About the event
This event on Wednesday April 24, 2024 will feature three webinars with specialists from around the world. All webinars help English teachers think about how stories can be used in the English language classroom. The event will also feature a panel dicussion with three expert teachers showing us how they integrate poetry into their classes. The event is for teachers of primary, secondary and adult English language learners.
Session 1: Building a course around picture books: why, how, wow!
Speaker:
Fiona Hunter (Spain)
Time and date:
14:15 – 15:15 (UK time) 24 April 2024
Session information:
Stepping away from a course book and planning a course structured around picture books can seem like a daunting task. In this webinar, we’ll look at a tried and tested approach to planning courses around stories. We’ll consider the benefits of the experience for the child(ren), and go step by step through the process of planning a story-based course. By the end of the webinar, teachers will feel more confident in course planning and will see how to give picture books centre stage.
Click or tap here to download the handout from Fiona's webinar
Click or tap here to watch the recording of Fiona's webinar
Session 2: How can we use poetry in the classroom? (panel discussion)
Speakers:
Sabrina Herceg (Croatia), Samantha Alfaro Prospero (Mexico), Lucy Durance (Spain)
Time and date:
15:30 – 16:30 (UK time) 24 April 2024
Session information:
Join us for a sharing session with three teachers from around the world talking about how they use poetry in their classrooms.
Click or tap here to download a handout from the panel discussion
Click or tap here to watch a recording of the panel discussion
Session 3: The role of the teacher as an online/remote theatre director
Speaker:
Haneen Jadallah (UK)
Time and date:
16:45 – 17:45 (UK time) 24 April 2024
Session information:
This session aims to show the transformative potential of online/remote theatre education in intercultural settings; linking young people from different countries. We'll look into the evolving role of the teacher as a director, as well as the strategies, challenges and benefits of this type of project. Attendees will gain practical tips to help teachers take their first steps into working in intercultural online theatre with their learners.
This webinar contains excerpts from Welcome to Earth and other plays (with forward by Benjamin Zephaniah) (2019) and Doing remote theatre (2021), both published by The Hands Up Project.
Click or tap here to download the handout from Haneen's webinar.
Click or tap here to watch the recording of Haneen's webinar
Session 4: Personal and creative storytelling: From folk tales to our own stories
Speaker:
David Heathfield (UK)
Time and date:
18:00 – 19:00 (UK time) April 24 2024
Session information:
The language classroom is a perfect environment for teachers and students to tell stories about our own lives and experiences. These are easily prompted by short folk tales and fables. In this practical workshop, we'll explore playful, fulfilling and inclusive activities that are designed to build language learners' confidence and fluency in personal storytelling. By the end of the webinar, teachers will be able to give students a clear sense of themselves as creators of their own stories in English.
Click or tap here to download the handout from David's webinar
Click or tap here to watch the recording of David's webinar
About the speakers
Fiona Hunter is a teacher, trainer and the creator of the Kids Club English website, where she self-publishes crafts and games and offers teaching support. She has a passion for teaching through stories, songs, games and crafts and has a soft spot for puppets. Watch a previous webinar from Fiona here: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/news-and-events/webinars/webinars-teachers/supporting-literacy-development-mini-event
Haneen Jadallah is an English language teacher, a teacher trainer and an online theatre specialist. She has a special interest and expertise in drama and language learning, and has developed her own framework for students to create their own plays and to perform them remotely to the outer world. She is passionate about connecting young people around the world through intercultural link-ups and online theatre.
David Heathfield is a storyteller, teacher of English and teacher trainer from Exeter, UK. He is the author of the teacher development books Storytelling with our students: Techniques for telling tales from around the world (DELTA Publishing), Spontaneous speaking: drama activities for confidence and fluency (DELTA Publishing) and a host of articles and chapters on storytelling and drama in education. He loves celebrating cultural diversity. Watch a previous webinar from David here: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/news-and-events/webinars/webinars-teachers/online-storytelling-engaging-personal-creative
Important information about our events - please read
- How to watch the webinar
Our webinars are free. They take place in Zoom Events. You do not need any special equipment to watch the webinars apart from a computer with the audio on. Registration is for the full event. You do not need to attend every session.
Registration
You should register for the event at the link provided above. In order to receive updates and a link to join the webinar, you will need to provide a valid email address. Your information will not be used for marketing purposes unless you explicitly give us permission to do so during the registration process. For more information about the British Council's privacy policy, please follow this link: https://www.britishcouncil.org/about-us/how-we-work/policies/information-security-privacy Once you have registered for the event, you will receive an email with a link to join the webinar. Please do not delete this email.
If you have any specific accessibility requests, please contact us by email at teachingenglish@britishcouncil.org. You should say which webinar you are attending and ask us to contact you regarding your needs.
Instructions for joining a session in the event
1. Click on the link that was emailed to you when you registered for the event.
2. Enter the email address that you used to register for the event.
3. You will join the 'lobby'. From the lobby you can chat to other participants and ask for help if needed.
4. From the lobby you will see the session that is either currently live or soon to be live. When a session is live, you can click 'join' to go inside the live Zoom session.- Webinar recordings
All TeachingEnglish webinars are recorded and you will find links to the recordings under the session information on this page between 24 and 48 hours after the live webinar has ended. You can also find the videos on the TeachingEnglish YouTube channel. Recordings will be available to watch for a minimum of six months and up to one year after the live event has ended.
- Webinar handouts
PDF handouts from each presenter will be available after the webinars.
- Certificates
Certificates of attendance are available for all attendees. The link to obtain your certificate is provided in the following places:
- at the end of the webinar in the chat box
- in the 'Thank you for attending email' that you will receive after the webinar.You should download the certificate to your computer. Once the certificate is saved to your computer, open it and type your name on the certificate. We recommend using Google Chrome or Internet Explorer to do this. You cannot do this from a mobile device.
- Code of conduct – participants
Please be respectful at all times to other participants and the presenter. Our webinars are freely available to attend by participants in all countries. Please be aware that comments you make in the general chat may have a negative impact on other participants and their enjoyment of the webinar.
Do not use insulting or offensive language or comments towards other participants or the presenter.
Do not make comments that include cultural references or political references that may be offensive or upsetting to other participants or the presenter.
Any offensive or insulting comments will be deleted, and the participant making the comment will be removed from the webinar.
Do not share any personal information in the general chat that may result in other participants contacting you. This includes addresses, phone numbers and email addresses.
Do not share links to your website or any websites that you are promoting for the purposes of making money.
Comments that include links to paid-for websites for the sole purpose of promotion will be deleted, and you may be removed from the webinar.
Please use the Q&A to ask the presenter questions that are related to the theme or topic of the webinar only. If participant responses to questions are permitted, you should only make comments that are relevant to the question being asked.