ELT Czechlist: Ideas from the Heart of Europe

This year in September, the 11th International and 15th National ATECR (Association of Teachers of English of the Czech Republic) Conference was held at the SPŠE Ječná and Pedagogická fakulta UK with plenaries by Šárka Dohnalová, Ben Dobbs and Louel Ross Calleja. 

The conference was really a great event, full of inspiring presentations, networking and socialising. Networking is one of the most important advantages of attending a conference. A great way to meet colleagues and peers is one of the most rewarding components of conference attendance and also a unique opportunity to talk to the speakers, book authors and publishers.

It was just a lovely kick to new school year!

 

Inspiring new publications...and ideas that work!

Snowball fighting in the classroom...a great gap filling activity

Playing snowball fighting in the classroom sounds a bit childish, though it always works with older students too.

The game is a great way to energising students, change the pace, fill a gap or just as a fun activity after introducing a topic.

During our very first English classes we played our snowball game as a whole class and we really enjoyed it. 
After the activity students  all sat comfortably and get busy with First (FCE) preparation – Reading and Use of English Exam strategies.

New trends in foreign language teaching

Language teaching approaches, methods and procedures are constantly undergoing reassessment. New ideas keep emerging created by technology. Students nowadays have access to an incredible amount of English-language material online. But while this is clearly beneficial, it can also be a bit overwhelming.

The idea of spaced repetition is not new but it still works. More and more language-learning apps use the principles of spaced repetition, such as Lingopolis or Olive Green.

They are sites that adapt materials for students like Easier English Wiki that provides students (and teachers) with free materials based on articles from New Internationalist magazine. Newsmart is an app that uses daily, up-to-date content from the Wall Street Journal to teach language and develop reading and listening skills.

Nowadays, every student carries a powerful mini-computer, video camera and audio recorder in their pocket, a Smart phone, and teachers are finding new ways to use this technology in the classroom for learning English.

However, not all the latest trends rely on technology. A very noticeable trend is towards more creativity in the classroom. Creativity is becoming one of the most important 21st-century skills.

Great examples are Oxford Discover a series, based on the 'four Cs' (critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity) and the Macmillan Life Skills series, which treats broader soft skills such as raising self-awareness, and influencing and managing others.

New resources from our #ELTons2015 winning Life Skills site are now available to download!
http://ow.ly/O4Dsn

If you only read 6 things this week...

A superb way how to master ENGLISH!

How liers fool us all the time
a great article I would recommend for reading...

   Repetition makes a fact seem more true, regardless of whether it is or not. Understanding this effect can help you avoid falling for propaganda, says psychologist Tom Stafford.

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE...on
www.bbc.com/future/story/20161026-how-liars-create-the-illusion-of-truth

Subsribe, get access to the latest unique articles and improve your English!
And if you only read 6 things this week, you will soon master it!

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A memorable Red Letter Day - Sports Day at Educanet Praha

It was a special, happy, and important day that everybody will always remember...

It was a  DAY full of fun, excitement and various competing sports activities.

The activites  were dedicated not just to having fun, playing together but also to promoting physical activity and health for everyone!

Students are encouraged to engage in sports and outdoor games on the regular basis.

Life is also just like a game. Sometimes, you win, and sometimes you lose. Participating in various games and sports adevelop a feeling of sporting spirit.

DofE in action at EDUCAnet Praha 6.- 8. 06. 2016 POSAZAVI - Bronz and Silver level

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is a challenge all the time. It was on our expedition too... Aside from that, it's also one of the most enjoyable things you have ever done, gives you great motivation to get up off the sofa and live life, and is a fantastic way to make some of the best friends.
In a nutshell, to complete the Award you have to undertake a variety of activities comprising one from each of five separate categories over a period of time.

Aim of the expedition

To develop initiative and a sense of adventure and discovery, by planning, training for and completing an adventurous journey as part of a team.

Achieving your Award is an adventure from beginning to end and this section can give you some of your most memorable experiences!

With a team, we planned an aim for our expedition, decided the location and did lots of training to make sure we´re fully prepared and know what we’re doing!  We worked  as a team to organise all of this and helped to plan our expedition. 

The whole experience  gave us laughs, arguments, joy and frustration along the way.  But, in the end, we had better team and leadership skills, not to mention bags more confidence and a rucksack full of great memories!

Benefits

Gain an appreciation of and respect for the outdoor environment.

Learn the value of sharing responsibility for success.

Learn the importance of attention to detail and organisational ability.

Develop and demonstrate enterprise and imagination.

Become more self-reliant.

Become more able to overcome challenges.

Recognise the needs and strengths of others.

Improve decision-making skills and the ability to accept consequences.

Gain skills to reflect on personal performance.

Facebook and new apps for English learners

Recently, I have read articles about decrease in daily Facebook users, specifically among teens. In other words, teenagers are still on Facebook; they're just not using it as much as they did.

To understand where teens like to spend their virtual time nowadays, just watch them on their smartphones. All the fun stuff is happening on their mobiles.

Facebook has become a social network that's often too complicated, too risky, and, above all, too overrun by parents to give teens the type of digital freedom. 

Their world revolves around Instagram and gradual exodus towards WhatsApp, WeChat, KakaoTalk, etc.
However, Facebook with more than 1 billon users worldwide is still a leader among social networking sites.
The question is how can you, as a student of English, use Facebook and all those apps to your own benefit and improve your language skills?

On Facebook there are lots of groups and you can join them. They can help you practice your English. They pose questions, mill games, videos, stories that you can read and play along with and they challenge you to use your English properly.

When you join these groups you are going to meet a lot of other people just like you. These people want to learn English and they are trying to it on Facebook.

If they wanna learn English and you wanna learn English you can do it together.

After you find friends you could have a chat with them or use your skype hangouts on Google.

You can also study grammar. There are hundreds  of grammar sides. Teachers have uploaded lots and lots of different charts, rules and exercises on to Facebook and you can join those pages. 
The pages are being updated  almost daily and you can see more and more rules, learn grammar and get better at English. After all the father of modern English literature William Shakespeare has his Facebook account - pages...
https://www.facebook.com/WilliamShakespeareAuthor/

A lot of people post videos on Facebook  to help you practice your listening in English. And if you do that it is like being with someone.You can hear them talking, listen to the proper  pronounciation, so it can certainly help too. 

The last thing you can do to help yourself learn English on Facebook is that you find a page that you are interested in or people that you are interested in. Read the conversations right there. They are really good at talking and they use a wide range of vocabulary. 
The more you read the better you will get. 

And let's not forget mobile apps. With these apps for learning English, it'll almost be like playing a game  no more boring vocabulary and grammar exercises!

So those are all different ways that you can try to improve your English using Facebook and different apps.

Share, learn and enjoy English...

Facebook pages:
https://www.facebook.com/myenglishteachers
https://www.facebook.com/grammarly
https://www.facebook.com/GrammarUpdates
https://www.facebook.com/bbclearningenglish.multimedia

Apps:
http://openlanguage.com/library/learn-english/10/culture-show/478/top-5-ios-apps-for-learning-english