The British Council, in conjunction with the Latvian Association of Teachers of English, organised a summer refresher course for teachers of English and teachers who teach subjects in English – CLIL teachers.
The course ran from Sunday August 21 to Wednesday August 24 at Bebrene General Education and Vocational Secondary School in Latgale. Room and Board and transportation costs were covered.
The course was a chance to improve your practical language and computer skills as well as to learn about British Council initiatives to facilitate teachers’ professional development and to promote inclusive learning. The British Council trainers concentrated on aspects of teaching CLIL and considerations when teaching Special Needs students as well as looking at how teachers can enhance their own professional development. Language Awareness and making more effective use of IT in the classroom were also themes that were addressed.
CERTIFICATES
All participants received a certificate recognised by the Ministry of Education and Science of Latvia.
Content learning and teaching – a challenge for students and teachers
Irina Grinevska (Riga Secondary School No.34)
Marina Barbashina (Riga Secondary School No.34)
The workshop focuses on the advantages and challenges of applying CLIL in the classroom.
objectives of the workshop are:
- to share the experience on designing the programme for teaching science and social studies in English for Grades 5 and 6 students;
- to show the possibilities of using new technologies in CLIL classroom;
- to involve the participants of the workshop in challenges of CLIL.
Content Learning and Teaching Presentation
Content Learning and Teaching Presentation
CLIL – a new opportunity for teachers and students
Inese Barkovska (Daugavpils State Gymnasium)
The session will be devoted to my personal experience of CLIL in senior grades / benefits / problems and their solutions.
Current approaches to inclusive education in meeting the needs of all our learners – the case for e-quality and quality in good teaching and learning practice.
Phil Dexter (The British Council, UK)
Almost every Government in the world has adopted positive policy on inclusion. How this impacts on education systems and what this means in practice is often a challenge especially as teachers are expected to ‘do it’ – often without training and support. In this talk I will share ideas from United Kingdom ‘good practice’, demonstrate some practical techniques and ideas supporting busy teachers and present a framework for inclusive teaching and learning based on a framework of ten approaches to quality learning. These include celebrating diversity, differentiation, scaffolding, accessibility and engagement, supporting the learner’s voice and assessment for learning. The emphasis will be on understanding the benefits and positives in working with diverse groups of learners focused on achievable outcomes for everyone.
CLILing two birds with one stone
Diana Lindsay (The British Council, UK)
School subjects can provide interesting contents to develop project-based sequences for our students. By using subject contents, language is no longer an abstraction or a mere focus of study for the student, but a real tool to develop both subject and communicative competences. In this workshop, we will look at some examples of how CLIL projects, by working on content using English, can provide a stimulating and effective answer to the linguistic and motivational needs of our students. The workshop will be of particular interest to English teachers looking for ways to make English learning more meaningful. Lower Secondary (12-14) / Upper primary (10-12).
Teaching for Success – British Council Professional Development Opportunities for teachers of English to enhance professionally and best practice in the classroom
Damian Ross ( The British Council, UK)
The session centres on British Council Teaching for Success, our approach to teacher development. During the session, we will look at the evidence for this approach and the key role of the teacher within the education system. We’ll consider tools and resources for self-directed CPD and discuss the challenges of implementing this approach in the local context.
Film and media literacy
Selga Goldmane (Cēsis State Gymnasium)
The workshop (presentation) will focus on developing students’ film and media literacy through English studies putting emphasis on moving images. It will provide the vocabulary and methodology to engage and interact with the media that nowadays are taken for granted. A discussion on how to integrate film into the learning process and how to develop a critical appreciation of moving images will also be put forward.
Getting student response by using interactive quizzes
Baiba Svencha (Aizkraukle Regional Gymnasium)
Participants will get acquainted with various free online tools for creating interactive quizzes (multiple choice, single answer, open answer, images) that let the teacher get a quick feedback on student knowledge. In the second part of the session, participants will work hands-on creating their own quizzes.
Keeping your files under control
Lubova Makarevicha (Kraslava State Gymnasium)
Has it ever happened to you that you have been looking for a copy of your materials for hours? This session presents simple ideas and techniques teachers can use when managing and storing their digital and paper materials in order to have them as soon as they are needed. As a “dessert” an effective method of using video for drilling and improving students’ pronunciations will be presented.
Keeping Your Files Under control Handout
Video for Pronunciation Presentation
The Deep Text and Dual Text Approaches
Robert Buckmaster (Buckmaster Consulting and The English Language Project)
In this workshop I will show you how to use the Deep Text and Dual Text Approaches to reading with your teenage and adult learners. Using these two approaches will improve your learners’ knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, understanding of discourse and their ability to read in English. These two approaches are an essential part of a learning focused approach to English.
Language
Robert Buckmaster ( Buckmaster Consulting and The English Language Project)
In this workshop we will look at what language is and what learners need to know to be able to use language effectively. We will explore dependency grammar and consider how language packages information, and will think about how to deal with language change.
Revisiting the CV and application or motivation letter
Silvija Andernovics (LATE, Riga)
One little mistake can cost you that job or that scholarship or that interview. The CV is such a deceptively simple document. Maybe it is time to cast a critical eye over our CVs and see what shape they are in. Our students also need to be alerted to a few home truths.