Hub Digests

Hub Digest – 14th July, 2023

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Time for another catch-up on all the fabulous things that have been happening in the Hub 🤩 Over the past couple of months, we’ve had more interesting live sessions with Meri Maroutian talking to us about native speaker bias, Katherine Reilly sharing tips on making materials more inclusive, Jennifer Murray guiding us into the world of copywriting and Ramy Rashad Abdelreheem with the nuts and bolts of error correction.

Every Wednesday there’s a question to get you thinking and reflecting on different aspects of ELT. Here’s what we’ve discussed over the past couple of months:

There were lots of interesting questions and comments from Hubsters too. Michelle asked if anyone had used the WhatsApp ‘Communities’ feature, Jane was looking for some fun lesson suggestions to help a stressed out learner and Pati asked about posters and display material for the classroom. Eszter was looking for tips on LGBTQIA+ materials for adult learners (Peter shared materials for Pride earlier in the month as well), Bianca asked about teaching young learners online.and Dani asked about online materials for trainee teachers working with adult learners.

For ELT professionals based in Spain, Alan and the ACEIA team were asking for opinions about how the profession has developed in recent years and open to all, but aimed at UK residents past and present, Nicola hosted a Q&A on National Insurance contributions.

There were also some excellent resources: Silvina had lesson plans on time management and career development, Bhavna had a story called Chuchu Manthu’s Jar of Toffees, Un Viaje en Libro shared two posts with tips for summer reading and Jane shared an idea for talking about disastrous holidays. Robert shared the link to Issue 16 of the University Grapevine, We had links to fabulous content from Erin at Better English / Everything EFL podcast on noticing, remembering that our learners are humans first, fixed phrases and chunks and building trust. She also shared details of her new series, Cornerstones of Learning.

Hubsters also shared links to other interesting events: Leo from Learn Your English shared a webinar with Dylan Gates (who you can also see in action in the Hub with his session, Speaking Unplugged: doing more with less) and Cecilia shared details of the BrazTESOL International Conference. Valentina shared details of her upcoming training sessions for edupreneurs and her five-day challenge. Rachael posted about the Second Festival of Freelancing and Nicola was back to share more financial know-how in her Pension Perfect session.

Hub digest – 15th May, 2023

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It’s been an incredibly busy couple of months, so I’m way behind with the digests…last one was 1st March! So get ready for a long post…

There were webinars with Alex Popovski on graphic novels, Bhavna Gupta on storytelling, Nicola Prentis on investing and Jo Gakonga on video production. We had a couple of chats in Trainer Talking Time on engaging colleagues in CPD and incorporating different approaches into our input. And lots of Wednesday Questions!

Some courses and resources for you:

Bhavna shared a link to a Gender in language education course and her latest lesson plans on Stage fright and adopting stray animals. Jo asked whether ChatGPT might replace teachers, shared some tips on getting around research paywalls and ideas on how to adapt your coursebook. On the topic of AI, Charlie shared a video with some tips to incorporate it into your lessons.

Silvina had a lesson plan on the Sounds or Nature, and another on project management. Quick and Easy English shared a lesson plan on Crisis in the Workplace, another on the second conditional. ESL Job Center shared ideas for games with young learners, vocabulary activities, reading activities and speaking activities.

Jane started a thread with some ideas on how to use Canva, following on from Clare Hayward’s webinar on the topic and Greg shared a link to a podcast on teaching literacy to young learners. Nicola shared information on National Insurance contributions for UK nationals or anyone who has worked in the UK for three or more years. Issues 12, 14, and 15 of the University Grapevine came out and there were some great questions from Hubsters…

An anonymous member asked an important question about conditions working with online companies and there was a handy question from Michelle on top tips for using Zoom with young learners. Valentina asked about our reasons for becoming a teacher, the types of students you don’t enjoy working with and what to do if students don’t pay. She also shared a link with the most recent episodes of her podcast, The Edupreneur’s Journey. Erin asked about times when you’ve forgotten something during class and looked for ideas on activities for learners to do with their phones. Rozalia asked about recording learners during online classes and Rachael asked whether working for free is ever a good idea. Practice English with News asked about using foul language in the classroom and using a CRM (and I learnt that CRM stands for customer relationship management). Mike got us chatting about modernising coursebooks and Melissa asked about using sites like Teachers Pay Teachers.

Events that have happened over the past couple of months:
Bhavna shared a link to a British Council session on Equity in the Classroom, Valentina ran a session called PROTECT to chat about terms and conditions and pricing for classes and another on Lead Magnets. Leo shared an event on The Generative Power of Lexical Chunks, Meri has recently set up a membership to her site The Native Speaker Teacher (and she’ll be joining us later this month for a webinar!) and Jo shared a link to the Momentum summit on setting up an online ELT business.

Hub digest – 1st March, 2023

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Welcome to March, Hubsters! It’s been a busy month in the Hub with three fabulous webinars from Fatime Losonci (What teaching listening for IELTS actually means), Peter J Fullagar (Why LGBTQIA+ in ELT matters) and Clare Hayward (How you can use Canva in ELT). And we reflected on a variety of topics with the Wednesday Questions:

There were some great discussions…

Jack asked about hints and tips for using breakout rooms, Sarah continued the chat around ChatGPT and Nina asked about the differences between observing online and in-person.  Karen asked about homework tasks, Michelle asked what inspiring inquiries would interest your learners and Rachael shared a link to a chat with Meri Maroutian, the non-native speaker, which got people talking.

Valentina asked about niching not once, but twice 😀 and about NLC (neuro language coaching).

Also, Shay asked how teacher beliefs can influence the classroom.

We had some wonderful lesson materials…

Peter shared a resource celebrating LGBT+ History Month in the UK and Silvina was back with lesson plans on the power of surprise, making mistakes and one based around a bad day.

Quick and Easy English had resources for Valentine’s Day, making decisions and the present perfect, as well as a Jeopardy-style quiz.

Jo shared videos on working with conditionals and asked how inclusive your coursebook is. and Catherine shared a game on St. David’s Day.

There was lots of other content from Hubsters too…

Ciarán of Englii shared a round-up of February webinars – keep an eye on the site as he posts a calendar most months and Robert shared a link to The University Grapevine with an article from Emily Bryson, who presented in the Hub last year.

If you’re looking for UK-based summer work, Elen shared a link to a company she had experience with and Rozalia was looking for volunteers to get involved in a bilingual book project.

And in Trainer Talking Time, we discussed how teachers can give effective feedback.

Hub digest – 1st February, 2023

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It’s been a pretty chilly month here in Spain, but the Hub is full of warmth as always!

We kicked off the year with a couple of great webinars: Teaching Communication Skills Using Formulaic Language and  In Defence of the 4-week Training Course, had our next Trainer Talking Time on the topic of differentiation and got people thinking with our Wednesday Questions:

Melissa asked about post-pandemic hiring and Blanka asked us to share ideas on how we slow down 😍 And Jack shared some great questions which got us chatting about breakout rooms.

At the very end of December, Erin posted a poll asking “What’s your biggest issue as a teacher?”  Some interesting results and comments there 😁 Robert shared the first 2023 issue of The University Grapevine and Michelle asked some interesting questions about inclusivity in the classroom. 

Silvina shared more fabulous resources, this time on accent bias and innovation, whilst Catherine shared links to her one-minute games on World Braille Day, Chinese New Year and Welsh Valentine’s Day. And Bhavna had another wonderful story resource for My Brother’s Wheeeelchair.

The chat around AI continued, with Sean sharing a link to his next episode of Ethos English on the topic. There was an interesting question from Fiona as well about apps which young learners can use to learn English and communicate with other learners and she also shared a link to a new game being developed for learners to review language. Also on the topic of young learners, Vanessa shared a link to the YLTSig event that happened mid-January…I believe the recordings are available. Antonio was also looking for tips for working with teens for the first time as well.

Hub digest – 30th December, 2022

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It’s very nearly the end of 2022 and what a wonderful year it’s been in the Hub! Thanks to everyone who supports the group by posting and commenting and to the fabulous folks who give up their time to share their experiences and expertise in our fortnightly webinars. It’s still been pretty busy in the Hub this month, though with lots of festive cheer: Tomáš Bednář kicked off the month wearing a festive sweater in his webinar on mindmapping and later in the month, Neil McMillan shared ideas for incorporating TBLT into exam-prep classes. And they both offered Hub members discounts for Mapulary and the course TBLT: from theory to practice. We also saw a return to Trainer Talking Time, with some folks getting together to discuss teacher training post-pandemic. And, as always, we had some engaging Wednesday Questions, including a return of 2020’s list of festive lesson ideas.

AI was a big topic this month – I gave it a go with an AI-generated image one week and a welcome text the following week. Blanka posted an article on the future of teaching and learning alongside AI and Sean shared a link to his latest podcast episode asking if ChatGTP is the future of language learning.

Christopher reached out to ask about strategies for finding new clients and Louise posted an interesting question about qualifications and whether they will help you to earn more. And if you’re looking for lesson ideas, Catherine shared her one minute games channel on YouTube,

Also at the start of December, Kate shared details of a professional development day to support Ukraine. This one was held on December 10th, but there are plans for more sessions in the future, so keep an eye out.

Hub digest – 1st December, 2022

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Happy December everyone and time for a round-up of what happened in the Hub last month. We had a couple of really interesting webinars on very important topics: Sandra Borg and Jill Hodgetts joined us to talk about TEFL Community Care, a mental health initiative and later in the month, Courtney Bailey came along to discuss how L1 teachers can advocate for L2+ teachers.

The Wednesday Questions sparked some thought-provoking comments as well:

And Hubsters were busy as always, sharing tips and asking questions 😁 Vicky shared an interesting reflection on meaningful feedback, Nicola asked about summer school work when you have children, Dani was looking for tips on setting up virtual assessments of in-person classes, Karen started a great thread on learning for assessment and there was lots of community support from one member who was struggling and in need of some advice. There were also lots of great resources: Silvina had a lesson plan on insects as the food of the future, Bhavna shared another lovely story, there were some suggestions on lesson plans for Thanksgiving, and the University Grapevine had ideas on seating plans.

Annie shared details of the International TESOL Associations online conference, which sounded like a great event, and Kate was looking for people to get involved in an online event to raise money for Ukraine. Fiona shared a link to the ELT Publishing Professionals survey of editorial rates too.