NATECLA are excited to bring you 9 fantastic workshops designed for teachers, managers and volunteers working within the ESOL, EFL, EAP and community language fields in the UK.
For each of the 3 sessions please choose 1 workshop from the choice of 3 when you book your ticket for the conference.
Workshop Session 1 Friday (17:15 - 18:00)
1A Yvonne Ackuaku: Practical tips for setting up and running a volunteering/mentoring scheme in your organisation
Evie is volunteer manager and an ESOL tutor at ELATT, an educational charity in East London. She has built up a thriving volunteer scheme over four years and many student volunteers have gained valuable experience, in the process building skills and confidence which has helped them to move into all kinds of employment.
Would you like to establish an ESOL volunteering scheme in your organisation or college, especially one involving existing students as classroom support and peer mentors? Or would you like to re-energise an existing scheme?
This workshop will cover:
*Best practices that are simple to implement straight away
*Designing a simple form for staff to request volunteers
*Designing a volunteer role description
*Advertising
*Interviewing
*Placing volunteers
*Induction
*DBS
*Thanking volunteers
There will also be opportunities to share your experience and practice with others.
1B Sarah Sheldon: Take photos, tell stories, write poems: participatory photography and poetry
Sarah is an ESOL specialist at Learning Unlimited who has been working in ESOL for fourteen years, always as a teacher and in recent years as a project manager, materials writer and teacher trainer. Her strengths and expertise are in supporting language and literacy development and building confidence through participatory teaching methods, especially to those with low level English and/or literacy. Over the last year her particular area of interest has been bringing photography and poetry into the ESOL classroom.
Come and find out about participatory photography and poetry activities that can be used in every level ESOL classroom and also with 1:1 support. Discover the power of photography and poetry in language learning, how it brings learners’ lives, languages, cultures, feelings and opinions and a true sense of community to the ESOL classroom.
Find out about the successful ESOL and photography project 'Picture This!' developed and run online in 2020 by Learning Unlimited (ESOL) and Fotosynthesis, a leader in participatory visual media, where these activities originated.
We will also have a look at the ‘Picture this!' toolkit and see how it can support ESOL practitioners wanting to embed photography and poetry activities into their regular ESOL classes and those looking to run a standalone ESOL and photography course. Due to the pandemic, the project was delivered online so all activities are geared for online delivery but can be adapted easily for the face-to-face classroom.
1C Cathy Clarkson and Kathryn Sidaway: Getting started with research
Cathy Clarkson has been in FE for 20 years, teaching ESOL, CELTA, L3 Award in Education and Training to volunteer ESOL teachers and the PGCE. She is doing an EdD, doing action research exploring a model of peer observation using synchronous text-chat during Teaching Practice to explore the role of technology in observation and learning how to teach on the CELTA.
Kathryn Sidaway has worked in ESOL since 2007 as a teacher, manager and examiner. She holds an MA in English Language Teaching, MA in Social Science Research and is currently an ESRC funded PhD candidate researching language learning motivation in adults and the effects of the Skills for Life exams.
In this workshop you will get the opportunity to hear about ESOL teachers doing research in their own classrooms and the wider sector. They will talk about their experiences of getting started in research. The workshop will provide a supportive discussion space to consider how you could develop your own research project. We hope to create a network of ESOL practitioner researchers so please come along to find out more.
Workshop Session 2 Saturday a.m. (11:30 - 12:15)
2A Eve Sheppard: Teaching Functional maths to ESOL students
Eve Sheppard works at the Oldham College as an ESOL teacher and Advanced Practitioner. This year she has been involved in a college collaboration project looking at good practice in digital teaching, learning and assessment, which has led her into the world of podcasting. She is interested in assessment and feedback, Functional Maths for ESOL, the use of digital tools for speaking and listening and digital inclusion.
Eve has been teaching Functional Maths to ESOL students for over 10 years. In this workshop she will share some successful approaches. We will look at different ways to use visuals to develop number skills and maths vocabulary. We will also discuss how to integrate speaking and listening into a maths session to develop students’ confidence in talking about maths. A hands-on session with opportunities to share ideas and experiences.
2B Harry Waters: A Renewable Look at ELT
Harry Waters has been involved in ELT for almost 15 years. His passion for the planet and his obsession for learning have led him to create Renewable English a free online climate Change Awareness English course. He is a trainer for Pearson and the BBC's Live Classes project and is the learning guide for Pearson and BBC studio's Speak Out For Sustainability. He also has a passion for flags and second-hand shirts.
This work shop will give you the tools to raise climate change awareness in all of your classes. It provides a whole host of practical ideas to help green your teaching as well as your classroom in general. You'll leave this workshop feeling more prepared to guide your students to a more sustainable future.
2C Joanna Davidson-Hajto: It’s time to employ the critical thinking skills
An ESOL teacher, mentor, coach, blogger (www.teachlearnrelax.com) and material writer who has been living in the ESOL world for about 15 years, and who feels inspired when teaching, planning, creating as well as attending and delivering staff training sessions. At the moment wearing a Programme Lead hat and exploring neuroscience for learning.
Did you know that according to World Economic Forum, critical thinking is one of the top 10 job skills of tomorrow?
This workshop will introduce practical ideas and universal tools used for embedding basic critical thinking skills into language teaching. Thanks to these methods, students will start applying critical thinking skills into their everyday learning and work-related routines, while you will be able to expand on your already designed materials, saving your precious planning time.
Workshop Session 3 Saturday p.m. (12:30 - 13:15)
3A Daniel Calvert: Why linguistic diversity matters: the transformational potential of drawing on all the languages you and your learners know
Over the past 10 years Daniel Calvert has taught English in the UK, Spain and Portugal. He works at CARAS – a London-based refugee charity – where he manages the adult ESOL project, shortlisted for this year’s Festival of Learning award.
Daniel completed an MA Applied Linguistics at UCL Institute of Education in September 2020. His dissertation on translanguaging in ESOL was selected by UCL as their nomination for this year’s British Council Master’s Awards for the research with the potential for the most impact on the ELT sector.
ESOL classes are a rich source of linguistic diversity: learners are bilingual or multilingual, as are many of the teachers and volunteers who work with them. At present however the use of languages other than English (translanguaging) is often seen as a problem, and there is a policy of “English only” in many classes. This workshop will explore how translanguaging can improve learning outcomes in ESOL classes, as well as helping learners feel welcome and valued. You will get the opportunity to discuss some practical ideas for translanguaging that you can start using straight away.
The workshop is suitable for anyone, regardless of whether you consider yourself bi/multilingual.
3B Sammy White: Low on data? There’s a GIF for that!
Sammy is an Edtech and teaching and learning consultant. Previously she has supported a large ESOL department with Edtech training for Luminate Education. Sammy has worked in FE for 10 years teaching maths.
This workshop explores the digital divide and the power of modelling to develop understanding of taught materials. With first hand experience of the impact on FE students the workshop looks at why GIFs are important and can transform teaching.
(Note from National Coordinator: A GIF is an animated image file for example this
one which illustrates how happy I will be when I learn more about GIFs!)
3C Fergus Andrew: How to use learner-generated language in a community class setting
Fergus has been a Development Worker on the Volunteer Tutor Project at Glasgow ESOL Forum for the las two years. He has taught English in language schools, universities and primary and secondary schools in Mexico and Ecuador. Two areas that particularly interest him in teaching are: Dogme (teaching unplugged) and working with ESOL literacy learners.
Many teachers find the prospect of going into a lesson with minimal preparation and resources terrifying. This workshop will help reduce that fear. I will suggest ways that you can utilise learners' lives and experiences as well as the general environment around them (whether that be at home or in a community-class setting) as a springboard for conversation and learning.
