Meghan Beler, MEd, is a full-time teacher trainer for Oxford University Press and gives seminars and presentations on a variety of topics from young learners to adults in addition to being a blog author for the Oxford University Press Global ELT blog. She has been working in the field of ELT for several years and has taught learners of all ages in Spain, Greece, and Turkey. She has been involved in many different ELT projects including CEFR syllabus mapping and exam alignment and her interests include learner autonomy, assessment and materials design. She is currently based in Istanbul, Turkey.
Plenary: From Surviving to Thriving: Exploring Multiple Intelligences
What is the value of integrating activities that cater to different intelligences in the classroom? How can we best suit students’ unique individual needs? This session offers insight into multiple intelligences, allowing participants to reflect on classroom practice. Participants will also have the opportunity and add to their repertoire of diversified activities through participation in a series of practical and motivating activities that cater to the wide variety of unique personalities that are present in every classroom.
Workshop: Minimal Materials to Get Learners Using the Target Language
Many classrooms fall into the habit of practising grammar through mechanical exercises. Teachers also have very little time to plan elaborate production activities. This session offers several activities that get students using target language in a fun way without requiring teachers to spend hours preparing.
Steve Darn
Steve Darn has lived and taught in Turkey for 28 years. He was formerly the director of the British Council Teachers’ Centre in Izmir, and a trainer at Izmir University of Economics. As a freelance trainer, he delivers courses, workshops and seminars in Turkey and many other countries He is a CELTA tutor and assessor and has published widely in a number of ELT journals and magazines
Plenary:How do we know that they know?
After contextualisation, explanation, demonstration, and mime, how do teachers know if students really understand the meaning of words, expressions and structures? This talk is a reminder of techniques for checking meaning and understanding, and that the question ‘Do you understand?’ is not enough.
Workshop:Using your hands
The teacher’s voice, position and body language are important teaching tools. This workshop shows how the teacher’s hands can be used for classroom management, reducing, teacher talking time, giving instructions and correcting spoken errors.
Ryan Noakes
Ryan Noakes is an Educational Consultant for Oxford University Press and gives seminars and presentations on a variety of topics. He has been working in the field of ELT for several years and has taught a wide range of age groups based in Turkey. He’s specifically interested in learner autonomy and inquiry based learning.
Plenary: Inquiry Based Learning
More often than not, consciously or subconsciously, we as teachers usually expect an answer uniform to the exercise at hand, coupled with the answer “that’s correct.” But what if we as teachers were to explore how the answer was achieved? Do we all have to reach the intended target in the same way? This talk looks at the responsibility of the teacher in an inquiry based learning environment and asks us what we can do better as teachers to facilitate the learning parameters of our students.
Dilara Gamze Dokurlar
Dilara Gamze Dokurlar is a teacher of English for Atayurt Private Schools. She graduated from Hacettepe University. She is an explorer in ELT, blogger, author of an ELT newspaper. She’s been working with young learners and she has developed animated stories and games with her students.
She's more particularly interested in using technology and animations/games in language classrooms and digital storytelling.
Workshop:Digital Storytelling and Teachnology
Are you a digital dinosaur? Do you really still want to be a monster about the traditional teaching methods when all the dinosaurs already died?
This workshop will open a door to "teachnology" for digital immigrants through digital storytelling and practical Web 2.0. tools you can use in your classrooms. She will start with looking at how 21st century technology have changed today's learners/teachers and education. Some examples will be given about digital storytelling, how / when / why to use it and some other practical ideas to use web 2.0 tools as well.