English Teachers' Day 2017 - afternoon session

Kontext / Contexte

08:30 Registration
09:00 Welcome
09:05 Keynote speaker: Amos Paran (OUP)
10:00 Coffee break
10:30 Presentation by IFEN
11:00 AM workshops
Groupe A) Tess Charnaud: Engaging with student learning
Groupe B) Sybille Blitgen: The Systemic Teacher
Groupe C) Jane Croxford: Reading between the lines
Groupe D) Amos Paran: Homework in the EFL classroom
12:30 Lunch break
13:30 Speaker: Claude Kremer (Centre national de littérature)
14:00 Keynote speaker: Dave Spencer (Macmillan)
14:45 CNP panel (Kim Heuskin, Pitt Sunnen)
15:30 PM workshops
Groupe A) Anne-Marie & Marie-Anne Dentzer: The sound of music
Groupe B) Chris Pesch: "How woke are snowflakes?"
Groupe C) Leendert-Jan Blom: Let's Get Digital
Groupe D) Paul Davies: Words Fail Me
17:00 Plenary & prize draw

Zielsetzung / Objectifs

The main aim of English Teachers' Day is to share and exchange ideas, methods, and resources with fellow English teachers in Luxembourg and beyond.

Inhalt / Contenu

La formation comprendra plusieurs discours ainsi que des ateliers qui permettent aux participants d'échanger des idées et des méthodes. Pour plus de détails, veuillez consulter le site internet du English Teachers' Day sur https://sites.google.com/site/englishteachersday/2017.

Afternoon session

Groupe A: The Sound of Music - How to use songs in the ESL classroom to enchant your learners
Content: Using songs and lyrics has always been a vital part in English language teaching and an effective way to teach grammar. Thus, we will focus on how to include songs in your lessons effectively. We will start with ideas on how to include songs in the elementary classroom, and will move up to the advanced level in which songs can be used in a variety of ways. The activities will encompass the four main skills (writing, reading, listening, speaking/singing).
Aims & objectives: The aim of the workshop is to provide people with hands-on materials and activities that they can use with all of their pupils. Everybody is welcome and we strongly encourage people to bring along their iPods / iPads, material and ideas. And be warned: you won’t leave this workshop without taking part in our infamous karaoke session.

Groupe B: "How woke are snowflakes?" - Discussing the value of Millennial English in ELT
Content: Consider the following headlines seen on the Guardian website:
- "Faking 'wokeness': how advertising targets millennial liberals for profit."
- "Is Lyft really the 'woke' alternative to Uber?"
- "America, behold your Snowflake-in-Chief."
- "How to survive gaslighting: when manipulation erases your reality."
What these headlines share is a reliance on words as central to their message, which only a few years ago no one would have used quite this way. Unlike neologisms such as "google", these words are not yet in wide use. Instead they are mostly prevalent among so-called millennials. Yet much like "google", they are not truly slang either, but precisely defined terms used for specific purposes. Such words, aided by the attitudes that have given rise to them, might thus have more than just a slight impact on a subset of language users, but alter the shape of English discourse in a rather more meaningful way. One fundamental question for English teachers must therefore be how to address these recent developments in their classrooms. This workshop aims to delineate how English is changing – in both formal and informal ways and with a specific focus on lexis. But it is also meant to give teachers a platform to discuss the extent to which these changes should (not) be incorporated in their classroom practice, and to debate what can be done to raise students' awareness of the challenges these changes create.
Aims & objectives: discuss lexical changes / additions to the English language, investigate how neologisms might be changing English discourse, question if and how these changes should be addressed in our classroom practice.

Groupe C: "Let's get digital" - online practice, how can that work for my students and me!
Content: At the request of many teachers from Luxembourg schools, we will show teachers how the digital online practice works for OUP courses. What are the benefits for teachers and students? How does it work, technically? How will using digital learning / practice save teachers time? Bring your laptop, set up an account and discover the world of online practice! There will be also time to show "iTools" the classroom presentation tool and answer questions about eBooks.
Aims & objectives: answer questions about the possibility for schools who are thinking about digital learning, support the first step of the journey into online practice for OUP courses (Insight and Solutions), give teachers the first hand experience in using the OUP platform, view the content of online practice to identify it's benefit for students in Luxembourg.

Groupe D: Words Fail Me - Vocabulary Problems And How To Solve Them
Content: As all language learners discover, there are many different aspects to acquiring and retaining vocabulary, some of which can cause frustration. Why can I not always remember words when I need them? Why can I not always understand words that I hear, even when I know them? Why do I sometimes make vocabulary errors when speaking, even though I know they are mistakes? Why do I use mostly elementary vocabulary when I speak, even though I can understand far more advanced language? This session will address these questions, offering practical advice and concrete activities for the classroom.
Paul Davies is co-author of the secondary course "Solutions" and would also be happy to answer any questions about "Solutions" 2nd and 3rd editions during the workshop or during the Teachers' Day.

Arbeitsformen / Approche méthodologique

Groupe A: The Sound of Music - How to use songs in the ESL classroom to enchant your learners
Actively involving participants, Groupwork.

Groupe B: "How woke are snowflakes?" - Discussing the value of Millennial English in ELT
Lecture-type presentation, Actively involving participants.

Groupe C: "Let's get digital" - online practice, how can that work for my students and me!
Lecture-type presentation, Actively involving participants, Pair work, Group work

Groupe D: Words Fail Me - Vocabulary Problems And How To Solve Them
Lecture-type presentation, Actively involving participants, Group work

Referent, Referentin / Formateur, formatrice

Anne-Marie Dentzer, professeure (Groupe A)
Chris Pesch, professeur (Groupe B)
Leendert-Jan Blom, conférencier (Groupe C)
Paul Davies, conférencier (Groupe D)