Who are you targeting?
English teachers
Presentation
Dear teachers,
We are extremely pleased to announce our fourth Trends in Teaching seminar; we’re shaking it up this year with Chris Roland! Chris is an experienced, knowledgeable, innovative and entertaining teacher trainer who is well worth getting up for on a Saturday morning! Some of you may be familiar with his work already or have seen him on Youtube. We have prepared a full morning, with a plenary session aimed to focus on where you’re taking your teaching followed by two workshops. We will be following a new format with the session called Teacher Talk – designed to give you the opportunity to discuss your thought with other teachers; and then another practical workshop on learner autonomy.
Timetable:
10.00 – 11.00: Plenary: What’s possible in an English class and where can I take my teaching? Chris Roland
11.00 – 11.30: Break with publisher’s stand
11.30 – 12.15: Workshop: Teacher talk. Chris Roland and Adele Titford (CEM)
12.15 – 13.00: Workshop: I can do that! A workshop on student autonomy. Chris Roland
Methodology
Plenary: What’s possible in an English class and where can I take my teaching?
Daevid Allen, Gong’s mastermind of psychedelia, sang “…and if things don't change for better or worse, well man you must be dead.” Things are always changing – in ELT in general or in our own classes from day to day, week to week or year to year. The more possibilities we are alert to, the more of a hand we have in the direction of those changes and the more chances we have to weave some artistry into our lessons. Possibilities provide options. Options give us freedom. Freedom allows movement and from movement we get growth.
So please join me for a brief but lively rummage around the classroom to see what possibilities there are to explore and what new dimensions we might add to our own practice. We shall dip into all sorts of classroom scenarios involving all sorts of levels and ages and shall consider issues such as task design, class dynamics, teacher cognition, student autonomy, facilitative tension, space and movement. Generous portions of creativity will be served with a side dish of practical prudence and garnished with a kaleidoscope of photographs from my own classes. Suitable for new teachers, seasoned veterans and trainers alike.
Workshop: Teacher talk
In this session, we aim to get teachers talking about, well, anything really! Teaching related, of course! So, be prepared to participate in directed group discussions and meet other teachers along the way.
Workshop: I can do that! A workshop on student autonomy
In this session we shall look at why we might want to increase student levels of agency in the classroom, how we might do that and what the appeal of it all might be for our learners. We shall explore the difference between a class that is well behaved and a class where action on the part of the students has simply been suppressed. We will cover how classes with increased student activity might feel in terms of dynamics, and also how they can be managed most effectively to result in greater language practice. Our examples will be drawn from primary, secondary and adult classes. The ideas covered will be suitable for new teachers, experienced teachers, and anyone responsible for training teachers or supporting them.