Making music with Vanessa Reilly

Vanessa Reilly, author of OUP’s newest series for Primary, Big Surprise! and Pre-Primary, Oxford Splash, talks about the importance of music in the classroom and gives us many fun and creative ideas in her workshop, Harmony in the Classroom. Making class more fun for both students and the teacher, she provides ideas to support routines, create story soundtracks and bring culture and other areas of the curriculum into the English classroom. To see when Vanessa is coming to a town near you soon, click here.

For another opportunity to bring music into the classroom, join the 2nd annual Oxford Splash Sing-along contest. All you have to do is upload a video to YouTube singing an Oxford Splash song. For more details about how to participate, click here. The last day to submit your entry is 30 May 2013, so don’t miss your chance!

Sign up now for Oxford Seminars 2013

We have officially inaugurated our 2013 Oxford Seminars! Last week in Catalonia we welcomed over 500 teachers of all levels – Pre-Primary, Primary, Secondary and Upper Secondary- in Tarragona, Girona and Barcelona.

It was a great opportunity to catch up with colleagues, share ideas with the speakers and enjoy the sessions together. Thank you all for coming out and joining us!

All of our teacher trainers have made their handouts available online for participants. If you’re interested in getting them you can visit our Oxford Professional Develoment site. Click here for Pre-Primary and Primary handouts, and here for Secondary and Upper Secondary handouts.

We have many more Oxford Seminars taking place all over Spain in the coming weeks. Click here to find the Oxford Seminar nearest you, learn more about our training sessions and to register for the event! We look forward to seeing you soon!

APAC ELT Convention: Talking about the Value of English

Barcelona, 21st – 23rd February

Last week we had the chance to partake in the ELT Convention – The Value of English hosted by APAC  in Barcelona, attending as many of the inspiring workshops as we could in 48 hours! Among the more than 40 teachers and teacher trainers, authors and academics, our very own Vanessa Reilly taught a session about achieving Harmony in the classroom.

During the workshop she showed us many creative uses for music in the Pre-Primary and Primary classroom, from helping with routines and management to creating soundtracks for the stories we tell in class. Last year we did our part to help students and teachers use their vocal cords by launching a Sing-along competition with Vanessa’s newest Pre-Primary course, Oxford Splash. If you’re looking for more musical inspiration you can take a look at the winning school’s videos and their workshop with Vanessa!

Are you interested in participating in one of Vanessa’s training seminars this spring? Check back with us soon and take a look at the calendar of events! We’ll be updating it shortly with all of our upcoming teacher training events for the next few months.

Our online courses are underway!

We kicked off our three 16-week online courses last week at the Centro Español de Nuevas Profesiones (CENP) in Madrid with the course tutors and over one hundred local ELT teachers. We are delighted that so many of you could join us for the three courses being offered: Making the Most of Arts & Crafts in Primary, Inglés y Metodología para Profesores de Primaria and Inglés y Metodología para Profesores de Secundaria.

You’ll be happy to know that for the first time ever we are offering these online courses in collaboration with the Comunidad de Madrid, and all participants who complete the course will earn two training credits as state employees.  If you weren’t able to participate this time, make sure to visit our blog and we’ll keep you informed about our upcoming courses!

English teaching conferences in Spain

As we get into our routines of this semester, we’d like to remind you of some upcoming conferences for English teachers in Spain. They are an excellent way to meet other English teachers, see old friends and gather dozens of ideas for our classes. Click on the links below for more information on talks and registration. You’ll be glad you attended!

Saturday, 9th February, Madrid. FECEI 2nd Annual Training Day for Teachers and Directors, “Here & Now: The Future & Present in Language Teaching.” Nina Lauder gives the plenary talk, “What Makes You Itch?”

21-23 February, Barcelona. APAC ELT Convention, “The Value of English.” Vanessa Reilly will give a talk on Harmony in the Primary Classroom (Saturday, 12:45 – 13:45).

8-10 March, Seville. TESOL-SPAIN 36th Annual National Convention, “Teaching with Technology and the Human Touch.” Nina Lauder will be giving a talk on Digital Citizenship and Etiquette (Sat 10:45-11:45).

Saturday, 13 April, Córdoba. XIV Jornadas CETA, “Let’s Join to Grow and Share.”

We hope to see you there!

Upcoming training opportunities in Madrid

Is learning new things and skills one of your New Year’s resolutions? We invite you to check out the following training opportunities in Madrid! All are official courses that will allow you to earn training credits as a state employee. Hurry! Space is limited!

Synthetic phonics for reading and writing in Pre-primary and Primary, trainer Pablo Pérez (OUP), given in English. Dates: 23rd January – 6th March. Registration until Friday, 18th January.

Potenciar la enseñanza de idiomas a través de medios digitales, trainers Lucía Caramés (OUP) and Lyndsay Buckingham (OUP), given in Spanish. Dates: 5-26 February. Registration until 31st January.

Stay up to date with other training opportunities here on our blog!

Do you have a New Year’s Resolution?

Happy 2013! Did you know that the tradition of New Year’s resolutions dates back to ancient Babylonian times? Many people mark the beginning of a new year with promises to improve themselves in some way. These promises, or resolutions, are usually meant to be lifestyle changes that last year-round. In recent times, most people focus their resolutions on learning new skills, quitting bad habits, and improving physical appearance and fitness.

Do you discuss New Year’s resolutions with your students? You might ask them to research the topic online to find out where/when the tradition began, where people normally make resolutions (in which countries), and when other cultures consider the New Year to begin. Then students can report on their research in small groups and later as a class to see what they’ve learned. You can also encourage students to set healthy goals for themselves this year.

So we want to know… what are your New Year’s resolutions? Do you have any resolutions related to your teaching career or your classes? How would you like to improve professionally? Mark the categories of your resolutions here in this poll, and tell us about your teaching-related resolutions by commenting on this post. We look forward to hearing more about them!

Related post: Top 5 New Year’s Resolutions

More holiday ideas and activities

As we approach the winter holidays, our students get more anxious for the arrival of Father Christmas and the three Kings! It can be difficult to keep their attention in class, but why not enjoy the magic? After all, the holidays are also a wonderful time to teach cultural lessons and useful vocabulary and phrases! See a few ideas for celebrating here below:

Pre-primary and Primary

• Visit the Oxford Magazine for dozens of ideas. Among our favourites: Build a snowman online! (Perfect for areas of Spain where it doesn’t snow!)

Secondary, Upper-secondary and adults

Visit the Oxford Christmas Corner. A few highlights:

• Learn about Santa around the world with this Treasure Hunt for Secondary.
• Have a rockin’ Christmas with this unconventional carol for speaking and listening practice in Upper-secondary.

Also, on growley.com you’ll find a few other online games and activities for all ages and levels, such as decorating a virtual Christmas tree, check the weather in the North Pole, and write your own Christmas story (just provide several words and the site does the rest.) Allow your students to play these games as a class on an interactive whiteboard, in pairs in the computer room, or with their parents’ help at home.

Enjoy your winter holidays with friends and family! We’ll be back in the new year with many more ideas and news to share! Season’s Greetings!

Counting down to Christmas!

An advent calendar is a traditional way to help children count down the days until Christmas, adding excitement along the way. It is often made of paper or card, with small windows that are to be opened each day, which contain chocolates or nice pictures. The first window is opened on the Sunday nearest 30th November, and counts up to 25, leading to Christmas Eve.

Why not use this digital advent calendar in class with your students? Rather than chocolates, each day contains information about how Christmas is celebrated around the world. It’s a great way to bring culture into your classroom and build the excitement of the holidays!

Start on Monday 3rd December with numbers 1 and 2 (Advent this year starts on 2nd December, four Sundays before 25th December). Open an extra day on Fridays and Mondays to make up for the weekends. And encourage children to research those traditions they find most interesting or different from their own.

Enjoy!

Try Wall Wisher for collaborative learning

What is Wall Wisher? It’s like an online bulletin board where anyone can post their ideas and thoughts.

How can we use it in our classes? The possibilities are endless! Consider the following uses…

1. Brainstorm ideas for a project. Students can post their ideas and suggestions to share within their group, or as a class. It could be a great way to create classroom rules at the beginning of the year!

2. A space for asking questions… and answering them. Students can post their questions while studying at home or in class. And other students can answer them! The teacher will only have to answer those that can’t be answered by other students.

3. Write a collaborative story. Each student posts one sentence that continues the story. Just make sure to keep the posts in order so that you can read the story.

What other ideas can you think of? Have you used this before? Visit our wall and post your ideas!! See how it works and reflect on how you might use it with your students… All ideas are welcome!

Keep in mind you can include links, photos, documents, etc. to your post. Allow your students to get creative! You’ll have to sign in (with Google or create an account) to create a wall, but anyone can post.