MY FIRST STEPS AS A TEACHER TRAINER
I find myself as a devoted teacher, but I know there’s still a lot to improve on for me. One of the fields, that I find particularly interesting is sharing my knowledge and experience with others as a teacher trainer. I’ve already attended many workshops and conferences and now I’d like to try myself in a new role. I am happy that my talks are usually popular and feedback that I get is warm and nice. I feel comfortable while talking about topics such as:
- Working with young and very young learners
- Organisation of teacher’s work environment
- Motivating students
- Formative assessment
- Teacher’s career development
Annual English Teachers' Convention Sanok, August 2018 My first public talk in a role of teacher trainer was during Annual English Teachers’ Convention in August 2018 in Sanok. This is an informal gathering of teachers active in a dedicated Facebook group. The total audience was about 50 people and on my session the attendance was very high. I was able to choose topic myself and I decided to talk about everyday planning and preparation process. I wanted to share my experience from school year 2017/2018, when I was teaching in one kindergarten and a non-public democratic school. As a result I had 6 groups in completely different age and I had to prepare for them different, unique lessons. I had 9 months old daughter back at home, so preparation process was delayed for late evening hours every day. After few months of work in this mode I was very tired and frustrated and I realised that my lessons are loosing quality because of that. I established some rules and thanks to them my work became productive again. Before my talk I was a bit worried, because the greatest majority of participants were teacher with 10-20 years of experience. How am I going to teach them about lesson preparation?! I was even thinking about withdrawing from my session to avoid discredit. Eventually feedback was very positive, as you can see in the screen from feedback survey. I was surprised that many participants told me after the workshop that preparation process is actually their weak point and they gained some useful ideas from my talk! |
IATEFL Conference
Wrocław, September 2018 In the end of September I took part in IATEFL Poland conference in Wrocław. These 3 days were for me full of workshops, as I wanted to squeeze all what’s best from my time there! I didn’t miss a single slot. From my point of view the most important session I’ve seen was probably live lesson led by Anna Rattenbury, an author of franchise Musical Babies and Musical English. These are programmes for EFL courses dedicated for very young learners and babies below 3 years old. As I was going to see live lesson performed by the method author, I was extremely curious to see what I can learn from her. I was surprised to discover, that… not much. She had great contact with young students and knew how to manage the group, that’s for sure. On the other hand, the lesson didn’t have specified aims and included activities touching different topics as animals, action verbs, colours, random songs. Lots of physical movements were included, but I got the feeling as if it was more a show how to discipline a group of kids and animate their time in English, than a lesson. Student talking time was literally 0%, kids didn’t have a single chance to produce any speech. In my lessons I always focus on clear lesson objectives and all activities have to be supported by at least one of the lesson aims. I think I gained this attitude during my CELTA course and GPTE studies and I am happy about it. I also attended an open debate “Native vs non-native teacher” prepared by Hanna Kryszewska and Susan Holden and it was a pleasure for me to take part in the discussion. I shared my experiences and thoughts. Outcome of the discussion was published as an article and is available on-line https://www.hltmag.co.uk/feb19/native-vs-non-native-debate |
Get Creative NOW!
Poznań, October 2018 As an author of articles to the magazine for teachers Get Creative! I was invited as a keynote speaker to their first conference in Poznań. The even took place in Łejery theatre and was organised for an audience of over 300 participants. There were just one main path for all participants and sessions were divided into talks on the main theatre stage and workshops in smaller groups (held by few trainers in the same time). I got the last slot, at 4pm for my presentation so from the beginning my task was difficult. Again I was able to choose my topic, but as most of my articles by this time were about innovative lesson ideas, games and activities for young learners I was asked to show in practice some of these. My session was entitles “Life hacks from your bag” and was an overview for smart activities ideas for young learners which don’t demand long preparations or print-outs. Among others I presented how to use basic envelopes and dices to create a game for students, that engage their higher order thinking skills and how to engage film making to increase student talking time in foreign language. I suggested also an easy guessing-game “how much is in the wallet?” to allow students practice not only language skills, but also maths. It was a great opportunity to talk to such a big audience for the first time in life, especially that the environment was unique. Although my topic was rather ordinary and practical, I started my presentation with underlining how important is it to set appropriate goals for the lesson and that every single activity should be justified by appropriate goal. Video invitation to my session are available here: https://www.facebook.com/magazynGetCreative/videos/315586799216543/ https://www.facebook.com/magazynGetCreative/videos/526469184458555/ |
Wzmaczniacz Nauczanki
Poznań, March 2019 I was invited as a guest speaker for a conference Wzmacniacz Nauczanki dedicated for early education and kindergarten teachers. This conference also took place in Poznań, in the same theatre. This time I was given a workshops in smaller groups, which allow me to run my workshop 4 times in a row with 4 different groups of about 30-40 teachers each. The idea behind the event is to show how in creative and innovative way teach all aspects that are listed in “podstawa programowa”. Each session was devoted to other subject – language education, math, art, patriotically education and – eventually – English. As it stands in “podstawa programowa” room teachers should include elements of EFL teaching into their everyday work. For the majority of them it is rather challenging expectation, as they are not fluent English speakers. My session was supposed to support their methodology and show how easily and wisely implement English into their teaching work. I started my session with short “get to know each other” activity. Participants were supposed to stand up and move to the part of room, that represented statement that they agree with. In other rounds questions varied from “are you a coffee or tea person?” up to “do you work with 3rd graders or only kindergarten kids?” and “have you ever included English language to your lessons?”. After this warm-up I knew already a little about my groups so I knew what knowledge will be interesting for them. I also suggested that this kind of activity can be used in the classroom with kids. Later on I convey very basic knowledge about language teaching – how many new words per lesson should be introduce, basic games with flash cards, I prepared a table with example of instructional English. I also showed where to look for valuable songs for kids and how to use movement for the sake of language teaching (TPR). I explained the idea of Pasta Jar as a motivation tool both for kids and teacher to actually use English during everyday actions. |
Get Creative NOW! 2
Poznań, March 2019 After a positive feedback following my first talk, I was invited to the second edition of this conference. This time I was asked to prepare session about motivating young learners in terms of planning engaging activities. In my session “Motivation tips and tricks” I referred to Bloom’s taxonomy and remind the idea of higher order thinking skills. My thesis was that when tasks are too difficult or too easy, students lose interest so our aim should be to design appropriate tasks. Among others, I introduces the idea of Venn diagram and I used some techniques of group work during practical part of the workshop to show how engage students into additional language production. https://www.facebook.com/magazynGetCreative/videos/699035747201897/?t=3 |
5th European Foreign Language Congress PASE
Warszawa, May 2019
In the spring I wanted to give myself a try and applied for one of the biggest events for EFL teachers - 5th European Foreign Language Congress PASE with my session about planning and preparing lessons. How surprised I was when my paper was accepted! I was going to have a talk on the same conference and the same day as Jeremy Harmer!
This edition of the conference was under the theme of XXI century skills, so looked at my topic from this perspective. One of the skills is productivity and as it was mentioned many times during the conference, we can’t teach something we haven’t mastered. Showing our students that we are well prepared and not frustrated with overwhelmed preparation should be a first step for teaching XXI century skills.
This talk was also special for me, as it was the first time I gave a speech in English. PASE Congress is big, international event and during my session I had some audience from abroad.
Warszawa, May 2019
In the spring I wanted to give myself a try and applied for one of the biggest events for EFL teachers - 5th European Foreign Language Congress PASE with my session about planning and preparing lessons. How surprised I was when my paper was accepted! I was going to have a talk on the same conference and the same day as Jeremy Harmer!
This edition of the conference was under the theme of XXI century skills, so looked at my topic from this perspective. One of the skills is productivity and as it was mentioned many times during the conference, we can’t teach something we haven’t mastered. Showing our students that we are well prepared and not frustrated with overwhelmed preparation should be a first step for teaching XXI century skills.
This talk was also special for me, as it was the first time I gave a speech in English. PASE Congress is big, international event and during my session I had some audience from abroad.
Free webinar for DOS-Elta
On-line, May 2019
I was invited to run a free webinar for the followers of DOS-Elta teacher training company by dr Grzegorz Śpiewak and Marta Rosińska. I was able to suggest a topic myself so I wanted to share what I’m best at – EFL in non-public kindergarten setting. This topic is totally new and unknown for some teachers, who are used to work with adults or teens. I prepared a talk under the title “Angielski w przedszkolu – Frequently asked questions”, basic set of knowledge around this topic. I referred to the Five Factors personality theory by Costa and McRae to show what type of person would be suitable for this job. Later on I talked about the role of a teacher during kindergarten lesson and I compared it to “one man show”. I pointed out differences between the role of music in teaching adults (usually detailed listening tasks) and very young learners (listening for gist, support of conveying the meaning). At the end I devoted a huge part for explaining why I find setting correct goals crucial for success. Recording of this talk is available on YouTube.
On-line, May 2019
I was invited to run a free webinar for the followers of DOS-Elta teacher training company by dr Grzegorz Śpiewak and Marta Rosińska. I was able to suggest a topic myself so I wanted to share what I’m best at – EFL in non-public kindergarten setting. This topic is totally new and unknown for some teachers, who are used to work with adults or teens. I prepared a talk under the title “Angielski w przedszkolu – Frequently asked questions”, basic set of knowledge around this topic. I referred to the Five Factors personality theory by Costa and McRae to show what type of person would be suitable for this job. Later on I talked about the role of a teacher during kindergarten lesson and I compared it to “one man show”. I pointed out differences between the role of music in teaching adults (usually detailed listening tasks) and very young learners (listening for gist, support of conveying the meaning). At the end I devoted a huge part for explaining why I find setting correct goals crucial for success. Recording of this talk is available on YouTube.
Future career & professional development workshop for teachers
Warsaw University, June 2019
In the beginning of June I had a chance to run a short workshop for my student peers at the University. I examined a need for discussing this topic based on an observation of alumnus of our department. I find it a horrible misunderstanding that graduates start their job in random schools or institutions and become very frustrated after a short period of time. The reason isn’t bad work environment or employment conditions, but inadequate choice of working place. It is crucial to be aware of own’s needs and expectations and choose an employer wisely.
My workshop had 2 parts – first one was about individual work, the goal was to investigate and name important factors and employment conditions. The second part was in form of groups work and it started with brainstorm about possible career options for GPTE graduates. Each group had chosen one option and had to decide which statements describe this particular job.
Warsaw University, June 2019
In the beginning of June I had a chance to run a short workshop for my student peers at the University. I examined a need for discussing this topic based on an observation of alumnus of our department. I find it a horrible misunderstanding that graduates start their job in random schools or institutions and become very frustrated after a short period of time. The reason isn’t bad work environment or employment conditions, but inadequate choice of working place. It is crucial to be aware of own’s needs and expectations and choose an employer wisely.
My workshop had 2 parts – first one was about individual work, the goal was to investigate and name important factors and employment conditions. The second part was in form of groups work and it started with brainstorm about possible career options for GPTE graduates. Each group had chosen one option and had to decide which statements describe this particular job.
IATEFL Conference
Gdańsk, September 2019
Recently I got conformation that my session was accepted for IATEFL Conference 2019. Below I am attaching the abstract of the talk.
Gdańsk, September 2019
Recently I got conformation that my session was accepted for IATEFL Conference 2019. Below I am attaching the abstract of the talk.
What have I learned about teaching from my husband, who is a video game designer?
As a typical marriage, we’ve spent countless evenings chatting on the couch about job-related issues and we found quite unique to discover, how similar our jobs are. In our session, we will analyse the similarities of working in a classroom and designing video games as well as share some practical tips on how to lead students through a lesson just like game makers lead players through the game.
Language Love Festival,
September 2019
I was invited as a speaker for a brand new event placed in Warsaw - Language Love Festival. I am going to have a talk as an expert in the field of teaching VYLs. We are discussing the possibilities for having a live lesson too.
http://www.languagelovefestival.pl/
September 2019
I was invited as a speaker for a brand new event placed in Warsaw - Language Love Festival. I am going to have a talk as an expert in the field of teaching VYLs. We are discussing the possibilities for having a live lesson too.
http://www.languagelovefestival.pl/