast.)

I used to teach this a lot when I was an ESOL teacher and it never ceased to amaze me how creative my students could be, even the ones who barely had the vocabulary to describe their room at home came up with inspiring ideas. The idea is simple, show them

This little lesson was designed to encourage students to search using keywords and then reference information given. It also shows how keywords can be used to precis information. I hope it's useful.

A spinner that enables you to assign plots at random. Also included is a print out version and a handout with plot summaries.

I made the original worksheet about 3 years ago and staff keep on requesting copies of it. It's a very simple sheet to explain how to design a good quality PowerPoint Slide. I've added a PowerPoint presentation with the answers and a simplified lesson plan. I hope its helpful and please adapt as you wish.

This lesson shows students a very well written letter of complaint and then encourages them to roleplay how they would deal with such complaints. Originally made for BTEC Business this could also be used for writing letters of complaint in English or as a precursor to a scene in Drama.

Word Clouds are a great way to share vocabulary without making an obvious writing frame. Students with SEN can access the vocabulary and other students will appreciate the design. Not only that, but words at different angles make it more interesting to read and encourage dyslexic students to turn words around to visualise letters appropriately. Also different fonts can be used for easy reading. I've shown an example, which can be used for planning a holiday in England. There are also visual prompts included too. The tool Wordle makes it easy to make your own. (Free Website)

This little presentation introduces Cartoon Story Maker. A great little application made by the Victorian State Government. The entire presentation was made using it and the first link shows you the end result it saves. The other link is to download the software for yourself. (Requires Adobe Flash to use)

This lesson encourages students to design their own magazine cover and think about what is required to make something that is attractive enough to buy.

This lesson shows students how to do effective slide builds for presentations. This is an important skill when presenting slide shows to slowly reveal information and keep the audience interested. This could also be used in English as part of their Speaking tasks.

Creating role-playing cards

This little PowerPoint randomiser whizzes through 20 writing prompts. Press the Up arrow key to stop it and space to space to start it again. You could also choose the prompts for you. For SEN students the visuals are useful to help engage students. Thanks to Writing Prompts Blog for most of the ideas. I have localised and added to the original 15.

I made this for code club, but could easily be used as part of any game making course. It could also be used in English to develop characters for fiction and to encourage reluctant writers.

The link is a great little tool to show how fast somebody can read from Staples. I've also included a printable version from my Website, so that you can share with your class. This could be a nice little starter to lead into a discussion about how to improve reading and how the purpose changes the speed and technique used to read.