What’s your story?

with Robert Campbell

Our lives are filled with stories, from everyday conversations with friends and colleagues, through our posts on social networks, to the TV series and films we watch, the books we read, and news stories we follow. Stories are an important way for students to connect with each other and with the outside world. But how can we make storytelling more than simply reading or listening to texts? This workshop is filled with practical ideas to develop students’ listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills. It’s not storytelling – it’s storydoing.

Helbling Spring Festival
20 April, 2022

A mixtape for teachers

with Robert Campbell

Music and songs can be powerful tools to motivate students and make language learning more meaningful. In this workshop we'll look at how coursebooks and teachers have used songs and music over the years, share our own experiences, and compile a (play)list of diverse practical classroom activities.

Helbling Autumn Festival
19 October, 2021

Studio: The classroom as rehearsal space

with Robert Campbell and Lindsay Clandfield

The classroom is a space where learners practise the language they’ll use in the
real world. Viewed this way, one could compare it to an actors’ rehearsal
space. In this talk we’ll look at how this approach might work in practice.
Using examples from Studio (Helbling Languages) we’ll see how roleplays,
pairwork and multimedia can help prepare learners.

IATEFL Conference 2021
Online
19-21 June, 2021

Two by two

with Robert Campbell and Lindsay Clandfield

Why do teachers groan at doing pairwork at conferences?
This talk takes a fresh look at pairwork; a common area of teaching but not
without its problems! We’ll share tips for successful pairwork, the best kinds
of pairwork activities and examine times when it’s probably best to avoid
pairwork. This talk features activities from our new course Studio and its
pairwork app.

TESOL-SPAIN 43rd Annual National Convention
Salamanca, Spain
Sunday 8 March, 2020, 12.45-13.45

Using Videoscapes in roleplays

with Robert Campbell

Classroom roleplays require a degree of imagination to be memorable and fun. Multimedia can help. Using images, video and audio, we’ll re-create role plays in which participants practise language in a variety of situations. We’ll be using the ExLT ‘adventure’ The Island and a videoscape from Helbling’s new Studio course.

The Image Conference
Saturday 5 October 2019
BELTA, Brussels, Belgium

English for the Zombie Apocalypse

with Robert Campbell and Lindsay Clandfield

Communication is vital when you are facing the end of the world. In this lively session the authors of the eBook English for the Zombie Apocalypse will demonstrate how alternative contexts can be used to teach functional English. Participants will actively follow a sample zombie survival lesson before discussing the methodology and thinking behind this and future survival projects.

Exams Catalunya 4th Annual ELT Conference
Saturday 19 November, 2016
ESADEFORUM Barcelona

Language and Beyond

with Robert Campbell

To be successful at school (and later on in life), students need to learn skills that go beyond pure academic knowledge. But how can a teacher best use the material from a coursebook to make language useful for their students’ academic, social and future working lives? In this talk, we will look at practical ways to teach life skills to secondary school students.

15th BRAZ-TESOL International Conference
July 14-17 2016
Brasilia, Brazil

11th ABCI Conference
July 19-21
Fortaleza, Brazil

English for the Zombie Apocalypse

with Robert Campbell and Lindsay Clandfield

Communication is vital when you are facing the end of the world. In this lively session the authors of the eBook English for the Zombie Apocalypse will demonstrate how alternative contexts can be used to teach functional English. Participants will actively follow a sample zombie survival lesson before discussing the methodology and thinking behind this and future survival projects.

IATEFL Conference Birmingham
Wednesday 16 April 2016

Language and Beyond

with Robert Campbell

To be successful at school (and later on in life), students need to learn skills that go beyond pure academic knowledge. But how can a teacher best use the material from a coursebook to make language useful for their students’ academic, social and future working lives? In this talk, we will look at practical ways to teach life skills to secondary school students.

TESOL Italy 40th National Annual Convention
November 13-14, 2015
Polo Didattico, Rome

Open your mind and go beyond: Getting the most from video

with Robert Campbell

With video playing such an important part in teenagers’ lives and now a major feature of course books, how can we help students get the most from video both inside and outside the classroom? In this talk we’ll explore ways of using ‘authentic’, ELT, and student-created videos. I’ll also share my experience of creating video material for Beyond..

Macmillan ELT Forum 2015
23 May 2015, Warsaw, Poland

English for the Zombie Apocalypse

with Robert Campbell and Lindsay Clandfield

In this lively session the authors of the eBook English for the Zombie Apocalypse will teach a sample survival lesson to learners, demonstrating how alternative contexts can be used to teach functional English and motivate students. We’ll then look at the methodology and thinking behind this and future survival projects.

Innovate ELT Conference
8 – 9 May 2015, Barcelona, Spain

Getting the most from video

with Robert Campbell

With video playing such an important part in teenagers’ lives and now a major feature of course books, how can we help students get the most from video both inside and outside the classroom? In this workshop we’ll explore ways of using ‘authentic’, ELT, and student-created videos. I’ll also share my experience of creating video material for Beyond.

IATEFL Conference Manchester
Saturday 11 April 2015

Beyond the English classroom: How teaching life skills helps teenagers to develop as a whole person

with Robert Campbell

When it comes to preparing our students for success in and beyond the classroom, teaching life skills such as active listening, empathy and teamwork play a vital role. In this presentation we'll look at how learning life skills helps our students meet the demands of a changing world, and why the English class, with its emphasis on communication, is a good place to develop these 21st century skills. As we look at a range of classroom activities and lesson ideas, we'll also see how life skills can boost our students' English skills.

IP Conference, Athens, Greece
Sunday 29 March 2015

Teach Beyond -- a new course for secondary

with Robert Campbell, Rob Metcalf and Rebecca Robb Benne

In today's changing world, secondary materials need to reflect the students' lives and prepare them for life beyond the classroom. Beyond is a new 6-level international secondary course that develops both linguistic and life skills. In this talk, the authors of the course present its unique sub-skills syllabus, and the videos that bring its pages to life.

IATEFL Conference Harrogate
April 4, 2014