Thursday, September 14, 2023

Welcome Back Day Conference of TESOL Macedonia-Thrace, Northern Greece

 

   Let's celebrate together our Welcome Back Day Conference face to face. 

Sunday 24th September 2023 at 11:00 

(Arrival time 10:30 and approximate end round 13:00)  

at the Amphitheatre of the Central Library of AUTH (map below)

We are happy to invite our members and friends of TESOL MTH/NG who would like to join our association to a wonderful opportunity to discuss Reading Comprehension Skills for different levels of the CEFR. As mentioned before, this event is a spin-off from last year's conference in Larissa. 

We would like to present our two speakers Ms Marina Kollatou and Ms Zafi Mandali and their sessions.   

  Ms  Marina Kollatou holds a BA from the faculty of English language and Literature of the University of Athens. She has completed her postgraduate studies in the Organization and Administration of Education (University of Thessaly) and in The Teaching of English as a Foreign/International Language (Hellenic Open University). She holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Ioannina. Marina is an EFL teacher in the public sector and a Senior High School Head teacher who currently works as an Education Consultant for English teachers. She is also President of English Teachers’ Association of Larissa (ETAL). In our WBDC, Marina will be presenting a session entitled: Teaching reading strategies. Why, how, what for? The speaker has written about her session: In an era characterized by generating too much information for us to access, let alone process and digest, in the little  spare  time we have for reading, youths do not usually demonstrate any keenness on reading long texts, articles, or literature in their mother togue, even worse in a foreign language like English. They prefer to have a look at titles or read short texts by people summarizing or commenting on either fiction or non-fiction texts. Therefore, now it is more necessary than ever before that teachers should guide learners so that they develop into strategic readers or, in other words,  effective, self-regulated readers.

Μs Zafi Mandali, holds a BA in English Language and Literature from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Essex. She is an active teacher, teacher trainer, storytelling coach and educational consultant who has given a number of presentations, published a number of articles and authored four books, E.A. Publications. She has recently retired from the position of director of studies, Department of English of Ελληνογερμανική Αγωγή, after a tenure of 25 years. Her soft point is storytelling in education and samples of her work are uploaded on www.eltstorytelling.com  and her Eltstorytelling facebook group. In our WBDC, Zafi will present a session entitled: Keys to unlocking new reading texts.

The presenter has written about her session: Different points of entry to reading texts unlock different angles of its context. How do we best set the stage for the new text and which mechanisms do we use to link existing to the new knowledge? With the moving image, as vital communication medium transcending languages and cultures, teachers have fresh points of entry to texts in class. Our workshop will showcase tried and tested reading techniques, adjusted to present day educational needs and means. Participants will walk off with concrete evidence of how to help students understand, personalize, organize and assimilate lexical, grammar or content information in texts.


The board of TESOL MTH/ NG would like to remind all members who would like to renew or all prospective members of our association that this is your last opportunity to join with the reduced price of 30 euro instead 45 euro for 12 months, including our conference and the conference of TESOL GREECE as well as reduced membership rate for IATEFL. Additionally, this Sunday 24.9 the board has decided that all proceeds will go to the victims of the Thessaly floods as a small token of our concern and worry. 

Between the two sessions, there will be a coffee break with coffee and cookies from Miltos Catering.  

                                                                  Map to the venue 




Sunday, August 20, 2023

Why should I visit the TESOL MTH/ NG stand at the Exhibitions this week?

 

 5 reasons to come by the TESOL MTH/NG stand at the Exhibitions in Thessaloniki, August 2023 

If you are thinking ' I know TESOL MTH/NG! Why should I come by the stands?' 

​Let us list the five reasons! 

1 If your membership was taken out at this time last year, you need to renew it again. If you are a lapsed member, this is your time to re-register. And we have good news.  For ALL the August Exhibitions and for Welcome Back Day Conference which will be  
held face-to-face on 24th September 2023 at the Amphitheatre of the Central 
Library of the Aristotle University, we have a reduced price at only 30 euro (from 45) for the annual membership. If you are a student (BA or MA in a state or private university) you will pay 25. 


2 Get the yearly programme of our Events for 2023-24 nd find out about 29th Annual International Conference Embracing the future of ELT'' which will be held in February 2024, face to face. 


3 Since we do not have a session in the PALSO Exhibition or at the FORUM, we have 
     decided to 'give' you a session to watch later! How? Well, we are not going to 
     spoil the surprise! 

Get your copy of the latest issue of ELTesaser, Volume 80, Summer 2023 

5 Find out how you can join IATEFL on an Associate Membership at a fraction of the original cost and find out the pathways these open for you! 

  So, where will the stands be? 

On Thursday 24th and Friday 25th August, you will find us at the PALSO NORTHERN GREECE, 34th Conference and Exhibition at the Macedonia Palace Hotel. 


This is a link to the programme where you can also reserve your spot: 
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/658406630957?aff=posts&fbclid=IwAR1ng2gZ722JDfJL3wiDi5HhdD5JzrGHmO3xh1YjbmFUctt4v77pxjfIe6A


​On Saturday 26th August we will be at the CAPSIS Hotel and at the 2023 Foreign Language Forum organised by ELT NEWS. 




The link to the programme is here   https://flforum.gr/the-cities/2023-autumn-thessaloniki-saturday-26-august

Finally, on Sunday 27th August 2023 we will meet you all at the MET Hotel and at the International Publisher's Exhibition. This is the link to the programme:https://www.ip-exhibitions.eu/events/autumn-23-thessaloniki-ip-exhibition/


You will notice that once again our host Mr Philip Dietschi has given TESOL MTH NG a 50' minute session entirely free of charge. This autumn TESOL MTH/NG is represented by Ms. Tanya Livarda and Ms Maria-Araxi Sachpazian who will present Activities to kickstart your school year which are Playful! Positive! Practical! 


If you work in a school or meet educators who have not joined TESOL MTH/NG, spread the word: At the IP we are holding TWO lucky draws for educators who want to try joining TESOL MTH/NG for the first time. 



The Executive Board of TESOL MTH/NG would like to thank the Board of PALSO Northern Greece, ELT News Ms Anastasia Spyropoulou and Mr Dimitris Spyropoulos and Mr Philip Dietschi for hosting our non-profit association entirely free of charge in their events. It really means a lot! 

Looking forward to seeing you at the Exhibitions! 

The Executive Board of TESOL MTH / Northern Greece 

 

Tuesday, July 25, 2023

What's cooking in August and September at TESOL Macedonia-Thrace Northern Greece?

Are you wondering how to renew your membership? 

Look no more! We are everywhere! In August you can find TESOL Macedonia-Thrace, Northern Greece in all major exhibitions. 

As per our custom, we will be putting TWO free memberships in a lucky draw, so if you have never been our member, do not miss the opportunity.
To register for this event or read the programme, visit: https://www.ip-exhibitions.eu/events/autumn-23-thessaloniki-ip-exhibition/

As we will not have sessions in the other exhibitions, we will make sure you receive your free training session if you visit our stand!
Finally, in August our ELTester is going to be back so do not miss a chance to register to get your magazine and your Iatefl Associate discount.
This is particularly important now as the Themes IATEFL Online Conference is approaching on September 16th (11 am - 15 pm UK time) and you can get a considerable discount as an IATEFL Associate member

More information can be found at https://www.iatefl.org/events/450



Price of Membership
During the August exhibitions and our Welcome Back Day Conference Event in September, members will be able to renew or register at the discounted price of 30euro. Students of all Universities and Colleges can join by paying 25 euro (unless they come in a group of three when the price goes down to 20euro).
Do not forget that through TESOL MTH/NG you can join IATEFL at a discounted associate price which allows you access to all the benefits of being an IATEFL Member.

As always TESOL Macedonia Thrace Northern Greece will be providing a full calendar of events (one webinar every month) until February 2024 when our Annual International Conference will be held face to face. At the same time (February 2024) we will hold our AGM and the elections for the new board.

Welcome Back Day Conference, 24th September 2023

On Sunday 24th September 2023 at 10:00 we will be holding our Welcome Back Day Conference, which will be held face to face at a venue which will be announced shortly.
Our speakers are Ms Zafi Mandali and Ms Marina Kollatou who will be presenting practical strategies about how to 'open' the text and teach reading strategies. This event is a spin-off from the closing Open Space Technology Event of the Conference organised in Larissa in October 2022. We are very happy that one conference has inspired another event!


Happy Summer Holidays! See you in August!

 

Monday, June 12, 2023

End-of-Year Summer Conference

 

 The date of our events is Saturday 17th June 2023, starting at 16:30. Our event is a Saturday one to let you enjoy Father's Day on Sunday and an afternoon one to accommodate the needs of our speakers who live in entirely different time zones. 

Angelos Bollas.jpg     Dr Angelos Bollas 
                                      Title: Something is rotten in the state of TESOL land

Dorothy Zemach.jpg Ms Dorothy Zemach  
                                   Title: Future Proof

Gabriel Diaz Maggioli.jpgDr Gabriel Diaz Maggioli 
                                     Title: The 6 E's of Language Teaching: Making learning 
                                         stick

The zoom link has already been sent to full TESOL MTH/NG members. 


Friday, March 31, 2023

28th Annual International Conference of TESOL MACEDONIA-THRACE, NORTHERN GREECE FULL PROGRAMME LINK

 

Join us on April 1st and 2nd for a thought-provoking online conference. 

Access to the conference is restricted to those members who have renewed their membership after June 2022. If you want to renew your membership, email TESOL MTH/NG at tesolmth@gmail.com 
You can find our Programme PDF and the Overview of the two days


Tuesday, March 28, 2023

28th Annual International Conference of TESOL MTH / NG [ONLINE] Plenaries and Summaries with times


Summary 
In this talk, I draw on critical incident narratives produced by tertiary-level English language teachers to show how responding to these incidents enabled teachers to develop personally and professionally. These critical incidents were classified as such on the basis of four structural characteristics: they 1) recount past events, 2) signify significant change in professional knowledge, 3) are treated as formative thus informing current and future teaching practice, and 4) contain emotionally charged discourse. In describing past emotional turmoil and ethical dilemmas, the teachers reflected on how the critical incidents helped them to understand themselves, regulate their emotions and develop resilience.


Summary 
What are Transferrable Skills? What are Transferrable Skills? What is Task-based Language Assessment? (TBLA) How are Backward Design and Instructional Design related to TBLA? What do learners need to know to be successful? How can we make TBLA meaningful to our learners? How do teachers turn learners into creators of content? What role do graphic organizers play in TBLA? What does the Assessment Center Approach have to do with TBLA? How do these concepts, frameworks, and approaches influence the way we teach? How do teachers develop themselves to become Business Communication Trainers who concentrate on teaching Transversal Skills? Is TBLA for everyone? 




Summary 
Actually, there is no direct connection between continuous professional development (CPD) and ChatGPT. But did the title make your curious? Why? It may be because hot topics like this create motivation, particularly intrinsic motivation. In this plenary, we will examine how aspects of motivation and principles of andragogy (teaching adult learners) affect CPD. We will consider the impact of the process of change as a factor. Participants will come away with a better understanding of ways to excite and motivate teachers to participate in CPD, and suggestions of how AI tools such as ChatGPT can be harnessed to enhance it. 

Summary 
The Owl Factor assumes that the teaching and learning process is built around exchange and resources. This process can be narrowed down to what I call the KNOW-SHOW-GROW approach. Teacher and students know different things. Each one needs to show the other what they know so that they can grow in the process. This session explores it!