29 Oct Coffee @ IH Bucharest: 6 reasons to join this training series
Coffee @ IH Bucharest: 6 reasons to join this training series
Author: Ilinca Stroe
Finding out about the latest trends
An amazing variety of training topics
Getting the recording of the session
Getting an attendance certificate
It took off in pre-pandemic times: February 2019. Its general aim: to create a context for light-hearted sharing, over a cup of coffee, of (English-)teaching ideas around a top-quality teacher training event. The sessions that make it up first took place face to face in Bucharest, Romania, then moved online as webinars on Zoom – with that, we shifted from a local to an international audience, and from “Coffee@IH” to “Cybercoffee@IH”. It is run by the Teacher Training Centre of International House Bucharest. And it’s the training series that you should attend, too, if you want to enjoy a number of important benefits.
- 1. You meet world-class teacher trainers. The sessions are delivered by trainers whose careers are associated with the International House global network. Almost all of them are CELTA and/or DELTA trainers; some are Directors of Studies, some others are founders of popular ELT initiatives (blogs, websites); a few are textbook authors; and then there’s the one training guru whom you’ve probably been dreaming of meeting in person (e.g. Scott Thornbury, Adrian Underhill). It’s a privilege for any developing teacher to spend at least an hour in direct interaction with any of them, and share in their fantastic experience and knowledge.
- 2. You keep up to date about the latest teaching trends, developments, buzzwords, The trainers who hold the Coffee@IH sessions come from a variety of national backgrounds, form the UK to Argentina, and a variety of professional backgrounds, from YL teaching to ELT publishing. They are very well connected to the latest developments in their respective areas and professional environments, and they are willing to share all that. That means that you will find out about the ongoing trends, tendencies, terms and practices which crisscross our ELT field today. Which will give you a competitive edge over your fellow teachers.
- 3. You are exposed to a fantastic variety of teaching-related topics. The topics that this training series has covered so far are, on the one hand, very likely to address exactly the issue you are interested in, exactly “your thing”, and, on the other, to open up new horizons for you, calling your attention to new academic interests. Here are just some of the topics we have discussed thus far in the series:
- motivating young learners and teenagers
- teaching vocabulary
- the reactive approach to teaching
- encouraging learner autonomy
- grammar processing
- teaching pronunciation
- tech tools for live online teaching
- classroom activities which require little or no planning
- 4. You receive the recording of the webinar, after each online session – for personal viewing only. As a participant, you can get the recording of the session you attended. Even though you are not allowed to post it, you can view it again at your own pace, pausing and focusing on the fragments you want to clarify or are particularly interested in, or studying at length the materials presented during the webinar.
- 5. You get an attendance certificate. All the participants are emailed, after the session, a certificate attesting that you have attended the session, and mentioning the trainer’s name and the topic covered. Some teachers are eager to add this certificate to their portfolio of professional qualifications and competencies.
- 6. You can give feedback, make suggestions and thus influence the overall development and improvement of the series. If you suggest we should include a particular topic or try to invite a particular speaker, we will do our best to fulfil your wishes. That way, you can determine the content and quality of this training series, help us better adjust it to your needs, and… make it even more enjoyable for yourself and your fellow teachers!
How does it work? To be able to attend a session in the Coffee@IH series, you need to enrol via the events page on our website. Upcoming webinars are listed and described there, and a registration form is provided. It takes a minute to fill it in and submit it. Then you will receive a link via email which allows you to access the session on the set day and time. The remainder of the year features the following webinars:
12 Nov – “Parachute Training for Teachers”, with Anthony Gaughan
10 Dec – “STOP! You’re Doing It All Wrong”, with David Cleary
We look forward to welcoming you to Coffee@IH Bucharest!
International House Bucharest runs regular CELTA and DELTA courses for teachers of English at its Teacher Training Centre, as well as training events online, onsite or at partner locations. To sign up for a course or event, contact celta@ih.ro.
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