Poland 2010

Teacher training tour around northern Poland. Beautiful cities, participative teachers and lots of kms :) Andrej and Ewa taking great care of me :)
Some ICT in class links:
I teach therefore you learn...or do you (thanks to Shaun Wilden for this)
Interactive Whiteboards (OUP)
Benefits of IWBs (OUP)
Smartboard, languaguage labs etc. (in Poland) from IRS
Article by Mark Prensky: Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

Pandy the Panda

The kindergarten series I wrote with Magaly Villaroel is now out on the market :) Young learners are introduced to English through the adventures of Pandy and his friends in their playhouse. The series includes class books, workbooks, a full colour teacher's book and loads of attractive resources! There are storycards with stories that teach children important values such as respecting others or being kind to animals.
For more information: PANDY THE PANDA

Brazil 2010

Great to be back in beautiful Brazil! OTA courses in Fortaleza, Goiania, Brasilia and Rio. With World Cup excitement on top of everything else :)
Some useful links:
Brain Breaks
Making a Kill (documentary re: kids with ADD and the meds they are given...thanks Marco!)
Can Language Shape How we Think? (thank Henrick and Marco!)

Recommended reading list (chez Marco)

• The Male Brain ©2010 by Louann Brizendine; Random House
• Why Gender Matters © 2005 by Leonard SaxBoys Adrift: Factors Driving the Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men, Leonard Sax

CLIL Course Palma de Mallorca

Fabulous three days in Palma! Special thanks to Tim, Montse and Emilia :)
Find ideas for CLIL classes and sample worksheets on the CGP Books page.

Oxford Presentations Skills Course - May 2010

Wonderful couple of days attending a course by Andrew Mallett on Presentation Skills :) Great working with Ken, Sarah, Helen, Joanna, Cath and Naomi :) ...and loved seeing friends...and exploring Oxford bit more!

Flying in a hot air balloon..wonderful :)

Great way to start the day! Thanks to Disfrutalia y Glomadas :)

Flying a small plane :)

Unforgettable experience flying a plane :)

Thanks to Disfrutalia and Aerohispalis :)

Slovenia - April 2010 - and adventure home....volcano aftermath

Great OTA course with Slovenian teachers and a big 'Hvala' to Suzana for all her help :) HUGE hassle to get back to Spain (night trains, 18 hour bus rides, queues and chaos) but it was an adventure :)

Yemen - April 2010 (Sanaa, Taiz, Aden)

"Shokran" to Nashwan and his team for such an enjoyable time :)

Some links you might like:
- Values lesson plans (from the Australian government)
- Material for character and emotion lesson plans
- Ideas for Learning to Read
- Ideas and activities for emergent readers

Wonderful week in Ukraine (Kiev and Lviv)

WRITING:
Fun and easy activities for Very Young Learners
Writing Games and Activities

Two week tour of Poland

Two week training tour of Poland :) Wonderful!!

Articles on Vocabulary:
Creative Vocabulary Teaching
Helping Students Learn Vocabulary
Vocabulary Boxes in Class

Croatia - February 2010

Great tour around snowy Croatia!

Talks and Workshops 2010

• OUP Kiev (Nov 2010) "Literacy for Little Ones", "Incredibly Easy and Motivating Activities"
  
• Edelvives / CEIP "ANTONIO GARVAYO DINELLI" (Motril) (Nov 2010) - CLIL in the Classroom
• CFIE Miranda de Ebro (Nov 2010) 30 hour CLIL Course
  
• NORTHERN CYPRUS (Sept 2010) Phonics, Whole Learning, Skills Work, CLIL
  
• POLAND (August 2010) Making Digital Sense: Change at your Fingertips
  
• BRAZIL (July 2010) OTA Course Fortaleza, Goiania, Brasilia and Rio
  
• CEP Palma de Mallorca (June 2010) CLIL for ESO and Primary (15 hours)
• CEP Sevilla (Spring 2010) Series of CLIL talks in CEIP Jose Maria del Campo
  
• SLOVENIA (April 2010) "Writing", "Brain Based Learning", "Songs", "Assessment", "Projects"
  
• YEMEN (April 2010) "Reading: Getting Started"; "Teaching the Whole Child"
  
• UKRAINE (March 2010) "Building Blocks for Better Writing"
  
• POLAND (March 2010) "Making Vocabulary Meaningful and Memorable"
  
• CEP Aracena (Feb 2010) "Language and Literacy"; "CLIL"
  
• CROATIA (Split, Osijek, Rijeka, Zagreb, Varazdin) (Feb. 2010) "Bringing the Real World Into the Classroom", "Great Minds Don't Think Alike"
  
• OUP Bilbao, "ICT: Changes in the Classroom" (Jan. 2010)
  
• CEP Cordoba, "Key Competences", "CLIL" (Jan-Feb)
  
• CEP Sevilla, "ICT in the Classroom", "Language and Literacy", "CLIL" (Jan - Feb)
  
• Badajoz/Don Benito/Seville/Jerez - "Making the Most of Stories" (Jan 2010)

CLIL non-fiction readers

OUP have just published some very interesting non-fiction readers for CLIL classes (or as extra reading for English class). The books come with incredible photos, an audio CD and fantastic activity pages. To get copies, contact local OUP reps (Read and Discover series) or look for titles on amazon. My good friend, Robert Quinn wrote some of them :)

Back from Mexico...and straight to the Christmas Race :)

Wonderful 12 day holiday in Mexico. Yesterday I participated in the Christmas Race in Seville...on my stilts :)

Bilingual Education E-Journal

An online journal with articles and information for CLIL teachers (click on the image of the magazine on the webpage to open the journal). There is an article that I wrote on 'Ready Made Resources for CLIL Classes' pages 66-69.

Visit to the Rio Tinto Mines (Huelva)

Visit to the fascinating Rio Tinto Mines.

OUP Day - Sofia, Bulgaria

In Sofia for a couple of days. OUP Day organised by Milena Kostova and Rumiana Savova who took great care of Jules, Sarah, Gareth and I :) Teachers were very participative and the staff from OUP and Bookhouse were wonderful :)
Some useful links:
Writing article Kate Ruttle
Early Literacy website

CLIL in Secondary School - Ponferrada

CLIL course in Ponferrada at IES Alvaro de Mendaña. Classes on Canada with ESO students in the morning and sessions with CLIL teachers and English teachers in the afternoon :) Everyone worked very hard!! Thanks to Vicente for his perseverance getting the course up and running and to Javier for his support from the CFIE.

Turkey - September 2009

An 'Incredible English' and 'Storytelling' tour (Izmir, Istanbul, Ankara). Great evening 'out on the town' with trainers and folks from OUP/Istek :)
Some useful sites for teachers:
- Closure Activities
- Effective Storytelling
- Online stories from British Council
- Online stories from BBC
- Storyline - some really nice stories read online
- Incredible English site (sign up free and get access to info)