November Newsletter 2015 Dear «M_1st_NAME»

ETAS News & Updates

Register online today!

Everyone Welcome: Saturday 23rd - Sunday 24th January 2016

ETAS 32nd Annual Conference and AGM 2016 – Zurich

Members, you can download your programme here and register online now for ETAS Annual Conference and AGM. The deadline for early bird registration is November 30th.

Here’s how to register in a couple of easy steps:

1.Click on this link

2. Log in. This will save you having to enter your details manually.

3. Click on the online registration button illustrated in the screenshot below.

4. Complete all the sections as indicated and then press continue. You will receive confirmation of your successful registration immediately. This will be followed up by a confirmation email, which lists all the workshops you have chosen to attend, as well as your choice of menu.

It’s as simple as that!

While you’re visiting these pages, remember to check out the list of hotels close by and book a room early.

Pre-event

Don’t miss out on the spooky Ghost walk of Zurich, 22nd Friday January. The conference’s popular pre-event where anything goes. Mail Choreanne Frei by 18th January to reserve your spot on this tour. Full details are in the online programme on page 8. Sign up now to avoid being disappointed, as places are limited. See you all there!

Keep checking the website for updates!

Members’ Area! Have you tried logging in yet? If you’re having problems it could be that you’ve forgotten to renew your membership for the period 2015/2016. Don’t worry though because you can renew online by following these simple steps.

Here’s a quick reminder:

Go to ETAS website and click on the log in button. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the button View Contact Dashboard and you’ll see your current status. Click renew on the bottom line and fill out your payment details. It’s that simple!

If you feel that you should have member access but can’t enter these private areas, please contact Pamela, ETAS Administrator.

Use ETAS Social Media Channels to get your message out! Last month we introduced you to the new Social Media Team, which consists of Gemma Lunn, Rachael Harris and Anel Aubert. At present, JoAnn Salvisberg is supporting the team by acting as administrator of the Facebook group and Facebook page. National Council members, this team would like you to work with them by sending any information about ETAS events, Journal publications, workshop feedback, posts that you’ve written that are in some way connected with ETAS. Please mail Gemma so that she can promote these things for you. You’ll be helping this team spread the word about ETAS events. This might just encourage other people to come along or to join our Association.

Current ETAS Vacancies

Library Sub-Committee Member: If you love working with books, please contact Urs Kalberer for details about this position.

Regional Coordinators for Graubunden and St Gallen: If you’re part of these regions and would like to take a more active role within ETAS then get in touch with Annette Leimer.

Co-Regional Coordinator for Baden: Caroline Rickli is doing a wonderful job of bringing teachers together in Baden but would like to share this position. Please contact Caroline for further details.

Young Learners SIG Coordinator: Connect with Urs Kalberer if young learners are your area of expertise. Let’s not leave this group without a leader! Perhaps you’ve got a friend who would like to share this role with you.

Editorial Board Members: The Editorial Team needs to grow in order to keep up with its

increasing responsibilities. Hop on board and learn the ins and outs of publication. The team will support you and help you to build and diversify your skills. Please mail Ceres Pioquinto and become part of a dynamic team.

Digital Content Editor: Have you got an eye for detail and enjoy working in online spaces? Then send Ceres Pioquinto, Editor-in-chief, a mail to register your interest. You’ll be part of the Publications Team and will work closely with its members. Your support is guaranteed.

Facebook Co-administrator: Join JoAnn Salvisberg in moderating and managing ETAS Facebook group and official page. This is a great place to start honing your social media skills. Contact JoAnn now and join the newly established Social Media Team.

Please note that volunteer positions are accessible online for public viewing but can only be filled by ETAS members unless otherwise stated. Keep checking ETAS website for updates.

Events

WOW! Check out these ETAS’ events. All welcome! Lausanne 14th November: Learner-tainment. Mary Schnueriger from Pearson will help you bring your classes to life with this workshop. Payment is on the day but registration is online. Vaud Regional Coordinators, Ruth Benvegnen and Lucy Kottsieper, are waiting to welcome you. Full details are available here.

St. Gallen 21st November: A Factual Account of Bilingualism and Multilingualism and

Word of the Week and Other Ideas for Business and General English. This will be a packed morning with Eugenia Loras and Vicky Loras giving two workshops. Pearson will also be hosting a book exhibition. And you’ll have time to network! Further details can be accessed here.

Baden 27th November: Swap Shop / Apéro Evening. The name says it all! Caroline Rickli is organising this Regional event. Come along and share anything that you’ve been using in your classroom and borrow ideas and tips from others. Everything you need to know about payment and registration can be found here.

Geneva 28th November: Using the Project Approach with Young Learners. This is a theory-based project workshop in which Andrea Vuillomenet will show you how to set up projects in the young learner classroom. The topics will be aimed at 5-8 year olds but can of course be adapted to suit older learners. A practice-based workshop will continue with this theme on February 7th 2016. Please note, there are only thirty places available. For full details concerning the venue, registration and payment, please contact geneva@e.tas.ch. The Regional Coordinators, Rachael Harris and Karen Greaney are waiting to welcome you.

Solothurn 28th November: The Global Scale of English and Speakout. Pearson presenter, Mary Schnüriger, will take a closer look at the Global Scale of English and highlight the implications for you as a teacher and your learners. You’ll have the opportunity to explore some practical activities and games. Don’t forget the aperitif afterwards! Please contact the Regional Coordinator, Sue Nikles, for full details,

Bern 12th December: Differentiation in the language classroom. Join Rachael Harris for this workshop. It is all about special educational needs. Don’t miss out on this one. Full details can be found here including contact information. The Bern Regional Coordinators, Alessia Pratka and Annina Ochsenbein, can be contacted if you have any queries. It’s cash payment on the day but registration online.

Geneva 16th January 2016: Story Telling with Young Learners and Teens. Heidi Philipp and Rachael Harris will introduce you to the world of colourful characters, exciting places and creative narratives. You’ll have plenty of ideas to take home and try out in your classrooms. Please note that there is a limit of thirty places for this event. So register your interest with geneva@e-tas.ch early.

External Links

This list is regularly updated so remember to drop into ETAS website and check out the latest. There are links to ELT resources and links to courses and events that are related to continuing professional development.

Journal News

Call for Papers! Please contact the Geneva Regional Coordinators if you would like to submit an article related to creativity in the language classroom. This is the focus of the Summer Special Supplement for 2016. Share your innovative ideas with ETAS readership and help others to spice up their lessons. The Publications Team is also calling for articles to complement the Special Supplement, so please get in touch with Ceres if you would like to make a contribution. Writing for ETAS Journal is a wonderful way to voice your opinion about ELT related issues, to share innovative classroom activities, to comment on published articles and of course to hone your writing skills. If you’re not quite sure how to get started, read Julie Mangold’s Editors’ Choice introduction and George Jacobs’ article, Writing for publication in language learning journals: some suggestions. How about collaborating with another ETAS member?

Online Comments: Readers’ Café and Techy Corner It only takes a couple of clicks to leave a comment or ask a question. Open ETAS website, let your cursor hover over the menu title Journal, then click on the Projects and Special Features page and you’ll arrive at your destination. Choose either Readers’ Café or Techy Corner and follow the guidelines concerning how to submit a post. The rest will be taken care of for you. Please note that posts are moderated so they will not appear immediately after submission, but will be published soon thereafter. Make use of these member areas and feel free to try them out!

Book Reviews Yes, you can keep any materials that you review. What a deal!

What’s hot for reviewing? How about, 'Teaching Children How to Learn': Gail Ellis and Nayr Ibrahim (Delta 2015)? Check out the books and materials list for further titles. Book review guidelines are available on page 51 of the Summer Journal. Contact Helena and register your interest today. She’ll be thrilled to hear from you.

Practical Teacher Tips and ELT Links

ETAS Downloadables and other Resources

In order to make the most of the resources that are being uploaded to ETAS website, make sure that you log in before exploring the site. Some of these pages are only visible when logged in such as, downloadables. If you click on the menu title Resources, you’ll see that it’s the seventh item on the drop down menu as illustrated in the image below.

(Resources for ETAS Members)

You’ll find other material by clicking on, Browse slides and handouts from our latest events, which is on ETAS homepage under Start Exploring. In addition, the Special Interest Group pages contain great resources, as well as the Journal pages. So log in and start browsing.

Christmas is coming!

It’s that time of year again when Christmas activities start livening up the classroom and Christmas songs echo through hallways. If you teach young learners and are searching for some inspiration then have a look at these resources from the British Council. They’re grouped into age categories, which makes filtering them a little easier. There are crafts to make and games to play. If you’d rather do some class singing or read a story then click on listen and watch on the webpage and choose the appropriate sub-menu. Have fun!

And there’s more for other age groups and language levels. Check out the Christmas resources that Oxford University has compiled. There are games, activities and classics to be read, as well as a link to further material.

One Stop English has Christmas webquests, worksheets, full lesson plans, board games and plenty of teacher notes to help you plan your lessons effectively. These resources are designed for members, however, you could test their free 30-day trial and then decide whether you’d like to register and join their community.

Share your favourite Christmas or New Years’ activity or lesson plan How about sharing your lesson ideas so that we can publish them in the December Newsletter and on ETAS website? These materials can be your own, or an adaptation from another resource (with the appropriate Creative Commons Licence), or you could share us a link to a video, song, audio book and so on. The main criterion is that the content is linked to Christmas or New Year so our members can make use of them in the coming months. Please mail Patricia as soon as possible so that we can integrate them into December’s Newsletter and upload them online.

What’s hot on Twitter?

We’d like to share five posts that have been popular on Twitter this month. You can follow ETAS (@ETAS_CH) to keep up-to-date with all the latest ETAS news and events as well as find useful teaching material and interesting articles and blogs.

The top five are…

1. Helping learners understand different accents by @elfpron

2. 8 guaranteed ways to enhance teenage learner motivation in the language classroom by @yearinthelifeof

3. Upcoming webinars for ELT educators Nov-Dec 2015 by @adi_rajan

4. Online Development – Go for it! By @Priscilamateini

5. New English File Intermediate – Reverse Reading by @NicolaPrentis

You’ll find links to all of our social media channels on the bottom of our homepage.

Come and join us!

ETAS Office

Phone hours: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 8:30-11:30

Pamela, ETAS Administrator, can also be contacted via mail.

Mail Addresses

For your convenience, we’ve created a list of all the mail addresses included in this eNewsletter.

If you’re having any problems accessing links then please mail cafe@e-tas.ch and direct your enquiries to Patricia.

Mail addresses Choreanne Frei: zuri-winti@e-tas.ch

Pamela Betschen: office@e-tas.ch

Hansjoerg Stieger: wech@e-tas.ch

Gemma Lunn: gemma_lunn@hotmail.com

Urs Kalberer: tede@e-tas.ch

Annette Leimer: natco@e-tas.ch

Caroline Rickli: baden@e-tas.ch

Ceres Pioquinto: journal@e-tas.ch

JoAnn Salvisberg: pres@e-tas.ch

Ruth Benvegnen and Lucy Kottsieper: vaud@e-tas.ch

Karen Greaney and Rachael Harris: geneva@e-tas.ch

Sue Nikles: solothurn@e-tas.ch

Helena Lustenberger: bookreview@e-tas.ch

Alessia Pratka and Annina Ochsenbein: bern@e-tas.ch

Patricia Daniels: cafe@e-tas.ch

We wish you a smooth transition into winter!

Your eNewsletter Team

eNewsletter Editor: Patricia Daniels

Proofreader: Rachael Harris

Reviewers: JoAnn Salvisberg and Pamela Betschen

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Copyright English Teachers Association 2015