Roy Cross's Blog

1. A repeat of this morning’s message for those that didn’t get it earlier about Macmillan Education’s Advancing Learning Global Teachers’ Festival which began on Monday and runs till Friday 19th February: https://www.macmillanenglish.com/advancing-learning-global-festival Two sessions each day, each repeated two or three different times in the course of the day, so everyone that wants to gets chance to attend. PDF of programme attached below.

[FILE]

2. This looks likely to be a great event at 20:30 UK time next Monday, 15^th February as part of the Northern Ireland Science Festival with Jane Goodall, famous for her pioneering chimpanzee conservation work: https://nisciencefestival.com/e21465-how-to-save-the-planet–in-conversation-with-dr-jane-goodall-dbe-tara-shine-and-anna-kernahan

Here’s the link to register https://www.citizenticket.co.uk/events/ni-science-festival/how-to-save-the-planet-ndash-in-conversation-with-dr-jane-goodall-dbe-tara-shine-and-anna-kernahan/

and here’s the Jane Goodall Institute website: https://www.janegoodall.org/ Jane first travelled to Gombe Forest in Tanzania in 1960, the same year that she made the discovery that chimpanzees make and use tools.

3. Lots of good stuff here in the British Council TeachingEnglish Teacher Educator Newsletter, including yoga, storytelling and communities of practice in Egypt and globally, plus several surveys, at least one of which is bound to pique your interest enough for you to complete it: http://createsend.com/t/y-96B356118BCE856E2540EF23F30FEDED

4. If you missed – as you almost certainly did, given the notice I gave you – the Hay Festival event with Francis Spufford yesterday evening (during which he wore a hat indoors, which would have upset my grandmother), here’s the BBC Radio ‘Book at Bedtime’ version of his novel, Light Perpetual: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000s18l It’s a good, accessible listen so far.

Also from Hay, free access for this week only to the recording of Bernardine Evaristo’s interview with Pilar Quintana at Hay Cartagena last month: https://www.hayfestival.com/p-17347-bernardine-evaristo-in-conversation-with-pilar-quintana.aspx?skinid=16

1. The shortest notice ever, sorry – this Hay Festival event with Francis Spufford starts at 19:00 UK time today, Tuesday: https://www.hayfestival.com/p-17398-francis-spufford-in-conversation-with-rebecca-watson.aspx

Here’s a review of his book to whet your appetite: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jan/24/light-perpetual-by-francis-spufford-review-a-brilliant-capacious-experiment-with-fiction And I very much hope there will be a recording ..

2. Amazon (Jeff Bezos) yesterday, today it’s Google’s turn – these small organisations need all the help they can get! Google’s Learning with Google event takes place on 17^th and 18^th February this year. More info and a registration link here: https://educationonair.withgoogle.com/events/learning-with-google-2021

I’m absolutely sure I’m not exploiting all of Google’s features, and I’m looking forward to learning what I’m missing next week. I’m also slightly worried that Google, on the other hand, are exploiting all of my features and not missing very much at all, given the accuracy of some of their advert placement!

3. Lots of short pieces on science for your students to engage with on the IFLScience! site, some appealingly wacky: https://www.iflscience.com/ Not quite sure about that acronym, though: the I in IFL = I, the L = love, the F = …?

4. And, finally, here’s Jon Burton, the Chief Executive of IATEFL’s reflections on thirty years, man and boy, in ELT: https://www.iatefl.org/news-views/30-years-english-language-teaching It brought back memories for me of trying – and usually failing – to stop/start the cassette recorder in the right place!

1. Several pieces from last Friday’s weekly Learnit newsletter, these first three a bit sombre:

Gangs in Latin America: https://www.americasquarterly.org/article/schools-out-in-latin-america-gangs-are-thrilled/ 

Covid management in France: https://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/France-sets-stricter-Covid-protocol-for-schools-including-masks-and-distancing

Private schools in Ghana: https://www.africanews.com/2021/01/31/ghana-s-private-school-sector-hit-hard-by-the-covid-19-pandemic/

Less sombre, though, is the thought of an exam-free future: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/schools-seize-on-perfect-time-to-explore-a-future-free-of-gcses-3qgxwdbrd (you may need to register for that one)

and – unless you’re feeling very cynical – the news that Jeff Bezos is about to invest $2 billion in a Montessori-inspired network of preschools https://www.edsurge.com/news/2021-01-21-jeff-bezos-wants-to-go-to-the-moon-then-public-education

Here’s more about Learnit https://learnit.world/#about-us and you can sign up for their newsletter yourself here: https://learnit.world/newsletter-signup

2. I’ve mentioned EEF, the Education Endowment Foundation, before: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/  EEF started a podcast recently  https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/news/podcast/  and the second edition, on Managing behaviour and building habits, examines the evidence on supporting pupils to form effective learning behaviours, both in-school and at home. You could split your listening of the podcast up into the three different lively interviews it comprises, and I think it would make a good shared listening activity for a TAG (teacher activity group).

3. More, fascinating detail on that wonderful Sutton Hoo helmet I was talking about the other day here: https://youtu.be/zYk0GH5iFYI The very personable presenter, Sue Brunning, the Curator of European Early Medieval Collections at the British Museum, has made a number of good videos: here’s another one, this time on the Sutton Hoo sword https://youtu.be/nb9vTu73xmE.

If you really can’t get enough of The Dig, Dr Brunning is discussing the novel on which the film of the same name was based with its author John Preston at 18:30 UK time on Monday 22^nd February: https://www.britishmuseum.org/events/members-exclusive/the-dig You can also join on the day via the British Museum’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/britishmuseum/videos

4. And, finally, just why is Mars such a popular destination this year? https://theconversation.com/mars-the-conversation-weekly-podcast-explores-why-three-missions-are-about-to-reach-the-red-planet-154326

1. First up today, at least a weekend’s worth of resources to explore for learners and teachers from Cambridge Assessment and Cambridge University Press: https://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/blogs/online-resources-for-teachers-and-students-2021/

Try Kahoot! if you’ve haven’t already done so https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/teaching-english/resources-for-teachers/kahoot/

or scroll down this page for an invitation to share your good ideas on the Cambridge University Press blog https://www.cambridge.org/gb/education/blog/

2. I missed my deadline for a piece in the first issue of the relaunched Granta back in 1979. It was meant to be on Thomas Pynchon, I think, and was definitely the one and only chance I’ll ever get to write for Granta, which launches its 154^th issue at 19:00 UK time on 11^th February: https://granta.com/events/launch-of-granta-154-ive-been-away-for-a-while/ I know it’s time to attend when there’s only one writer (Ian Jack) I’ve heard of in the list of those reading at the launch. Registration link here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_h3H45jmbTwu1AYua0CnWAg

3. Two examples of British democracy in action for you to compare and contrast – should you wish to do so, of course!

The first, this week’s PMQs (Prime Minister’s Questions) from the House of Commons during which Speaker Hoyle told the Prime Minister, “Prime Minister, in fairness, I think we’ve got to be somewhere near (my emphasis) the question that was asked. I don’t want to go round the world answering every problem and issue. There’s a lot more questions who’s (sic) going to allow you to do that ..” https://youtu.be/daEpoDZ5JxA Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer continue to inhabit different universes as far as the facts are concerned. Oh, yes you did! Oh, no I didn’t! Oh, yes you jolly well did!

The second, from Handforth Parish Council in Greater Manchester defies commentary: https://youtu.be/xsBBGVi2MCw Just enjoy it! I think ‘enjoy’ is the right word …

4. Here’s Hisham Matar, who won a Pulitzer prize for his biography The Search in 2017, reading Colm Toibin’s story, One Minus One: https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/fiction/hisham-matar-reads-colm-toibin  I’ve attached a PDF of the story below.

5. And, finally, the latest Finborough Theatre production, which is being broadcast in daily instalments during February: Late Night Staring at High Res Pixels You can watch all the instalments without subtitles on YouTube here https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6Ahow3Mr6bR7cuU8YCaanKcqdxi0Kz0F  or with subtitles on Scenesaver here https://www.scenesaver.co.uk/production/late-night-staring-subtitled/ (Worth registering for Scenesaver if you’ve not already done so.)

1. Simply put, this research paper in the Research in Learning Technology journal by Brendan Humphries and Damien Clark, An examination of student preference for traditional didactic or chunking teaching strategies in an online learning environment, is about a) whether students prefer short bursts of learning, and b) learn more effectively from them: https://journal.alt.ac.uk/index.php/rlt/article/view/2405  PDF of full article (including a short abstract for those of us who are time-poor) attached below.

2. The latest Pearson-WONKHE research also looks at the world from the student end of the telescope and aims to capture student views on online learning: https://wonkhe.com/blogs/the-expectation-gap-ii-students-hopes-for-learning-and-teaching-in-the-next-normal/ The conclusion is that “the direction of travel in meeting students’ expectations for the future of learning and teaching will be towards a more purposefully flexible approach that draws on the best of both online and face to face learning”. I’ve attached a PDF of the full report below.

3. In interesting contrast, the latest THE (remember what it stands for?) survey looks through the teacher end of the telescope in a survey of university staff on ‘digital teaching’: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/times-higher-educations-digital-teaching-survey-results  It concludes “However fiery the online baptism may have been for universities and their staff, it seems that some aspects of working practices may have been re-forged for the long term.”

4. Last time I linked to a piece from The Daily Mail, I got told off. So, I have my tin hat on in readiness this time round. Here’s the Mail’s piece from today on the slow, sad decline of modern language learning in UK schools and universities: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-9221669/Number-students-accepted-language-degrees-drops-third.html We’re well on our way to becoming a monoglot nation …

5. And, finally, the latest episode of the New York Times ‘5 Minutes That Will Make You Love …’ series, this one on String Quartets: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/03/arts/music/five-minutes-string-quartet-classical-music.html (Usefully, all the other episodes in the series are linked to in the first paragraph.) I’m listening to it right now.

1. You’re still in time to sign up for this free three-hour course on Teaching with minimal resources, which started this Monday: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/language-resilience-teaching-minimal-resources

There’s a puritan streak in me that thinks that – within reason, of course – minimal is always better! The course is available until 12^th February and a free certificate of completion is available.

2. IATEFL and its SIGs continue to offer a wealth of free events. Check out the programme, which includes How to ‘Grammar’ online on 6^th March and Creating ELT materials with no words (or very few) on 20^th February, here: https://www.iatefl.org/events

3. If you get chance to see the film The Dig, do take it. It’s the story of the discovery in 1939 of the Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon royal burial ship site by amateur archaeologists and their clash with professional, carpet-bagging archaeologists from Cambridge University.

The British Museum is now home to the Sutton Hoo treasure and they’ve just issued a really well-illustrated blog post, with photos from the time and stills from the film, about the film of the find and the reality of the find: https://blog.britishmuseum.org/inside-the-dig-how-star-studded-film-squares-with-reality-of-sutton-hoo/ Less gap between film and reality than is often the case!

The Sutton Hoo site is now managed by the National Trust: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sutton-hoo I love that helmet on the first page!

4. And, finally, normal Wednesday phobia service is resumed with cynophobia, prompted by a horrific story I read last night involving two Rottweilers and a postman in the lane just round the corner from us which provoked a brief bout of cynophobia in me …

The British Council is supporting the UK’s role in the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26) through a global programme centred on climate change, including a specific strand focussing on environmental sustainability in English language teaching and learning called ‘Language Teaching for the Planet’.

Through this strand of the global programme, we are working with experts in the field to develop high quality resources to help build the capacity of national ELT teacher associations, schools and teachers to integrate environmental issues in English language curricula – raise awareness of these issues; equip learners with the language skills to understand, discuss and engage critically with climate change issues, and promote solutions to local and global environmental problems.

As part of this global programme, we have commissioned research into the current practice of English language teachers regarding the integration of climate change issues in teaching practice, as well as highlight initiatives being taken by the English language teaching sector, including schools and universities, to promote and facilitate environmental responsibility, reduce environmental impact, and incentivise sustainability.

We would highly appreciate your support in sharing our two global surveys with members of your national teacher associations. There are two surveys – both now open until Friday 12 Feb. The first survey is open to all English teachers, whilst the second survey is for ELT institutions (private language schools, universities, etc) and should only be completed by one person from each education institution.

Please feel free to send the PDF of Language Teaching for the Planet and the surveys to anyone you think may be interested.

For more information on the British Council’s ‘Language Teaching for the Planet’ programme, please contact Colm Downes, Technical Lead: colm.downes@britishcouncil.org.

PLEASE CUT, PASTE AND FORWARD THE TWO SURVEYS BELOW AS YOU FEEL APPROPRIATE

Language Teaching for the Planet – A British Council Global Survey for English Teachers

Do you incorporate climate change themes into your lessons? Do your coursebooks have enough environmental content? Do you ever experience resistance from students?

Please take a few minutes to complete if relevant for you – and/or share with English teachers you know.

This survey will help us understand more about how English Teachers are integrating climate change issues into their teaching practice. Your responses will help us raise awareness of good practice and help support the development of new initiatives to tackle the growing climate crisis.

Link: https://bit.ly/Survey_Teachers

Background: The British Council is supporting the UK’s role in the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26) through a global programme centred on climate action. As part of this global programme, we have commissioned research into the current practice of English language teachers regarding the integration of climate change issues in teaching practice, as well as highlight initiatives being taken by the English Language Teaching (ELT) sector to promote and facilitate environmental responsibility, reduce environmental impact, and incentivise sustainability.

This global survey is open to all English language teachers around the world and can be completed anonymously. The survey takes about 5-10 mins to complete.

Language Teaching for the Planet – A British Council Global Survey for Schools and Universities

This survey will help us understand more about initiatives being taken by ELT institutions (schools and universities) to promote and facilitate environmental responsibility, reduce environmental impact, and incentivise sustainability. Survey responses will help us raise awareness of good practice and help support the development of new initiatives to tackle the growing climate crisis across the global ELT sector.

Link: https://bit.ly/Survey_Institutions

This global survey is open to all schools, universities around the world. This global survey cannot be completed anonymously and should only be completed by one person from each institution.

1. My colleague Colm Downes is leading on the British Council’s Language Teaching for the Planet programme in support of COP 26 later this year. I’ll forward a message from him and two surveys, one for teachers and one for institutions, with the dissemination of which he’d welcome your support, separately after this message. (I’ll also add them to the blog.)

2. A friend in Thailand sent me this BBC film of the Thai state visit to the UK in 1960. A good lesson in the hands of a skilled teacher and a fun watch, come what may. My, 1960 seems a long time ago, a different, more deferential world, I was thinking – and then realised that sixty years is a long time ago and it was a different, more deferential world! https://youtu.be/0Njzh0LeEc Look out for Major Jeffreys of the Grenadier Guards in his splendid bearskin welcoming King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit in Thai. Here’s a bit more material from The Royal Watcher blog (to which I have yet to subscribe) https://royalwatcherblog.com/2020/07/19/thai-state-visit-to-britain-1960/

3. It’s Safer Internet Day on 9^th February, and I thought you might like a little time to think through how and if you might use these materials from LearnEnglish Kids and LearnEnglish Teens: https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/video-zone/get-involved-safer-internet-day https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/study-break/video-zone/did-you-ever-post-mean-comments-online

4. And, finally, The Selector: http://music.britishcouncil.org/selector-radio Don’t take offence where none is intended,  but this is possibly more for our children and students?

1. This LanguageCert event with Russell Stannard and Nik Peachey looks promising, and there are two chances to catch it: Wednesday 3 February 2021 at 07:30 UK time and Wednesday 10 February 2021 at 15:00 UK time: https://cm.languagecert.org/en/about-us/events/2020/languagecert-teachers-seminar PDF of programme attached below.

As a bonus, here’s Russell’s home page: https://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/ and here’s Nik’s: https://peacheypublications.com/ I could imagine that a number of you already have both bookmarked!

2. Curious Kids Live: join us to learn about rainforests is a webinar from The Conversation at 14:00 UK time on Thursday, 4^th February. You can watch the webinar live on Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter, and they’ll be aiming to answer as many questions from children about rainforests as they can. https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-live-join-us-to-learn-about-rainforests-154217

Might be nice to have one or two children with first-hand knowledge of rainforests take part?

3. Here’s one to move some of us a little out of our comfort zone? Swansea University are hosting a webinar by Sin Wang Chong of Queen’s University Belfast on The role of feedback literacy in written corrective feedback research: An ecological and sociomaterial turn at 13:00 on Wednesday. Click here by 9am on Wednesday, Feb 3 to request the Zoom link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScDiHlbj9KZZvfUHTuJR1VV3IOdSmwJV_1JnqOmCn8uF8Mzyw/viewform

The abstract says: Feedback literacy is a vibrant field of research in higher education. Underpinning feedback literacy is the shift of conceptualisation of feedback from a product to a process in which learner engagement is key. In this talk, I will provide an overview on the development of feedback literacy research and discuss how feedback literacy can open up new avenues for written corrective feedback research, especially from ecological and sociomaterial perspectives.

Puzzles me slightly that there are people out there who haven’t yet worked out that learner engagement in the feedback process is key, though!

4. And, finally, this sounds fun: the ENACT web app “helps you to learn languages through cultural activities around the world and explain to people how to carry out your favourite cultural activity in your own language. Example cultural activities can be Origami in Japanese or how to carve pumpkins for Halloween in English”. https://enacteuropa.com/

1. I’ve had good feedback on the OECD’s webinars. Their next one is at 10:00 UK time next Tuesday, 2^nd February and seeks to offer an answer to the question, What can schools do to develop positive, high-achieving students? More info and a registration link here https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_XhcRw8MNQKCqYi-aAeAVfA

2. This next site I’ve not yet had chance to explore fully, but at first glance it looks a very rich resource: https://wideopenschool.org/ Scroll down the page for an introductory video. Does anyone know it? What it says on the tin is that “Wide Open School helps families and educators find trusted resources to enrich and support distance learning. Every day students can access free, high-quality learning activities across subjects, all in one place.” Here’s the current English language resources: https://wideopenschool.org/student-activities/english-language-learners/#all/

3. This one’s a bit niche, a generous PhD scholarship offer from Coventry University that will change someone’s life: https://www.coventry.ac.uk/research/research-opportunities/research-students/research-studentships/the-impact-of-feedback-practices-modes-and-student-background-voicing-the-student-perspective/

4. And, finally, exemplification of the caveat emptor – buyer, beware! – principle: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/disarming-new-findings-on-leonardos-salvator-mundi There’s an interesting ‘heat map’ of the bits Leonardo did paint …