Posting early today as we’re off up to Sheffield later on to babysit The Artful Dodger while his dad exhibits at the Goldsmiths North show and mum supports. Venceremos!

1. The latest free-to-attend IATEFL monthly webinar is at 15:00 UK time this coming Saturday, 6^th June, presented by Fahd Ali Ahmed Abdulwahab AlFatesh, Volunteering Across Borders: Online EFL Support for Non-Native Learners in Conflict Zones https://www.iatefl.org/event-details/#/?id=833

This session presents a personal case study on how volunteer English language support has been provided to learners in conflict zones such as Yemen and Sudan. Drawing from years of informal education and outreach via social media, the presenter explains how non-formal online teaching can reach underserved populations. The session begins with background context, followed by an overview of the tools, platforms, and strategies used. It also addresses ethical concerns and the importance of cultural sensitivity when working with displaced learners or those affected by trauma. Participants will leave with practical, low-cost methods and a clearer understanding of how educators can make a transnational impact without institutional support. This talk is especially relevant for teachers, volunteers, and Special Interest Groups focused on global issues and equity in ELT.

2. If you’re interested in that first item, you might also be interested in Teaching English to refugees and displaced learners, which is a three-module TeachingEnglish online course that’s now open for enrolment https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/training/courses/teaching-english-refugees-and-displaced-learners

Make your classroom a trauma-sensitive learning environment. Help your learners to shine by working creatively with limited resources and by managing challenging behaviour positively. By the end of Teaching English to refugees and displaced learners, you’ll be able to:

• identify strategies for creating physical and emotional safety for the learners in your classrooms;
• plan activities for large classes and/or with limited resources;
• recognise and apply effective strategies for responding to challenging and trauma-informed behaviours.

3. Ri Willoughby is leading the next workshop on the IH Teacher Portal, Recycle, recall, retain – activities for revision, at 16:30 UK time on 10^th June. More info here: you’ll need to register for a free (and simple) account on the site first https://teacherportal.ihlondon.com/course/webinars

We know that students need to revise vocabulary to help them remember but what can we do to really help them retain new language? This webinar will look at what research says about revision, how we can best incorporate it into our teaching and how to motivate learners to revise outside class. Attendees will leave with a range of practical activities and ideas to help learners remember vocabulary using both tried and tested methods as well as AI-supported revision techniques.

4. Revisionist History is a podcast by Malcolm Gladwell of Tipping Point and Outliers fame which has just completed its fifteenth series https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/revisionist-history/id1119389968 There’s a lot to explore in the archive: 200 episodes plus.

From the latest season, try The Blackberry Problem https://omny.fm/shows/revisionist-history/the-blackberry-problem-the-mistakes-series or from Season 12, The Tipping Point Revisited: Broken Windows https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tipping-point-revisited-broken-windows/id1119389968?i=1000674180062

5. And, finally, Lea Ypi’s lecture at the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest on Indignity, Communism, and Personal History https://youtu.be/5KHlL-nws1w which covers much of the same territory as the wonderfully engaging talk, not yet online, that she gave at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London on Monday which I was lucky enough to attend.