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Throughout the 3 days I connected with friends  & colleagues from around the world, and got to meet many of the "famous" ELT people who write the books and influence the field, too. This year's highlight: Scott Thornbury...

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Throughout the 3 days I connected with friends  & colleagues from around the world, and got to meet many of the "famous" ELT people who write the books and influence the field, too. This year's highlight: Scott Thornbury...

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By Matthew Noble (CELTA Trainer/Academic Director) 

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By Matthew Noble (CELTA Trainer/Academic Director) 

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Overall, it was a fantastic convention/conference! 

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Overall, it was a fantastic convention/conference! 

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Below, find a blog post which explores the effects and benefits of attending conferences...

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I went to a couple more presentations on Friday. 

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I went to a couple more presentations on Friday. 

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Thursday night we had our ELS dinner. It was fantastic. Here's the harbor view behind some of ELS's finest. 

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Thursday night we had our ELS dinner. It was fantastic. Here's the harbor view behind some of ELS's finest. 

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Stephanie in action during our workshop presentation! 

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Stephanie in action during our workshop presentation! 

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Can conferences change the way you feel about your work? 

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Can conferences change the way you feel about your work? 

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This blog author says yes in this post & explores the ways:
http://sophiamavridi.com/?p=1100

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Twitter for Anyone: Resources and Pro. Dev. Opportunities

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Twitter for Anyone: Resources and Pro. Dev. Opportunities

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Laura Soracco and I led this hand-on-the-mouse Electronic Village workshop for teachers interested in using Twitter as a productive tool to support their teaching and for professional development. We helped participants sign up for and set up accounts, understand how Twitter and tweeting works, how to get connected into a PLN (Personal/Professional Learning Network), 'crowdsource' for support, and participate in things like #ELTchat. Our slides are here as a Google Doc: http://bit.ly/1SuSPe8

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Representation Issues in Classroom Materials 

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Representation Issues in Classroom Materials 

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This presentation critically analyzed typical course book materials (Side by Side, English File, Top Notch, etc.) and the political/cultural values and beliefs about gender, race, and other issues inherent in/suggested by their presentation of people and things. The presenter challenged us to raise our awareness of potential problems this could raise in our teaching practice and led a discussion of ways we can be mindful and proactive in an effort to be sensitive and inclusive in our classrooms.

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Shortly after our presentation, I went to one with a similar focus on 'mindful corrective feedback'. 

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Shortly after our presentation, I went to one with a similar focus on 'mindful corrective feedback'. 

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There were a lot of great overlaps and connections between our two presentations! These are the slides:

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Attended a session about audio/video techniques led by two teachers who produce YouTube videos for learners. 

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Attended a session about audio/video techniques led by two teachers who produce YouTube videos for learners. 

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One of those teachers is named Jennifer. This is her YouTube channel:

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Let me help you communicate more confidently and effectively in English. Please use my PLAYLISTS. 👉 http://englishwithjennifer.com/students/yt-videos/ SUBSCRIBE! NEW! Visit my Shopify store!🌟 https://bb07c9.myshopify.com/ 🌟Amazing perks for channel members!👉 https://www.youtube.com/channel/…

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Our Workshop Presentation! "Pardon the Correction: Meeting Students' Needs & Expectations with Confidence"

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Our Workshop Presentation! "Pardon the Correction: Meeting Students' Needs & Expectations with Confidence"

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Stephanie Burns and I (the ELS CELTA team) were quite happy with the turnout and the way the workshop unfolded. Interestingly, there were a handful of presentations on the same topic, with a clear focus on the contrast between students' and teachers' perception of corrective feedback. Our PPT doesn't tell the whole story, but here it is as a PDF:

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Pronunciation in the Classroom: The Overlooked Essential 

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Pronunciation in the Classroom: The Overlooked Essential 

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I agree that pronunciation can easily be 'overlooked', and one of my MA TESOL profs was involved, so this was a must-see. And it was good. One presenter showed us his 'Haptic' pronunciation techniques. He gets Ss to move and gesture when they practice pronunciation. My former prof focused on "what teachers don't understand about what learners don't understand" about pronunciation. One example: the function of contrastive/meaningful intonation in English.

S: Can I turn my homework in late?
T: You *can*.
S: Great! Thank you.

(The words are affirmative.)
(The message is negative.)

Advance students need to understand this stuff, or they'll continue to miss out on an entire layer of expressed meaning.

Some materials typical of Prof. Reed attached in PDF:

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Back Between the Covers? Coursebooks in the Modern World w/ Jeremy Harmer

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Back Between the Covers? Coursebooks in the Modern World w/ Jeremy Harmer

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Jeremy Harmer is the closest thing to an ELT 'superstar' as it gets - he can be seen surrounded by sincerely excited teachers from every country in the world at these events. Not surprising, as he's been writing accessible basic teaching methods books for ages. He presented 5 times (!) in 2016, and I actually stopped in on a couple of them. Sometimes he's more energy and enthusiasm than real insight, but he's always inspiring. This talk was focused on using coursebooks BUT getting 'off the page' as much as possible.

My favorite quote from Harmer wasn't actually on the topic of coursebooks: "When you as the students a question, be patient. Wait. They need to think - and this thinking time is the best "language practice" they'll get in the whole lesson". That's good stuff.

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Teachers' Engagement w/ Research in Practice, Advocacy, & Professional Growth

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Teachers' Engagement w/ Research in Practice, Advocacy, & Professional Growth

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I went to this one mainly because Thomas Farrell was one of the four speakers. He's probably the top expert on the subject of Reflective Practice for teachers, and an extremely entertaining speaker (he's rather anti-authoritarian and not at all shy to tear down certain sacred cows). He talked about how research is too inaccessible for teachers and the serious need to a) bridge that gap b) support teachers in producing their own action research.

He recently did a great interview on a podcast made by two teachers here: https://teflology-podcast.com/2015/08/19/tefl-interviews-13-thomas-farrell-on-reflective-practice-in-tesol/

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Anne Curzan gave the closing Keynote: Friday Keynote: Survey Says…: Determining What English Usage Is and Isn’t Acceptable (click title for video recording)

A similar TED Talk by Curzan here: http://bit.ly/20CRvJa

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Jeanette Altarriba gave the Plenary: Beyond Linguistic Borders: Language Learning Cradled in Cognition (click title for video recording) She spoke about language learning with a focus on aspects that are reflected on the cover of one of her books below: memory and bilingualism.

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Andy Curtis, the TESOL President, gave the opening Keynote: Presidential Keynote: Reflecting Forward, Reflecting Back: Looking in the Mirror at 50 (click title for video recording)