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December 2022 - Year 24 - Issue 6

ISSN 1755-9715

To the Editor

Letter 1

(…) Thank you very much for the opportunity to publishand your work. As a reader of HLT it makes me really happy and honoured to be part of one of the issues.

Best wishes,

Anna

 

Letter 2

Dear Hania,

it has been a pleasure working with you. (…) I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your kindness and generosity. There are not a lot of editors like you who so smoothly and kindly extend their support. You are doing an amazing job, offering room for teachers to express.

I wish you all the best and am looking forward to December. 

With best regards,
VB

 

Letter 3

New in LessonStream: "Scary Santa"

WARNING: This lesson plan should really be titled "Terrifying Santa!"

Lesson plan #85 in the LessonStream Membership is a teacher-led videotelling activity which makes use of a short animated Netflix film about a Santa Claus with a difference. The activity involves writing sentences, listening, drawing and story sharing. For A2 upwards.

Join LessonStream today and get access to the entire lesson plan library, the Story Course and much more.

Join LessonStream today

Jamie Keddie

 

Letter 4

August 2022

" You're off to great place, today is your day, your mountain is waiting, so get on your way!"

                                                                                - Dr. Seuss

Activities, Handouts and Lesson Plans

Here are some activities that will help students get to know each other at the beginning of the school year.

Here is a list of other ice breaker activities for your ELLs.  Some include activities that would be suitable for online learners as well.

This page contains themed lessons as well as a variety of grammar activities, reading texts, vocabulary and speaking activities.  These lessons are free to download as PDFs.

Here are some back-to-class activities which include ice breaker alternatives from the Gaming Grammarian.

This lesson on facial expressions which provide non-verbal cues and information in communication helps upper-intermediate students develop a deeper understanding of English vocabulary in conversational contexts.  (Go to the right of the page and see the words "download the worksheet" in the square to retrieve the material.)

Here are some tried and true vocabulary games that can be used in-person and online.

 

Websites, Videos and Articles

This article, Harnessing Online Videos for Process Listening, describes 5 activities that can be used for developing effective listening skills.

Making the Most of the First 5 Minutes talks about strategies that can be put in place at the beginning of the day to create a day of successful growth and learning.

Teaching and Learning in the Face of Conflict, is a thought-provoking article how teachers can provide a safe haven for students.  The article is written with children in mind, but it is helpful for those teaching adult ELLs as well as helping these parents deal with their children.

Take a look at the TEAL Newfoundland Newsletter (www.tealnl.com)

Maybe you are beginning as an ELL instructor or maybe it has been awhile.  Here are a few tips to help avoid some common "rookie" mistakes.  What else would you add?

This articles talks about strategies for fostering good relationships during the school year.  Although it was written with middle and high school students in mind, these activities would also work well with adult ELLs.

 

Professional Development Webinars

August 9 12-1:00 PM (UK time) Gender in language teacher education as presented by Laura McWilliams.  Ms. McWilliams takes a practical look at issues of bias and representation in the materials, language and interaction patterns we use in the training room and suggests simple ways for teacher educators to promote gender equality.  Register soon.

Thursday, August 11 9:00 am MDT Integrating Creative and Critical Thinking Skills in ELT. Join the discussion to see how these skills can improve your 

students’ language proficiency and future employability, leading them to success in the classroom and beyond.  Register for this webinar.

August 24 Global Citizenship: Inspiring the next generation of changemakers as presented by Can Geo Education.  This webinar will provide classroom-ready resources for the upcoming school year.  Although it mainly pertains to the K-12 curriculum, there may be ideas for you to take to your ELL classroom.  The webinar will touch on addressing the challenges of creating a more sustainable and equitable world; exploring issues such as economic disparities, threats to the enviroment, globalization, human rights and quality of life.

Top Tips for a Strong Start in the Newcomer Classroom as presented by Carol Salva.  These activities set us up for success with norms and language support but above all, they honour the students and lay the groundwork for student-to-student and student- to-teacher relationships.

Often Oxford University Press has live and recorded events on various topics of teacing in the ELT field. Find out what suits you.

Tutela offers:

Listen to the recording Developing Intercultural Competence in a Virtual Classroom as presented by Dr. Paramita Dutta from Tutela. This presentation will begin with a theoretical framework conceptualizing "intercultural competence" and establish the principal characteristics that constitute it as per scholars such as Darla Deardoff and organizations such as UNESCO. It will deal with the challenges and how to overcome them in building intercultural competence in the virtual classroom for an effective classroom dialogue to take place.

You will learn: how to develop an interculturally competent ESL classroom in the current pandemic scenario when teaching is remote and online and videoconferencing has a culture of its own, the challenges/barriers in creating an interculturally effective virtual classroom, and ways to circumvent these challenges/barriers.

The Language Program Management Corner

It is important for administrators and program managers to truly listen to their teachers in order for teachers to feel valued and heard.  The beginning of the school year may be a good time to find out what is really on the minds of your staff.  It takes good listening skills--to listen without judgement and to listen without trying to figure out what to say next.  Here are 4 ways to gather information so that your teachers feel heard.

1.  Open-Ended Survey--use a Goggle Form and ask open ended questions.

2. Conduct One-on-One Interviews--Yes, this may be time consuming, but totally worth the effort if your teacher feels heard and is willing to be honest.  You may gain a lot of useful information in these interviews.

3. Focus group--provide a forum to discuss one main topic.  Find out what your teachers have to say about a topic and come up with ideas that would meet the needs of this challenge.

4. Digital Bulletin Boards--this is a digital forum, much like the 'suggestion box' used in years gone by.  Use a platform like Padlet to briefly discuss or brainstorm ideas. taken from 4 Ways Administrators can Gather Information to best support Teachers

The ACE Professional Development Video of the Month 

In this video we have fun describing How NOT to Teach!

For our full playlist, visit our YouTube Channel

Upcoming ACE Courses

Check out upcoming course dates below for the ACE TESOL Certificate, a TESL Canada Standard One course; the ACE TESOL Diploma, a TESL Canada Standard Two and TESL Ontario course; and the ACE TEYL Certificate, a course for teaching young learners.

Bow Valley College, Calgary, Alberta
The next part-time course starts September 6 to November 5, 2022.  Practicum is from November 7 to December 2, 2022.  For more information, contact: globalaccess@bowvalleycollege.ca.

East Coast Language College, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Course offering for the fall 2022. For more information contact: teachertraining@ECLCcanada.com.

Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers, Edmonton, Alberta  The next part-time ACE TESOL Certificate course runs in the fall of 2022. For more information, contact: mklettke@emcn.ab.ca

London Language Institute, London, Ontario
The next part-time ACE TESOL Certificate starts on September 26, 2022. The next ACE TESOL Diploma course online starts on September 15, 2022.  Dates for entering the Diploma program are flexible as it is completely online and self-paced. For more information, contact:info@llinstitute.com

Niagara Catholic District School Board, St. Catharines, Ontario
The next part-time ACE TESOL Diploma runs from January to Une 2023. The next ACE TESOL Certificate course runs in September to December 2022. For more information, contact: fred.wilson@ncdsb.com.

Peel District School Board, Mississauga, Ontario
The part-time hybrid course offering is September 2022.  The Diploma part-time hybrid course offering is January 2023. For more information on the courses contact:  lisa.hill@peelsb.com

Renison University College, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario
The next part-time ACE TESOL Certificate course runs from August 31 to December 14, 2022. For more information, contact kimberly.burrell@uwaterloo.ca

 

ACE Advanced Online Teacher Training Courses

Our advanced teacher training courses are offered online through our partner, London Language Institute. All advanced online courses are self-paced and run over a six month period with three start dates per year: January 15th, May 15th, and September 15th.  There is also the possibility of starting after the official start dates.  For further discussion, please contact paula@llinstitute.com or info@aceducation.ca to register or click on a course below for more information.

Take your teaching skills to the next level with one of these courses!

 

Let's Keep in Touch!

There are lots of ways to stay connected with ACE. Click the icons below to connect with us on social media, where we regularly post teaching ideas and resources that you can use in the classroom. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email us at info@aceducation.ca.

If you like our newsletters, don't forget to OPT IN to receive our emails so we can keep sending you great content!  You're welcome to unsubscribe at any time.

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Email sent to: hania.kryszewska@pilgrims.co.uk

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Letter 5

Plea to Second language educators 

 

Dear second language educators, 

When to your teaching Peace Linguistics you apply 

your students achieve more than communication 

They experience a deep transformation

 and with these principles they learn to comply: 

The peaceful use of language edifies 

and creates a world that unifies 

Let’s commit to character-elevation

 and enhance our dignity cultivation 

Let’s share a Love for Life celebration 

and develop an Art for Peace appreciation

 Let’s use languages for intercultural cooperation 

and overcome all types of linguistic discrimination

 Let’s share a world where compassion everywhere is true 

where the languages we use will help anticipate what will be peacefully new

 

 

De: Francisco cardoso gomes de matos fcardosogomesdematos@gmail.com

 

Letter 6

Hello Hanna

Sign up to LessonStream. Here are some of the things that other LessonStream members have said about the Story Course.

Over to you Dagmar, Rubén, Vicky, Jenny, Hana, Pedro and Pia:

 "Thanks to this course, I have found a new approach to teaching. Students are having more fun and they have become more engaged and motivated to speak. The ready-made lesson plans have also saved me a lot of time."
Dagmar, Czech Republic

 "Since I joined this community I have found a new voice in class. This is thanks to a new approach that is helping me design original and engaging activities. My students love them."
Rubén, Spain

 "Teachers often don’t connect storytelling with business English. But my adult students are most captivated when I do so. The LessonStream Story Course has shown me how. It has been an amazing journey of learning, sharing, connecting with like-minded teachers and, of course, harnessing the power of story for language learning."
Vicky, Greece

 "I've been a fairly isolated teacher for a long time as I've mainly worked for small charities.  Although I'm new to LessonStream, I'm already enjoying connecting with other teachers, gaining inspiration and having my teaching methods and habits challenged. It's what I've needed for a long time."
Jenny, UK

 "This is the most useful and helpful course I have ever taken. It helps me shorten my preparation time, it helps me improve my English. It leaves such an impression on my students. When I use the idea and activities in class, they think that I am the most creative teacher ever. I love that it's such a relaxed community. It literally made me finally realize what my talent is and I put it to good use. I am extremely grateful for everything Jamie and the community are doing for teachers."
Hana, Croatia

 "I joined LessonStream with the hope of learning new approaches to teaching as well as learning new teaching idea Not only were my expectations met but I was able to change my way of teaching to a more student-engaging style."
Pedro, Portugal

 "Jamie‘s ideas on how to use stories in class have revolutionised my teaching. First of all, his ready to use lesson downloads have made my teaching life so much easier and secondly his way of teaching English through stories is much more fun than a traditional English lesson normally would be."
Pia, Austria

 

 

Still unsure?

Don't forget about the 3-week money back guarantee.

If you join LessonStream and decide that it is not suitable for you, just let us know within the first 21 days and you will get a full refund. No questions asked!

It would be great to have you on board 
Any questions? Just reply to this email.
Jamie :)

 

Letter 7

Hi Hania

Take a look at my publications

 

Speaking Pack

 

Upside-down questions 

Ready to justify? 

Which do you prefer? 

  • for teenagers and adults  fromA2+.
  •  

http://bit.ly/3omyGeD

Katarzyna Sochacka

 

Letter 8

In the midst of the growing mental health crisis, MELVA is an innovative, creative, impactful way to support primary aged children and it is available NOW.

With Public Health England now estimating 1/6 children have a diagnosable mental health condition and the lasting impact of the pandemic on well-being, it has never been more important to find new ways to support children; MELVA is a practical and revolutionary way to do just that.

“Melva is the best intervention I’ve seen; rewards are instant and long lasting.” – Primary Head Teacher MELVA is an award winning, creative digital package supporting KS2 children to talk openly about and understand their mental health, emotions, and wellbeing.

Melva is an impactful investment into mental health education, an innovative way to deliver RSHE curriculum AND enhances The Thrive Approach.

“I learned that being afraid of something doesn’t mean you can’t do it.” – Melva participant

Melva was created in response to the 2017 Green Paper, Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision and the pandemic’s impact on wellbeing. Focusing on early intervention, this digital programme scaffolds the development of resilience pathways, positive emotional responses and cultivates a shared understanding of what it means to look after yourself and others.

By purchasing Melva, settings gain access to an online portal, a toolbox of resources, an episodic film, lesson activities, a choose your own adventure digital game, an interactive activity booklet and a teacher user guide, full of guidance developed in consultation with teachers and their needs

Melva introduces a child-friendly safe, non-exposing way to explore mental wellbeing. By entering Melva’s world as an active participant, children experiment through the characters, discover their autonomy, develop empathy, increase their understanding of healthy relationships, learn how to meaningfully implement practical mental health strategies, whilst having LOTS of fun.

“Melva gave mental health a voice in our school. It touched children in ways that we had never seen before. As educationalists we can see children who are stressing – it’s obvious in different, subtle ways – but what surprised us was the number of children we hadn’t spotted who started to find a way of articulating what they genuinely felt and were worried about. It was really powerful.” - Primary Head Teacher

Developed in consultation with children, teachers, mental health and education professionals, Melva is a high impact way to invest into practical mental health education. Watch the information video to hear from children and teachers using the programme. It is available to Primary settings NOW; you can find out more via www.melva.org.uk 

Tagged  To The Editor