(387 registrations vs 318 attendees)

Miriam Paredes. BE READY TO TEACH WITH QUICK MINDS – B. BAWTINHEIMER
“Attending Brad’s presentation was truly an enriching opportunity to revise concepts from the Flipped learning approach and get tips for successful and better planned online learning lessons. Among the many ideas shared, I found really interesting: using short videos to pre-teach vocabulary and functional English, having students make their own ‘hand’ crafts or finger puppets to participate in class and present dialogues, using lots of realia to arouse curiosity, break the ice, practise the language or reinforce concepts learnt in class, among other ideas.
Indeed, 21st century technology offers lots of advantages in the learning process, but these results can be more achievable and memorable if we mix the pros of hands-on learning with those of ed tech. Let’s get started!”

Jenny Castellanos. HELPING TEENAGERS BUILD VOCABULARY & EXPRESS THEMSELVES CONFIDENTLY IN THE ONLINE CLASSROOM – J. STRANKS
“What I liked about Jeff Stranks’ presentation is the importance of encouraging students to go beyond their level giving them not only lexis, but also exploring the different fixed phrases collocations and associations they can use to communicate. Our students can be engaged according to their ages with different apps, games such as hangman, jumbled words, songs, the idea is that no matter if they are teenagers or adults, they need to recycle vocabulary and we need to help them make it memorable.”

Franchesca Lizarribar.THE ROLE OF GRAMMAR RULES IN COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING – DR C. WALTER
“What an enlightening presentation! Dr. Walter demystified the concept behind grammar rules and communication. She presented both, sound and reliable evidence on the importance of teaching and learning grammar rules and its positive effects. It has definitely changed the way I used to see grammar and communication.”

Nancy Isa. ENCOURAGING CURIOSITY – P. DUMMET
“Paul Dummett’s presentation “Encouraging Curiosity” showed us how to stimulate students’ curiosity and encourage critical thinking as the key factors to successful learning outcomes and positive classroom atmosphere. What I take from this presentation is how to maintain “an element of surprise” in our lessons and how to constantly involve our students in collective activities in order to keep them engaged in an online setting.”

Rocío Bolaños.SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE: DOES IT PAY TO SPEAK ENGLISH? – MIKE MAYOR
“I found this session really interesting because this information, based on a research, demonstrated that while learning English, people develop a set of skills that make them more employable in the 21st century. This information motivated me to give students more opportunities to reflect on their learning in class. This could be done providing pair work or group work activities in which they would need to apply their critical thinking and creativity while they develop soft skills such as teamwork and time management.”

Víctor HernándezBEYOND MOTIVATION: ENGAGING ADVANCED LEARNERS (ONLINE AND OFFLINE!) – P. TOLEDO
“After teaching Advanced courses for so long, I’ve come across students whose interest in learning English has dwindled due to the fact that the impact they get in this level is not as drastic as in the beginning. Something that I need to remember is how pivotal it is to provide feedback and acknowledge their work constantly – on the spot or delay. What is more, tailoring challenging tasks and meaningful activities can have a great impact on my students’ performance and re- instill motivation to keep getting better. I need to become a role model for them to emulate.”

• Be ready to teach with Quick Minds
• Helping teenagers build vocabulary & express themselves confidently in the online classroom.
• The role of grammar rules in communicative language teaching.
• Encouraging curiosity.
• Skills for the future: Does it pay to speak English?
• Beyond Motivation: Engaging advanced Learners (online and offline!).