The end of season seminar/workshop was held at Ace English Malta, Level 4, Bay Street Complex on Saturday 25th November. It was very well attended by almost 150 members. All session received very positive feedback from those who attended.
This is how the workshops were described by their creators
FIRST SESSION lan Marsh: Ways with Words In this session, Alan reveals some interesting facts about words in English and then proceeds to demonstrate a medley of stimulating, motivating and creative techniques to help learners notice, store and recall vocabulary.
Amanda Vassallo: Sight Reading Skills This workshop is an introduction to new techniques for speed reading that not only help consume more of the written word, up to three times as fast, but which also help you understand and recall more of what you read.
Ian Scerri: How to get hired as a 21st- century teacher Looking through the eyes of a seasoned DOS and Teacher Trainer, we take a look at the different traits top hiring managers in ELT look for when hiring a modern teacher and why, as well as how we can present and package ourselves as THE candidate to hire. In this practical workshop, we will explore ways to help ELT teacher maximise their employability and earning potential.
Jean Theuma:Planning and delivering courses for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) How do we create a course when the student has a specific type of English in mind, such as Medical English or Engineering English? These students come with a particular need because the language relates to their present or future job. We will investigate how much of an expert you have to be in their field, how to find out exactly what they want, and how to make sure they go away satisfied. Pam Borg:Taking back control of technology in the EFL Let’s make technology your friend and not your foe, with ideas on some user-friendly online applications to include in a 21st century teacher’s digital toolkit: these simple apps can promote collaborative learning and creativity both inside and outside the classroom.
SECOND SESSION Jean Sciberras: I will survive yeah yeah We all love workshops on songs but … how many of the wonderful multitude of ideas do we actually remember? Jean’s session will be different in that it will only exploit ONE song but demonstrate how it can be used to develop all four skills and subskills. Et voila’: you will have an instant 90-minute lesson that you and your students won’t forget.
Justyna Rogers: Project-based learning: What, How and Why? Already well-established in mainstream education, Project-Based Learning is becoming increasingly popular in EFL schools. In this workshop, Justyna will briefly explain what PBL is, its benefits, and how to set up a project-based lesson. She will also introduce some interactive tools which can be used to create projects and brainstorm some example ideas to use with the tools.
Karin Grech: Art in the EFL Classroom As a response to a growing interest in art tourism, Karin has created “Art”-themed materials for her EFL classes and in this workshop she shares some of them. These include a creative introduction activity for all levels and hours of material for higher-level learners.
Kevin Spiteri: Virtual Reality: a 21st century tool for 21st century skills The session will introduce participants to the possibilities related to using Virtual Reality (VR) for education purposes. VR tears down the walls of the classroom and immerses its user within a world that looks, sounds and feels as real as it gets without actually being within a particular context. Matt Done:When lexis meets grammar While we often teach lexis and grammar separately, the truth is that they are intimately related. This session will offer practical ideas on how to highlight this reality to students, and hopefully, give an overall boost to their ability to use both correctly!