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TESOL Greece Start-of-the-Year Big SIG Day 2022 Event “Educating the Hearts and the Minds – Teaching for Resillience”
25 September, 2022 @ 9:00 am - 4:30 pm
“Educating the Hearts and the Minds -
Teaching for Resilience“.
Important Note
Wearing a mask throughout the duration of the presentations is highly recommended as crowded indoor places facilitate the spread of Covid. We would like to ask you to be particularly considerate of those who are vulnerable and run a high risk of exhibiting severe symptoms from contracting Covid and wear your masks at all time.
Plenary Speaker
Laura Jane McWilliams
Interactive Plenary Panel
Michael Robbs (Moderator)
Valia Gkotsi
Oksana Hera
Natassa Manitsa
Laura McWilliams
Programme Overview
Venue: Metropolitan College
From the HSAP terminal in Pireas, Buses: 17, 20, x96, Stop Pl. Terpsitheas (a 3min. walk to Metro)
Bus 843, Olympiaki Stop (4 min. walk)
Plenary Presentation
Summary: Is resilience just a buzzword, or is it real? Even if it’s real, can it really be taught in an ELT classroom? Most teachers have never been ‘taught’ resilience ourselves, and until recently there has been little training available to support us. This talk explores what resilience means for children and teens, using the 7Cs model proposed by Kenneth Ginsburg. It then considers what teaching resilience might look like in our classrooms in a practical way that could enhance, not distract from, our teaching of English, and better prepare our learners for whatever their future holds.
Laura Jane McWilliams
“Resilience Through the ELT Lens: Can We Really Teach It?”
10:00 – 10:50
Laura McWilliams manages the Young Learner programme for the British Council across Egypt, Jordan and Sudan. She has previously worked in the United Kingdom and France. She is both a Cambridge DELTA and TYLEC tutor, and has presented at numerous international conferences. She also volunteers as coordinator of the IATEFL Young Learner and Teenagers Special Interest Group to support the global YL ELT community. She is an avid reader, and her background also includes professional theatre. She brings these interests into her classroom practice along with a focus on 21st century skills and diversity and inclusion.
Interactive Plenary Panel
Moderated by Michael Robbs
15:10 - 16:00
The plenary panel will be open for questions from TG members.
You can use the form on the right to type your question.
Michael Robbs
Michael Robbs has been teaching English in Greece for almost 30 years. He has an MA in TESL/TEFL and has co-authored 7 English teaching books. For the past 18 years he has been teacher training and teaching Business English on-site, on-line, and in-house, with the Hellenic American Union and Hellenic American University in Greece. He was the 2007 – 2008 Chair of TESOL Greece.
Michael Robbs
Valia Gkotsi
Valia Gkotsi holds a BA, MA and is a certified Drama and Theatre Pedagogue. She is, also, a IB English Teacher and Examiner for HAEF in Athens, Greece
Oksana Hera is a business English and intercultural communication trainer from Lviv, Ukraine. She holds an MA (Hons) in Linguistics, Cert IBET, a Business Cultural Trainer’s Certificate, and a CELTA. Her interests lie in enhancing in-company training and learners’ motivation and helping professionals to improve their communication in teams.
Oksana Hera
Natassa Manitsa
Natassa Manitsa has worked as an English teacher, podcaster, chief editor, teacher trainer, author, translator, and Marketing & Communication Manager for more than 25 years. She has travelled extensively, delivering seminars and workshops all over Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. She is also the owner and creator of EduMarketing Agency, specializing in better communication tactics for educational organizations. She believes that LIFE is the question and LOVE is the answer.
Laura McWilliams manages the Young Learner programme for the British Council across Egypt, Jordan and Sudan. She has previously worked in the United Kingdom and France. She is both a Cambridge DELTA and TYLEC tutor, and has presented at numerous international conferences. She also volunteers as coordinator of the IATEFL Young Learner and Teenagers Special Interest Group to support the global YL ELT community. She is an avid reader, and her background also includes professional theatre. She brings these interests into her classroom practice along with a focus on 21st century skills and diversity and inclusion.
Laura Jane McWilliams
SIG Presentations
Adult Learners SIG
11:00 – 11:45
Georgia Trimi holds a BA in English Language and Literature and an MA in Applied Linguistics from the university of Nottingham. She is currently teaching EAP and exam classes at BCA college.
Georgina Trimi
“Building Resilience During College: Training Adults’ Minds and Hearts”
Summary: Adult students face a number of challenges during college, therefore building resilience to cope with adversities effectively is important. Taking into account adult students’ mindset and emotional well-being, theoretical and practical examples on building adult students’ resilience in academic contexts are going to be presented and discussed.
Drama & Literature SIG
12:50 – 13:30
Eleni Dougekou
“The Magic of Drama to Enhance Literature Teaching”
Summary: Using Drama techniques in Literature classes has become a widespread practice in English Language Teaching. In this Interactive workshop we will practise a number of Drama techniques used successfully in my teaching such as Reflective Storytelling, Whoosh and Cause and Effect frames. The teachers should leave with insights into how to combine Literature and Drama so as to make Second Language Acquisition more effective, exciting and meaningful.
Eleni Dougekou has a BA in English Language and Literature and and an MA in English Literature. She is a multi-awarded school owner and founder of the English Drama Method. She has been teaching English for more than 20 years. She is a Drama teacher and a teacher trainer.
Learning Technologies SIG
14:10 – 14:55
Theodore Lalos has been teaching for over 13 years – learners of all ages and nationalities. Concurrently, he is developing his own teaching approach based on ELT and Person-centred counselling. He is an English teacher, a Teacher Educator, an Oral Examiner and a Person-centred Counsellor. He has been invited to present and has presented to numerous Conferences and is fond of CPD.
Theodore Lalos
“Last Night Teacher Saved My Life! “
Summary: This presentation will show a human-centred way of using 6 teenage-friendly digital tools to introduce learners to songs to practice receptive and productive skills. It will also show how to empower learners to notice and discuss about the songs’ core meanings, focus on functional exponents, communicative effects and idiomaticity, which will allow them to communicate authentically and facilitate empathic understanding.
Specific Learning Differences SIG
12:50- 13:30
Chrissa Babouris-Smith
“Differentiated Instruction for Students with Learning Differences”
Summary: This presentation will provide an overview of Differentiated Instruction as a valuable tool, benefitting all learners in a classroom and not just those with Learning Differences. Starting with basic characteristics of common Learning Differences, this presentation will explain the theoretical framework of a differentiated classroom and outline several strategies of Differentiated Instruction for learners of all ages.
Chrissa Babouris-Smith has taught EFL since 1992 in large private schools, language schools for adults, as well as in the Universities of the Aegean and Patras. Since 2017, she has been teaching ESL. Her teaching background and her experience as Director of Studies and English Department Head have equipped her with a holistic view of the education sector. Her interest in Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Differentiated Instruction (DI) spans more than 10 years.
Teacher Development and Research SIG
14:10 – 14:55
Anna Moni holds an MA (KU Leuven), MA (University of Venice), and she is a PhD candidate in Education and E-learning, (UOC Catalunya). She is also an Italian language instructor, instructional designer, graduate online tutor, and online faculty trainer at Deree – The American College of Greece. Author/co-author of textbooks for Italian language learning, and book chapters in peer-reviewed publications. Her research interest is in technology-enhanced teaching and learning, and effective feedback in higher education
Anna Moni
“ Feed-up, Feedback & Feed-forward: Supporting Learner Agentic Behavior on Feedback”
Summary: Feedback promotes learner agency, if, in the learning environment, the students are given the opportunity not only to understand where they are going (feed-up), how they are going (feedback) and what they have to do next (feed-forward), but also to act on feedback. Attendees will have the opportunity to understand how to support agentic behavior in response to feedback.
Young Learners SIG
11:00 – 11:45
Lilian STATHI
“Writing? Take It Slow…”
Summary: In this interactive workshop, participants will take part in a versatile writing activity for the teen classroom which will help students understand elements of genre and develop collaborative and peer writing skills. It will also hone their creativity while paying attention to language accuracy, and therefore provide teens with an appropriately challenging and engaging writing task.
Lilian Stathi is an experienced EAL teacher currently working at St. Catherine’s British School with international students who take iGCSE and IB exams – BA Psychology, MA TESOL (dyslexia)
SIG Elections Programme
11:45-12:15 : Adult Learners SIG, , Young Learners SIG, Teacher Development and Research SIG.
13:30-14:00 : Drama & Literature SIG, Learning Technologies SIG, Specific Learning Differences SIG
Deadline for nominations September 24, 2022
SIG Meetings / Elections
Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are an integral part of the TESOL Greece vibrant community of ELT professionals. Their purpose and function is to afford TESOL Greece members specific opportunities to share information or research in specialized fields. Our six SIGs have been established and supported by certain TESOL Greece members who wish to hone their skills within a particular area or specialization of TEFL.
On the Big SIG Day we traditionally hold the SIG meetings to discuss and share with the specific SIG members their concerns and special interests, as well as expectations of their SIG.
Additionally, we hold elections for the posts of SIG Coordinators who are responsible for the smooth running of their SIG in close collaboration with the TESOL Greece Board of Directors. In short, the duties of the SIG Coordinator are the following:
Head a SIG in collaboration with the TESOL Greece Board of Directors.
Attract colleagues interested in the specific SIG.
Suggest planning of SIG events in collaboration with the TESOL Greece Board of Directors.
Run the Annual SIG Meeting at the respective Event.
Suggest innovations to Board through the TG Board SIG Liaison Officer.
Be present (and coordinate your SIG) at SIG events!!
SIG Coordinator Nominations
We open the floor for nominations for the posts of SIG Coordinators (1 year). You can nominate another TESOL Greece member for the post OR you can nominate yourself. Nominees must have experience and particular interest in the relevant SIG and be a TESOL Greece member in good standing.
Deadline for nominations September 24, 2022
