Hub Digests

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.

Hub digest – October, 2022

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I’m a bit behind with the October digest as we’re already eight days into November…hopefully that’ll mean less to do next month!

We had a couple of fabulously practical webinars last month, with Rachel Tsateri talking about eclectic planning and teaching and Dylan Gates sharing ideas for doing more with less in Speaking Unplugged. As always, there were insightful comments to our Wednesday Questions:

Lots of quality content from Hubsters too, as always! There are a couple of things which have now passed, but keep an eye on future opportunities….for example, Melissa shared an opportunity to join the MEXTESOL Journal team and Rachael ran a fabulous 5-day LinkedIn visibility challenge – you might have seen some posts from folks involved! Ciarán also shared an awesome list of webinars in October and November. 

We had resources from Silvina on quiet quitting, ideas for incorporating STEM from Elen, Halloween activities from Charlie’s Lessons, storytelling with Bhavna and Robert shared the next issue of The University Grapevine.

There was some chat around financial stability in our profession thanks to a post from The Chilled Investor, Nicola. Jane shared a link to a Russell Stannard video on using Wordwall and we had a question from Stephanie on resources for a learner who works in project management. There was also an article from Jo on dealing with stressful situations.

Erin from Everything EFL Podcast was busy this month, speaking about lexicalising grammar, posing questions on setting boundaries, how to put yourself first and feeling under pressure, making mistakes as a teacher, advice for new teachers, making the most of context in a lesson and sharing ideas for using audioscripts. 

Hub digest – September 2022

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I love September ❤ It’s getting a little cooler here in Spain, but still nice enough to be outdoors, plus the leaves are starting to turn more autumnal. Plus, although things tick over in the Hub in July and August, a lot of our Europe-based members also take a well-deserved rest from thinking about work, so come September there’s often a little more buzz in the group.

So, what’s been happening in the Hub this month? We had a couple of great live sessions, with Kelsea and Gonzalo from Eurospeak chatting to us about their Erasmus+ project, Teaching Grammar for Spontaneous Communication, and a conversation with Dr JPB Gerald on his book, Antisocial Language Teaching: English and the Pervasive Pathology of Whiteness.

Here are the links to our Wednesday Questions for this month:

And our fabulous Hubsters shared lots of great posts too:

At the end of August, Charlie shared his latest video about Google Classroom. There were two new issues of The University Grapevine and Everything EFL had podcast episodes on using dialogues and lesson planning.

There were also posts on creating business English resources, motivating teens to speak, getting ready for the DipTESOL and (un)planning your CPD. There was also a handy thread from a Hubster asking about qualifications in ELT, plus a question followed by a blogpost on Creative Commons.