TALKS ONLINE
Online talks offer a lot of flexibility – there's no travel needed and you can take part from the comfort of your own home. And there's always an opportunity for you to share your ideas and discuss your experiences with the other participants if you wish.
You'll find dates and more information about upcoming talks here.
Talks & workshops for teachers
Are you or your English department looking for fresh ideas, inspiration or updates on current topics?
I regularly give talks and do workshops for English teachers at Pädagogische Institute, regional language conferences and also for English departments in schools. Here's a selection of some of the talks and workshops I have given. The talks are usually in English but if you'd like to invite colleagues from other departments, I can also give them in German - wie Sie möchten! And if your department is looking for something different, just let me know.
Media literacy
A critical skill for the 21st century
Today more than ever, media literacy is not just important, it's absolutely critical. It's not a question of what the media does to us but it's about learning to control how we use the media: We need to be able to recognise and deal with fake news, identify credible sources, show respect for other people's intellectual property and personal data - as well as our own, learn to communicate effectively but with empathy, and get a feeling for intercultural issues, But what does this really mean and what does it encompass? And how can it be integrated into English lessons?
WHAT TEACHERS HAVE SAID:
"Thanks a lot for the great presentation today and the many great ideas. It's always very inspiring to have a webinar with you ;-)."
"Thanks for your inspirations you gave us teachers today. Media Literacy is definitely an issue in our classrooms."
DIGITAL INSPIRATION
In this talk we'll be looking at how to integrate digital technology into English lessons, not only as a way of enabling students to learn important skills for the 21st century but also as a way of making learning more relevant and enjoyable. At the same time, we'll be debunking some myths about digital and looking at how digital materials can inspire students to become creative.
WHAT TEACHERS HAVE SAID:
"Vielen Dank für ihren inspirierenden und kenntnisreichen Vortrag zum Thema Digitales Lernen im Fach Englisch."
"Thank you so much for this very well-prepared and thoughtful talk full of inspiring ideas."
DIGITAL STORYTELLING
A creative way to develop media literacy
Stories have helped us to understand the world around us since time immemorial. Today, we have myriad ways of delivering them – orally, using print, films, and of course, digital means.
By engaging with digital stories as well as creating their own, students not only practise different competencies but also hone skills that are important for the development of media literacy.
WHAT TEACHERS HAVE SAID:
"Thank you for your inspiring SchiLF about digital storytelling – it provided me with lots of new ideas"
"Your input concerning storytelling was refreshing and inspiring; I am burning to present parts of your contents to my teacher trainees next week."
SOUNDS INTERESTING
Why intercultural competence is the key to effective understanding
There's more to communication than speaking a common language – it's also about being able to interact in an effective, appropriate manner and understand verbal and non-verbal cues.
In this talk we'll be looking at how short films, video clips and other resources can help raise students' awareness so they don't stand out for the wrong reasons.
WHAT TEACHERS HAVE SAID:
"A huge thank you for the entertaining and enriching talk and workshop, hope to see you again soon."
"Thank you for the brilliant talk on intercultural competence and some promising ideas for my classroom."
AUTHENTIC ENGLISH IN CONTEXT
Ways of helping students in the Sekundarstufe II become more proficient
This talk, including practical tips and materials, will focus on getting the pupils to: "notice" new words and chunks in authentic texts, audio and video; understand the importance of context; independently decide which words and chunks are worth learning; revisit and recycle the expressions so that they become part of their active vocabulary. We will also be looking at how different media can be used to actively support the learning process and increase motivation.
WHAT TEACHERS HAVE SAID:
"Excellent tips; short ways to motivate students to discover vocab"
"I had the pleasure of attending your training session today and came away with really great ideas of how to spruce up my (vocab) teaching. Thank you so much."
SPEAKING IS LIKE SPORT
The more you train, the fitter you are! But that's not all, you also have to be able to react quickly, take risks, show initiative – and, most importantly, enjoy what you're doing. Using practical materials, including audio-visual materials, digital media and games, the talk will explore how to help students lose their inhibitions and enable them to speak more authentic English.
WHAT TEACHERS HAVE SAID:
"I've tried out some of your ideas already and they are working really well in the classroom."
"I was going through my notes on the Landessprachentag and found your wonderful presentation "Speaking is like Sport" (which was the highlight of the day, many thanks for it :-)"
ACTIVELY USING GRAMMAR
Pupils in Year 10 upwards generally have a good, basic command of English. However, there are certain grammatical points that still cause difficulties, including sequence of tenses, if clauses, modal auxiliaries, word order and prepositions.
This talk will focus on how to help pupils identify their individual weaknesses and will provide different suggestions for how to focus on these points and practise them. The talk will show how different media can be actively used to support the learning process.
WHAT TEACHERS HAVE SAID:
"nochmals ganz herzlichen Dank für die tolle Fortbildung gestern! Ich fand sie wirklich äußerst interessant, inspirierend, erfrischend ..."
"I had the pleasure to take part in your grammar training last Monday. It was very interesting and helpful. Thank you very much for all the ideas which are really ready to use (I've already played the adverb game with my class and it was a success...)."
TAKING THE FEAR OUT OF SHAKESPEARE
Students are often intimidated by the idea of "doing" Shakespeare. Some see the language as being difficult, while others think the plays are old-fashioned and boring. What many of them don't know is that he was one of the greatest storytellers to have ever lived. And the themes he deals with - think jealousy, young love, loyalty, revenge - are universal and still relevant for today's audiences. So how can we help students to discover this?
In this session we'll be looking at different ways of approaching the works to get students (in Years 9 upwards) engaged right from the start, as well as at how visually appealing materials such as graphic novels can be used to make the plays more accessible to today's teenagers - even those in the Sekundarstufe II.
WHAT TEACHERS HAVE SAID:
"Thank you so much for your inspiring talk today at the Fremdsprachentage! As I'm going to teach Shakespeare for the very first time next year, you really took the fear out of teaching Shakespeare for me and I very much hope I'll be able to make my students as enthusiastic about dealing with Shakespeare as you did today.."
"Vielen Dank für den wundervollen Vortrag über Shakespeare. Ich habe nicht nur die "Angst" vor Shakespeare verloren, sondern bin voller Lust und Motivation Dank Ihnen aus dem Kurs und freue mich drauf, Shakespeare zu unterrichten."
