Resources from ESOL: Strategy and Practice conference

Thank you to everyone who attended our spring conference and especially to all our workshop leaders.  Resources from all our workshop leaders are now available here.

We certainly enjoyed seeing everyone and are currently going through the evaluation forms to see what our delegates liked about this conference and what we can improve on for future events.  This was the first time we have done a conference on a Friday so we’d be particularly interested to hear your views on whether you would find a Friday or a Saturday better for future events.  Feel free to comment below or get in touch via Twitter @nateclayh and let us know.

ESOL Strategy and Practice conference, 31st March

Not long to go now until our next regional conference at the end of the month.  Planning is in full swing and we’ve got some great workshops available to book onto.  At just £10 for members and £20 for non-members its some of the cheapest CPD available.

Available workshops include:

Bringing women together, making dumplings & developing ESOL skills – Clare Courtney (Heart & Parcel)

ESOL meeting EAL – Michaela Oltean, Esther Wilkey and Tom Glew

Using newspapers in class – topics to use and avoid  – Tamzin Berridge

Turning Back the Clock –  Michael Fennell

Full details are available on the NATECLA website where you can also book.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Date Announced for our Spring Conference

Our spring conference, ‘ESOL: Strategy and Practice’ will take place at the Huddersfield Centre of Kirklees College on the afternoon of Friday 31st March. Booking will be available shortly on the NATECLA website.

We are still look for contributors so if you’re interested in running a workshop for us on the day please get in touch by 10th February using this short form or by sending a send a short description of your proposed workshop to nateclayh@gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Call for workshops for our spring conference ‘ESOL: Strategy & Practice’

Planning is in full swing for our March conference which this year we are hoping to hold in Huddersfield on a Friday afternoon. We will be confirming the details very shortly.

We are looking for workshop leaders to put forward their proposals on the theme of ‘ESOL: Strategy and Practice’.  Whether you’re a seasoned workshop leader or are looking for an opportunity to give it a try for the first time we would welcome your applications.

If you’re interested please complete this form or send a short description of your proposed workshop to nateclayh@gmail.com by 10th February.

 

Conference Voices

Here is a guest post from Dr. Michael Fennell, writing about attending, & presenting  Getting to Know You Dictation Activities at, the ESOL Voices conference in May 2016.

1. What I liked about the event was the wide spectrum of

practitioners, the openness to engage, an enthusiasm to exchange,

the opportunity to visit Leeds Beckett University and after to

explore the city of Leeds.

2. What I would change about the event would be to give more

publicity to the exhibition and what the sponsors were bringing to

the conference. They provided a valuable resource for teaching and

professional development.

Conference Voices

Here is a guest post from Steph Taylor, writing about attending the ESOL Voices conference in May 2016.

A warm welcome always awaits visitors at the Y&H NATECLA branch.  As always it was well worth the journey to meet with our northern colleagues.   In the morning I found the Employability workshop with Anian Pyrkosz very informative with a great power point presentation with interactive employability tasks we shared in break out groups.   A great reminder for us all to ensure we fully embed employability into our ESOL classes.

Conference Voices

Here is a guest post from Genevieve Sylt, reflecting on attending the ESOL Voices conference in May 2016.

 
On the day of the conference, I was indecisive about the choice of workshops – which was very good – it would have been nice to go to at least four of them. It was good in both workshops to exchange experiences and ideas with fellow teachers. People work in such different ways and it is always good to hear that, and remember that perhaps your own life needs tweaking to create the best situation for yourself. I am studying at the moment, so I am having a gear change: it is exciting and new and I was really interested that not everyone was working in a college.

ESOL Voices conference resources

Thank you to all the fabulous workshop leaders that made our Spring 2016 regional conference a success.

The resources from sessions can be found here.

Keynote session: What do corpora offer the ESOL classroom? with Ivor Timmis and Diana Tremayne

Workshops:

• The applications of positive psychology to ESOL with Aleks Palanac
• Using Phonics to teach ESOL with Alison Rose
• Employability with Ania Pyrkosz
  
• Nouns not Verbs with Katie Baron
• Getting to Know you dictation activities with Michael Fennel
  
• Developing Independent Learning Through Coaching with Naeema Hann and Liz Newton

Classroom ideas from Y & H member Sundus

Today’s post comes from NATECLA Y & H committee member Sudus who writes:

“I’d like to share one of the suggestions from the Teacher Toolkit I produced at the end of my recent Masters in research. All suggestions were derived directly from ESOL student participants via focus groups and questionnaires, and propose practical ideas to enhance classroom teaching and learning. Here goes!”

• “Ensure students have access to material that will stimulate and provide them with opportunities to personalise the classroom environment, before the lesson begins if they arrive early, during break times or after lessons. This can be achieved by displaying cultural facts and wall posters around the classroom in the various languages of the ESOL students, which creates a low-anxiety instructional climate where the linguistic and cultural experience of each student is accepted. Personalizing the environment creates a learner-centred classroom that has the potential to increase students’ desire to learn. Students who feel safe and comfortable will ultimately feel more secure taking chances and will display greater motivation to contribute in class without the fear of being criticized. Offering learners a chance to arrange the desks in a way that would make them more comfortable also conveys the message that there is no limit to what can be done to create a warm and positive space where learning and studying is enjoyed.”

 

Spring conference ‘ESOL Voices’ booking now open

Planning is in full swing for our Spring day conference ‘ESOL Voices’ which will take place at Leeds Beckett University on 14th May. The full programme has now been announced.  and with a keynote speech, 2 workshops (from a choice of 6) plus opportunities for networking and browsing our resource exhibition its set to be a great day.

Full details and booking information are available on the NATECLA website.

We’d love to see you there!