English for the Future Newsletter
| April 2012 |
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| Welcome! | |
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Welcome to this month's newsletter - I hope you had a great holiday!
Thank you for all your contributions and feedback -we want to make sure the newsletter is yours, so we really value your input. Please send any suggestions or contributions to nick.cherkas@britishcouncil.org. We look forward to hearing from you!
I'm delighted to include a contribution from Nabil Es-Shami in this month's newsletter: Moroccan Educators: Be Creative! Many thanks to Nabil for his ideas and enthusiasm. If you'd like to follow suit, please send me your article, lesson plan, stories, anecdotes, recipes (!) to nick.cherkas@britishcouncil.org and you could have your name in print and get a certificate of contribution for your work.
If any of your friends or colleagues would like to subscribe to the newsletter they can do so by entering their email address at http://www.britishcouncil.org/morocco-newsletter-subscribe-cc.htm.
Many thanks - and hope to see you soon, Nick Nick.cherkas@britishcouncil.org Facebook: Nick Cherkas
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News
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1- LearnEnglish Teens
The new LearnEnglish Teens website was launched at last month's IATEFL conference. It is designed especially for 13-to-17-year-olds to fill the gap between the LearnEnglish Kids and LearnEnglish adult websites. On LearnEnglish Teens, users can:
LearnEnglish Teens has been designed to work on different screen sizes such as smartphones, tablets and computers.
And best of all - it's fun, fantastic and free! So tell your students all about it...
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2- The MATE National Conference in Oujda
The Moroccan Association of Teachers of English - MATE, organized its 32nd annual conference in Oujda, from April 09th to April 12th, 2012. The theme of the conference was"Critical Thinking Skills in English Language Education".
MATE annual conference is a gathering of its members to discuss a chosen current issue. It is also an event where the association asserts its identity as a leading ELT organization in teacher training in Morocco and in the region.
This year's conference was marked by an extensive discussion of crtitical thinking and its various applications in teaching the four skills as well as its psychological, social and political dimensions. The content of the morning papers was varied; tackling theoretical assumptions, research findings and textbook evaluation. The speakers were Moroccan supervisors, teachers, researchers and trainers. There were also English Language fellows from USA and teacher trainers from British Council.
During the workshops, participants were introduced to more practical applications of critical thinking and exchanged their experiences in an interactive manner.
As usual, MATE annual conference had to include a general assembly, an occasion for MATE national board to report its work during the previous work and for members to make their voices and opinions heard and considered. This year's conference was also the time for board elections, as the two-year mandate has come to an end. So, a new board was democratically elected, with a new president for MATE for the next two years: Professor Abdellatif Zaki. Known for his dedication to MATE, and for his professional and academic excellence, Professor Zaki, supported by an energetic new board, vowed to improve MATE services and sustain its excellent reputation.
Lahcen Tighoula
MATE secretary general
Congratulations to Professor Zaki, his new vice-president, Rachida Guelzim, and the new and continuing members of the MATE board!
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Upcoming teacher training
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We plan to run teacher training workshops in and around Ouarzazate, Beni Mellal, Bouznika, Khouribga, and Essouira in co-operation with MATE and the Ministry of Education. Please contact your teaching supervisor if you and your colleagues would like to benefit from professional development and teacher training opportunities from the British Council.
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Moroccan Education: Be creative
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I day to day meet teachers who hold negative views about teaching: I don't blame them. They surely have their reasons. Some would have full time tables; others blame the curriculum, some blame the administration; whereas some would simply curse the students because they say that their level is below the average and most of them are unwilling to study. Moreover, the students themselves hold negative views about learning because they feel that their teachers are bored. It's a very complicated matter. However, shouldn't we look for solutions for this? Isn't it a burden to teach pupils more than it is a duty? Teachers become bored over the years and they just do the duty without assuming the burden. The question we should ask ourselves is: How not to become a bored teacher?
In my view, teacher development seems to be the perfect tool to fight boredom in classes. A teacher should develop the habit of looking for new ways of teaching. Creativity should be at the heart of a devoted teacher's concern. As Sir Ken Robinson put it: "Creativity is as important in education as literacy". Teachers should let creativity guide them in designing lesson plans and activities. There are many articles and videos on the net about teacher development, lesson plans, ideas for activities; we need to be creative in order to adapt these to the Moroccan school environment. Moroccan teachers should get more involved in finding solutions on the way to teach crowded classrooms effectively, classroom management and other concerns... Teachers should share ideas with their colleagues using social networks, seminars, workshops or e-newsletters. We shouldn't be selfish and imprison our ideas in our classrooms or even worse, in our minds.
With a big YES, I say we definitely should look for solutions to make the job of teaching a more pleasant one. The teacher and especially the teacher of English can get the students interested in the lesson since the latter's attention gets easily triggered once something new is presented and that is relevant to him/her. The foreign language teacher, and as far as the theories and approaches of language teaching are respected, should personalize the items and chunks or even the grammar structures presented. So, just the fact to get students talking about their belongings, life experience or their ideas in a different language can make them excited and thus motivated to learn, as long as they are invited to participate in the making of the lesson.
By: Es shaimi Nabil
nabil.esshaimi@gmail.com
Phone: +212626234749
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English for the Game
Check out this new section of:
www.learnenglish.britishcouncil.org
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-for-the-games
The site is currently running a competition for learners, and the prizes include Olympic materials, books and mementos. Those who enter as individuals can win a trip to the UK!
There are two elements to the competition: one for those aged 8 - 11 and one for those aged 12 - 16:
Users aged 8 - 11
Create a project called "He's a hero / She's a heroine".
Users aged 12 - 16.
Design "My Perfect Paralympic Poster".
Please take a look at http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-for-the-games/competition and read the terms of use to see how your class can enter.
Good luck to all your students who enter!!
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Contact Us
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For more information contact us:
British Council 11, Av Allal ben Abdellah, Rabat
Telephone 05 37 21 81 30
Email
info@britishcouncil.org.ma
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The United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).
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