#NATECLA national conference – 49 years old and still going strong!
I’m writing this on the Saturday morning of our national conference at Conference Aston in Birmingham. It feels like a good time to try and capture a few thoughts and reflections from yesterday as well as a chance to share them with others who may not have been able to attend. If you want to catch up with more then take a look on X (formerly Twitter) at the hashtag #NATECLA24.
The NATECLA National conference was always a real highlight for me when I was teaching ESOL in further education and although I’m not as involved in ESOL in the same way now there’s still a real joy in being here because it’s full of friendly, fun, passionate and committed people who really care about what they do. It’s usually (always!) quite exhausting but in a good way, where I feel invigorated too by the ideas, conversations and connections I have made.
One of my personal favourite bits of conference is always the Teachmeet which takes place on the Friday. Each contribution is limited to three minutes and can vary from tips on useful technology tools to examples of activities which need no resources at all. I may be a little biased but it’s a great way for people to share ideas, thoughts, activities in a quickfire but relaxed way and it’s also a good way to have a go at presenting without feeling that you have a whole workshop to get through.
Each year the Teachmeet seems to get busier and better which is fantastic – and also means I have to try and make sure people definitely keep to their three minutes! Although it can feel a little harsh it’s good to have concise examples which people can then go away and reflect on more. The wonderful Chloe is tweeting a summary of each contribution with photos (Here’s the link to the first post of the thread and I’ve added her notes at the end of the post) but I’m just going to pick out a few here to give people a taste of what was shared.
There was a real mix of contributions this year and as always some interesting ideas for using technology were included. Sylwia showed us Flip (formerly Flipgrid) and spoke about how useful it was for stimulating discussion on topics and videos but also showed how she had used it to record video feedback on student recordings which only they can access. See more below for the other examples.
There were some lovely creative ideas for encouraging student reflection too. Ally shared the ‘Rose and Thorn’ warmer activity as a way to check in with students and see what was going well and not so well. She spoke about the need to use it sensitively and also included the option for a ‘bud’ to help encourage students to think about things they might want to look forward to.
Tatiana showed us examples of the ‘learning trees’ she gets her students to do at the end of a course. These were lovely to see and it was great to see how they helped students to reflect on what they had studied but also provided a tangible and beautiful way that she and they could have a record of this. Much more meaningful than a ticklist!
It was also great to hear from Cathy how much is going on with the ESOL research community. Do take a look at the Padlet to see more and catch up on some of the previous sessions.
Finally, a NATECLA Teachmeet wouldn’t be complete without a contribution from Chloe. As a Padlet Queen she showed us one of the latest tools that’s been added and a good way to get some interesting discussion going in class. The “I can’t draw’ option allows you to ask for an AI generated image if you give a prompt. You can see the rather interesting examples people came up with here!
I’m going to sign off before this becomes a mammoth post but hopefully it will give a flavour of both the Teachmeet and the conference itself. Thanks to everyone who took part this year. If you haven’t been to the NATECLA conference yet do try and come – next year will be the 50th one so definitely one to celebrate! Hope to see you there :)
Here are Chloe’s notes (which you can follow in the thread on X too):
Teachmeet 2024
Sophie Alderheart showed us Classroomscreen an interactive whiteboard. This is one of my favourite bits of tech! Includes: surveys, traffic lights, work symbols, timers, text boxes, embedding and sooo much more!
Jenny Stacey shared a quick way to make learners laugh - in maths!! She asked us all to write 1-5, made animal noises for each and asked learners to name the animal! Her chicken was on point!
Doug asked us to ponder the importance of equity and diversity within our ESOL classes. How can we best value and respect all our learners and their varied life experiences?
Aisha shared a website ‘Write and improve with Cambridge’ filled with free workbooks and tasks including self marking!
Colin shared his vocabulary bag! Vocabulary generated by students encouraging them to consider what language will be useful for them in the future. Great low risk low tech warmer activity as learners are arriving.
Sheila shared the importance of using phonics. There are about 9 ways to spell ‘o’. This wonderful thing called a ‘schwa’ unless we explicitly teach these things learners will always find it difficult to spell using these sounds. Forward with phonics.
Ally shared a ‘blooming’ good warmer’ with roses (what went well), thorns (what didn’t go so well) and… a bud (what can bloom? What inspires you? What are you looking forward to?). Great as a warmer, drilling adjectives (other than fine / good!), a mindful moment, find out what energy levels were, community building.
Sylwia shared some love for @flip and all the ways it can be used in the ESOL classroom for speaking and listening practice, class community building and closed loop feedback.
Lillian shared a ‘Creative Writing Snack’! Similar to Rory’s story cubes but free and online! Don’t need to overwhelm students with the idea of writing a whole story but simply a sentence or two using the words.
HTTPS://Davebirss.com/storydice
Liz said: “we might be back in the classroom but how can we continue to develop our learners digital skills?”
YES! 👏
Why write an email on paper? Write and send in class via phone / tech (if possible). Reply and proofread. Emailing and replying partners. Building confidence, increased typing speed, starting / ending emails and *not* writing everything in the subject line!
Dave Butler wanted to chat to us about his ESOL books: ‘Read and write everyday: ESOL literacy students books’. 14 units of relevant real life contexts for students. Each unit includes graded texts, comprehension tasks, controlled practice and writing tasks.
Tatiana shared the learning tree an exciting colourful way to review the course.
What a fantastic way to end a course. This has RARPA written all over it!
Cathy shared the ESOL research community
I shared ‘I can’t draw’ option on Padlet.
https://padlet.com/ChloeFibonacci/natecla-teachmeet-24-6vwvkztijkk4rezr