Attending the 20th annual IATEFL-H Conference

Everything has been great so far, apart from the usual small technological problems, the conference goes smoothly :) More info coming soon

A fabulous conference in October

STANDING OUT OR BEING OUTSTANDING

Exploring new normalities in the classroom

IATEFL Hungary is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. We all recognise the dramatic changes that have happened in almost every segment of society during these decades. What once seemed rare and unusual, went unnoticed or did not even exist are today everyday realities. How are these changes being realised in our classrooms? We invite you to discuss with us your strategies on how to handle new normalities.

Have a look at the IATEFL Hungary website for more information on this year`s conference, visit our website and join our event on Facebook.

More information coming soon, so keep coming back if interested :)

Hope to see you there!

Snowy ideas

I don't know how it is elsewhere but here in Budapest it has been snowing massively for days now :)

My school doesn't allow us to go out to the nearby park for a good old snowball fight - of course instead of teaching very important stuff... - so I thought of a few ideas how to 'incorporate' snow into our lessons.

1. Lesson idea no 1 can be used as a warmer at the beginning of either a regular lesson or an ICT lesson. If it's a regular lesson, you might want to bring in some dictionaries, monolinguals are the best in this case. If it's an ICT lesson, you need the internet and maybe some online dictionaries.

Write the word "SNOW" on the board and ask them to collect as many words that collocate with it as possible, then put those on the board as well. Now you organise groups and decide if you want to use the internet, or dictionaries. Tell them to find more words in connection with 'SNOW' in a limited time, let's say, 5-8 minutes. If you decided to use the net, you can do two things: you either let them explore and use google, or give them a wee help with leading them to online dictionaries. If you choose the latter you save some time, I believe.

Here's a list of dictionaries:

The Free Dictionary by Farlex

Yourdictionary.com

Merriam Webster Dicionary

My find:

snowball, snowboard, snowbound, snow-capped, snowdrift, snowfall, snowflake, snowman, snowstorm, snow-white, snow chains, snowline, snowplough, snowblower, snowdrop, snowfield, snow mobile, snow globe

Idioms:

a snow job, not have a snowball's chance in hell (of doing something), be snowed under (with something), as clean/pure as the driven snow, be snowed up, white as snow, snow bunny, snowball effect

Collocations:

heavy/fresh/crisp/thick/driving snow, snow melts or thraws

2. Lesson idea no 2 isn't exactly a lesson idea but some arts and crafts/handouts/activites sites in connection with winter and snow :)

Apples4theteacher

Teacherplanet

The teacher's corner

I hope you'll like these because unfortunately, I'm at home sick (yes, again....) so I can't try them, unless there'll still be snow next Monday when I go back to work :)