We at Macmillan Education are proud to invite you to the first Advancing Learning Global Teachers' Festival from 8th to 19th February 2021. With world-leading teacher training, live Q & A sessions, opportunities to meet other teachers and much more, we have plenty to help teachers around the world, no matter your context or location. All you need to do is register and enjoy the festival. And by the way, it's completely free!
From William Shakespeare to Global Citizenship Education, these sessions will be looking at ELT from a variety of different perspectives, from an opera singer to digital learning designers.
Based on our 5 key themes, Students' Global Skills, Inclusivity, Assessment, Digital Teaching and Teaching skills, this is your chance to ask any question to our experts on the given subject.
Throughout the festival, you will have the chance to meet other teachers from around the world and discuss a variety of different subjects.
Festival Programme
Monday 8th February
10:00-11:00 GMT & 15:00-16:00 GMT
Frequency is clearly important when deciding which vocabulary to teach in preparation for the B2 First exam, and there are some useful tools available to help us. But a number of additional factors need to be taken into account, and we’ll consider these as well. I’ll be using examples from the new edition of Ready for B2 First to help explain why we teach what we teach.
11:30 - 12:30 GTM & 16:30 - 17:30 GTM
Join this Q&A to ask Alex Tamulis questions about Assessment for the future. You may want to know how to help students prepare for their exams remotely, or you might want to hear how they can develop their writing skills while learning online. The questions you ask are entirely are up to you!
Tuesday 9th February
10:00-11:00 GMT & 15:00-16:00 GMT & 21:00 - 22:00
Everybody loves a story! Stories can present new or familiar ideas but can also offer learners comfort and reassurance in these challenging times. In this presentation we will look at putting stories at the heart of the Primary ELT classroom; to teach language and explore broader topics such as life skills, critical thinking, CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), and SEL (Social and Emotional Learning).
11:30 - 12:30 GTM & 16:30 - 17:30 GTM
What makes a story or storyteller good? How did the most famous English theatre maker Shakespeare write and what can we learn about telling stories from the Bard’s practice? Great story- telling is a craft and more about the way you tell it, than what you tell! In this session, qualities good storytellers need, as well as tips, tricks and techniques to improve our story-telling skills will be explored.
Wednesday 10th February
10:00-11:00 GMT & 15:00-16:00 GMT & 21:00 - 22:00
The language of opinions is often central to a lot of speaking activities in the classroom. This session explores activities we can do to activate our students’ opinions and the language itself. First, we will examine a more traditional ELT approach before taking a look at the ‘real’ language of opinions and ways to practise this in the classroom using examples from Language Hub.
11:30 - 12:30 GTM & 16:30 - 17:30 GTM
Opera singer turned accent management coach Simon Gfeller explains how techniques used by opera singers can be used to help students become more assertive in their use of English. During this talk, Simon will demonstrate how he repurposes operatic techniques to address four families of phonetic patterns and share strategies and thinking tools that can lead to rapid surges of clarity and confidence in students of all levels.
Thursday 11th February
10:00-11:00 GMT & 15:00-16:00
Creating a positive learning environment is key to helping our pupils feel welcomed and supported on a daily basis. One of the best ways of achieving a positive atmosphere is through non-competitive collaboration and the use of cooperative learning. In this session, we will look at practical ways of keeping students actively engaged and focused on collaborative tasks.
11:30 - 12:30 GTM & 16:30 - 17:30 GTM
Join this Q&A session to ask Nathan Waller questions about Inclusivity and he will do his best to answer them! You might want to know how best to help young learners catch up after learning remotely, or you might want to hear how you can help your students develop an awareness of their role within the wider world, or how to teach collaborative learning? The questions you ask are entirely are up to you!
Friday 12th February
10:00-11:00 GMT & 15:00-16:00
In this webinar we will be looking at practical ways to develop useful Thinking Skills for teenagers, for both in and outside the classroom. A number of simple classroom routines to encourage students to get into the habit of thinking critically, creatively and collaboratively will be examined. I will also be sharing some example activities from the new Macmillan course for Secondary students, ‘Gateway to the World’.
11:30 - 12:30 GTM & 16:30 - 17:30 GTM
In this discussion, Matt Hayes and Jonathan Hadley, the authors of the new Macmillan Global Citizenship Education [GCE] framework will discuss what GCE is, why it has emerged in recent years and how it can be integrated into English language teaching. They will outline the benefits of GCE for students’ development and offer practical advice for its implementation both inside and outside the classroom.
Monday 15th February
10:00-11:00 GMT & 15:00-16:00 & 21:00-22:00
What helps a student become a confident communicator? In this webinar, Rhona explores what sub-skills are involved in speaking and how teachers can approach speaking activities with their young adult and adult classes. This interactive webinar will cover techniques and points to remember, as well as some practical classroom activities to help students develop their speaking skills and communicate with confidence.
11:30 - 12:30 GTM & 16:30 - 17:30 GTM
Join this Q&A session to ask John Cruft & Steve Tulk questions about Students' Global Skills. This topic covers anything from life skills, to global citizenship education. You may want to ask questions about how to integrate critical thinking skills into the course you are teaching, or what activities foster creativity, for example. The questions you ask are entirely are up to you!
Tuesday 16th February
10:00-11:00 GMT & 15:00-16:00
Shouldn’t viewing images be the fifth skill we teach? In the age of smartphones and social media we are constantly surrounded by images. Students are not only consuming images, they are also constantly creating and sharing images! In this session, we will look at describing, interpreting and thinking more critically about images, whilst helping our students develop more awareness of the message their own images are sending.
11:30 - 12:30 GTM & 16:30 - 17:30 GTM
Have you ever, after a stressful day, tried to sit quietly to just relax but then discovered your head is so full, you can’t relax? In this session, mindfulness teacher Emma Reynolds will lead you through a variety of Mindfulness practices that address issues such as the busy mind, body tension, anxiety and stress so you can learn how to really give yourself a break!
Wednesday 17th February
10:00-11:00 GMT & 15:00-16:00
Is it fantasy or reality to say it’s possible to teach English to pre-school children effectively? In this session, the role of fantasy and reality in Early Years’ English programmes and the benefits of including a balance of both will be explored. The main focus will be on sharing practical ideas based on fantasy, real-world and blended contexts, which integrate children’s emerging linguistic abilities with their overall development. The session includes some examples from Macmillan’s new global pre-school course ‘The Wheels series’.
11:30 - 12:30 GTM & 16:30 - 17:30 GTM
Join this Q&A session to ask Alejandra Ottolina and Derek Spafford questions about Teaching skills. This area covers anything you feel would develop you as a teaching practitioner. You might want to know how to manage a class of 40 teenage students, or you might want to ask how you can use stories to foster social emotional awareness, the questions are up to you!
Thursday 18th February
10:00-11:00 GMT & 15:00-16:00 & 21:00-22:00
Every one of our students is unique, with their own abilities, interests and backgrounds. Planning activities and managing classes in a way that keeps all students interested can be challenging. Even if we can’t keep all our students 100% involved all the time, we can try to get close! In this webinar we will be looking at teaching techniques to get maximum involvement from all our students.
11:30 - 12:30 GTM & 16:30 - 17:30 GTM
The global pandemic of 2020 led to an unprecedented rush to move courses online, which both highlighted and potentially increased problems of access, equality and inclusion for many learners worldwide. In this session, we will share some of the insights, tips and surprises we’ve encountered as we’ve been learning about how teachers and course designers can not only ‘build back better’ after COVID-19, but also build back fairer.
Friday 19th February
10:00-11:00 GMT & 15:00-16:00
The last twelve months have seen enormous disruption to English language education in many countries. However, young people still need to prepare for exams that are vital to their future success! As the authors of Optimise we are aware of the importance to get reassurance and guidance in preparing teens remotely for exams and in this interactive webinar we will share our experiences, insights and practical tips.
11:30 - 12:30 GTM & 16:30 - 17:30 GTM
Join this Q&A to ask Mark Arthur questions about Digital Teaching. You might want to ask questions such as: How can I make sure my students do their asynchronous learning tasks? Or what are some of the ways I can ensure my students are motivated when they are learning online? The questions you ask are entirely are up to you!
If that wasn't enough, all attendees will benefit from:
Personalised certificates
Sent straight to your email after the event
Free e-goodie bag
with temporary access to Macmillan Education courses
Session handouts after each event
For you to practise what you learn