We are very excited to announce that LATE will be running a project during the autumn school holidays in Latgale this year called the British Culture and Teaching Roadshow.
The seminars are organised by the Latvian Association of Teachers of English in cooperation with the British Council in Latvia.
The seminars are open to all teachers in the region, not just LATE members.
The working language will be English.
We will deliver a one-day training event in four key locations from 24th to 27th October:
- in Daugavpils on the 24th of October 2023
- in Rezekne on the 25th of October 2023
- in Ludza on the 26th of October 2023
- and in Balvi on the 27th of October 2023
If you live in or near one of these towns we would be delighted to welcome you for an exciting day of presentations, discussions and project work. This seminar is open to all English language teachers in this region and is a free event. Other language teachers are welcome to join but the working language will be English, so proficiency in English is required. Read more about this event below and sign-up through the links at the bottom of the page.
Here is a poster which you can print out and display at your school, or share with your colleagues. Please share!
By attending the seminar you will:
- be trained by three every experienced English teachers
- learn techniques to use with any authentic text
- learn how to develop the learner’s critical thinking and media literacy
- get ideas to help learners become better digital citizens
- learn how differentiated learning is used in British schools
- learn how inclusive classrooms are created in British schools
- learn more about British culture and how use culture in your classes in creative ways to develop your students understanding of British culture, their own culture and the value of cultural diversity
- be able to ask the trainers questions about growing up in Britain, living and working in Latvia and about teaching and the English language
- get access to ready made lesson plans and materials in the Roadshow Materials Bank
- make videos with the teachers to use with your students
- have the opportunity to join a Telegram-based community of Practice which will run to March 2024. As a member of the group you will get ongoing support in your work.
The Seminar Programme
9.00
Seminar Opening
09.15 -10.45
New Approaches to Accelerating and Improving Learning Through Media Literacy, Critical Thinking and Digital Citizenship
Robert Buckmaster will look at media literacy and suggest practical ways to question media, do photography-based projects, and highlight fake news. He will show how to use the total text comprehension and the 650 text approaches to develop critical thinking in our students. Finally he will show how to use case studies to develop good digital citizenship skills.
11.00 -12.30
Creating Inclusive and Differentiated Learning Spaces
Creating a learning environment in which every student thrives and reaches their potential is the ultimate goal of every teacher, but probably the one which the vast majority of teachers find the most difficult. In this workshop, Andrew will assist you in gaining a deeper understanding of inclusion and differentiation, supported by key educational theories, and introduce strategies teachers can adopt when teaching mixed-ability MFL (Modern Foreign Language) students. Attendees will then have the opportunity to collaborate with peers to develop sample lesson plans that cater to diverse learners.
13.15 -14.45
Incorporating British Culture into the Curriculum
Craig Rose will talk about what culture means to British people and will show you have you can add elements of culture to your courses in creative ways so that the students can learn about British culture, and their own, and about how life is changing in multicultural Britain.
All participants will have access to electronic versions of the materials, lesson ideas and plans discussed in the Roadshow Materials Bank..
15.00 –16.00
Round Table Discussion: Your chance to ask the trainers any questions you like about teaching, growing up and living in England, and living and working in Latvia.
16.00 –17.00
Project work: Vox Pop Video Recording: This is your chance to interview and record the trainers answering questions for your learners. You will script the questions and then we can video you asking the trainers these questions. We will edit these recordings and provide them to you to use with your students as authentic video tasks.
17.00 – 17.30
Q and A; Certificates; Closing
After the Seminars
As part of the event, we will offer you the opportunity to join a Telegram-based Community of Practice which will offer ongoing follow-up support from November 2023 to the end of March 2024.
We will send you practical ideas for teaching based on English Connects themes and materials through the Telegram channel, and will hold a bi-weekly one-hour live consultation or Q and A with the trainers.
The Trainers
Our three trainers are all British native speaker teachers who have chosen to live and work in Latvia.
Robert Buckmaster
Rob was born near Birmingham in England and has traveled the world since then. He now lives in Jelgava. He has been teaching English and training teachers for over 30 years. His main interests are in better descriptions of English, better teaching materials and better methodology.
Andrew Doxsey
Andrew was born and educated in a town in the north of England called Bolton. He trained as a mathematics teacher and started teaching in 1999; he now teaches English in Limbazi. He is passionate about convincing students to view success as the progress they are making rather than a grade. In doing so all students can feel positive about their achievements.
Craig Rose
Craig grew up in Enfield, North London and now lives in Jelgava, where he has lived for the past 10 years. He works in a private language school based in Riga. His main interest in the classroom is making the environment fun and giving the students ample opportunity to express themselves vocally and gain confidence and fluency.
Organised in cooperation with the British Council in Latvia.
Signing up for the seminars
The deadline for Registration is the 6th October.
Please use these links to sign up for these seminars:
Daugavpils on the 24th of October 2023: https://forms.gle/5khrHFVVDDD3ABeM9
Rezekne on the 25th of October 2023: https://forms.gle/paF62Z8Bsc446nGx6
Ludza on the 26th of October 2023: https://forms.gle/YBtxLutUu4hByebL9
Balvi on the 27th of October 2023: https://forms.gle/z6PkLZuL9pwencjq8