EFL Classroom — The End.
It was 14 years ago that I first started “the Batcave” and began a journey of sharing resources with other English language teachers I was training. Soon thereafter I started EFL Classroom 2.0. Here is a post I wrote about its beginnings.
It grew and grew. Those were the halcyon days. 1,000s of teachers, 100s of new discussions each day. It really made a difference in many teacher’s lives. Then, around 2012, things changed. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn just sucked up the life blood of the community. Still — I forged on. Teachers came to get quality teaching resources I supplied and I kept making them. I’ve always been at heart a materials / lesson creator, curator, mucking abouter and designer. I love the creative aspect of that — taking an authentic resource and spinning it into an effective language lesson.
But the times they keep a changin’. The platform costs a lot. Despite many thinking I have a big team behind me and I’m making money hand over fist — the opposite is the case. I probably spend about $15,000 a year on the site not even considering all the time I spend corresponding, creating, sharing.
So the time has come for EFL Classroom to shut its doors. It will close permanently on December 31st, 2019. Members have until that time to save/download any resources they have shared on EFL Classroom. Or just go to settings, delete your account and your content will be deleted with it. As of August 15th, I will begin taking down content, deleting pages and packing things up.
It’s sad. But everything in and of nature has its time and place.
The good news is that I’ll be launching a brand new “cloud based” lesson library. Teachers can store all their lesson materials in one place and access from anywhere. It’s cool and it solves a problem. They’ll be 1.000s of high quality leveled readers for schools to purchase to access (pdf/pptx/video) and completed updated lesson resources of all types. A comprehensive library of vetted teaching materials that I guarantee you won’t have to spend hours editing, correcting like other lesson material websites.
So I hope you’ll join me there when it launches Aug. 15th. If interested in helping me stress test the platform, giving feedback of bugs etc …. Fill out this form and you’ll get 6 months Premium access for your help.
I hope members understand the decision to close EFL Classroom. I need a new start. As the French say, “reculez pour mieux sautez” — step back so to jump further ahead.
I thank all the teachers over the years who’ve contributed, shared, commented and been part of the EFL Classroom family. It’s been a great run!
Best,
David — Teacher Founder EFL Classroom.
Originally published at ELT Buzz.