Pre-Conference Workshops Strand A -- Professional Development

Archive Copy.

Curtis Kelly

Self-Presentation Training 
10:00 – 11:50 (100 min.)
 

The presenter, who has done about 400 speeches at conferences, would to train you in his favorite techniques: including phrasing, moving for punctuation, creating “wow” effects, and making the audience care. Whether you’d like to be a better presenter at conferences or in the classroom, or just want some presentation methods to use in your own class, I’m sure you’ll find something useful in this workshop.

Presenter Bio-Sketch
Popular speaker and writer, Curtis Kelly (EdD), is a Professor of English at Kansai University in Japan. Since his life mission is the “relieve the suffering of the classroom,” has spent most of his life developing learner-centered approaches. He has written over 30 books, including Significant Scribbles (Longman), Active Skills for Communication (Cengage), and Writing from Within (Cambridge).

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Lunchtime Break: 11:50 am — 1:30 pm

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Sara Davila

What the FLIP? Content Creation and Assessment in the FLIPped Classroom (Part 1)
1:30  – 2:45 pm (75 min.)  

Across two 75 minutes sessions, I will work to help teachers understand and put into practice the FLIP approach to classroom teaching. Session one will explore what FLIP is through a short demonstration lesson used as a practical example and guide. Working through the lesson, teachers will have a chance to explore the benefits of FLIP, flag potential areas for change, and incorporate practical considerations for their personal learning environments. By processing the demo teachers will explore the four areas of FLIP and the considerations for planning with a FLIP methodology. 

Following the introduction to FLIP and demo lesson, teachers will examine the pedagogical shift to allow for appropriate assessment in a FLIPped classroom model, including improved objectives that will be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound or SMART. Understanding the role of assessment, incorporated with FLIP, will allow teachers to plan for robust lessons that will engage both learners and teachers, and allow for demonstrable measurement tools that can show learner progress. 

Presenter Bio-Sketch
Sara Davila is a teacher, teacher trainer, and educational designer engrossed in language education, professional development, and curriculum construction. She has worked in the US and abroad as a language teacher and learning expert in the field of language acquisition. Sara has done extensive research on performance assessment, communication-based instructional strategies, and learning theory with presentations, workshops, and articles around each topic. She is currently working with Pearson English as the Learning Expert in Higher Education for global English language products. Sara also continues to contribute to the field through her website, which contains presentations, free lesson plans, and free worksheets for teachers, located at www.saradavila.com .

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Robert Murphy

The Maxims of NeuroELT, and How to Use Them in Your IBL Classroom 
3:00 – 3:50 pm (50 min.)
 

Over the past five years at our neuroELT lab in Japan, we have developed 52 teaching maxims that are fully based on neuroscience. Learn how to implement the maxims and reap the results: Learn how to create lasting motivation to learn languages, how to successfully mix top-down with bottom-up learning, how to raise test scores without adding pressure on the students, and much more. This session will help make your learning life less stressful, and will put more smiles on your student’s faces. Your students will thank you!

Presenter Bio-Sketch
Robert S. Murphy has a master's degree in TEFL/TESL from the University of Birmingham and is currently pursuing a PhD in Education. He is a regular presenter at major EFL conferences in Japan, is a university lecturer, and teaches at his own language and education school in Kyushu, Japan.

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Sara Davila

What the FLIP? Content Creation and Assessment in the FLIPped Classroom (Part 2)
4:00  – 4:15 pm (75 min.)  

In the second half of this two workshop series, teachers will go further with FLIP. Having a deeper understanding of what FLIP is, how to plan classrooms with FLIP in mind, and how to assess learner performance in a FLIP environment, teachers will work together to conduct a practical needs analysis of their own classroom. Sharing together, teachers will consider the practical needs of their current curriculum, objectives, and program goals as part of the outcomes to be achieved in a semester. Discussions will include how planning with FLIP can help facilitate successful achievement of learning goals over the course of a semester. 

Following the analysis teachers will work together to plan a practical, functional, FLIPped lesson that could be used at some point in the upcoming assessment. As lessons develop, teachers will conduct a review to determine the best assessment protocols, building on our exploration of assessment from the first session, to construct an assessment package appropriate to the lesson. Before leaving, all lessons will be scanned for distribution so each teacher can walk away with a package of powerful FLIP lessons, designed around the authentic needs of their learners, and with a practical assessment piece that is essentially “ready to teach” on Monday  morning.

Presenter Bio-Sketch
See Sara Davila’s bio-sketch above. 

 

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