Hub Digests

Hub digest – 2nd August, 2024

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June and July flew by, with lots of great content in the Hub, including webinars with Blanca Gallego talking about fostering student autonomy and accountability in language learning and Blessing Epum shared some tips on synergising with parents to motivate young learners.

You may have seen Abigail’s webinar in June about Elevate – she shared more details on how to join the platform.

And here are our most recent Wednesday Questions:

There were also lots of great posts from Hubsters. Robert had some great tips on using music in the classroom, using mnemonics and integrating skills when teaching teens. He also shared a video on embracing mistakes, another on using roleplays and Mary shared some favourite speaking activites. Jane asked about using shadowing and Francesca came to pick our brains about phrasal verbs.

Kristen asked about using situational language in the classroom, Thomas asked about refresher courses for teachers and Alan shared a free behaviour management course for teachers working with young learners. Caroline shared a link to her memoir as an English teacher and Tom was looking to connect with teachers in Cartagena (Spain). He also prompted a great thread on developing lessons for groups and asked about TBLT.

Robert shared issue 22 of the University Grapevine and Jane-Maria shared some tips on helping language learners over the summer break.

These are some events which were shared and may have now passed, but it’s worth contacting the OP if you’re interested in finding out more.

Hub digest – 7th June, 2024

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Ooh, it’s been a while since the last update and there’s big a couple of big changes in the Hub! First of all, our Thursday livestreams now happen on the YouTube channel 🤓 Here are our most recent events: 

I also updated the Hub’s virtual library – if there’s anything else you think is missing, add a comment and tag me on this post in the group.

And oodles of Wednesday Questions for you to catch up on:

There were some interesting questions from Hubsters too. Kimberly asked about virtual assistants, Izabela asked what we mean by ‘young learners’ and Patricia asked a great question about how much time we give learners to develop their skills. Elizabeth asked about ideas for an A1 reading lesson , Olia asked about accredited qualifications and Deepika shared a survey to do some market research for a group programme for multilingual teachers.

There was also an anonymous request for volunteer teachers 💗and Sarah Gaylard shared details of the group ELT Professionals for Palestine.

Other events
Sorry that these have mostly passed, but there might be recordings available or follow the organisers in case they run similar things in the future:

Publications
Quoc Le shared issue 10 of the EduVerse newsletter

Volkan Iner shared his contribution in the IH World journal on effective classroom management strategies for YLs

Robert Stroud shared issue 21 of The University Grapevine

Materials
Silvina Mascitti shared a link to her site with fabulous readymade lesson plans

Teaching tips
Robert Martinez shared tips on:

Tefl Teacher Sidehustler shared ideas on teaching adults

Hub digest – 1st April, 2024

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Another fabulous month in the Hub, with some great content from our members. I really enjoyed the live sessions in March, chatting to Martin Hajek about his new book, More than a gap year adventure, and Volkan Iner of Teacher Talks. Our Wednesday Questions were:

There was also some great content from Hubsters. There was the next issue of the University Grapevine from Robert and the EduVerse newsletter from Quoc, along with a call for contributions. Kirsten asked about Business English materials and Nicola asked about fees for senior positions in the UK.

Robert shared tips on making videos as part of Jo Gakonga’s VOiCE course and a video on digital literacy competence. There was a special offer for Hubsters for Lara’s circular economy course. Although this course has now started, do get in touch with Lara if you’re interested in any upcoming courses. Rachael ran another Festival of Freelancing – follow her to find out when the next one is for great tips on making your business work for you.

Hub digest – 29th February, 2024

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Happy leap year, Hubsters! Two months in to 2024 and there’s lots of great content to share from the group.
We’ve had three more engaging webinars on a variety of topics, plus Wednesday Questions to get us thinking about ELT:

There were some interesting questions from Hubsters as well. Practice English with News asked about Business English textbooks, Simon asked about online resources for adults to prepare for Cambridge exams and he also shared an Edutopia article on getting feedback from staff.  Jane was looking for advice on how her learners could send voice messages and there are lots of recommendations for different sites and apps on the thread. Kristen was looking for resources (or volunteers!) for peer observations and Robert shared videos on eModeration, mnemonics and AI for language learning. Ben and Shaun both had surveys about the challenges of listening for learners. Bhavna was back with another wonderful video, this time on a book by Katherine Reilly (check out Katherine’s Hub sessions on getting learners writing and adapting your materials). 

Here are some other events which Hubsters shared details of:

Hub digest – 12th January, 2024

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2024 is off to a great start in the Hub, with a fab session on how to earn more in 2024 with Ola Kowalska and a Wednesday Question on getting learners up and moving. Here are the other webinars and Wednesday Questions since our last digest:

Not so many questions from Hubsters over the past couple of months, but Fiona kicked off the year (look ahead!) with a query about summer camps.

There was lots of great content shared by Hubsters:

Erin was back with a podcast episode filled with tips on the lexical approach and videos on dealing with learners’ language queries and learner autonomy, while Jo shared a video with tips for getting an A in CELTA.

Hubsters shared some interesting sessions as well:

Hub digest – 4th October, 2023

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There’s lots to catch up on in the Hub from the past couple of months. We’ve had some great webinars: in August, Tim Warre joined us to talk about Atomic Habits, Tom Liebewitz of the TEFL Workers’ Union chatted about workers’ rights and Kate Bodrova from Amazy shared tips on how to create, publish and monetize digital materials. There was also an opportunity at the end of August for teacher trainers to get together to discuss how developments in ELT feed into their practice. In September, Dr. Amina Douidi shared how to make ELT research more approachable and Lara Mehanna talked about the circular economy and EcoTEFL content.

And there have been weekly Wednesday Questions:

We had some thought-provoking questions from members too. Mike asked about how to get into teacher training, Ri was looking for participants for a survey on CELTA and neurodiversity and Mary asked about practical ideas for the primary classroom for SEL (social-emotional learning) and CLIL (content-language integrated learning). Jack asked about sites or apps for learners to practise spelling and also shared a survey on AI in the classroom. Emma asked about coursebooks for teens at a B2+ level, Blanka started a conversation about bionic reading, and Lisa was looking for fonts to use with the phonemic script. We also had an anonymous post on how to recognise reputable training providers.

As always, there were some fabulous resources shared by Hubsters too. Silvina had lesson plans on dealing with change in the workplace and Kintsugi, whilst Quick and Easy English had a detailed plan on travel. 

Robert shared the latest issue of the University Grapevine and Hubsters shared some other events of interest: Erin of Everything EFL did a webinar on the Lexical Approach and she also shared a fab video on giving learners choice through the lesson. The team at Euro Speak did a session on boosting spoken English skills via interactive and asynchronous learning, ITEACH offered a session on earning more as an online teacher and Leo from Learn Your English did a session with Geoff Jordan on SLA (Second Language Acquisition) and another with Cecilia Nobre on video-based lessons. At the start of September, Fiona from Kids Club English ran an ESL and pre-primary pentathlon and Blessing Epum ran a back-to-school conference for parents and educators. Jane also shared a link for Pearson’s webinar series, which included a few Hub regulars…including Dr Amina Douidi who was speaking about accessibility and diversity.