TeachingEnglish newsletter 24 June 2020

TeachingEnglish newsletter 24 June 2020 Welcome to the latest edition of the TeachingEnglish newsletter! The British Council is committed to supporting teachers and teacher educators during the Covid-19 crisis. To this end, this week we bring you news of a new free course on teaching young learners online and a webinar about language, diversity and inclusion during and after Covid-19. We also bring you two blog posts focused on how to set up a classroom on an LMS (learning management system) and teacher motivation in these challenging times. And for the classroom – online or face-to-face – we introduce activities on the theme of summer, a lesson to celebrate World Chocolate Day and Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream for your younger learners. We hope you find these resources useful. The TeachingEnglish team Teaching Young Learners Online On this free course from the British Council you’ll explore online teaching in both theory and practice – how to plan accessible online lessons and assessments, what online safety looks like and how best to build relationships with young learners. Work together to plan, create and facilitate inclusive online learning that engages and inspires young people. Find out more about our new free FutureLearn course for teachers, starting this week, here. IMMLE conference proceedings webinar Watch a recording of our latest webinar about language, diversity and inclusion during and after Covid-19. A panel of speakers from the British Council, UNESCO Bangkok, Language and Development Conference Trustees, Thai Ministry of Education and participants from the Inclusion, Mobility and Multilingual Education Conference discussed the role of language, diversity and inclusion during and after Covid-19. Activities on the theme of summer If summer holidays are approaching, it can be nice to base some of your lessons around this seasonal theme. Here is a selection of activities that you can use at various levels. Although designed for use in the classroom, many can be adapted for use online to create interesting projects for your teenage learners. You can also find a selection of activities more suited to intermediate-level learners here. A Midsummer Night's Dream for kids Celebrate midsummer with this lesson for older primary (9–11 years) learners. Use the short animated video to introduce Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, check comprehension and discuss the ideas of 'dreams' and 'magic'. Finally, develop their creative writing skills by getting them to imagine and write about a magical dream or a magic potion or spell. Setting up a classroom or teacher training on an LMS (learning management system) – Edmodo and Class Dojo Even though emergency remote teaching offers no time for conducting teacher professional development without pressure, that does not mean that you cannot still develop your online classroom flow in a matter of days. Everything can be achieved with the effective use of proper tools, even if you are not very tech-savvy and even if you live on another continent. This blog post clearly outlines steps for setting up your classroom effectively through Edmodo (for teenage and adult students) and Class Dojo (for young and very young learners).  Chocolate: from the land to the hand Celebrate World Chocolate Day on 7 July with this lesson for adult and teenage students about who makes our chocolate and, importantly, who receives our money each time we buy a bar of chocolate. Students read about different stages of the journey and learn where most/least of their money goes. They are ‘paid’ by the teacher, so that they actually feel the unfairness of the system. Finish with a discussion on the injustices. Teacher motivation at a challenging time 'The current situation has changed everything and nothing. We sit at home, our lives so much different in form than they were a few long weeks ago, and yet the content – the need for work, for closeness and continuity – is still with us, it’s fundamental.' Read this post by Richard Fielden-Watkinson about what motivates us as teachers and how it may be difficult to feel motivated in the current situation we find ourselves in. ‌ British Council teacher community on Facebook Join the British Council teacher community on Facebook to share ideas, resources and learning opportunities. ‌ Visit our website STAY CONNECTED ‌ ‌

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TeachingEnglish newsletter 10 June 2020

TeachingEnglish newsletter 10 June 2020 Welcome to the latest edition of the TeachingEnglish newsletter! The British Council is committed to supporting teachers and teacher educators during the Covid-19 crisis. To this end, this week we bring you news of a webinar looking at conducting research into English language teaching in challenging contexts and a recording of a panel event on the challenges of remote learning. We also bring you two blog posts focused on overcoming the challenges of teaching online. And for the classroom – online or face-to-face – we introduce three lesson plans for primary, teenage and adult learners. We hope you find these resources useful. The TeachingEnglish team ELT research across fracture lines: Themes and methods for difficult times and under travel constraints Join us on 17 June 2020 for this webinar looking at conducting research into English language teaching in challenging contexts. Drawing on the insights of contributors to the British Council’s edited volume on English across the fracture lines, this webinar will focus on possible themes and methods for researching (English) language use and (English) language education in times of restricted travel and insecurity due to political, environmental and/or health emergencies. Find out more and register. Get to know the neighbours Students are led through a series of activities to create profiles for imaginary characters who live in the same neighbourhood. The lesson then brings these characters together at a neighbourhood party, where students can practise asking and answering simple questions about work, family, hobbies and so on. Use this lesson in online or face-to-face delivery with lower-level adults and teenagers to develop fluency skills and review adjectives of personality. Overcoming the challenges of online teaching The debate has been raging for some time now about the efficacy of online teaching over classroom teaching. With lockdown and Covid-19, we now have the unique opportunity to experience online teaching. Every step poses challenges, and we as teachers are definitely overcoming them. Read more about the challenges of online teaching and how to overcome them in this useful blog post by a secondary teacher from India. Holidays In this lesson, learners talk about holidays and holiday activities. They initially meet vocabulary through a pre-lesson task, then they practise and extend the vocabulary through listening and speaking activities. Use this lesson, specifically designed for online classes, with primary students at CEFR level A1–A2 to talk about holidays and holiday activities. Four questions – and answers – about teaching English online There are so many challenges facing us as we move to teaching our students online. And, since this situation is likely to be with us for quite a while, what are some ways to overcome them? In this blog post, Larry Ferlazzo looks at four questions that he has been facing in his teaching Beginning English Language Learners and Intermediates, and his responses. You will also find links to many other useful resources. Benefits of being bilingual Use this lesson with adults or older teenagers with CEFR level B2 and above in online or face-to-face teaching to focus on the benefits of being bilingual or multilingual. The lesson begins with a few statements about bilingualism. The students decide if these are true or false and then read a text to check their ideas. Having discussed the topic of the text, the students move on to look at impersonal report structures.  The challenges of remote learning through online classrooms and resource hubs – panel event With many school buildings closed, remote learning could mean website, app, text, phone, radio or TV broadcast. How are teachers responding to this challenge in different contexts? Watch a recording of this panel event, with speakers from around the world, followed by a question-and-answer session. ‌ British Council teacher community on Facebook Join the British Council teacher community on Facebook to share ideas, resources and learning opportunities. ‌ Visit our website STAY CONNECTED ‌ ‌

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